I was sad to hear about the death of Jack Charlton. The first time I met Jack, I went to Lilleshall for a week on an England youth course. I think it was 1965.

Four of us went from Cumbria: me and three lads from Workington, who were still in the Football League then.

Jack was one of the coaches. He had a natural love of the game – it just flowed out of him.

You could see he was going to remain in football as a coach or manager. That course was probably his first taste of it.

He was firm, but he was like that on the pitch: no nonsense.

That was a great Leeds side from the mid-60s to the mid-70s and Charlton was at the helm of it.

He was an old-fashioned centre-back. And he scored a lot of goals for a defender. He was known as a stopper. But he didn’t get credit for being able to hit a nice ball out of defence.

I played against Leeds for West Brom. In one match we won 3-1 and I scored. I can remember him and Norman Hunter – that was a hell of a partnership – having a go at each other for one of the goals. That was a sign of what it meant to them.

Another centre-back, Jarrad Branthwaite, made his Everton debut as a substitute against Wolves last Sunday.

I’m delighted that he’s got his chance. It’s nice to see another Cumbrian in the Premier League. I didn’t see the game but I know he gave away the free-kick that led to Wolves’ second goal, and lost his man for it.

You have to remember that he’s just turned 18, that was his first game since leaving Carlisle six months ago, and he’s gone from playing in League Two to playing against the team who are sixth in the Premier League and as good as anybody at the moment.

It’s hard enough making a step up like that. But Everton are a struggling side.

When you go in at that age you need a bit of guidance from older pros. Everton are low on confidence. I felt for the boy.

They obviously think a lot of him there. From what I’ve seen of him and his mentality, he’s good enough.

People are too quick to pass judgement now. There’s not the patience to blood young lads.

Saying that, some make an instant impression. Mason Greenwood at Man United is another 18-year-old. He’s got everything. He’s got two equally good feet, which is unusual.

It’s good to see young English lads coming through. But he’s in the opposite situation to Branthwaite. He’s come into a side that’s on a great run and blossomed from there.

The people around Greenwood will have to keep his feet on the ground. There’s no middle ground in football these days. You’re either written off after a bad game or you’re the saviour of English football after a good one.

Greenwood will have games where he’s not so much in it. That’s just part of his education.

You don’t get a goal every game. Sometimes you’ve got to grind it out. That’s an aspect of the game as well.