The 28-year-old midfielder joined the Magpies in a £5.8million switch from City in June 2007 after effectively being shown the door following his infamous training ground bust-up with Ousmane Dabo, a misdemeanour which proved one too many for the club which had handed him his big chance. Barton's capacity for self-destruction plumbed new depths following his arrival at St James' Park when he was jailed for assault as his life off the field spiralled out of control. However, while he freely admits his battle with the demons which have threatened to wreck his career are ongoing, he has won over many of his doubters on Tyneside by reproducing the kind of form which won him his only England cap, and he will head into the Boxing Day clash with City having established himself as a key member of the team. Pardew said: "Joey is very influential for this team. His quality of pass has probably been significant this year in a lot of the goals we have scored. "Obviously, I have not been involved in most games, but I have reviewed them and Joey has been the heartbeat of most of our good stuff. "He is always going to have issues on the pitch because of the nature of his game. "He is aggressive and sometimes he gets singled out a little bit, and sometimes, of course, he oversteps the mark just a wee bit, but not nearly as much or as often as he did when he was younger. "He is experienced as a professional now and we are seeing perhaps the best of Joey Barton, and it's brilliant that it is in a Newcastle shirt." Pardew has now spent the best part of a fortnight working with Barton and moved yesterday to insist he sees him as a central figure in the team he inherited from Chris Hughton amid speculation he could leave the club during the January transfer window. He has already seen and heard enough to appreciate what he brings to the team on and off the pitch. Pardew said: "He has been absolutely excellent. He has got an opinion about all aspects of the game, which I have no problem with. "I think he feels he is playing well and that shows in training, and that's an important factor in Joey. "If he feels he is playing well and he is on top of his fitness level, you will get the best out of Joey, and that's where he is." The last week or so has proved frustrating for Pardew and his players as wintry weather on Tyneside has severely limited what they have been able to do to build upon their 3-1 Premier League victory over Liverpool in the manager's first game at the helm. They will train at St James' Park on Friday as they finalise their preparations, although that is not a universally popular decision. Pardew said with a smile: "The groundsman is not particularly pleased because we are going to train on it on Christmas Eve, which means he will have a busy Christmas Day, so my apologies to him." The former Reading, West Ham, Charlton and Southampton boss has spent the last fortnight watching DVDs of all the Magpies' games so far this season, and having now completed the task, has been largely impressed by what he has seen. He said: "The team has performed very, very well and we have got to try to continue that. "It's hard in the Premier League to have a full season where everything goes smoothly, but the first half of the season has been pretty smooth."
