PFA chief says Barton must help himself

NEWCASTLE midfielder Joey Barton must banish the "demons" that have led him "completely off the rails" and into jail, Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor has warned.

Barton's club yesterday said they wanted to hold talks with the player and his representatives as soon as possible after he escaped a second jail term when he received a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

That punishment was imposed after the 25-year-old midfielder admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm on former Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo during a training session on May 1 last year.

Taylor, however, fears Barton needs to help himself from now on. He said: "It's one of those strange situations that when you talk to the lad in the cold light of day he's quiet, he's calm, he's considered.

"But he has those demons – there's no doubt they're there. He's been fortunate with this (latest] sentence, that it's been suspended.

"No doubt the judge, like us (the PFA], will be hoping that this term in prison will have made him come to terms with his problems, and I hope he's eradicated them for the sake of his life and his football career."