Robson keen to carry on
from BBC Sport, August 02, 2004
Sir Bobby Robson's plea for contract talks with Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd will fall on deaf ears.
Robson, 71, will seek a showdown with Shepherd after claiming news that this will be his last season in charge "came out of the blue." But BBC Sport understands that Robson was told back in May that his current deal will not be extended when it ends at the end of the current season.
Shepherd confirmed: "We have no plans to extend that arrangement." It has been accepted on Tyneside for some time that this would be Robson's last season in charge.
Alan Shearer's retirement at the end of the campaign has fuelled speculation the former England striker will step into Robson's shoes. But Robson reacted angrily to Shepherd's announcement that his contract would not be renewed, claiming he was unaware any such decision had been made.
Robson claimed: "All I can tell you is that I'm unaware of anything that's been written about me or anything that's been said about me. "I wish to address the whole situation with the chairman face-to-face then issue what we have to issue.
"Until I find out the situation it would be inappropriate to comment on that - I need a dialogue with the chairman."
Robson has not won any silverware since taking over from Ruud Gullit in 1999, although he has turned a struggling team into a squad challenging at the top end of the Premiership.
Robson was speaking after watching his side lose 1-0 to Sporting Lisbon in the final of the Newcastle-Gateshead Cup at St James' Park.
Earlier, Shepherd said: "Sir Bobby Robson's contract expires at the end of the season.
He added: "Bobby has given the club great service and we fervently hope he can bow out with a trophy."
Nufcmismanagement view:
Well done Freddy, you certainly know how to treat the only good management appointment you've made.
You turned your only good managerial appointment into a lame duck.
You get one thing right but you still manage to mess it up at the end.
Sir Bobby had a wealth of experience and you couldn't harness that experience for the good of the club.
If you had only kept your decision quiet then that experience could have been used for the benefit of the club. You could have gone to the end of the season then used Sir Bobby to help appoint his successor, surely that would have been better than appointing Souness?