"My biggest disappointment at Newcastle is that I didn't score as many goals as I thought I would score. But I made sure that I worked hard to make sure I earned that respect from the players and not only that but also from the fans. I think the last three or four games that we had, when everybody knew I was leaving, to get 52,000 people a standing ovation, for me will always live with me. It was two great years which I enjoyed, two great footballing years and supported by some of the best supporters in the land. When they gave me that standing ovation, I just though 'wow' and that's what I just wanted - another year.
"I wasn't suprised, it was about getting the right personnel in, the right ages, the right people who would do things for him - and he started to get that. He got people like Craig Bellamy in, very similar type of player and he brought him into the side. He was bringing in people with the work rate of the people who were leaving and the ageing ones - him and his staff had worked on the scouting process, and picked these players - it wasn't a surprise that they went on and started getting success with these group of players. For me I learnt a lot in that two years - I always say that I wish I had played under Sir Bobby 10 years earlier in my career! I may have learned more about the football.
"To play with Alan was fantastic, everyone knew what he was capable of doing. We knew it at Blackburn, we built a team around Alan Shearer. At Newcastle I think Sir Bobby was trying to do something similar, you had players like Rob and Gary, Solano, Kieron Dyer when he got fit - these were players around Shearer who could create things for him and help him continue to score goals. We always knew that if we could hold teams close that we always have a goal in us with Alan up-front - and that was the thing. Also, if you had Big Dunc to throw into the mix as we did at the start, you always going to cause problems against teams.
"We had different people and different personalities in the way we wanted to play but the way that Sir Bobby wanted me and Kieron Dyer to play was slightly different, not as flamboyant wingers but more as the wide midfielders tucking in and playing in a triangle with Speed and Lee to create things and diversify things. And the experience in there brought the young players on."