Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor has claimed that Alan Irvine is "one of the best coaches" that he has ever played under.
The 28-year-old will come up against the man he credits with kick-starting his career when the Magpies take on West Bromwich Albion this weekend.
Taylor says that he has good memories of his time working with the Scot while he was academy manager at St James' Park, but insists that any friendship will be put to one side on Sunday afternoon.
"I have massive respect for Alan Irvine, because he is one of the best coaches I have ever had," The Northern Echo quotes him as saying. "He coached me as a young kid coming through at Under-17s level.
"He had massive respect from everyone when he was here as the academy director. I haven't seen anything really close to Alan Irvine and Tommy Craig. They had that aura about them, and I think we went through a whole season and only got beat once.
"I think he has waited for his chance and he did well as assistant manager to David Moyes at Everton. I'm absolutely delighted that he's done so well, but I hope he has a hiccup against us."
Newcastle are 12th in the Premier League table heading into this weekend's game.
Daniel Lewis
