Leeds United set to lose hugely important player with reminder and Whites must: David Prutton

Jonathan Douglas, an ex-Leeds United captain of course, knows him very, very well. I asked for his number just to send a quick text because I'd seen his speech to the rest of the team which is obviously on Twitter and I saw his message to the fans as well which was also put out on socials. And it just really does reaffirm how fragile that type of job and profession can be and how precarious it is.

First and foremost, you look at the length of time he has been out. We did a game earlier on in the season where we had spoken to him. When you cover so much football, you talk about so many different football teams and football players and then you have a quick look at how long Stu has been out. Two years. You think crikey.

That is an awfully long time to then think that there's going to be a happy ending from a playing point of view. There can't be many people that have been out for that length of time that get back into the game.

The hard-headed side of you is thinking that if gets back it'll be a wonderful achievement so when the news does come out after such a long time, your heart does break for him because you know for a fact that with the type of player that he is and the type of professional that he would have worked everything, mentally, emotionally, physically.

No stone would have been left unturned trying to get back fit. Knowing the physio department, they're all very good people, all very highly skilled people who would have done absolutely everything for him.

Living in the area and now knowing lots of Leeds fans, I know that he was as big a part of that Marcelo Bielsa team as anyone else. He was a huge part of it in the way that he performed. His levels went up under Marcelo and the player and as a person he was very much the absolute epitome of what you want from a Leeds United Premier League footballer.

His standards were high on and off the pitch, he was approachable, personable, hard as nails, worked his socks off. I'm saying all this and then you mention his actual ability, international standard ability so that's testament to the type of player that he was and the fact that he's hoovered up teammates across his career that are all standing and stepping forward to pay tribute to him, really does reflect what an all round, proper professional person he was, and he will be fondly remembered. It's a sad way to finish.

I finished at 32 - the same age - for different reasons. My career dried up. So for them to think there's still professional gas left in the tank, but your body can't do that, will be something that he'll have to work through. It won't be easy but I'm sure he's got very, very good people around him and he's surrounded himself with good people.

From what I hear and from the tributes that I have seen, he has got a lovely family as well, which is another wonderful, wonderful part of his life that he's got to be very, very proud of.

There is a lot to be sad about with this but he does strike me as a man that has got a lot of perspective in his life, that will grow into what post playing looks like. There'll be a little period now which maybe he has spent a couple of years/18 months getting his head around of what comes next.

As ever in football, if you get into your 30s you've done an amazing job but you are still a young man. In any other profession, you are just spreading your wings a little bit. There will be an element of that which he will need to work through which he will have to keep an eye on and those loved ones and those closest to him will have to keep an eye out to make sure he's all right.

But the main thing that you want to make sure that he takes from it, which is not necessarily a reflection of the type of player that he is and nor is it an ego thing is that he just needs to know and I'm sure he does is just how unbelievably loved he is.

It helps when you affect football on the pitch. It helps when you help a club out of its slumber back into the Premier League. It helps when you are part of one of the most recent successful times of Leeds United. All of this really does help. But fundamentally it's the person that's kind of set those foundations at Leeds United and he'll always be fondly remembered.

I passed through the club very, very briefly, messed around for a bit and people still talk to me about it. But he actually did something for the club, lifted the Championship title, gave it its pride back, got people back in the stadium, bums back on seats, noise back in that wonderful stadium and really kind of re-energised what the fan base and the club meant to people. He's got to take a huge amount of responsibility for that and as everyone kind of waves him fondly on his way he will always be remembered.