Alan Pardew's charm offensive on Joey Barton?

Alan Pardew has paid homage to Joey Barton today and insists that the midfielder can achieve everything the he has ever wanted at NUFC.

Barton has been one of the key performers for Newcastle this season, and when he plays well Newcastle generally tend to play well. That cycle has been broken in recent weeks though as Barton has missed the last two home games against with an injury that he picked up in the warm up for the match against Bolton.

Whether Barton will be fit to feature against Stoke at the weekend is still not known, although I personally have my doubts that he will be fit enough. Call it pessimism or whatever, but I think that his niggling injury will prohibit him from returning at The Britannia.

Pardew explained to The Chronicle just how he perceives the complex mind of Joey Barton:

“Joey is not a normal footballer, he is quite eccentric. His eccentricity extends to his game too and he does things on a football pitch that are eccentric at times. That’s what makes him the player that he is."

“He has been consistent on the pitch because he’s been consistent off it with his behaviour. And Joey’s behaviour is a reflection of where he is at.”

“He carries his heart on his sleeve a little bit still and there have been games we’ve played when I can see he’s been upset. When he’s upset it can affect him. At Fulham he was upset about something – and I won’t go into reasons why – and he didn’t play well."

“Nobody understands it better than himself, and no one has worked harder at it than him. You have to pay him full tribute for that. From where he was not that long ago it is a tremendous feat.”

Pardew's bum kissing of Barton continued as he talked about how he has tried to help the 28-year-old and how he can be successful if he maintains the clean-living lifestyle that has trasformed the bad boy into an example for others to follow. Pardew said:

“I’ve had a great relationship here with Joey. He’s got four or five years, maybe six, still left at the very top. And if he stays in the space he’s in now, he will have a successful period."

“I think I understand him and, in my own way, I’ve tried to assist him and in the process he’s delivering. Make no doubt about it, he’s had help from Sporting Chance and his mentors, as well as Chris Hughton and me. But it’s all about Joey – and he has to be able to see it through."

“He doesn’t drink alcohol now and that is a wise decision given the character that he is, and you have to pay credit to him for that.”

Now this is all very sterile and is nothing that we haven't heard before, so I'm wondering if this is an Alan Pardew charm offensive that will hopefully tug on Barton's heart strings a little and get him to commit his future to The Magpies.

Who knows? What we do know is that both sides had apparently agreed a deal, then nothing happened. Why nothing happened is up for debate but there has been speculation regarding the length of the deals and goalposts being moved and allsorts. There was even a rumour suggesting that Joey Barton had gone on some form of strike, which seems odd considering that he was with the rest of the players on the bench. Surely he wouldn't have been allowed there if there was some form of issue?

Anyway, what matters is that we tie the lad down. If it takes a little bit of cosying up then so be it, but the longer it goes the more the speculation will increase. Newcastle need to be focussing on bringing players in this summer and keeping hold of the ones that we've got.

And that includes Barton!