One of a kind. (Bobby Robson)

Member Name: adstmh

Product:	Bobby Robson
Date:	10/07/09 (51 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loyalty, love for football

Disadvantages: Absolutely nothing

After writing several product based reviews I decided to write my first one about a person in the discussion area. I decided to write about Sir Bobby as he is my hero, my idol and a brilliant role model to so many. I have written this 'review' as I see him, I haven't gone into great detail about the history of his career, just the times that stood out for me, in MY lifetime.

Sir Bobby Robson. Just his name makes me smile. SIR Bobby Robson, perhaps as a Newcastle United fan it's tremendously biased of me to observe him as hugely deserving of this title but as a man, he stands out above anybody else in my memory in the sports/entertainment industry. When I see somebody like Chris Hoy for instance be knighted (however much of a credit he is to cycling) I can't help but feel that a Knighthood isn't enough for Sir Bobby.

I have met Sir Bobby several times, he is a very mild mannered man, friendly to a new level and has one of the most contageous smiles you're ever likely to see. I always feel priveledged to be in his presence, he is like the Grandad you don't often visit.

Having followed his football management career, his numerous battles with cancer and his tireless work for charity I think I have become so attached the man that, in a similar vein to my father, he has sort of become invincible to me, the kind of person you expect to live forever. I wish he would.

Sir Bobby first came to my attention when I was an 8 year old watching the World Cup with my Dad and older brother in 1990 where he was the England manager. Following our elimination at the semi final stage to Germany (yes, on penalties) Sir Bobby moved to Holland to coach PSV Eindhoven, his first management position abroad and a move which he described as "an adventure".

He won successive league titles in the two years he was in charge at PSV, then moved to Sporting Lisbon of Portugal, onto rivals Porto and then the huge move to Barcelona in Spain, bringing each of these clubs success, whether it be silverware or vast improvements on the pitch and behind the scenes such as the case with Sporting. Whilst in Portugal he worked alongside a then little known interpreter at Sporting called Jose Mourinho, the pair became not only a success story with their football, but very good friends too, Mourinho openly admitting he learnt a lot from Sir Bobby, who took him from interpreter to assistant manager when moving to Porto and took him in turn to Barcelona too.

After leaving Barcelona in the 1998/99 season, Robson again took charge of PSV for a short period and from there returned to England to take a role in the technical department of the FA (Football Association).

Now here's where my love for Sir Bobby really came to the fore. In September 1999 Ruud Gullit resigned as manager of my (and Sir Bobby's) beloved Newcastle United and Sir Bobby was appointed our new manager, we were lying bottom of the Premier League, his first game was away to Chelsea which we lost 1-0 and then came a huge moment in the Robson era at Newcastle, we were playing at home to Sheffield Wednesday (Bobby's first home game in charge) who were one place above us in the league, the final score in that game? Newcastle United 8-0 Sheffield Wednesday. For the first time since the Kevin Keegan days we played flowing, attacking and down right relentless football and crushed Sheffield Wednesday, we finished that season comfortably in 11th place. Newcastle, under Robson, finished 4th, 3rd and 5th in consecutive seasons, the latter missing out on the Champions League spots on the last day of the season.

Sadly, this led for chairman Freddy Shepherd to sack Sir Bobby after a poor start to the following season (poor starts being something we, as Newcastle United fans, had become accustomed to over the years). From a personal point of view this sacking was one of the most disgraceful in football history, at my club or anywhere else. Sir Bobby was 71 years young and heartbroken at his dismissal, I remember reading a story in the Times about 3 or 4 years back (I never buy it but my Dad told me there was an interview with Sir Bob in it so I went out straight away and got it) in which he described his feelings after being sacked - "I was crestfallen, it was like a bereavement. I went home, unable to believe what had happened to me". When I read things like that it angers me, it angers me not only at the treatment of Sir Bobby but also at the lack of loyalty in football today. Bobby was a man who would have happily died in the St James' Park dugout.

Aside from Sir Bobby's achievements in football he is a great man away from the beautiful game too, always talking so fondly of his wife of over 50 years, Elsie. His battles against cancer are another show of the mans remarkable determination and fight.

When Sir Bobby was diagnosed with cancer for the fifth time, he announced he would do all he could to help future sufferers, setting up the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation which to date has raised well over £1,000,000 for cancer research.

In December 2007 came a moment that I, personally, will never forget. Sir Bobby was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award during the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year ceremony. Such is the stature of the man, he was presented the award by Sir Alex Ferguson, a man who has very publicly refused to talk to the BBC for years after a Panarama special accusing his son, Jason of using his fathers standing for his own gain. The fact Sir Alex put his anger towards the BBC to one side for Sir Bobby's benefit was a fitting tribute.

Robson gave a hugely moving speech when accepting his award, it was moving to the point of tears, not just from me, but I'd imagine from a mass of sports fans watching the show. Here stood a man so proud to be recieving such an award but at the same time so deserving of it. He is a very humble man, never one to blow his own trumpet and will always praise so many others before even considering praising himself. He spoke of his intense love for Newcastle United, drilled into him by his father, Philip, saying he 'bled black and white blood', a man who worked the mines for 50 years, Geordie born and bred, proud of his roots and boy would he have been proud of his son, his father passed away before Bobby got the Newcastle job. Sir Bobby himself said in 2005 "For him to see me manage the club he used to take us to watch would have been the thrill of his life. He would have somersaulted all the way to St James' Park".

As a 27 year old who lives and breathes football and has done for as long as I can remember, I only hope my love, passion and need for the game lasts as long as the great mans has. In 2005 he said that football was his drug and his addiction, that he is besotted by it. When you hear him talk about it, about his past, about the great players he has coached (Ronaldo, Romario, Stoichkov, Van Nistelrooy, Shearer) you can just tell he loves football, even in his 70's he sounds like an excited teenager.

In August last year Bobby admitted defeat in his battle with lung cancer, saying he will lose 'sooner rather than later' after doctors told him he is unlikely to beat it this time around saying "I have accepted what the doctors told me and am determined to make the most of what time I have left". That was one of the toughest things I'd heard for years, I've spotted him at St James' Park many times since, and believe me, when Bobby says he'll make the most of his remaining time, watching his beloved Newcastle United would be VERY high on his list of priorities!

I won't pretend I haven't thought about it, I have. I, like many others, will be crushed when he leaves us, but will always remember him so fondly. I have a deep, deep respect for Sir Bobby Robson, one that I hold for very few in the footballing world, Bobby is one of a kind and an absolute credit, not only to football, but to his country as a whole.

Sir Bobby, I salute you.

Summary: We Love You Sir Bobby.