By Matthew Jones
June 17 2005

Rob Lee, a former favourite at St James' Park, also played a part in persuading Chelsea's Scott Parker to make the move to Newcastle (with Shearer also playing a part), by insisting that the Magpies' are a bigger club than the Blues.
On the day Parker signed for Newcastle, both manager Graeme Souness and chairman Freddy Shepherd hailed him as the "new Rob Lee".

With Spurs and Everton also interested in signing the 24-year-old midfielder, he was on his summer holidays.. and bumped into Rob Lee - who told him that there was only one place to be.. Newcastle!

ROB LEE: "He's leaving the champions, but in some ways Newcastle are a bigger club than Chelsea.

"The fans are much better. It's a much more intense atmosphere to play in, but he'll find it's a great area to be a footballer.

"Newcastle fans may not have been feeling optimistic after last season, but this should lift a bit of the gloom. It's only a start, but it's a great start."

Having spent such a large part of his early days in professional football at Charlton, Lee is familiar with the sort of grounding Parker will have had playing at The Valley before making the high profile switch to Chelsea.

LEE ADDED: "It's a fantastic signing. If I could have picked one midfielder Newcastle should buy, it would have been Scott Parker.

"He's got a great engine, he can tackle, pass, he's got the right attitude, the fans will love him. He's a complete midfielder.

"I've played against him a couple of times and he was very tenacious, not afraid of anything.

"I think that eventually he'll be a great sitting midfielder and if you played him with JJ (Jermaine Jenas), you would think Jermaine could get forward. Newcastle haven't seen the best of Nicky Butt and this will be a challenge to him and Kieron Dyer."