Former Newcastle boss praises maestro

Robson said: "We've lost a great friend, a great chum and he was a maestro in footballing terms.

"It's distressing. It's a long time since I was so distressed about the death of anybody to be honest.

"He was at the top of the tree. He would have played in today's game without any doubt, he was a wonderful passer of the ball, one of the best that I've ever seen and I've been in football 50 years.

"I've seen a lot of great players but in that sense he was unsurpassed. He was a valued friend, a great colleague, great to play with and it's very sad. Very sad."