You Ask The Questions: Paul Robinson on Leeds, lasagne and Gary Neville’s backpass
Mourinho’s a fine one to talk about parking the bus, but I guess I did help to create the phrase at Spurs. Maybe I was the driver!
Daleks get everywhere these days – even Harrogate. Fourfourtwo hadn’t expected to see a Doctor Who villain patrolling the pavement this Thursday morning. Dodging the local antiques shop’s star attraction, we walk on towards the Hotel du Vin and our rendezvous with Paul Robinson, who spent a career trying to exterminate the hopes of opposition strikers.
It’s been two years since a back injury forced the former England goalkeeper to hang up his gloves, and he’s looking relaxed as he greets us. He has recently returned from one of his regular trips to Qatar, where he works on bein Sports alongside Richard Keys and Andy Gray.
Retirement has also allowed Robinson to spend more time with his family. Tonight he’s going to watch a cricket match featuring his 11-year-old son, Jack, who is also a budding goalkeeper in Leeds United’s academy. A proud father, Robinson has agreed to answer FFT readers’ questions about his career in order to give his children another memento of his time in football.
“It’s easier for them to see this than for me to sit them down and say, ‘This is what your dad did’,” the 39-year-old explains. “This interview is for my kids.”
In terms of career highlights, Leeds’ draw with Barcelona in the 2000-01 Champions League must be your best performance, right? You were brilliant.
Sean Teague, Leeds It was the performance that shaped my career. I was thrust into the team: Nigel Martyn got injured and then Mark Beeney ruptured his Achilles. I just felt unbeatable that night – it turned into the Robinson vs Rivaldo show! He finally scored in the 94th minute. To concede at the end was disappointing, but that performance put me in the public eye.
We had some very special European nights that season. The highlight was drawing with Milan at the San Siro to get through to the second group phase. So many Leeds fans travelled, and by qualifying we knocked out Barcelona.
Who’s the best you ever played with?
Dan Mckay, via Twitter For all-round natural ability, Steven Gerrard. If your left-back didn’t turn up, he could play left-back. He could play any position. You’d want him on your five-a-side team. Paul Scholes was up there – and for ability Dimitar Berbatov was up there, too, even if his work rate and application wasn’t always.
During your time at Spurs, what was it like when Edgar Davids arrived? Did you ever see him lose his rag?
Frederick Johnson, Reigate Edgar was a model professional: first one in the gym, last one out of the gym. He was a great addition to the squad, and a level of player that was probably the start of something at Spurs. He was an angry little man, though – a very angry little man! [FFT: Did you have to be careful not to enrage him?] No, he’s a lot smaller than me, so I could keep him at arm’s length! He and Robbie Keane always had ding-dongs on the training ground, through nothing more than a passion to win. If Edgar’s team lost a five-a-side game, he’d go and sit in a corner. He’d be fine in 10 minutes.
Starting out, you were part of that fantastic Leeds team that won the FA Youth Cup in 1997. Who in that crop of youngsters had the most potential?
James Stupple, via Twitter It’s difficult to say, because we had such a fantastic team: Harry Kewell, Stephen Mcphail, Jonathan Woodgate and Alan Smith to mention just a few names. The majority of that team went on to make some kind of living in the game. There was a lad called Andy Wright, too – a little left-winger who came out of Lilleshall. He was full of potential but never got to play at the top level.
John Burridge was your goalkeeping coach when you were a youngster at Leeds. Just how eccentric was he?
Ronnie Klein, Wetherby Budgie was a nutcase! I owe so much to him, though. An opportunity came to go on loan at Durham City and Budgie told me, ‘You’re going to play in the Northern League – you need toughening up.’ It entailed living with John Burridge for three months in Durham. We’d go off and train at Newcastle United’s training ground at 6am: I think Budgie had been banned by Newcastle or something, so he said we had to train and then get out before anyone arrived. His coaching was the making of me, and he was an obsessive-compulsive trainer – the night before he played a game, his wife would throw food at him to practise catching. Nice guy, wrong planet!
