FourFourTwo December 2021 77leaving bash – perhaps softened the blow.
The Cup Winners’ Cup victory had restored
their European reputation and, after putting
his neck on the line for Ronaldo, the striker
had delivered 47 goals in 49 games. What
more could Bobby do? Despite everything,
he still felt like he’d embarrassed his bosses.
IT AIN’T WHAT YOU DO...
In 1989, Johan Cruyff and Louis van Gaal fell
out over a misunderstanding at a Christmas
dinner. The Ajax legends never reconciled.
Cruyff viewed himself as an expressionist; he
saw nothing of himself in Van Gaal’s football,
despite their shared roots and similar values.
It must have grated to see Van Gaal in his
dugout far more than it ever had watching
Robson. However, perhaps the latter’s tenure
reaffirmed something to all three of them:
it’s not just what you win at Barcelona – it’s
how you do it.
More than a decade later, in 2008, Robson’s
protégé would learn this. The outstanding
candidate for the Camp Nou throne following
stellar spells at Porto and Chelsea, European
heavyweight Mourinho was overlooked in
favour of Barça B boss, and old pal, Guardiola.
Mourinho, like Robson before, was furious –
he felt belittled.
Barcelona knew Mourinho was more than
capable of delivering trophies, while both he
and Guardiola shared a raging intensity for
rigour and detail. But it still wasn’t enough,
and nor would it ever be: Guardiola was given
the nod because he was a certified Cruyffista.
Where once the pair were comrades on that
training pitch tucked behind the Camp Nou,
they would soon be very public adversaries.
Robson had no such time for bad blood
after his own betrayal, wishing Van Gaal the
best and accepting Nunez’s offer to become
director of signings. He encouraged Jose to
stay and learn from his successor.
“The decision to move Robson on felt very
strange,” Abelardo tells FFT. “We still noticed
him around the club, but there wasn’t the
same day-to-day contact with him any more.
I don’t know whether he enjoyed it or not, but
he still seemed his usual happy self.”
Robson travelled the world in his new role.
By day, he’d sit near the pool of whichever
five-star hotel Barcelona had sent him to; by
night, he’d scout. He had time to read, time
for golf. It was a much-needed sabbatical.
“He was so wounded that I don’t think he
was urgently keen to get back into coaching,”
admits Hunter. “He definitely pushed the idea
with anybody he talked to that his gentle
revenge on the club was to keep taking their
money for a wonderful job that allowed him
to sit by the beach. There was a point where
he said to me, ‘You know what? This is the
greatest job in the world’.”
For a while, Robson took Elsie’s advice, saw
more of the sea and took more walks in the
woods. He would soon get back in a dugout,
though; shortly before, Hunter had bumped
into him at a Fulham restaurant.
“I’d written a column about why it was the
right time for Bobby to go into management
again,” says Hunter. “He soon responded by
ringing me at home. I said, ‘You’ve lived the
good life for long enough – you’re a people
person. It’s about what gives you satisfaction
and what you like doing.’”
Robson took the advice, first for a second
spell at PSV, before making it to Newcastle
after all in 1999. Management wasn’t just
what he liked doing: he was exquisitely good
at it. So good, in fact, that he said yes to one
of the most difficult jobs in Europe – following
the idolised Cruyff – and did so well that he
forced his bosses to uneasily promote him.That season’s Camp Nou cocktail remains
one of Barça’s most memorable campaigns.
Bobby had delivered two major trophies, won
the fans’ respect and signed a phenomenon
to remember for years to come.
Robson never did work alongside Ronaldo,
Guardiola nor Mourinho again. O Fenomeno
would fulfil his immense promise as a World
Cup winner, always speaking fondly of his
former boss. Guardiola received a letter back
from Robson wishing him good luck ahead
of the 2009 Champions League Final against
Manchester United, meanwhile. Two months
later, the old master passed away aged 76
after a long battle with lung cancer.
“If he’s half as good a manager as he was
a player for me, he’ll do OK,” Robson once
remarked of his midfield general.
Mourinho also ensured he kept in contact
with his mentor, after the 1996-97 season
prepared him for the future turmoil in which
he would revel. It was those experiences at
Barça which taught ‘the Special One’ how to
survive on a touchline in the heat of Clasicos
and cup clashes; how to handle the preying
media; and what a dressing room crammed
with world-class players looked like up close.
Perhaps Mourinho learned some deeper
truths from that year in Catalonia, too. Make
time for yourself, enjoy nature, always be the
calmest man in the room and try to remain
a gentleman when you can. And remember:
success doesn’t necessarily deliver what you
deserve. Even if, like Sir Bobby Robson, you
take on the impossible job and win.LaLigaTV is the only place to watch all of the
action from the 2021-22 La Liga campaignMORE On FOURFOURTWO.COM
- The making of Jose Mourinho – how did he
go from ‘the translator’ to ‘the Special One’?
(by Andy Mitten) - Year Zero: Ronaldo’s stunning 1996-97 for
Barcelona (by Nick Miller) - Nine managers who made the critics look
stupid (by Chris Flanagan)
“HE WAS WOUnDED – I DOn’T
THInK HE WAS URGEnTLY KEEn
TO GET BACK In THE DUGOUT”
BOBBY’S
BARÇAClockwise from
top “Hey, what’s
the Spanish for
‘football?’”; Cup
Winners’ Cup joy
with Ronnie and
Mou; Pep loved
his English boss