Joey Barton considers suing referee over QPR red card for headbutt against Norwich City's Bradley Johnson Under libel law, it is theoretically possible for someone to be defamed by a gesture, although it would be unprecedented for a footballer or a club to take such action. Barton was also reminded yesterday of the incident involving Gervinho earlier this season when he himself was accused of play-acting, although he pointed out that the Arsenal midfielder "raised his hands and struck me." Barton added: "Y'days incident means best thespian wins." QPR's appeal will be heard and ruled upon by the Football Association the end of the week. Barton had scored the opening goal of the match on Monday before being sent off for violent conduct in the 36th minute following an altercation with Johnson. QPR were leading 1-0 at the time but went on to lose 2-1. Neil Warnock, the QPR manager, agreed that Johnson had "conned" the match officials. "The assistant referee has guessed, if I'm honest," said Warnock. You say cheats don't prosper but I think in this case he has done. He's conned him and unfortunately the linesman's fell for it hook, line and sinker. Warnock has also already said that he has no confidence in the FA's appeal procedure. Barton has been adamant that there was no butt. "My head doesn't move forward at all," he said. Ridiculous decision. Despite their forthright comments, the FA will not take any action against Barton or Warnock for their subsequent complaints about the decision. Norwich manager Paul Lambert claimed he had not seen the incident when asked about it at the post-match press conference and the club did not comment on Barton's allegations when contacted on Tuesday.