Very sad to learn that Bobby Robson has passed away. I am old enough to remember Robson's marvelous Ipswich sides who bit their thumbs at the big boys and gave the mighty Arsenals and Liverpools a run for their money whilst leaving the Man Uniteds, Chelseas and Tottenhams in their wake. It was Robson who stole Paul Mariner from under our noses when, after our Cup Final victory, we sought to build a team capable of "pushing on". The story has it that Mariner had agreed to join us from Plymouth but Ron Greenwood forgot to take the necessary paperwork down to the West Country with him. Just before Mariner was due to travel up to London with Greenwood, a call came through from Bobby Robson and the rest is history.
When I think back to those Ipswich sides, I remember Frans Thyssen and Arnold Muhren, Butcher and Beattie, Alan Brazil, Mick Mills and Mariner. I am sure that the mention of other names would bring faces back through the mists of time. What is unforgettable is the style of those Ipswich teams. Like Greenwood and Lyall, Robson advocated a passing game based on intelligence rather than brute force.
As an England manager, of course, he took us to the World Cup semifinal and might have won it if not for the Hand of God incident. Waddle, Gascoigne, Lineker - these were true England greats.
As for Newcastle, the sacking of Robson triggered the dreadful demise of that great club. "The curse never fell upon our Nation till now, I never felt it till now" curses Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and that line should be inscribed beneath a statue of Robson with an axe coming down on his neck outside St James Park. Treat a so great and gentlemanly figure like that and you deserve everything you get in my book. The gods are just and Newcastle's present plight is just retribution for Robson's dismissal.
RIP Sir Bobby - you were a true great of the game and will be sorely missed.
Very well said. RIP Bobby
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