John Robertson (Robbo)

[Libero]

if only more people in football could have your honesty and willingness to speak to the fans football would be a much better game.

i applaud your open-ness and desire to answer all of these questions

also thanks for giving me and many others some of the proudest and most memorable times while following caley thistle

[Guest sally]

Hi CALEY100

apologies and would gladly do it again the next time we win a trophy x

captain

very suspicous indeed i would warn club 1st time fine 25k or 3 points 2nd time then 50k or 6 points 3rd time that would ensure all was in working order

kind regrds

robbo

[Yngwie]

At any of your clubs did people above you ever attempt to influence your managerial decisions? Hearts is an obvious one where that is said to have taken place, but Dick Campbell told me that a certain County director would offer him "suggestions" on tactics - which needless to say he didn't react well to!

And was us signing Niculae a good or bad move?

[Guest sally]

HI

no one has ever influenced any of decisions from above the hearts situation was explained to me by Phil Anderton and i did not like the way it was to be run they offered me the assistant managers role but that would have meant donald losing his job and i could never do that bto him so we agreed to part company mutualy i was not sacked.

as for county director who would pass on tactical tips yes i think i know the one and to be fair is parobably still passing them on however he is a director ant thus must be given the respect his position deserves

kind regards

robbo

Hi YNGWIE

Marius in my opinion was a very good player and proved that in the euro championships it braised the profile of the club and was a good platform for him we received a good fee so it looked lika a good deal all round i never m,et him but am told he was top bloke it was always going to cause some concern in the dressing room but when you are offerred a player of his pedigree it would be hsrd to turn down

kind regrds

robbo

[RednBlackComeback]

Aye special thanks for that special day Robbo.

[Yngwie]

Are there affordable players in the First Division who could improve our first team?

[StockholmSyndrome]

if only more people in football could have your honesty and willingness to speak to the fans football would be a much better game.

i applaud your open-ness and desire to answer all of these questions

also thanks for giving me and many others some of the proudest and most memorable times while following caley thistle

I second all that. Football should be for the fans, so it's really nice to have someone that interacts with the fans, and such a legend at that.

Just wondered, John, if you think that the current talk of reorganising Scottish football will actuall come to anything, and if it does will it actually make a difference?

(Ps, when you log back into your other account there's a pm waiting for you that I sent earlier)

[Council Juice]

I dont know if as a manager you've suffered heavy fan critisism ever, but if like Criag Brewster you were taking alot of flak, Is it a case f not reading papers etc or would you ever let it influence your tactics? (say the fans are crying out for a 4-4-2 at home with certain players as your team have a shoddy home record and you havent been ) Would you ever let it influence your team selection?

Should managers be more open to think about what fans are saying (but not nessesarily employ it) or should they doggedly ignore them and in some cases tell them they dont know what they're on about and YOUR the manager and YOU pick the team?*

Would you ever try and afix your natural way of playing the game to atone more to the way the fans of that club/nation prefer it ie Ajax and the Netherlands are traditionally 4-3-3 etc?

Please note* I dont want your fix on Craig Brewster. I realise as a fellow manager it would be wrong of you to talk about how others do their job.

I want to know how you go or would go about it

[Guest birdog]

John,

Please forgive me as I don't wish to cause offence but I have noticed in your threads that you are using the term we a lot in in your replies, you have been to four? clubs as manager since leaving ICT. A certain user on this site tells us to "read between the lines" and I am starting to think that possibly, given the situation with the fan's attitude towards Brewster atm that you may be gauging opinions on whether you may be welcomed back. If that is the case I would certainly be happy to see you back but if I am way off the mark due to the influence of the cider then you have my full apology for this post.

[stevico1]

John,

Please forgive me as I don't wish to cause offence but I have noticed in your threads that you are using the term we a lot in in your replies, you have been to four? clubs as manager since leaving ICT. A certain user on this site tells us to "read between the lines" and I am starting to think that possibly, given the situation with the fan's attitude towards Brewster atm that you may be gauging opinions on whether you may be welcomed back. If that is the case I would certainly be happy to see you back but if I am way off the mark due to the influence of the cider then you have my full apology for this post.

The way I read it was Robbo was responding to some critisism towards the fitness of the players uder his control

[Guest birdog]

John,

Please forgive me as I don't wish to cause offence but I have noticed in your threads that you are using the term we a lot in in your replies, you have been to four? clubs as manager since leaving ICT. A certain user on this site tells us to "read between the lines" and I am starting to think that possibly, given the situation with the fan's attitude towards Brewster atm that you may be gauging opinions on whether you may be welcomed back. If that is the case I would certainly be happy to see you back but if I am way off the mark due to the influence of the cider then you have my full apology for this post.

The way I read it was Robbo was responding to some critisism towards the fitness of the players uder his control

Reading back you are correct. damn the cider, Sorry.

[Guest sally]

hi everyone

yes there are a lot of good players but as said previously the gography does not help and i personal would want players here commited to the club and not primarily for the money

as for scotttish football i would like to see real football and fans involved i personaly would like to change the promption relegation to spl along the lines of thr rugby super league freeze the leagues at moment i woul put Hamilton down and St johns up 4th place Partick woul travel to 3rd place livi in a one off game split gate and tv the winners would then travel to pars in a one of game split gate tv money and then winners would travel to play st mirren one off game odds still stacked in favour of spl side but at least give the div 1 teams something to play for

as for teams i started with pele s 3-5-2 but along with donald decided we needed to go to back 4 but release another forward up front 4 4 3 we tried it first game of spl but realised it was not going to work and due to every game being awawy from home adopted th 451 formation but with a forward off the front you have to flexible and adapt during games especially if things not going great

i always enc ouraged players to be attacking but wary of their defensive duties when required remeber we had different mind set no games at the stedium

kind regards

robbo

[Joonya]

Hi Robbo - great to have you on the boards. This, to me anyway, feels like a breath of fresh air in terms of communication towards the fans, possibly exceeding peoples efforts to re-instate Boardroom Banta. so - Thank you.

Whilst I have the opertunity, myself and Yompa (aka Interthenet) will be looking for new recruits for the 7th annual Highland March come the end of the season. How do you fancy becoming the first celebrity to take on the challenge? You were after all at the end of season party before we set off on the very first Highland March (you gave your jacket to TheFly for his trips from London), so it only seems fitting to have you on board in future...

Or, of course, you could always take on an even bigger challenge and join Beatonio, Lady Madonna et al on next years Tartan March from Oslo to Hampden. LoL.

Once again, welcome to the boards and thanks.

[CaleyD]

4 4 3 we tried it first game of spl but realised it was not going to work

I think I have some ideas as to why the 4-4-3 might not have worked

[stevico1]

Hi Robbo - great to have you on the boards. This, to me anyway, feels like a breath of fresh air in terms of communication towards the fans, possibly exceeding peoples efforts to re-instate Boardroom Banta. so - Thank you.

Whilst I have the opertunity, myself and Yompa (aka Interthenet) will be looking for new recruits for the 7th annual Highland March come the end of the season. How do you fancy becoming the first celebrity to take on the challenge?

first celebrity I thought I was invited to take part

[Guest sally]

hi birdog

i am here to put to an end the speculation on fitness myths who did what who picked who how we found players how we got best out of them i was fed up with the failures and un substantiated rumours about mysef donald and the players training etc we have a manager and it is imperative that we all get behind him and more importantly the players

kind regards

john

[tm4tj]

always best to use a keeper Johnny.

[Joe DiMaggio]

HI

no one has ever influenced any of decisions from above the hearts situation was explained to me by Phil Anderton and i did not like the way it was to be run they offered me the assistant managers role but that would have meant donald losing his job and i could never do that bto him so we agreed to part company mutualy i was not sacked.

as for county director who would pass on tactical tips yes i think i know the one and to be fair is parobably still passing them on however he is a director ant thus must be given the respect his position deserves

kind regards

robbo

Were you offered to be assistant under George Burley?

Do you now regret leaving ICT to join Hearts?

Also I think the 'myth' about the fitness thing is that some of the players appeared to be fitter when Brewster first took over, most notably Barry Wilson who was told to lose a stone and get in shape, which he did. Do you think there was a problem with Wilson's fitness towards the end of your time at ICT and if not then why did Brewster deem him not to be fit enough? I think it created an impression that Brewster was more fitness focused and therfore improved the overall fitness standard of the team and led to fans wondering why he wasnt at the same fitness level under your management.

Edited December 12, 2008 by Joe DiMaggio

[Guest sally]

HI gringo

if i am available i would certainly do it though you may have to settle for just part of the trip caleyd my apologies 4 3 3 !!!! jesus you boys are tough

kind regards

robbo

[Joonya]

Hi Robbo - great to have you on the boards. This, to me anyway, feels like a breath of fresh air in terms of communication towards the fans, possibly exceeding peoples efforts to re-instate Boardroom Banta. so - Thank you.

Whilst I have the opertunity, myself and Yompa (aka Interthenet) will be looking for new recruits for the 7th annual Highland March come the end of the season. How do you fancy becoming the first celebrity to take on the challenge?

first celebrity I thought I was invited to take part

although you may have had the first celeb invite, you're yet to take part (theres always HM7 - LoL)

HI gringo

if i am available i would certainly do it though you may have to settle for just part of the trip caleyd my apologies 4 3 3 !!!! jesus you boys are tough

kind regards

robbo

firstly - My status as 'Gringo' is now official - robbo says so. hehe

Secondly, any part of the highland march is fine robbo. plenty of training days planned for the new year leading up to event, so you're welcome to join us for those too. Experiances and info at highlandmarch.co.uk

[Guest birdog]

hi birdog

i am here to put to an end the speculation on fitness myths who did what who picked who how we found players how we got best out of them i was fed up with the failures and un substantiated rumours about mysef donald and the players training etc we have a manager and it is imperative that we all get behind him and more importantly the players

kind regards

john

Thanks for that John, like I say I apologise for making assumptions when I misread your posts.

[Guest sally]

Hi Joe

yes i was approached to join hearts again under burley but i dont think he was aware of it so i politely declined as did not see the point barry was and still is a very fit boy and as said fitness is a big big part of the week but so are things like team shape set plays possession so every manager has his set week as said i have used my last few months to re think various aspects of the game and have some very fresh new thoughts th ebreak has done me no harm and looking forward to my next challenge i think a lot of people forget mICT was my 1st job i was going through a very tough ndivorce and did not know anyone up here now i am happily re married much more mature and calmer but with the same steelt determination and passion to be the very best i can be

kind regards

john

[stevico1]

HI gringo

if i am available i would certainly do it though you may have to settle for just part of the trip caleyd my apologies 4 3 3 !!!! jesus you boys are tough

kind regards

robbo

Well if robbos up for it I will also take part

[Guest sally]

Hi EVERYONE

Its now 9pm and i promised sally that i would finish at that time and hand back her laptop corrie/eastenders finished so play time over for me any last questions? as said just wanted to right a few wrongs and dispell any rumours i wont post next week as it is important that you got my official view

remenber KEEP BELEIVNG or my personal mantra at moment NIL NISI OPTIMUM 'nothing but the best'

kind regards to all thank you

robbo

[tm4tj]

This has been great Robbo and a welcome break from the Brew bashing. What a great weekly forum this would be.

Edited December 12, 2008 by themann4thejob
none of your business