Sunday 2nd August 2009

Over the past couple of days football has been mourning the loss of one of it's most loyal servents, Sir Bobby Robson.
The great man will always be remembered as England's most successful manager since World Cup winner Sir Alf Ramsey and tributes have been pouring in from every big name in football, stating what a gentleman he was. So why was Sir Bobby Robson regarded as one of the illustrious individuals in football?
After a notable career as a player with Fulham and West Bromich Albion with included representing England 20 times, Robson guided Ipswich Town to a UEFA Cup, an FA Cup and two 2nd place finishes in the First Division. This led to his appointment as England manager in 1982 and his team fell at the Quarter Final stage of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico thanks to the cheating and brilliance of Diego Maradona's Argentina.
The World Cup 1990 campaign in Italy is England's most successful since the triumphs of 1966 and saw Robson's side lose on penalties to eventual winners West Germany at the semi final stage. This achievement is even more special given the fact that, with the exception of Gary Linekar and Paul Gascoigne, the England team wasn't full of world class players like it is today. More recently, the likes of Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Sven Goran-Eriksson have had far more talented players at thier disposal than Robson did yet they have all failed to reach the semi finals of a major tournament.
After managing the national team, Sir Bobby became one of only a handful of English managers to do well on the continent, with success at Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven, Porto and Barcelona in the 1990s.
In 1999, a glittering career was coming to an end, but there was still time for Robson to make a further impact in football, when at the age of 66 he was appointed manager of the club he supported as a boy, Newcastle United. He quickly changed Newcastle from a medicore mid table side to genuine title contenders. In my opinion, the day Robson was sacked in 2004 was the day things started to go downhill for the North East club.
Robson's service to the game and achievements were recognised in 2002 when he was knighted.
He has fought bravely with lung cancer and his death on Friday at the age of 76 was a sad day for football. Tributes from top names in football such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho portray Sir Bobby as not only a great manager, but as the nicest bloke in football who always had time for his fellow professionals.
Yesterday there was a minute silence at football grounds across the country, including QPR vs Southampton, the game I was at and the sadness of fans upon hearing of his death is a true testament to how much Sir Bobby Robson was loved and respected. May the great man rest in peace.