Barton made his return to action on Tuesday night in a reserve team clash with Middlesbrough after serving the six-match ban he received for admitting a Football Association charge of violent conduct against former Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo.
The 26-year-old also served 74 days of a six-month prison sentence in Strangeways in the summer following an incident in Liverpool city centre in December last year.
Barton, who pleaded guilty to charges of assault and affray, has made only one appearance as a substitute for Newcastle since his release, but he could feature in this Saturday's Tyne-Wear derby with Sunderland.
And ahead of the trip to the Stadium of Light, which can be seen live on Sky Sports 1 and HD 1, Barton acknowledges that he has let people down, but he is now keen to revive his reputation.
"Hindsight is a wonderful thing and there will be people who would want to change things if they could," Barton told Sky Sports News. "We have all got skeletons in the cupboard.
"I probably have a few more things than the average person.
"I am not asking anyone to say, 'forgive and forget' because I can't condone the things that I have done.
"For me it is a case of putting everything to bed and repaying a lot of peoples' faith.
"From this day on I will try to live my life clean and rectify the mistakes I've made in the past."
Barton is also eager to stay out of the spotlight as he returns to action to let his on-field actions do the talking.
"Hopefully this interview will be the last interview I do for a while because I need to stop talking about what I'm going to do and how I'm going to do it - and do it," Barton added.
"All I'm asking for is the chance to put right my wrongs.
"In some people's minds I will never be forgiven. But I know I am living my life clean.
"I have probably had more chances than anyone deserves, I am the first to admit that.
"I've never thought, 'I play football, I'll get another chance.' I have been fortunate that people have given me another chance."
Barton recognises that he will still make mistakes, but he is now hopeful that he will respond in a positive manner.
"Hopefully, there won't be any more. But I'm a human being and people will criticise things that I do.
"But for me the time is to draw a line under the things that I have done and let my behaviour speak for itself ."
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_4371197,00.html
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment