The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Liverpool hero Andy Robertson hails Dundee United’s return to Premiership
DEFENDER: Star loving life at Liverpool but does not rule out return to Scotland
Andy Robertson has expressed his delight at Dundee United’s return to the Premiership.
The Liverpool star – PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year in his sole topflight campaign in the City of Discovery – was ecstatic to see his old club promoted to the top flight.
Robbie Neilson’s Tangerines clinched the Championship title last month after the SPFL resolution to end the lower leagues passed in the wake of Dundee’s ‘yes’ vote.
The ballot also handed Scottish football chiefs the authority to do likewise in the Premiership where Robertson’s boyhood heroes Celtic are 13 points clear of second-placed Rangers, who have a game in hand.
Robertson, 26, said: “Dundee United have already been crowned champions which is amazing.
“I’ve got a lot of fond memories of that club.
“I’m delighted for all of them that they’ve managed to get back to where they belong.
“I feel they’re one of the biggest clubs in Scotland. Obviously they went through a few tough times but now they’re back and can hopefully kick on now.
“There’s no hiding that I’m a Celtic fan and of course I want them to win the league and make it nine in a row. “I’m sure they’ll want to complete it.” The Scotland captain was released by the Hoops at 16 before reviving his career at Queen’s Park, where his performances caught the eye of United and then-boss Jackie McNamara.
But Robertson – who won the Champions League with Jurgen Klopp’s Reds last season – was off to Hull City in a £2.85 million move after a stunning campaign with the Tangerines.
He hasn’t looked back since swapping Hull for Liverpool in 2017 and was on course for an English Premier League winners’ medal until the coronavirus crisis put football on hold.
But the left-back refused to rule out playing football on these shores later in his career.
Robertson told BT Sport: “My ideal situation is to retire at Liverpool.
“It’s going to be quite hard but I’d love to be able to finish my career here.
“If I can keep my standards high, up to a James-Milner-kind of age, then I would be quite happy with that and call it a day then.
“But I’ve always said I would love to pull on the Celtic top and play. I played for Dundee United, which I loved.
“Never say never. I want to play as long as I can so if that means finishing in Scotland, or at one point going up to Scotland, then I’d be open to it.
“But my ideal is finishing with a couple more trophies at Liverpool.”
Robertson – widely regarded as one of the finest full-backs in Europe – has only one regret from a sensational 2019 and that is his clash with Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.
During the Reds’ astonishing Champions League semi-final comeback against Barca at Anfield, the ex-United man shoved the six-time Ballon d’Or winner in the head.
He said: “I sometimes play as a fan and not as a professional footballer, which is maybe my downfall at times.
“Me and Fabinho were tracking Messi back and we both ended up on the ground and I just ruffled his hair a bit.
“He wasn’t too happy and it’s something I wouldn’t do again, that’s for sure!
“It’s disrespectful to the best player who’s ever played the game. That match, I’ve never seen a changing room so pumped up. I don’t know what came over me.
“I do regret it but it’s something everyone always mentions to me. I wasn’t thinking!
“In the Nou Camp in the first leg I thought I dealt with him as well as I could have but he still walked off with two goals in a 3-0 win and all everyone is talking about is Messi.
“He’s the best player ever to play the game in my opinion.
“There was a moment when he knocked it by two of our midfielders in the first few minutes at the Nou Camp and he was running directly at me and I was thinking, ‘Oh right, this guy’s serious’. He’s coming at me now.
“The stuff he does with his feet is just frightening.
“You can’t see, you need to guess at times to defend against him.”