SBR Interview: football genius speaks

[TRon]

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2008/02/15/kevin-was-so-brave-to-return-72703-20480955/

 

 

Kevin was so brave to return

 

Feb 15 2008 by John Gibson, Evening Chronicle

 

SIR BOBBY ROBSON today paid tribute to Kevin Keegan for putting his reputation on the line by returning to the Newcastle United hot seat.

 

Robson, who celebrates his 75th birthday on Monday, insists that Keegan will keep United up, even though he doesn’t think the current squad is good enough.

 

But he warned the Toon Army: “It won’t be pretty – it’s going to be a tough slog.”

 

Sir Bobby is in no doubt whatsoever of the Herculean task currently facing the man who has dared to return.

 

“Kevin has a mammoth job all right, a really difficult job because his squad isn’t good enough,” maintained Robson, still a regular match-day visitor to St James’s Park. “That is the harsh fact of the matter.

 

“He has to make do and mend until the summer when he can put together his own team. That will mean retaining some but definitely getting rid of others.

 

“United won’t win anything this season but equally won’t go down. I’m convinced of that because of the points they have in hand over the bottom clubs.

 

“However, it isn’t going to be pretty. It’s going to be a tough slog.

 

“Coming back to where he has such a huge reputation and risking it is a brave thing to do.

 

“Of course he’s finding it tough – we all hoped United would have got a lift and won under Keegan by now.

 

“There is a lot that can be improved in the team, including the fact that there isn’t enough pace throughout the side. Not enough legs all over the park.

 

“Charles N’Zogbia is quick and so is Oba Martins. But who else? I don’t think Michael Owen is as sharp as he was at his very best. And you have to be intelligent, of course, as well as quick.

 

“The likes of Alan Smith, Nicky Butt, Mark Viduka, Geremi and so on may be all right individually, but put together and the team is short on legs.

 

“I deliberately got pace into my side and I think Kevin will do likewise come the summer.”

A lot of big names have failed at St James’ Park, from Ossie Ardiles through Kenny Dalglish and Ruud Gullit to Graeme Souness.

 

Mainly because they didn’t understand the nature of the job like Bobby, a Geordie who stood on the terraces, and KK, who is currently having his third spell at the club.

 

Robson is genuinely horrified that Sam Allardyce should state that the club wasn’t big enough to accommodate him rather than the other way round.

 

He insisted: “You must give the fans what they want because they are the best in the world in full cry. You must give them a bit of dash and a slice of flair.

 

“I don’t know that Sam could adapt to this club after Bolton.

 

“Keegan knows it well, of course, and he must be given a chance. Patience and perseverance are the key words right now.

 

“There must be continuity at the top or a club will never grow and develop.

 

“Look at all the successful ones – how long has Sir Alex Ferguson been at Man U and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal?

 

“And I had only two jobs in 22 years, at Ipswich and then England. Ipswich won things they had no right to win, given their size, and we got England to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, their best result in a competitive tournament abroad.

 

“However, the FA committed the same mistake as Barca – they decided to replace me before I shocked them with our results.

 

“They had told me my contract would not be renewed before we went to Italy and I was already on my way to PSV Eindhoven when we lost the semi-final on a penalty shoot-out.

 

“It was too late to change anything on my future.

 

“Where do you go after managing England? Graham Taylor came into my job and I went abroad. I intended to stay for two years and ended up working in Europe for 10.

 

“The secret always is continuity, to build properly, and Newcastle have had too many managers over the years. They have to settle down and build for the future.”

 

Robson has history with Keegan, of course. When Bobby was made England manager the first thing he did was drop KK, the skipper who had just signed for Newcastle, which meant he was playing a division down from the top flight.

 

However Robson insisted: “All that is from bygone days – Kevin had been badly injured and missed virtually all the World Cup finals in Spain and he was voluntarily dropping out of the old First Division.

 

“It hurt him, but since becoming a manager he will probably understand.

 

“All I want now is for Kevin to be successful again at Newcastle because the club desperately need a lift.

 

“I will continue to support them from the stands because it is my club. Always has been, and always will.”

 

some gems in there as usual especially the bit about the importance of collective pace in a team. Shame Fat Sam couldn't feed some common sense into his Pro-zone equipment as well as his much loved stats.

[Mick]

I'll probably get labelled as a sentimental fool or something but he still comes up with the goods when it comes to talking about football.

