EXCLUSIVE Bryan Robson interview: My fight
Published 23:05 16/07/11 By Ralph Ellis
He is nearing his 70th birthday. He has managed Manchester United for nearly a quarter of a century. He most definitely now has the 19th title he craved for so long.
But the ruthless drive for perfection with which Sir Alex Ferguson has ruled over Old Trafford remains as relentless as the day he first walked through the door.
See amazing pictures of Bryan Robson from the Daily Mirror archives
Bryan Robson saw it back then when he was the Captain Marvel who led United to the first of Fergie’s titles, and he can see it still, as the master manager prepares to rebuild his team for a fourth time.
England legend Robson was known for his own fearless approach – a quality he’s having to show again as he deals calmly with a course of treatment for throat cancer.
But in his first major interview since he was diagnosed with the condition, Robbo is even more full of admiration for the dogged determination with which Fergie is making sure Old Trafford remains a byword for winning.
He said: “Sir Alex is amazing like that. Always was. As soon as something triggers in his mind that he thinks it is time for a player to move on, he does it – and you will not change his opinion on it.
“He will be adamant that he has maybe seen just a little bit of a flaw in a player, and as soon as that happens he’ll try to replace them with younger ones.”
Robson, known as Captain Marvel at United, remembers learning that first hand.
As his final season as a player was drawing to a close back in 1994 he knocked on the manager’s door to enquire about his future, knowing that Steve Gibson wanted to offer him a managerial job at Middlesbrough.
Robson said: “I’d not seen a particular sign that my time was up. Even though I hadn’t played regularly that season I was always on the bench, and so I’d been involved in a lot of games, and had just played in the semi-final of the FA Cup.
“But when I went to see him he was full of encouragement to take the Middlesbrough job – that rather told me it was the time to go. He said he had Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and that group. He wanted to move them up because they had proved themselves at youth and reserve level.
“It was time for them to kick-on, like Ryan Giggs had already done.
“There was a whole group of us moved out. I can see it all happening again.
“In my view he’s done it three times already where players have got that bit old and he’s moved them on and replaced them, and this looks like his fourth time round.
“Gary Neville’s gone, Scholesy’s gone, Edwin van der Sar too. He’s allowed Wes Brown and John O’Shea to go at the same time – it’s taken out a lot of experience.
“But he’s not even tried to buy experience to replace them. He’s just bringing in young ones like Phil Jones and Ashley Young.
“It could take a bit of time to bed in, but he’s done it before and he’ll be just as successful doing it again. You can be sure.”
Robson, back home in Cheshire after a two-year stint managing the Thailand national team, makes no apologies for his belief in his old boss.
He’s still a big part of the United family, and the club have done wonders for him since the shock of his illness when he was rushed into a hospital in Bangkok for an operation to remove a tumour, with five weeks of radiation treatment to follow.
The man who we remember for popping his own dislocated shoulder back into place during an England World Cup match and just getting on with the game, is going about this fight with the same dignified courage.
He admitted: “All I’ll say, and I don’t want to go on about it, is that I’ve just tried to be really positive towards the treatment.
“I’ve finished the treatment now. I still have to go back. I’ll wait for the next test and see how it goes from there.
“The one thing I’d say is that I can’t thank enough all the football supporters from all around the world that have sent get-well cards and other messages of support.
“It’s amazing to get such a fantastic response. I’ve driven everybody at Old Trafford mad because with me being an ambassador for the club, all the mail went to them so they have had to handle it all.”
Robson also believes that Fergie will land Premier League title No.20.
He said: “Some people wondered if the gaffer would get that 19th title, but United are favourites for the title again. It’s the manager’s hunger – and he wouldn’t have it any other way.”
