"There hasn't been a truly top quality local player here since the days of Peter Beardsley, Paul Gascoigne and Chris Waddle," he said. "My job is to find players good enough for the first team so the manager won't have to spread himself so thinly in the transfer market.
"Sir Alex Ferguson's success has been built on developing a core of homegrown players, which means if he gets £20 million he is able to spend it on a Wayne Rooney or Ruud van Nistelrooy rather than four £5 million players.
"If that happens, you're flying, which is what West Ham came very close to. No matter what anyone says, once Rio was sold, Frank, Joe, Michael, Jermain and Glen were all going. I was there with those lads every day and they were all leaving, not because they didn't like the club, but because they didn't like its lack of ambition.
"Newcastle used to be a selling club and the likes of Gascoigne and Beardsley all left, but the chairman now would ensure the team was built around them. You have to be the strongest in your own backyard - we don't want the next Gascoigne ending up at Middlesbrough or Sunderland."