In February 2003, FFT sat down for the last
time with Sir Bobby – then approaching
his 70th birthday and final season in club
management at Newcastle. Needless to
say, he was charming company discussing
a glorious 35-year managerial career...
Is it true that you learned of your
sacking at Fulham in 1968 from the
Evening Standard?
I did, yes. I was driving over Putney Bridge
and there was a billboard on the pavement
saying, ‘Robson sacked’. I carried on driving,
thinking, ‘What Robson is that?’ – and then it
like Figo, Ronaldo, Luis Enrique – but that
Ipswich team was phenomenal. En route to
winning the UEFA Cup in 1981, we went to
Saint-Etienne. They had a brilliant team full
of internationals – Platini, Battiston, Larios,
Rep – and we still beat them 7-2 on
aggregate. They were unbelievable times.If Gary Lineker had handled in at Mexico
86, would you have said, ‘I didn’t see it?’
I would have said Gary had conned the
referee, it was a terrible error and we should
never have won a game like that. We were
playing for the semi-finals of the World Cup
and were geared up to knock out the
favourites. God, I was so angry with that
referee and linesman. I didn’t speak to
them after the game because I was worried
what I’d do.Had England won the semi-final shootout
against West Germany at Italia 90, would
they have lifted the World Cup?
You can never say, but my gut reaction
would be to say yes. We had a score to settle
after the ‘Hand of God’ situation. Argentina
had several of their best players out for the
final, while we were just coming good and
very much in the groove. We had exceptional
team morale, and had developed into a
team that was tough to beat. Well, no one
beat us, did they? We were so disappointed
to go out, absolutely gutted. Even now
talking about it, I still get upset. I’ll never
forget that feeling, because we would have
fancied ourselves in the final. We would have
loved every minute of it.What were the main differences between
working on the continent and working at
home in England?
There were some differences that I
preferred, but in England I got no
interference from the board – the team was
all down to me. Abroad, I was just a coach.
Sometimes it was an issue, but you have to
adapt. In all my time abroad, I never
bought an English player and never brought
in my own staff. Not once. I think it helped
me settle. But I won’t lie: I very nearly
bought Alan Shearer at Barcelona. We
needed a striker and I said to our chairman,
“I know a cracker”. It was after Euro 96
and I called Ray Harford at Blackburn. Ray
told me that he wasn’t for sale, and could
I not disturb him by letting the press know
of our interest. I told him that he could
trust me... and a week later Alan was
sold to Newcastle! We got Ronaldo from
PSV instead.Who was the best signing you ever made
in your career?
Ronaldo was marvellous. He had a year with
me at Barcelona and he was out of this
world; absolutely fantastic... a god. He had
amazing ability, was a great young athlete, a
very nice character who respected me, and it
was sad that he only played eight months
for us there. You could see he was going to
be phenomenal.46 BOBBY ROBSOn
dawned on me. I left the club at 4.30pm and
saw the headline 15 minutes later. What’s a
nice way of saying, ‘cock up’? I was extremely
bitter and very angry.If you’d stayed at Ipswich in 1982, could
you have maintained that side and won
the title?
We’d come bloody close already. We
finished second in 1981 and again the
following year, which was my last. We were
two players short of a championship-
winning side. I had a great title-winning
team at PSV, fantastic players at BarcelonaCLUBS
1968 Fulham
1969-82 Ipswich
1982-90 England
1990-92 PSV
1992-94 Sporting
1994-96 Porto
1996-97 Barcelona
1998-99 PSV
1999-2004 Newcastle
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