Quote of the day

"We had a young exciting team, a fantastic team when you think about it. But there was a lot going on off the pitch as well. They called us the Brat Pack and I suppose we were at the time. There was myself, Craig Bellamy, Jermaine Jenas, Titus Bramble, Carl Cort – we were young lads who had a lot of money, single, living away from home.

We were enjoying life off the pitch and we got up to all sorts. But that is the problem you have in a city like Newcastle. We were doing well on the pitch and we were intent on enjoying ourselves off it, but we got into too many scrapes. We attracted the wrong sort of attention and there are things I did which I just can’t believe when I look back. I’m 31 now and we’re all the same, we can’t quite believe how we behaved when we were younger.

That is what happens when you turn young men into millionaires in a city where they receive so much adulation just for being footballers. There are so many dangers when that happens, so many pitfalls – I fell into a lot of them.

I look at Andy Carroll and you can see the same problems. He has a lot going on in his life at the moment and I understand what he is going through. I hope he gets himself sorted out because he could become an excellent player."

A message to Bigger Lad - "Do as I say not as I did" - courtesy of Kieron Dyer. I suppose it's gratifying to see he at least feels some regret at his conduct, even if it's far too late.