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Sir Bobby Robson (1933–2009)


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Not sure if it's been posted, but nice tribute from Sir Alex:

 

I was never too big or proud to ask him for advice which he gave freely and unconditionally. And I'm sure I am speaking for a lot of people when I say that.

 

"In my 23 years working in England there is not a person I would put an inch above Bobby Robson. I mourn the passing of a great friend, a wonderful individual, a tremendous football man and somebody with passion and knowledge of the game that was unsurpassed.

 

"His character was hewn out of the coal face, developed by the Durham mining background that he came from. His parents instilled in him the discipline and standards which forged the character of a genuinely colossal human being. He added his own qualities to that which then he passed on to his sons.

 

"The strength and courage he showed over the past couple of years when battling against his fifth bout of cancer was indescribable. Always a smile, always a friendly word with never a mention of his own problems.

 

"The world, not just the football world, will miss him. Let's hope it won't be long before another like him turns up because we could never get enough of them."

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Guest The Libertine

We are sitting watching "Just call me Bobby" on DVD and smiling a lot :aww:

 

Just got in from work, will be putting this on in 5 minutes.

 

change the writing under your picture ffs.

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We are sitting watching "Just call me Bobby" on DVD and smiling a lot :aww:

 

Just got in from work, will be putting this on in 5 minutes.

 

change the writing under your picture ffs.

 

Calm down a minute ffs, I've only just changed it and didn't realise that text was there for my previous avatar of a muppet, we're not all perfect.

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Sad day, just very sad.

 

Probably been said already but nufc.com have a very nice tribute on the front page.  I know they weren't his biggest fans but I thought it was a very nice thing to do, it's a nice tribute.

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Guest The Libertine

We are sitting watching "Just call me Bobby" on DVD and smiling a lot :aww:

 

Just got in from work, will be putting this on in 5 minutes.

 

change the writing under your picture ffs.

 

Calm down a minute ffs, I've only just changed it and didn't realise that text was there for my previous avatar of a muppet, we're not all perfect.

 

:aww:

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Sad day, just very sad.

 

Probably been said already but nufc.com have a very nice tribute on the front page.  I know they weren't his biggest fans but I thought it was a very nice thing to do, it's a nice tribute.

 

Since when were they not fans?

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I'm not sad.

 

I've got that warm glow you get when you just turn that final page on a good book.

 

We all have to go some time, and Sir Bobby is no different.

 

The only thing different about him is the dignity and class with which he lived his life and displayed right until the end.

 

I'm sure as he left us this morning he was a man contented, having led a successful and fulfilling life, earning the respect of thousands (millions?) of people around the world.

 

A football man through and through. He won't be forgotten.

 

Let's have a drink to him tonight.

 

Particularly your first two lines are a beautiful way to put it. This was coming, but we shouldn't be sad. The man has been a hero to a huge number of us and lived an inspirational life. He'll be missed but he's certainly made his mark. 4-1 :)

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Well put lads. :thup: The real tragedy was what we witnessed on Sunday. I only hope one day in my lifetime we'll once again be led out by a man with the sheer brilliance, integrity and dignity of SBR.

 

My lasting memory of him will be the fantastic enthusiam he showed in 2001-02 when we went from nothing to something. Of course nobody was happier and more responsible for it, than Bobby himself. His celebration of Robert's goal against Arsenal in December will be something i'll never forget and it always manages to force a smile to my face, even today.  :)

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In a city that never fails to take the chance to take the piss out of me for any derogatory Newcastle events,I have been touched,and a tad surprised,if I'm being honest,by the amount of Coventry folk,who've made the effort to shake my hand,and recite a Sir Bobby moment to me...it's all good.

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Guest frazernufc

I was sadden when i turned on SSN this morning and saw this, it was nice to hear the old stories about him from people he worked with, and it was also was fitting that his testimonial was held just a matter of days ago. I remember meeting him outside the stadium in around 2004 he was on his phone at the time and looked like he was rushing around but gave his time for a quick autograph and photo.

R.I.P to a true legend

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Well put lads. :thup: The real tragedy was what we witnessed on Sunday. I only hope one day in my lifetime we'll once again be led out by a man with the sheer brilliance, integrity and dignity of SBR.

 

My lasting memory of him will be the fantastic enthusiam he showed in 2001-02 when we went from nothing to something. Of course nobody was happier and more responsible for it, than Bobby himself. His celebration of Robert's goal against Arsenal in December will be something i'll never forget and it always manages to force a smile to my face, even today.  :)

 

And I'm so proud and honoured that I made the effort to be there for a proper farewell to a gentleman that rekindled my love not just for Newcastle United,but football as a whole.

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It wasn't a shock but i'm still gutted about this - he was one of my heroes. It always made me laugh hearing Keegan and Shearer being referred to as "The Geordie Messiah" whilst Robson just got on with his work. Aside from him being a Newcastle man there was just something about him that I admired and i've never, until now, thought about it in any detail.

 

Maybe it was his ability. By all accounts he was an excellent player and by my own judgement he was a world class manager managing some of the biggest clubs and biggest players in the world. The fact neither England nor Newcastle have since reached the heights he took them to since he left speaks volumes about his influence.

 

Maybe it was his funniness, his ability to laugh at himself and his general persona that could always raise a chuckle. I remember him talking about being diagnosed with cancer; when told that he had a malignant melanoma he replied "The German left-back? No we don't need him". I remember reading an interview with Shola Ameobi who was asked if he had any nicknames to which he said "No". When asked what Bobby Robson called him he replied, "Carl Cort". I also remember him being described as "Having the look of a man persistently worried that he might have left the gas on". All of these things raise a smile whenever I think about them.

 

That said though, he was no doormat. Paul Gascoigne, in his autobiography, told of one occasion in a qualifier for the 1990 World Cup when he had been sent on as a substitute and ordered to hold the left touchline to stretch the opposition. Gascoigne ignored him and drifted inside. In the changing room after the game Robson asked him what he was playing at and Gascoigne explained that he preferred playing through the middle. Robson proceeded to tell him in pretty plain Geordie that "If and when you are lucky enough to play for England again you'll play wherever I ****ing well tell you to play".

 

I think most of all what I liked about him though was his humility. Too often you hear football people being interviewed and all they want to talk about is what they've done, what they've won, who they've beaten etc. Robson was different and was always keen to stress what football had done for him and what a privilege it had been to have earned a good living out of a game that he loved. It's even more refreshing when you consider some of the egos that he worked with during his career. Never has Kipling's line about walking with kings and not losing the common touch been more appropriate.

 

RIP Bobby - greatly loved and never forgotten.

 

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Not one person interested in football in this country won't be saddened by this. And I don't think there can be a higher tribute.

 

I think it stretches way beyond the footballing world.

 

The amount of people disinterested in football that I've encountered today who were saddened by this news is unreal.

 

For the way he conducted himself, the effect he had and the values he stood for, nevermind football, the man is a hero of the nation

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Not one person interested in football in this country won't be saddened by this. And I don't think there can be a higher tribute.

:sadnod: even people I know who have zero interest in football seem genuinely saddened. There was just something endearing about him.
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There are very few people left in the public eye who do their job and live their lives with such integrity, passion and honesty.

 

We all go to bed tonight with one less of those people walking the earth.

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