BOBBY’S LEGACY ... and why English bosses don’t win Euro trophies
Robson’s compatriots are no closer to matching his triumph with Barca 20 years ago — and protege José Mourinho admits he’s partly to blame
BOBBY ROBSON’S first embrace was reserved for his 34-year-old friend and assistant Jose Mourinho, the pair overcome by emotion as they celebrated victory in the European Cup-Winners’ Cup final following the most difficult season in Barcelona’s history.
Of all the challenges they had faced in five years working together in Portugal and Spain, helping to guide Barcelona through a bitter civil war following the departure of club icon Johan Cruyff, was the hardest yet most rewarding.
Yet, as they basked in the glory earned by Ronaldo’s match-winning penalty against Paris Saint-Germain, little could either man have imagined the remarkable legacy of that night 20 years ago in Rotterdam’s De Kuip Stadium.
No fewer than 16 players in that Barcelona squad who worked under Robson ended up as managers themselves, some at the very top, such as Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Luis Enrique (Barcelona) and Julen Lopetegui (Spain).
Mourinho himself, who started as Robson’s interpreter and ended up as his tactical analyst and confidant, would go on to become the most recognisable face in the Premier League, a three-time title winner with Chelsea and in charge at Manchester United.
As for Robson, who died in 2009 after a courageous battle against cancer, he would have been saddened at how his countrymen have struggled to live up to his achievements. He remains the last English manager to win a major European trophy with little sign of that run ending soon.
Robson enjoyed a long managerial career with Ipswich, England, Newcastle United while also working for four clubs abroad, and raising millions through his cancer research foundation.
Robson also worked as international consultant to Steve Staunton during the former Liverpool defender’s short stint as Republic of Ireland manager.
Such is Mourinho’s respect for his first mentor, he was happy to take precious time off United’s busy schedule to discuss Robson ahead of the anniversary of that famous win against PSG.
‘It was probably the hardest season Barcelona has ever seen because it was the first time after Cruyff and everyone knows how big he was,’ says Mourinho.
‘Imagine Sir Alex (Ferguson) had ever been sacked by Manchester United. Can you imagine the fight between his supporters and those who wanted a new direction? That’s how it was between supporters of Cruyff and the club president, Josep Nunez.
‘It left Bobby in the middle of a political war that had nothing to do with him and it was not an easy dressing room either. You had the Catalan players, those who were big stars under Cruyff like Hristo Stoichkov, and a younger group with great talent — Ronaldo, Luis Figo.
‘Top players are self-centred, and the leadership Sir Bobby showed was phenomenal. He didn’t belong to any fight, he was never a war man, but had to take charge of a difficult situation. Fortunately, he was super-experienced by then. A manager at the start or middle of his career wouldn’t have been able to cope.’
Robson was 63 when he entered the Nou Camp and had already fought one battle against cancer. He wasn’t frightened of big decisions — making Romania’s Gica Popescu the captain ahead of Guardiola was controversial — but did it in a way that nobody felt alienated.
Whereas Mourinho was expressive, Guardiola was inquisitive — sometimes asking the coach tactical questions at half-time. Robson formed particularly strong bonds with Ronaldo, who scored 47 goals that season, and Luis Enrique.
‘He was such a warm coach,’ says Luis Enrique, who is in his third and final season as Barcelona coach, ‘very close to the players in spite of his difficulties with language.
‘Sir Bobby was very competitive, a fighter, and he had very clear ideas, although he came in a difficult moment. That 1996-97 squad was probably the best I played with.
‘The game against PSG was my first final. They were the holders, so we had a lot of respect for them. But in the end we won — as well as the Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup and finishing second in La Liga [to Real Madrid].’
Mourinho, who started with Robson at Sporting Lisbon and then followed him to Porto and Barcelona before continuing his managerial education at the Nou Camp under Louis van Gaal, remembers the generous human side of Robson, and his guidance in how to respond to disappointment.
‘I only have nice memories about how he and his wife [Elsie] helped my family. In the same year, my daughter was born but I also lost my sister and my wife lost her mum. Everything in the same year, a difficult year in many ways, and he was so supportive. In all our years
‘ABROAD THEY THINK ENGLISH MANAGERS NOW ARE FOR THE ENGLISH GAME
together, he never let me pay for lunch or dinner. I tried but he always said: “I have more money than you, and less years to spend it.”
‘I have had some beautiful moments in my career but I’ve also lost important matches. I would always get really upset after bad results, I am still the same, but Bobby helped me by saying if I thought of the other dressing room, that the other guys are very happy, it makes you feel less sad.
‘One of my biggest disappointments was losing a Champions League semi-final on penalties to Bayern Munich at Real Madrid [in 2012]. Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Sergio Ramos all missed penalties. Can you believe that? I felt dead, but I remembered what Bobby said, so I went to the Bayern dressing room and shook hands with them. And you know, he was right, at least seeing someone happy helped.’
This week’s European semi-finals are being overseen by managers from Argentina, France, Portugal, Italy and Holland. Mourinho thinks there are different reasons for the recent lack of success from English coaches but says Robson’s personality played a part in his success.
‘Sir Bobby’s mentality was to be very open-minded,’ says Mourinho. ‘He enjoyed living and coaching abroad, meeting different people.
‘He wanted to learn the differences between the leagues and didn’t mind asking for advice or asking for help. He changed and improved through the new experiences. He arrived in Portugal as a 4-4-2 coach when every team there played with lots of people in midfield.
‘He understood that he needed to change so he became more multifunctional. Even as an older manager. Nowadays it looks to me that English managers either don’t like to go abroad or people abroad think English managers are for the English game.
‘To be honest, I think that myself, Guardiola and [Carlo] Ancelotti are guilty of why it’s quite trendy to have managers from Portugal or Spain or Italy. Obviously the other guys then have to do well to keep it going, Leonardo Jardim at Monaco is doing phenomenal, Antonio Conte at Chelsea, others.
‘Maybe also in England, they don’t have the jobs that give access to the big prizes. If you have a British manager like Tony Pulis and you are at West Bromwich Albion, it is very difficult to win a European Cup.’
To beat PSG in the final, it wasn’t just a case of Robson throwing his best players on the park and telling them to get on with it.
‘It was a week of doubts, Sir Bobby slept with the doubts and discussed them before making a decision,’ says Mourinho. ‘It was tempting to play Laurent Blanc against a French team but also he was not fast enough to cope with their players.
‘It was also the time of Ivan de la Pena, the young midfielder reaching for the stars. He played with Pep as a second midfield player. But PSG had midfield fighters like [Vincent] Guerin. So Bobby played with Popescu as an extra midfielder, leaving Stoichkov on the bench. It was a big decision even for a very experienced manager.
Mark Robson, the youngest of Robson three sons, was in the arena to watch the game and his memories will be told to Guillem Balague on Sky Sports’ La Liga show tomorrow.
‘Some Barcelona fans didn’t want Dad, they wanted Cruyff,’ says Mark. ‘But Dad was tough, he’d been through being called a traitor before the 1990 World Cup because he was joining PSV.
‘I went to Barcelona to visit him. I remember Ronaldo, always smiling. You couldn’t get him off the training pitch: “Just one more shot Mr Bobby.” The atmosphere at matches was incredible.’
Besides winning three cups, Barcelona scored 102 league goals, more than champions Real who finished two points ahead. After beating PSG, the manager typically gave the credit to his players. ‘They’ve given a super-human effort. Barcelona is a club which must have success.’
It wasn’t enough to keep him in the job. Van Gaal came in and Robson became his chief scout before finishing his career to great success at hometown club Newcastle United. His greatest favour to Van Gaal was recommending he sign Rivaldo.
Barcelona honoured Robson by sending a large delegation to his memorial service at Durham Cathedral and today he is as much respected at the Nou Camp as he is at Portman Road, Wembley and St James’ Park.
‘I don’t think there is one person in Barcelona who doesn’t like Sir Bobby,’ says Mourinho. ‘Even those who treated him unfairly because they wanted Cruyff ended up liking Bobby because it was impossible not to like him.
‘I am not surprised so many of the Barcelona players went into coaching and management. When you are intelligent, you learn to drink from every source and Cruyff and Van Gaal were also important. But Bobby’s leadership was phenomenal and that is a very important part of management.’