I enjoyed the Northern League. I was on £37.50 a week as an apprentice, and the win bonus at Durham was £50. The Haribos were on me when I came back to digs at Leeds after a win! [Laughs]
Which was your favourite goal: the header you scored for Leeds against Swindon, or the hit from your own half for Spurs against Watford?
Matthew Gaches, via Instagram That’s a good question! I won a penalty when I was at Blackburn, too – I’ve still got the scar from being kicked in the head when I went up for a corner. The Swindon goal is my favourite, because I meant it. It was a Roy of the Rovers moment. We were 2-1 down in injury time in the League Cup and I went up. We took a short corner, it went out for another corner and I thought, ‘I’m not running back’. It was a good header! To score at the Kop end, and then go on to win on penalties – that’s definitely my favourite of the two goals. [FFT: Could you have been an outfield player?] There was only one thing that stopped me – about two and a half stone!
How difficult was it, being part of the Leeds team that conceded 79 goals in their relegation season of 2003-04?
Juan Diego Sanchez, via Instagram It was a tough season. All through the financial crisis, the players had no idea what was going on. When the wages stopped being paid, it was clear things weren’t right and it became a fire sale: good players left, loan players came in and the quality of players dropped.
You try not to let things affect you on the pitch, but subconsciously it’s always at the back of your mind. Too many players in football love an excuse – and if you lost a game, there was always an excuse. Some of the players maybe didn’t understand about Leeds United. Different agents were bringing in different players; we had a mix from all over the world and some came just because their agent had got them a club. Morale was at an all-time low and relegation became inevitable.
The lowest point was when relegation was confirmed at Bolton. No disrespect to them, but having a team like Bolton relegate you is difficult. Everyone saw the pictures of me and Smithy at the end of the game. Seeing the fans made us emotional – they travel in their thousands, no matter what league they’re in. It’s crazy that the club hasn’t been back in the Premier League for 15 years. The Premier League is always a much better place with Leeds in there.
Was it a tough decision to leave?
Lisa Lomas, via Instagram It wasn’t entirely my decision; it was a case of, ‘We have accepted a bid for you and you need to go.’ It could have happened that January: Tottenham tried to buy me then, but Leeds wanted me back on loan until the end of the season. In the last minute of deadline day, Leeds pulled the plug on the deal because they already had too many loan players, so they weren’t allowed to take me on loan. The year before, David O’leary tried to take me to Aston Villa, but the move didn’t feel right. I thought, ‘I’d rather stay at Leeds – it’s my team’. We stayed in the Premier League and I hoped the next year would be better. I didn’t foresee what would happen.
How did you react to Jose Mourinho’s moan that Spurs “parked the bus” in a 0-0 draw away at Chelsea in 2004?
Liam Wilson, Enfield Well, in hindsight, Jose’s a fine one to talk about parking the bus, isn’t he?! Listen: at the time we were a far inferior team to Chelsea, so you have to find a way to get a result and frustrate them, which we clearly did. [FFT: You also contributed to an analogy that has since become widespread...] I guess I did help to create ‘parking the bus’. Maybe I was the driver! [Laughs]
You played with a few characters: Mido, Kevin-prince Boateng, El-hadji Diouf... Who was the maddest?
Tony Farnham, Cirencester That’s a decent list, isn’t it? Dioufy was Marmite, so you either got him or you didn’t. We’re polar opposites – he had a completely different lifestyle to me – but we just got on. I’d take the mickey out of him and say stuff to him that others wouldn’t, but he found it funny! I don’t know what he’s doing now. He’s prime minister of somewhere, isn’t he? [FFT: He did talk about running for the presidency of Senegal…] Exactly, that’s how deluded he is! [Laughs] But he’s a good guy. I had a good relationship with Kevin-prince as well – I think they both appreciated my honesty. Mido had peaks and troughs but he was a good player when his attitude was right. At Spurs there was one spell when he was fit and on it, and he scored a lot of goals.
Did you eat the lasagne before Spurs’ final-day defeat at West Ham in 2006?
Kieran Parsons, Wood Green I don’t think it was the lasagne. I don’t know what it was. It was just really strange. We had our dinner, then we met the next morning for a pre-match walk. When we gathered in reception at 10.45am, it was like the beginning of Saving Private Ryan. There were bodies everywhere. I thought, ‘What’s gone on here?’ I was one of the few it didn’t affect, probably because of my iron stomach, but a lot of the lads were ill.
