17th January 2005
By
Jody Jamieson
I know most tributes are reserved for people who are dead, but I'd
like to think back to Bobby Robson's reign as Newcastle manager. Sure
it ended sour, and perhaps it ended 4 games later than it should have,
but looking back on his 5 year reign as Newcastle manager surely we
can all smile and raise a glass to the man who gave us Champions League
football for only the second time.
Sure there will always be things that Robson said or did that I disagreed
with at the time and still feel they were bad decisions right now.
Selling Solano. Saying he saved us from relegation in 199/2000 even
though he took over when the season was 7 weeks old. Some of his substitutions
and more. And there were also some forgettable results along the way.
The second 2-1 against Sunderland, 5-0 against Chelsea, and the Partizan
Belgrade debacle to name just 3.
But now that I've got the negative stuff out of the way let's focus
on the things that made him great and the moments that we'll never
forget. The fact that he never got us that elusive trophy takes nothing
away from what largely was a fantastic reign.
That fantastic reign couldn't have got off to a better start in reality.
The bottom two face off at St James' Park in a game the pundits had
down as being a close encounter. 8 goals later with no reply from
Sheffield Wednesday left us fairly pleased I think it's safe to say.
Shearer, who 3 weeks earlier had been dropped by Gullit, ran riot
and scored 5. Robson had been in the hot seat 5 minutes, and we knew
we'd turned the corner.
He gave Robert Lee his place back in the side and that decision was
one of the best he made in his first season, with Lee putting in some
sensational performances. We'll never forget his goal in the semi
final against Chelsea either. A game we all know we really should
have won but Gus Poyet did his usual and ruined everything, as he
always did when he played against us. But his first season could be
seen as a success. We escaped relegation very comfortably indeed,
we got to a Cup semi final, and things looked like they could get
much better.
The next season was good but nothing special. Finished mid table again.
No cup run this year though after Villa spoiled the fun for us in
the 3rd round of the cup. Shearer being injured didn't help either
though. Some good results and some equally good performances which
gave us reason to believe that we could perhaps break into the Top
6 with a bit of luck.......
For the second summer in a row I found myself doing my nut when it
came to Robson signing strikers. Last summer it was Carl Cort. This
summer Craig Bellamy. You what?! Cort was rubbish, and what has Bellamy
ever done? I knew Bellamy had pace, but I didn't believe in him at
all. I watched a rather tame Inter-Toto Cup game against Lokeren though
and started to think that he had a chance. But then it was Lokeren
and I followed the old rule. If you've never heard of them, then they're
shite.....
But let's focus on that cup. That much maligned cup. No self respecting
team would enter that bloody thing now, would they? We had a blast.
Nobby Solano had a blast against 1860 Munich anyways. And we all had
a blast in the home game against Troyes, despite the result sending
us out. Fantastic game.
But something we didn't really take into account at the time. Everyone
else was pissing about in Morecambe or Scunthorpe or Falkirk in the
summer. Playing friendlies. We'd traveled into Europe to play competitive
games. Everyone else was fairly prepared. We were ready......
I think the Inter-Toto Cup run gave us something that contributed
to so many snatched points. Stamina. The amount of times we scored
goals that gave us crucial points in the last 10 minutes of games.
Campbell looked like he was about to drop as he watched Laurent Robert
steam off into the distance to stroke the ball into the bottom corner
at Highbury, thus ending the jinx and sending us top of the league.
Look at Nobby Solano strip the last defender for pace and score the
goal that gave us a 4-3 win at Leeds after being 3-1 down. Derby away?
2-0 down with 15 minutes to go and end up winning 3-2? Incredible
stuff. Then we can look back to the 4-3 against Man United and a fairly
respectable Cup run where we were knocked out in the quarter finals
by Arsenal when they were lucky to take us to a replay.
Sir Bobby Robson knew that he was on a hiding to nothing in entering
that tournament, but he knew what it would do for us and he knew that
it would only make us stronger for the season ahead. And in the end
that 2-2 draw at Ewood Park did the unthinkable for us. We'd clinched
4th and were heading for the UEFA Champions League!
Oh, did I mention a certain goal scored by Nikos Dabizas? We may have
rode our luck that day, but the scoreboard said it all. Sunderland
0 Newcastle 1. My hangover that day was suitably cured by first Nikos
Dabizas and then more beer in celebration.
Zelejnicar were brushed aside and then when the Mackems were creaming
themselves at an admittedly woeful league start, we won the derby
2-0 in what was possibly the most gutless performance in a derby match
I've ever seen. Sunderland were pathetic. I honestly still think that
we went easy on them, as we could and probably should have scored
about 11 that day. But after listening to them gloat and gloat and
gloat Robson had given us our local pride back, both in league placing,
European participation and derby matches. We were top dogs of the
North East again.
A 2-0 defeat in Kyiv against a injury ravaged Dynamo, a 1-0 defeat
at home to Feyenoord and a 2-0 defeat in Turin against the mighty
Juventus gave us no chance of qualifying for the next round surely?
Even when Gigi Buffon turned in an Andy Griffin cross-cum-shot to
give us a very memorable 1-0 win against Juve at home, we still hoped
we could cling on to get the UEFA Cup place.
St James' Park was very subdued at home to Kyiv. We still felt there
was no point in holding out false hope for the 2nd phase, so we just
hoped we'd beat Kyiv and then cling onto 3rd. They scored at the start
of the second half and all looked lost. Then an Andy O'Brien header
(I think, but then I was pissed, it was at the Gallowgate End and
I was in the Level 7 of the Leazes) and a Shearer penalty later and
we all got home, looked at the table and thought to ourselves "you
never know...."
We never really let ourselves believe until it was half time and Bellamy
had just given us the lead in the De Kuip. We went 2-0 up through
Viana and then reality hit us. Kyiv were winning and we were dropping
into the UEFA Cup. Still not to worry, we're doing our part and we're
lucky to be in with a shout. 2-2 soon after and all looked lost. Even
when Juve went 2-1 up and we could go through with a win there was
no point. We didn't look like mustering a shot never mind a goal.
Then it happened. Dyer shot and Zoetebier saved. Bellamy puts the
rebound home and no-one with black and white blood coursing through
their veins didn't lost the plot. I still remember the next days hangover,
but it's in thanks more than annoyance. We'd reached the promised
land. Inter Milan, Bayer Leverkusen and Barcelona? We've not got a
chance. But then stranger things do happen, and they just did......
And while all those European antics were going on we'd improved both
performances and results domestically. Despite a bizarre game at Old
Trafford where we lost 5-3 we were winning games again, even if some
were lucky. 2-1 at home to West Brom was a scandal in truth, but it
didn't matter. We were winning games again. But there was one game
in particular where I felt our spirit shone through and showed us
what Robson had done with us.
Everton went 1-0 up quickly at St James' Park and then Yobo lived
up to his name and was sent off. We battered and batter and battered
Everton to no avail. When we should have been 7-1 up with 10 minutes
to go we were still 1-0 down. Did we give up and start feeling sorry
for ourselves? Not a bit of it! Shearer rattles in the type of goal
we'll tell our grandchildren about, and then Craig Bellamy scored
a slightly fortuitous goal in injury time, and we'd won 2-1 when it
looked like the biggest miscarriage of justice was about to take place.
February came and we found ourselves in some bizarre situations. We
were in the last 32 of the biggest club competition in the world,
we were putting up a title challenge, and we got a game snowed off
at Middlesbrough for snow when I've seen worse conditions in the Bahamas
in the height of summer. Before Christmas we'd been tonked by Inter
Milan and Barcelona and all the while we'd lost our 2 main strikers
to suspension. Bayer Leverkusen were a joke, but could Ameobi and
Lua-Lua be relied upon to get us goals? Whatever Robson said to them
it clearly worked as both were fabulous in giving us a 3-1 win. Shearer
was back and scored a hat-trick in the 3-1 win at home. I still claim
to this day that Ameobi was man of the match that night. Please someone
agree as no-one else has as far as I know! We were right back in it.
The torrential snow held off in the Boro and they beat us despite
playing on after pole-axing Jenas in the centre circle. Shitebags.
Still, we had a shout of the title.
And we gave Inter Milan a scare in the Guseppe Miazza to give it it's
real title. Inter Milan will look back on that game and know how lucky
they were. A win would have given us a magnificent chance but we had
to settle for a 2-2 draw. Can you believe it? SETTLE for a 2-2 draw!
We'd have settled for a 2-2 draw at Wimbledon before Robson took over
and now we were all fuming at only drawing in the San Siro! Happy
days indeed.
