Anthony Gordon talks about how his teammates at Newcastle despised him, why he was called a “Scouse scally,” and the real reason for his A-sign celebration.

Anthony Gordon refuses to reveal the perpetrator, but his bleeding ankle sock indicates he received a hard tackle in training earlier.

Now, it is his turn to do the tackling, and the subject is perception.

We all have an opinion of this lean, bleached haired, nuisance winger from a deprived suburb of Liverpool – it frustrates his manager, Eddie Howe, who believes the general impression to be wildly inaccurate – but the player himself has, so far, accepted those beliefs as, while mistaken, not entirely unfair. Until now.

Sitting here at Newcastle United’s training ground, the 23-year-old, a new dad, wants to challenge the perception of him.

Not with hostility and anger – and this will surprise many – but with a desire underpinned by eloquence, maturity and a gentle wit. He was not supposed to be like this.