EMERSON THOME

he played the way I wanted see my right-back play.

He left us to play for West Brom, and he went on to play for the Swiss national team. I liked him, he was a good player.

I’ve put Stan in here. I didn’t play alongside him too much because he got injured early on, but I think everyone remembers his debut against Arsenal at the Stadium of Light – he was unbelievable, and he had Thierry Henry in his back pocket!

When he did come back from his injury he wasn’t as fit as before, but everyone could see the type of character he is and he is the kind of centre-back you don’t want to play against.

He was big and strong, good in the air, and he had a good range of passing.

He was quick, too, for his size. I think he was unlucky with his injury because he could have been a massive player for Sunderland at the time.

I have to include Emerson here. He is a great friend of mine, but apart from that he was a leader on and off the pitch.

He was friendly, a good character to have in the changing room, and a great professional.

I looked to him as an example, he did the right things and looked after himself which is why he had a good career.

They called him ‘The Wall’ when he played in Portugal before he came to England and he was a tough centreback.

Another position where I’ve got two names written down – Michael Gray and George Mccartney.

Everyone knows Mickey, he’s a local lad who came through the youth system at the club, and I know he was very proud to captain the club he supports.

I played in front of him during some good times when I first came to the club and we finished seventh in that 2000-01 season.

He’s one of those players who has a good engine, he could run all day.

But I’ve gone for George, not because one is better than the other but more because I played alongside him for longer.

We built up a great understanding, we didn’t even need to talk, we knew what the other one was thinking just by looking at them.

We had two fantastic years playing on that left side, George at left-back and me on the wing.

George was still a young professional then, but he was one of those players who was at least a seven out of ten in every game.