I trained with the youth team and was offered a two-year scholarship within days. Southampton was a fresh start away from the temptations of north London.
I was soon scoring goals for fun and having fun off the pitch, too. Eventually, my landlady grew wise to my disappearing act and told the club, which led to a fine. I was sentenced to four months in a Young Offender Institution. My legs turned to jelly in the dock, and I cried as I heard my aunt sobbing in the gallery. Her son and my cousin, Michael, would be joining me behind bars. We were locked up for 23 hours a day, although I tried to stay sharp by playing for the prison football team.
I was released after two months of my sentence and went back to Southampton, where the club moved me into a flat with my mum so she could keep an eye on me. I hid them in a bush and was planning to go to London, but a coach found them.
My phone kept ringing with offers and I was quickly on trial at Swindon. On paper it was a no-brainer, but I was in two minds about living so far away from home.
It took several chats with [executive director] Dennis Wise to get me to sign. Newcastle — Barnsley loan — Sheffield Wednesday loan — Swindon — Blackpool Southend — Spalding — Southend — I stayed in digs with two other youth-team players and had a really strict landlord called Glenn, who insisted that we all ate at the dinner table every night and went to bed at certain times. The routine helped me, and I soon started scoring goals for the unders and reserves. Kevin Keegan called me up to train with the senior team.
It was mad. I kept my head down, and within a few weeks was named on the bench for a Premier League game against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
It was a different world. We lost and Keegan resigned weeks later, but I stayed around the first team while scoring 15 goals for the U18s and seven for the reserves in I was rewarded with a new three-and-a-half year deal. That changed in August , though, when I came on in the 89th minute of a Championship game at West Bromwich Albion.
I turned up late for training more than once after developing a taste for midweek nights out, and was also spending far too much free time in casinos. The club found out and instantly banned me from every casino in Newcastle, while Coloccini sat me down and warned me about the dangers of gambling.
Mark Viduka was a positive influence too, often advising young players to save their money. Alan Smith was another good role model who drove a battered old car despite his big earnings.
The gaffer warned me to spend my money wisely and not let it go to my head, but it went in one ear and out the other. I was still doing my bit on the pitch, and scored in a League Cup win at Chelsea in September After the game, I was pulled aside by a club official and told that several tabloid newspapers were going to print a photograph of me holding a gun the next day.
My WhatsApp profile picture was me posing with a BB gun, and someone had sent a screenshot to a journalist. Newcastle had shown me loyalty but I only repaid them with hassle. We will update you soon. It is a Platform where Influencers can meet up, Collaborate, Get Collaboration opportunities from Brands, and discuss common interests.
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