You don’t ever question anybody, but I don’t know how ill you have to be to not play. Michael Carrick wasn’t well but he said, “I’m going to play; I’m going to
get through it.” People had conspiracy theories about sabotage – I can’t see it. There was obviously something, but it’s a mystery that will never be solved. To lose out on a Champions League place to that lot across north London wasn’t great, but like I said before, footballers like excuses, and that was an excuse.
During the 2006 World Cup, England played in Frankfurt and you kicked the ball so high it hit the huge screen that was hanging over the pitch. Did you do that for a bet?
James Davies, Truro [Anticipates question as soon as he hears ‘Frankfurt’] I didn’t mean to do it! We were winning 1-0 and we weren’t at our best, so I was just trying to kick it as high and as far down the pitch as I could to waste some time. The night before, after training, we were all stood underneath the Jumbotron, trying to kick balls up there to reach it – and we couldn’t do it. But with the adrenaline of the match, I managed to do it from my 18-yard box. And no, I didn’t have a bet on it, and none of my family did. Believe me: if I knew I was going to do it, someone would have done! [FFT: What’s the tallest building you could kick a ball over?] The way my bad back is at the moment, probably a garden shed!
Why did the ‘Golden Generation’ fail to deliver in 2006?
Jake Gable, via Instagram With the group of players and manager that we had, it all seemed right. I liked Sven-goran Eriksson, as he worked on respect – he respected you as players, and he expected it back. He wouldn’t scream and shout. Sometimes he would come in at half-time and you could see that he was raging, but he would take himself off for five minutes, sit with his coaches, then come back and deliver something very constructive.
Defensively we did pretty well at the World Cup, and to be England No.1 was the pinnacle of my career. The day I was first given the No.1 shirt on merit, away in Poland, was the best moment of my international career, without a doubt.
Could England have won the 2006 World Cup if you’d beaten Portugal in the quarter-final?
Ollie Tinker, via Instagram Absolutely, yeah. We didn’t start that World Cup very well, but we grew into it. To hold Portugal and get to penalties with 10 men – I thought, ‘We’ve done it, we’re going to get through’. I did so much homework on those penalties. I knew who was coming up, in what order, and what their go-to penalty was when they were under pressure. But it’s a game of cat-and-mouse. You’ve got that information, but the penalty takers know you have that information, so do they stick or twist? Cristiano Ronaldo’s favourite penalty is high to the keeper’s right, but for the winning penalty that day he changed it to go high to my left.
What was going through your mind as Gary Neville gave you a backpass that night in Zagreb?
Fraser Mortimer, via Facebook There’s nothing I would do differently. The ball was rolled back to me; I went to kick it; the ball hit the pitch and went over my foot. If it happened another hundred times, I’d do exactly the same thing. I didn’t expect the backlash that came afterwards. Anyway, everyone knows that when full-backs pass back, they should pass back outside the goal!
I never viewed it as my fault, so the criticism hit me hard for a long time. It affected me for probably a good six months to a year. Every time I played, people behind the goal reminded me of it. Every time a ball was rolled back to me, people went, “Wooah...” It affects your confidence. I’d been on for some sort of England clean sheet record, too, if I’d kept another one that night. It was probably the lowest point in my career, apart from nearly dying later on...
How frustrated were you when Steve Mcclaren dropped you for the final qualifier against Croatia at Wembley?
Stuart Gleave, Hull I thought it was unfair. It was a difficult match for Scott Carson to be thrown into for one of his first games, and it was unfair to put him in that position. It was a strange managerial decision and I wasn’t pleased with it. I didn’t play for England again; Fabio Capello came in and we didn’t see eye-to-eye. You ask, ‘What can I do to get in your team?’ but there wasn’t much coming back from him. I was left out of squads, then I was called back into the squad and thought, ‘Nah, do you know what? That’s not for me any more’, and I called it a day. At the age I was by then, I didn’t want to travel the world just to watch, knowing I didn’t really have a chance of playing.
Have you ever received post, emails or phone calls intended for one of football’s other Paul Robinsons?
