Joey Barton: “I know my path and can see quite clearly where I want to go.
“As a player, it’s been a tough year, but, as a person, it’s been a good one, a bloody good one.
“I am quite happy with my life right now and the people involved in it and that will be great for Newcastle because a happy Joey Barton is a decent player.
“Some people can handle their ale. I can’t do that.
“The reason I can’t drink is because I cannot legislate for what is going to happen.
“I don’t have responsibility for my actions when I drink and I can’t afford to make the same mistakes again. Staying off alcohol keeps me out of places where you are likely to find trouble.
“A wise man once said to me, ‘Keep going to the barbers and you’ll eventually get a haircut’. That’s true, so if I’m not out drinking in nightclubs, the risks of getting into bother are greatly reduced.
“I live a monk-like existence flitting between the training ground and the golf course and have a bit of interest in horse racing.
“But I’m aware that because of things that have happened, there will always be a target painted on my back.
“When you have been through the trials and tribulations I have, you come out of it one of two ways. You either completely break down and self-implode or you say, ‘Yeah, I’ve screwed up, but there is a chance to come back’.
“It’s about me finding things to fill out spaces and that makes me more productive as a person and once I am fit and get a sustained run in the team, more productive on the pitch, too.”