RIP
The story about our Robbo walking over to him at the hotel pool...
Robbo: Morning Boss
Bobby: Morning Bobby
Robbo: You're Bobby Boss, I'm Bryan...
Some quotes from elsewhere:
Quote:
"We put some good subs on to hang onto the fort."
"Tottenham have impressed me - they haven't thrown in the towel even though they’ve been under the gun.”
“When Gazza was dribbling, he used to go through a minefield with his arm, a bit like you go through a supermarket.”
It’s not widely appreciated that he’s the Cassius Clay of modern times. Who else in the world of sport can compose an amusing poetic ditty off the cuff?
"We've voodooed the hoodoo!"
"We need to get that point as soon as possible. The tooter the sweeter."
A particular speciality of Bobby’s is the contradiction. He has that rare ability to begin a sentence with an utterance that, by the time the sentence stumbles to its conclusion, has been comprehensively gainsaid. Evidence for the prosecution, m’lud:
"Manchester United dropped points, Liverpool dropped points, Chelsea dropped points, Everton dropped points, so in a way we haven't lost anything at all really, although we dropped all three..."
"They've probably played better than they've ever done for a few weeks."
“Ray Wilkins' day will come one night.”
“I'm not going to look beyond the semi-final - but I would love to lead Newcastle out at the final.”
“He never fails to hit the target. But that was a miss.’
“Maybe not goodbye, but farewell.”
“We didn't underestimate them. They were just a lot better than we thought.”
“Eighteen months ago Sweden were arguably one of the best three teams in Europe, and that would include Germany, Holland, Russia and anybody else if you like.” And Exhibit B for the prosecution – Bobby’s unique way with a tautology:
“Home advantage gives you an advantage.“
“In a year's time, he's a year older.”
“The margin is very marginal.”
“Mehmet Scholl is very two footed.“
“Their football was exceptionally good - and they played some good football.”
Bobby’s medical knowledge is second to none, though. Or maybe that should be zero-to-none…
"Nobby Solano discharged himself from hospital after the Tottenham game and he's driving, living the life and aware of who he is.”
"We can't replace Gary Speed. Where do you get an experienced player like him with a left foot and a head?"
"Gary Speed has never played better, never looked fitter, never been older."
"They've never really allowed the Germans have a free head."
"Everton will want to sedate Wayne Rooney and keep the boy calm, and that is the right thing to do."
“If you count your chickens before they've hatched, they won't lay an egg.”
“Alan Shearer has done very well for us, considering his age. We have introduced some movement into his game because he has got two good legs now. Last season he played with one leg.”
“He has four lungs and two hearts – no doubt about it.”
Bobby doesn’t let his professional life interfere with his domestic life. If anything, it’s the other way around:
"Newcastle have always had a poor pitch in winter. We don't have the better weather. My lawn up here isn't as good as my lawn in Ipswich."
"I've just lost my house. I don't know where I'm going to sleep tonight."
"Football's like a big market place, and people go to the market every day to buy their vegetables."
"People want success. It's like coffee, they want instant."
But at the end of the day, it’s the man’s sheer tactical nous that got him where he is today:
"No team won anything without a dodgy keeper."
“The first ninety minutes of a football match are the most important.”
“Well, we got nine and you can't score more than that.”
“Anything from 1-0 to 2-0 would be a nice result.”
”The first ninety minutes of a football match are the most important.”
“I wouldn’t like to say ‘poor’ but he hasn’t subscribed to the play.”
“We haven’t had a strategic free kick all night. No one’s knocked over attackers ad lib.”
”You can’t put sixty thousand people on the training ground.”
“I do want to play the short ball and I do want to play the long ball. I think long and short
balls is what football is all about.”
“He's very fast and if he gets a yard ahead of himself nobody will catch him.”
But at the end of the day, what makes us love Uncle Bobby is his sheer Bobbyness. Nobody else in the world of football could produce Grade A guff of this sort:
"Titus Brambell had a very good game, which will silence all the boo-boys, and put them in the drink, and we can get on with our lives."
"We are all in the same bucket."
"I've had to come out of the dressing room because I don't want to get too excited."
"We've dropped two points against Ipswich and I mean that sincerely."
“Some of the goals were good, some of the goals were sceptical.”
“I'd say he's the best in Europe, if you put me on the fence.”
“We're flying on Concorde. That'll shorten the distance. That's self-explanatory.”
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31-07-2009, 10:36 AM
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