Hannah Rogers, Blaenau Gwent No, but me and Paul Robinson from Birmingham City have always had the same agent. Sometimes there were misunderstandings at the agency. If we were asked to do things, they’d have to make it clear which Paul Robinson they wanted. [FFT: What’s it like to share your
“I DIDN’T WANT TO RUN OFF CELEBRATING MY SPURS GOAL IN CASE THE REF SAID, ‘NO, IT WAS AN INDIRECT FREE-KICK’”
name with the villain from Neighbours?] I did watch Neighbours. To be honest, it never really affected my football career!
Was playing under Juande Ramos as bad as it seemed from the outside?
Stuart Travis, via Twitter Yes. Me and Juande didn’t get on at all. He didn’t like that I asked questions. It was like Joe Hart under Pep Guardiola: he had preconceived ideas of me and I wasn’t for him, and nothing I did could ever change that opinion. He was the reason I ended up leaving Spurs. With hindsight, if I’d stayed, he would have gone two months later and I probably would have enjoyed working with Harry Redknapp. It was a total dictatorship under Juande. The players didn’t enjoy training. He tried to have a modern way of thinking, but he actually had a very old-school way of implementing things.
What was the most special moment from your time with Spurs?
Malik Lukito, via Instagram Winning the League Cup. I spoke about not enjoying my time under Juande Ramos, but I did at Wembley. He had left me out for the semi-final, but he brought me back for the final. I’ve got a very special relationship with Spurs supporters so it was great to give them something back before I left, even if I didn’t know then that I was leaving. As a kid you dream of climbing the steps at Wembley to pick up a trophy. It was probably the best moment of my career.
Which striker still sends shivers down your spine?
Claudio Achadinha, via Instagram I was never frightened to play against anyone, but Thierry Henry always used to get the better of me. It just seemed that no matter who I was playing for, he scored four. It was the way he could finish while he was running – you never knew when he was going to shoot.
Who was the best manager you worked under in your career?
Lawrence Tiernan, Shrewsbury Sam Allardyce’s man-management skills at Blackburn were excellent. He knew how to get the best out of you; how to get extra percentages that other managers couldn’t get out of their players. The big thing was his honesty. He would tell you how it was, whether you wanted to hear it or not. I liked a manager who would come in at half-time and chuck things around. Sam was the best at that – you weren’t ever left wondering how he felt! I liked working with Terry Venables at Leeds, too. In the end, the players just weren’t good enough to do what he wanted.
Steve Kean remains hated by most Blackburn fans. Did the players under him understand why the supporters were so unhappy?
Graham Jenkinson, Whalley Of course you could understand, but I don’t think anyone knew what was going on inside the club and what he was actually burdened with. Steve was given a job – how he got that job is to be discussed, but I think the owners saw him as the manager of the whole club. He wasn’t just in charge of the team; he was reporting back to the owners on everything, and fighting fires here, there and everywhere. Yes, performances were bad and team selection wasn’t great, but as a player you could half-understand his situation.
I was surprised when Sam Allardyce lost his job, though – very surprised. I couldn’t believe it. We were doing really well, so there was no reason whatsoever for the manager to lose his job. I’m certain that relegation wouldn’t have happened if Sam had still been in charge of the team.
The Blackburn squad took part in a bizarre Venky’s chicken advert – what on Earth was that like to film?
Dan Clough, Oswaldtwistle It was different! But when your bosses say you have to do certain things, you have to do it. Venky’s came in with an expectation of an influx of money – it was going to be like Manchester City – but it never materialised. Players were brought in who didn’t fit the bill, the team underachieved and the whole thing just wasn’t right. It was a shame to see what happened – for the decline to happen so fast at such a proud Premier League club. It wasn’t nice to be part of it. [FFT: What did you think when a few protesting fans released a chicken on the pitch the night that Blackburn were relegated?] I found that very funny, to be honest! The supporters had a right to an opinion, and for a match to be stopped because there was a chicken loose on the pitch was pretty amusing!
It wasn’t common knowledge among Blackburn fans that you suffered from a blood clot until a long time afterwards. Why was it kept quiet?