[Dokko]

I love Bobby Robson.

 

Can't help it.

[Alberto2005]

I love Bobby Robson.

 

Can't help it.

[Geordie Boot Boy]

I'll probably get labelled as a sentimental fool or something but he still comes up with the goods when it comes to talking about football.

 

Me too.  He always says something worth listening to.

[gray]

He probably changes a lightbulb thinking in football terms that man.

[TRon]

cont.

 

I'm so proud of what I achieved at United

 

Feb 15 2008 by John Gibson, Evening Chronicle

 

SIR BOBBY ROBSON is preparing to quietly celebrate his 75th birthday on Monday.

 

He does so with a treasure trove of memories, a knighthood, an on-going fight against cancer so far defiantly won, and enough silverware to fill a bank vault.

 

Oh, it’s been an eventful life for the Grand Old Man of football who is loved not only by a nation, but all those across Europe who have greatly benefited from his company.

 

From Barcelona to Eindhoven, Porto to Ipswich and FA headquarters, a glass of bubbly will be raised and heads turned towards his North East home.

 

However, when we meet in a city centre hotel for an early birthday tea, Sir Bobby is bursting with pride at his achievements, not elsewhere but “up the road at my father’s club.”

 

He served Newcastle United for five years, and if trophies didn’t come as they did at Barca, Ipswich, Porto and the like then, my, the journey was still one of excitement, pride and huge dollops of colour for his fellow Geordies.

 

Robson took United by the scruff of the neck, shook them into life, and bought bright young men of quality to take them to third top of the Premier League and the latter stages of Europe’s Champions League.

 

He only left in late 2004 – sacked and still hurting to this day about it – but since Newcastle have plummeted the depths.

 

Bobby, looking back down the passage of time, revealed that he had to:

 

:: WIN OVER Alan Shearer, disillusioned and pilloried under Ruud Gullit.

 

:: GALVANISE a team which the chairman feared was heading for relegation, without any money to ease his path.

 

:: DELIBERATELY inject pace into United’s side as the modern game demands it – a commodity Newcastle currently don’t possess.

 

He also reveals he would have arrived years before he did if he had known of Barcelona’s betrayal of his trust.

 

And how, when it was all over, he watched with sadness as his United squad was broken up and sold off.

 

“Yes, I’m proud of what we achieved in my five years at St James’s Park,” Bobby told me.

 

“They talk of the Big Four now as if they are untouchable, but we smashed through the barrier when we finished third, ahead of both Chelsea and Liverpool. And it wasn’t that long ago – 2003 to be exact.

 

“They were exciting times, when we had good players and got terrific results. I remember winning 3-1 at Arsenal and going top of the Premier League.

 

“Winning in the last minute at Feyenoord to go through to the next group phase of the Champions League. Drawing 2-2 at Inter Milan when they were lucky not to be beaten before their own fans.

 

“And playing Chelsea off the park at Wembley in an FA Cup semi-final only to be done by Gus Poyet.”

 

Bobby went into St James’s Park and had to repair the considerable damage done by Ruud Gullit, including resurrecting the careers of England stars Alan Shearer and Robert Lee.

 

Then, the ship steady in calmer waters, he began to buy the right players, injecting pace into his side which is essential in modern-day football.

 

“I came here in 1999 when, after 10 years abroad, I had returned home from Eindhoven to retire,” recalled Robson.

 

“However, I received a phone call from Freddy Shepherd asking me to meet him in London – I was knocking golf balls about on a driving range when they found me.

 

“They were terrified of relegation. Freddy told me there were two problems – no money, it had all been spent, and a difficult job he thought probably couldn’t be done. I said not to worry, I had no money at Ipswich and lasted 14 years!

 

“However, I had to get Alan Shearer onside and, through him, Rob Lee and Duncan Ferguson.

 

“Alan was dispirited – Ruud thought he was finished, but he was only 29 and had so much ability and character.

 

“I locked the two of us in a hotel room before my first game at Chelsea and thrashed out everything.

“Alan was too static after all his injuries. He had to get his movement back because, if he did, with his power shooting, aerial domination and physical strength, he would be dynamic again.

 

“The trouble was he didn’t realise what was missing. Gullit was a forward like Alan, but he had never said a word.

 

“The result was that Newcastle got another six years out of Shearer, he got Jackie Milburn’s scoring record, and I got a great captain.

