Robson fans can breathe easy
Newcastle fans can breathe a little easier today after rumours of manager Sir Bobby Robson’s resignation were firmly quashed by the club.
The 70-year-old has been under pressure following his side’s poor start to the season, and rumours began circulating that he had ended his stay at St James’ Park after more than four years.
However, the club dismissed the stories in a brief statement released yesterday to the Stock Exchange.
“Newcastle United notes recent media speculation regarding Sir Bobby Robson and confirms that Sir Bobby Robson has not resigned and that any reports to the contrary are completely unfounded,” it read.
Newcastle started the season in disastrous fashion when they threw away a first-leg lead to go out of the Champions League against unfancied Partizan Belgrade at St James’ Park.
That defeat denied the Magpies millions of pounds in revenue and Robson’s side compounded the disappointment by failing to record a single victory in the first six Barclaycard Premiership games of the season.
However, last Wednesday evening’s 5-0 UEFA Cup demolition of Dutch side NAC Breda at St James’ and a spirited display in the 3-2 defeat at Arsenal 48 hours later have helped to ease the pressure.
United go into Saturday’s league clash with Southampton desperately needing a win to kick-start their season and lift them away from 19th place in the table, the position in which they were lying when Robson took over from Ruud Gullit in September 1999.
Then, they were a club destined for Division One, and it was the way in which Robson revived their fortunes which so endeared him to a public which welcomed him as a hero even before he had started to work his magic.
Four years – and £65m ( €92.6m) – on he has built a side which last season topped its fourth-place finish of 12 months earlier to return to the top three for the first time in six years, a far cry from the situation he had faced on his arrival.
Now it seems Robson’s reign at St James’ is far from at an end.
