The former England manager won trophies but not a second season in Catalonia, as Jonathan Wilson explains in his new book
Bobby Robson had turned down Barcelona twice before, once out of loyalty to Ipswich and once out of loyalty to England. The third time he was not going to miss the opportunity. He wrote in his autobiography, perhaps a little optimistically, that his past record earned him respect but the truth is that whoever had followed Johan Cruyff was facing an immensely difficult task. Cruyff, Robson admitted, “haunted my early days”.
The tendency now is to write off that 1996-97 season, to see it as a disappointing campaign largely notable for the performances of the Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who was signed from PSV Eindhoven for $20m.
Written by Jonathan Wilson
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/23/bobby-robson-fought-failed-earn-respect-barcelona under the title “How Bobby Robson fought and failed to earn respect at Barcelona”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