Mick Mulvaney, via Facebook I don’t think it was kept under wraps – it was made public pretty early. I’d been taken out of the team for reasons out of my control and, I suspect, out of the manager’s control. I had been suffering with sciatica, playing through pain, and I thought that if I wasn’t going to play, I may as well have a back operation.
A week after the operation, I started coughing up blood and getting chest pains. The team were away at Cardiff, so I phoned the club doctor, Duncan Robertson, and said, “Something’s not right.” He sent me to my local A&E but they did some tests and sent me home,
saying, “You’re fine.” That night, the pain got even worse. I called the doctor and said, “This really isn’t right.” He sent me off to Leeds General Infirmary. They did a few tests and weren’t that concerned, then they spoke to the club doctor on the phone and said, “Congratulations, you’ve won yourself a scan.” I thought, ‘Oh, thanks for that’. I went through the scanner and was diagnosed with a clot on my lung. I had to lose the bottom half of my lung – it was cut off, though it has come back since.
Afterwards, they told me the severity of what could have happened. There are two entrances to your lung: the blood clot got through the top one and then stopped at the bottom one. If it hadn’t got through the top one, that would have been it, apparently. I can’t speak highly enough of Blackburn’s medical staff, as the club doctor saved my life.
Why did you choose to learn Italian while you were sidelined?
Luke Kayley, Blackburn Never believe everything you see online! I’ve never, ever been intent on learning Italian; I’ve got no intention of learning Italian; I’ve never been to university in Italy. A few people have asked me about that – apparently it’s on my Wikipedia page. I can order a beer in Spanish and that’s about it in foreign languages!
What was the weirdest heckle you received during a match?
Paul Harker, Birmingham Just the usual vile abuse that grown men – and women, sometimes – find is OK to shout in a football arena. They wouldn’t shout it across the street, and if they met you personally they’d say, ‘Nice to meet you.’ But in a football ground they find it acceptable, and it really, really isn’t. The best bit is when someone shouts something, then you turn around and look them straight in the eye and they just sit back down like a naughty child.
My mum used to enjoy going to Arsenal vs Spurs. One day we were sat at home and I said, “I really hope Arsenal get battered today.” She said, “Oh, it’s quite nice there.” I said, “You should hear what they say about you behind the goal.” That soon shut her up! [Laughs] There was a chance of going to Arsenal when I was at Leeds. I was linked with them again when I was at Blackburn, but I had a good relationship with Spurs fans and I don’t think I could ever have joined Arsenal.
What was it like being a free agent for six months?
Rory Munroe, Padiham I never announced it, but in my own head I’d retired after how I was treated at Blackburn towards the end of my contract – the way I wasn’t used. I got fit again after my blood clot, started playing, then I was taken out of the team again for whatever reason. I’d fallen out of love with football. It had been so good at Blackburn at the start but it turned so sour at the end, with the way the football club was being run and different managers who weren’t of a level to manage Blackburn – certain managers, not all of them.
I had six months off. Then I started thinking that if I wanted to play again in three years, I’d be 40 and couldn’t. So, I lost weight, got fit and asked to go back into Leeds just to train, but Steve Evans flatly said no. I said, “Can I train with the under-23s or the kids, just to get fit?” I was told, “No, it’s not the kind of thing we do here.” That was really disappointing for me. I went to train with Nottingham Forest, then Sean Dyche phoned me. Matt Gilks had just dislocated his elbow at Burnley. I went to meet Sean and signed there and then.
What was your best moment as a Burnley player?
Hector Kay, via Instagram There were two: promotion, then staying up. My 18-month spell at Burnley was one of my most enjoyable times in football. I knew I’d get some stick from Blackburn fans in going there, but a lot of sensible people knew what I went through at Blackburn and appreciated it wasn’t my decision to leave the club. I would love to have had another year with Burnley, but my back wouldn’t let me carry on.
Working under Dyche, I learned a few things for what may be the next part of my life. Management might appeal to me – I’m doing my badges. Coaching doesn’t, but it may do in the future: I’m not so thick-headed to think I don’t have to put in my hours as a coach to be a manager. I’m very open-minded about what level that could be at. If an opportunity arose, I would look at it.