Alan Pardew wants Premier League

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has called on the Barclays Premier League to provide its players with a guideline to direct their use of Twitter in the wake of the ongoing Joey Barton saga.

Barton was made available on a free transfer by the Magpies this week following his continued criticism of the club on the social networking site.

The break down in relations between player and club was played out in public - an unfortunate situation Pardew believes needs to be addressed by the league's administrators.

Pardew has been left with a major distraction just over a week before the new season and, while the club moved closer to an unexpected reconciliation yesterday, the former West Ham boss believes the whole matter could have been averted.

"Maybe if it wasn't for Twitter and this instant media it may have got resolved on Monday morning with me and Joey in my office," he said in a press conference shown on Sky Sports News.

"The problem with Twitter - we need to get a hold of this.

"We have got nothing from the Premier League on how to deal with this."

Pardew revealed that without a firm set of guidelines he had instead sought the counsel of Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as he seeks to avoid enduring the problem again.

"I spoke with Sir Alex Ferguson today and he's had this problem with Twitter before," he added.

"We're now following the guide that Sir Alex has said they have done (at Manchester United).

"You cannot be critical of the club within a personal account. You shouldn't do that on your own account.

"I'm not against those sites, and I don't think many managers in the Premier League are, but they have to be careful not to mention the football club."

Pardew did have reason to be enthused about his prospects of keeping a hold of Barton yesterday, however, after revealing he harboured strong hopes of a resolution to their dispute.

Barton looked certain to leave the club when he responded to being placed on the free transfer list by tweeting quotes from the likes of George Washington and George Orwell to underline his displeasure and on Tuesday was forced to train alone.

But yesterday Barton was allowed to train with the reserve team before Pardew appeared at a press conference where he declared he would "not close the door" on Barton's time at St James' Park.

"I've never closed the door on anyone and I'm not closing the door on Joey," he said.

"He trained with the development team today and, who knows, he may train with the first-team soon."

Moments later Barton offered further hope of a reconciliation, ironically on his Twitter page, when he made reference to world-renowned bridge builder Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

"Does anybody have Isambard Kingdom Brunel's number?" he wrote.

Source: PA