 

“In my first home game we slaughtered Sheffield Wednesday 8-0 and Shearer scored five. That tells you everything.

 

“As for Big Duncan, what a player he was when his mind was on it. I remember beating Manchester United 3-0 up here, and he and Shearer were unplayable.

 

“I watched Alan’s big mate Rob Lee in training and he was terrific, running box to box. Once I had Shearer onside, Rob quickly followed.”

 

Team-building, of course, took a little time.

 

It’s always easier, and quicker, to destroy than create which United have found to their considerable cost.

 

“I took United to third, fourth and fifth-top of the Premier League and that’s sustained success,” maintained Bobby.

 

“Mind you, I still got the sack from fifth-top which hurt and baffled me, but I’m not going to dwell on that. What I deliberately did was pack the team with pace because that frightens the opposition to death.

 

“Think of Craig Bellamy, Laurent Robert, Jermaine Jenas, and Kieron Dyer. Lightning all of them.

 

“Olivier Bernard was quick as well down the left flank and even Andy O’Brien could motor.

 

“We were terrific on the counter- attack and that’s what the current Newcastle team lack – pace all over.

 

“JJ shares a birthday with me – only he’s 50 years younger! When United sold him I was sad because I knew what they were losing.

 

“It was the same with Bellamy, who left around the same time. Yeah, he was trouble on occasions but I handled that because I knew he was a dangerous player and that he loved the club.

 

“I’ll tell you this – however different they might be as people, Alan Shearer loved playing alongside Bellers.”

I suggest to Bobby that if only United had appointed him as successor to Kevin Keegan in the mid-90s the club might be an established top-four Premier League outfit right now, instead of struggling for survival.

 

Certainly, Robson would have inherited a better squad than he did in 1999 and, three years younger, would have had longer in the job to complete it to our satisfaction.

 

He smiled and nodded, for the first time admitting that, had he been aware of all the facts and political deceit swirling round Barcelona, he would unquestionably have come.

 

“I never ever thought I would manage Newcastle,” said Bobby.

 

“Remember, the first time I was approached out of the blue I was at Barca, not Scunthorpe, so it was very difficult.

 

“I had players like Ronaldo, Luis Figo and Hristo Stoichkov. The absolute best in the game.

 

“Sir John Hall and Freddy Shepherd came out to my house in Spain and it was very tempting. Of course it was. It was my club and my dad’s club.

 

“However, I was always loyal to my contract and I was at one of the biggest clubs in the world.

 

“Mind you, if I had known that Luis van Gaal was signed up, I would have come home like a shot.

 

“Van Gaal had originally announced that in a year’s time he was going to leave Ajax, and Barcelona privately decided they must have him as a manager for the future after I had gone.

 

“I didn’t know, of course, and I embarrassed them by winning three trophies – the European Cup Winners’ Cup, the Spanish Cup and the Spanish Super Cup. They hadn’t expected me to do so well.

 

“I had to go upstairs for the final year of my contract as head of world scouting operations.

 

“They wanted me to stay on in that job after the season was up but I always preferred to work on the training ground and I left for PSV Eindhoven.

 

“Right then I believed I had blown my chance to work at St James’s Park.

 

“However, out of nowhere, I got the call and I was made up. I was working for my own people, the best fans in the world.”

 

Maybe Bobby has become a national treasure loved in the same way as the Queen Mother was as she sailed serenely through her 90s.

 

But he is a Geordie and every one of his own will chorus a special “happy birthday” come Monday morning with real warmth in their hearts.

 

Apologies for the length of these articles but Bobby's knowledge of how to make players and teams tick is fascinating stuff. Legend.

[Guest maddog2]

Brilliant! The SBR days rocked, and the football we played rivaled Arsenals and Manyoos football in entertainment value. Also, nice to see he is extremely graceful over the his sacking as he has every right to be pissed off unlike Big Fat Sam.

[Guest Edd]

Brilliant! The SBR days rocked, and the football we played rivaled Arsenals and Manyoos football in entertainment value. Also, nice to see he is extremely graceful over the his sacking as he has every right to be pissed off unlike Big Fat Sam.

Some got close.  A couple of seasons of it were bloody awful though.  Not as bad as todays shit but hardly entertaining either.

[Crumpy Gunt]

I think that what SBR does best is gets everyones rose tinted specs out!