Just when it looked like we might be about to wobble we scored 5 at
home to Blackburn and everything in the league was great again. But
back to Europe we knew that it was unlikely we'd qualify. We needed
the hapless Bayer Leverkusen to get a result against Inter. But the
most important thing was we did our thing. We didn't. But Barcelona
were terrific. And that night was when the love affair between Patrick
Kluivert and the Newcastle supporters began. The applause he got when
he left the field was phenomenal.
Our league form became terrible in April and we fell out of the title
race after defeat at Fulham, a draw at home to Villa, and a certain
hammering by Man United. We were now even struggling to qualify for
the Champions league. But a win at home to Birmingham clinched it
for us after Liverpool lost at home to Man City and Chelsea drew with......
whoever they were playing that day. But not only had we clinched a
champions league spot, but we'd also clinched 3rd! Fantastic achievement.
Before I start on the positives from last season (which yes there
weren't many) I'll get this off my chest.
Partizan Belgrade. Birmingham at home. Chelsea away. West Brom at
home. Grosvenor Hotel rumours. Jenas form.
There was more but that'll do.
3-2 defeat at Highbury isn't always a positive but we showed a lot
of character that night and were unlucky to lose. But that wasn't
the height of the positives that season in the league. 3-0 at home
to Man City with Bernard having a stormer. Laurent Robert 4-0 Tottenham.
2-1 at home to Chelsea. See? It wasn't all bad.
We gubbed Breda 5-0 at home and won 1-0 away and looked forward to
a tie with Basel. We were one of the few teams to come away from Switzerland
with a win. 3-2 in a fairly good performance. 1-0 at home put us through
to the next round to face Valerenga. 1-1 away was poor. 3-1 at home
was a poor performance but after some grumbles we found ourselves
in the last 16 against Mallorca. 1-0 down at home and things looking
bleak, we put in a sensational performance in the last 20 minutes,
showing that this team was made of stern stuff after all! A 3-0 stroll
over there and up next was PSV. Very good organised performance over
there and we came home with an away goal. Things were looking bleak
at home after they cancelled out our away goal, but Gary Speed put
us into the last 4 of the UEFA Cup. So what about Partizan? Every
cloud has a silver lining, eh?
If there's not a lot to be thankful about the Marseille performances,
there's a lot to be thankful about with the buzz around the city as
soon as the final whistle went in the PSV game. I was dancing down
the stairs with people I'd never met before. Singing all the way to
the Metro. I'd do that every home game if I wasn't going to be doing
a solo, but that's not the point. The city was buzzing. All we could
talk about was the semi. The home game wasn't great, and both teams
could have taken commanding leads over to France, but 0-0 it was.
And now it was time to dance in the South of France.
Less said about that performance the better, but we shouldn't be too
down about it. We were in Europe longer than any other English side
and we did fucking well to get there, but again we were left wondering
what might have been.
Sadly something that summed up Robson's reign. What might have been.
What might have been if we'd beaten Marseille? What might have been
had it not 'snowed' in Middlesbrough. What might have been if Man
United had had a stinker that day at St James' Park. What might have
been had Gustavo Poyet not been such a bastard.......
We didn't qualify for the Champions League and we barely got back
into Europe, but it was time for Robson to end a great 5 years at
the club we thought. But no. Shepherd thought it would be a good idea
to leave him in and then sack him after a poor start. Total slap in
the face I felt to let him have a few games and then dismiss him,
but Robson moved on like he had to, and we all looked back fondly
on some of the wonderful memories he gave us.
I've had the pleasure to meet Sir Bobby Robson and a nicer man you
couldn't wish to meet. And the way he spoke of football showed you
how much not only the game, but the club meant to him. I had thought
previously it was time for change (July 2003) but something about
the way he spoke convinced me he could change it around. That he could
have perhaps with a bit more time this season got us back on track.
Maybe he couldn't have, but wouldn't it have befitted the man who
came back from so much adversity to have taken us to the promised
land this season? Alas again it's a what might have been, but let's
remember him for all the great things he did for our wonderful club.
His documentary in early 2003 reduced me to tears. He's a wonderful
man, who has left the game a wonderful legacy. He may not have won
us a trophy, but he left us with many wonderful memories that you
just can't buy.
Bobby Robson - Our Local Hero. |
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