Barton slates Pearce

Barton, 24, joined the Toon Army for £5.5 million while England Under-21 boss Pearce was sacked from City in favour of incoming manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

"I didn't speak to him," Barton said. "We had a relationship breakdown in the end and he said things which he shouldn't have said.

"There are a lot of things I feel about him but I've not said them and I don't plan to.

"When you have a working relationship with someone there are a lot of things that should be kept in-house: if everyone spoke their opinions we'd have anarchy and chaos."

Barton has been involved in a series of high-profile incidents throughout his City career. In 2004 he poked a lit cigar into the eye of youth player Jamie Tandy and was fined six weeks' wages and referred to anger management counselling.

Reports in England have suggested that he is barely on speaking terms with international team-mate Frank Lampard after he criticised the country's players for releasing books on their failed World Cup exploits.

After he had a fist-fight with team-mate Ousmane Dabo last season, his career at Eastlands seemed set to come to an end. However, Barton revealed that the club asked him to stay.

"When Newcastle came in City asked me to wait until the new manager arrived," he said.

"But I wasn't going back. I'd gone as far as I could and I didn't think they were progressing.

"I felt I might have stayed a year too long there."

The club finished 14th in the Premiership.