 

 

In the second half of his final fulll season his results were nothing but ordinary. People conveniently forget the capitulation in the CL knockout stage. West Brom, from a division below, knocked us out of the competition that Boro went on to win, at home with us playing a weakened team. Both results could have seen SBR marched out of Toon in reality

4th place was going up for grabs from christmas onwards and we made no impact in making it ours by stringing just a reasonable run of results  - in the end we were delighted at qualifying for the UEFA.

 

 

 

In my opinion SBR shuld have gone at the end of that season. Typicaly Shepherd/Halls dithered and wasted yet another oportunity just to do the right thing at the right time. Not forgetting how SBR lost his battle of wills with the shitehawk Dyer when he refused to play - that was the end of him.

 

 

 

He is though a top fella and the biggest regret for me is that he didn't arrive post Keegan. I think we would have got very very close to the title if he had.

[lovejoy]

I think that what SBR does best is gets everyones rose tinted specs out!

 

 

In the second half of his final fulll season his results were nothing but ordinary. People conveniently forget the capitulation in the CL knockout stage. West Brom, from a division below,  knocked us out of the competition that Boro went on to win, at home with us playing a weakened team. Both results could have seen SBR marched out of Toon in reality

4th place was going up for grabs from christmas onwards and we made no impact in making it ours by stringing just a reasonable run of results  - in the end we were delighted at qualifying for the UEFA.

 

 

 

In my opinion SBR shuld have gone at the end of that season. Typicaly Shepherd/Halls dithered and wasted yet another oportunity just to do the right thing at the right time. Not forgetting how SBR lost his battle of wills with the shitehawk Dyer when he refused to play - that was the end of him.

 

 

 

He is though a top fella and the biggest regret for me is that he didn't arrive post Keegan. I think we would have got very very close to the title if he had.

 

i love bobby, absoloutely love him.

 

BUT, i agree, he should have been moved on (upstairs maybe) when houllier was.

 

we were neck and neck with them, one year on, they wpn the champions league, and we had sourmess.

 

 

freddys biggest mistake in his time here was the bobby situation imo.

[Guest SpinTheBlackCircle]

Legend, and a much much better manager than KK. Sad but true.

[Guest assyriantoon]

I think that what SBR does best is gets everyones rose tinted specs out!

 

 

In the second half of his final fulll season his results were nothing but ordinary. People conveniently forget the capitulation in the CL knockout stage. West Brom, from a division below,  knocked us out of the competition that Boro went on to win, at home with us playing a weakened team. Both results could have seen SBR marched out of Toon in reality

4th place was going up for grabs from christmas onwards and we made no impact in making it ours by stringing just a reasonable run of results  - in the end we were delighted at qualifying for the UEFA.

 

 

 

In my opinion SBR shuld have gone at the end of that season. Typicaly Shepherd/Halls dithered and wasted yet another oportunity just to do the right thing at the right time. Not forgetting how SBR lost his battle of wills with the shitehawk Dyer when he refused to play - that was the end of him.

 

 

 

He is though a top fella and the biggest regret for me is that he didn't arrive post Keegan. I think we would have got very very close to the title if he had.

 

Agree completely. It was the perfect opportunity to get a top class and long-term manager in to take us forward. Oh well...

[johnnypd]

i reckon he should've stayed on, i think if he'd been given proper backing by the board, instead of publicly undermined and privately kicked in the teeth and been able to get his first-choice players in he'd have created another good side. we made enquiries about players like carrick, alonso, tevez, mpenza, miguel, seitaridis, trabelsi but ended up with butt, kluivert and carr. not all the players he was interested in later on were top-class, Ambrose and Milner vying to replace Solano i think were a bit misguided but then he turned Bernard into a champion's league full-back and he has disappeared off the planet since, and pushed a defence with o'brien and bramble into champion's league. so i think even with less than stellar players like Trabelsi and Mpenza he'd have gotten good performances out of them. in the last season for instance i'm sure Robson would've forged a very good partnership with Bellamy and Kluivert, tho Shepherd didn't want to see cash-cow Shearer sidelined.

 

also think at the time we moved him on he should've been offered a role as DOF working with gordon milne, and let them two help us bring in a management team. instead we got left in the lurch and went for a manager every one but shepherd knew was crap. robson recently recommended Fatih Terim to us which shows an ability to think out side the box.

[Mick]

During his last full season we hardly got beat, we drew too many games and that needed fixing, pity the money to do it wasn't forthcoming.  I agree that it might not have worked out, you just never know what might have happened, it still would have been better than the way it ended.  I really think he could have turned things around if given the chance.

 

I doubt anybody could justify the way he was treated during that last summer before the sacking.

[Guest Insane Psycho]

cont.

 

how dare you!

[80]

I agree with much of what has been said on both sides. To keep my own input brief, I think he should have been backed or sacked at the end of 03/04 - in the end, neither happened. Things were as handled as badly as I can conceive of from then on.

[Mick]

cont.

 

how dare you!

 

[johnnypd]

I agree with much of what has been said on both sides. To keep my own input brief, I think he should have been backed or sacked at the end of 03/04 - in the end, neither happened. Things were as handled as badly as I can conceive of from then on.

 

agreed, trust shepherd and the bastard son to make a hash of it.

[Baggio]

The team struggling for pace was obvious the day Allardyce decided to replace Dyer with Smith.

[TRon]

“Mind you, I still got the sack from fifth-top which hurt and baffled me, but I’m not going to dwell on that. What I deliberately did was pack the team with pace because that frightens the opposition to death.

 

“Think of Craig Bellamy, Laurent Robert, Jermaine Jenas, and Kieron Dyer. Lightning all of them.

 

“Olivier Bernard was quick as well down the left flank and even Andy O’Brien could motor.

 

“We were terrific on the counter- attack and that’s what the current Newcastle team lack – pace all over.

 

“JJ shares a birthday with me – only he’s 50 years younger! When United sold him I was sad because I knew what they were losing.

 

“It was the same with Bellamy, who left around the same time. Yeah, he was trouble on occasions but I handled that because I knew he was a dangerous player and that he loved the club.

 

“I’ll tell you this – however different they might be as people, Alan Shearer loved playing alongside Bellers.”

 

For someone who's supposed to have lost the plot, his football acumen still shines through loud and clear in these words. Makes you wonder who was really pulling the strings in his final season.

 

[Guest Knightrider]

Sir Bobby gives me hope where KK is concerned, Sir Bobby was a players manager, didn't rely on tactics or such, he got the best out of players, tried to sign the better players and tried to get them playing in a way that suited them best and it worked really well. He was more than that of course, but underneath it all it was simple principles. I'd hoped a different and new approach under Big Sam would do likewise but in a more modern way with better foundations, but we'll never know now. I won't be complaining if KK gets us into that kind of shape his way mind.

[Teasy]

I think that what SBR does best is gets everyones rose tinted specs out!

 

 

In the second half of his final fulll season his results were nothing but ordinary. People conveniently forget the capitulation in the CL knockout stage. West Brom, from a division below,  knocked us out of the competition that Boro went on to win, at home with us playing a weakened team. Both results could have seen SBR marched out of Toon in reality

4th place was going up for grabs from christmas onwards and we made no impact in making it ours by stringing just a reasonable run of results  - in the end we were delighted at qualifying for the UEFA.

 

Bollocks, everyone knows Bobby's time here wasn't perfect, nobody can ever do everything right.  But the fact is we had our second most succesful spell in recent Newcastle history under him.  What he's good at, no, what he's great at, is Football Management mate, all you're great at is pissing and moaning..

 

You've pointed out a few bad games or less then perfect decisions as if it proves something, how about remembering all the good and great games under Robson instead.  Because there was far far more good then bad ones.

[fredbob]

I cant believe peopleactually sit here and actually say that Bobby went too late, its absolutley baffles me. It defies logic how stupid people actually are, the job was untouchable after a legend in the game got sacked for finihsing 5th. Was there any wonder that we ended up hiring Souness, he would of been the only man to take the job after that.

 

Yet people actully sit here like numpties and say that he should of gone when we finished 3rd. The idiocy in that statement just makes me laugh, then cry.

 

How is any nufc manager gonna suceed with that sort of mentality.

[lovejoy]

I cant believe peopleactually sit here and actually say that Bobby went too late, its absolutley baffles me. It defies logic how stupid people actually are, the job was untouchable after a legend in the game got sacked for finihsing 5th. Was there any wonder that we ended up hiring Souness, he would of been the only man to take the job after that.

 

Yet people actully sit here like numpties and say that he should of gone when we finished 3rd. The idiocy in that statement just makes me laugh, then cry.

 

How is any nufc manager gonna suceed with that sort of mentality.

 

who said he should have gone when we finished 3rd?