Captain Marvel. A name well earned.
Dispatches: ‘How to Buy a Football Club’ secretly filmed Robson telling undercover reporters posing as potential purchasers of a football club, how to make money out of owning a club.
Robbo was quoted as saying:
‘Football lost its sporting thing when the money started coming in and Sky TV and all that. Football’s a business.’
Wow! Whatever next? And here’s me thinking Malcolm Glazer, John W Henry, Randy Lerner and Daniel Levy were all in it for love.
Robbo then went even further advising the reporters: ‘If you want big money, Sheffield Wednesday is the one to do it with. It could be a really big club. Loan deals are the key. If you can get really good players from the Premier League to come down, then that’s your best route.’ also commenting that getting them promoted to the Premier League could be worth £300 million.
Well f*ck me. Loaning players from the Premier League, is a good idea and getting promoted to the top tier can make your club worth much more. This is really quite a revelation no wonder there’s been a media outcry that Robson had the audacity to make such claims.
The reason the anti-United media have jumped on the kick Robson while he’s down campaign, is because the former Middlesboro boss, advised the reporters how to own two football clubs. Robson stated: It is how you name it, because you’re only allowed to own one club.’
That seems to be the smoking gun to many in the media, but what does that really prove? Robson was probably a tad naive speaking to people he didn’t really know about how there are ways round football club ownership, but was he blatantly and actively involved in corruption?
I’d argue he wasn’t, he was merely stating loopholes that anyone who bothers to look into it could have discovered.
Some disgruntled United fans have even tweeted that Robson should be sacked as his role as ambassador to the club.
Yeah why not? Let’s sack a player who at one time was arguably the sole reason United weren’t sitting in the second tier of English football, for being a little naive.
Robson played for United for 13 years with the sort of dedication, commitment and drive that only Roy Keane has ever come close to.
Some Reds may be upset by his actions and feel he’s damaged both his and the club’s reputation, but I’d argue he’s the unfortunate puppet in another “scoop” merely aimed at digging dirt on the one club always guaranteed to give you viewers.
The programme even tried to stick the knife into Sir Alex Ferguson, with one of the men being exposed -Thai FA advisor Joe Sim claiming to be mates with the United boss and even showing pictures of them together on his phone.
Sim claimed that Fergie took time off from managing United to give him betting tips and promised to loan him players.
Sir Alex’s lawyers subsequently released this statement:
‘It would be fair to say he (Sir Alex) does not see their relationship in the same close way that Mr Sim appears to have represented it.
‘He has never discussed the possibility of loaning any Manchester United players. He may have on occasions given an opinion on the likely outcome of matches but only in the course of normal social discussion.’
The fact that Channel 4 had gone to such lengths to try and involve Sir Alex in their programme when it was obvious from the start he had nothing to do with any of it, was nothing short of pathetic.
Ferguson’s integrity has to be taken into question he was sacked by St Mirren for improper conduct.
The nepotism shown towards his son’s such as breaking transfers rules for Jason, dodgy loans at Preston.
Fergie got sacked bcause he argue that club to PAY his players wage free of taxes.
Nepotism?! Yeah SURE. Thats WHY your stadium has a new name “ETTIHAD” Hypocrit…
As a schoolboy, I watched BR score twice against my home team in the 1983 cup final replay. For years I respected this man, especially for his England performances and his Captain Marvel persona.
When I recently heard that he had cancer I attempted to leave a message of support on the MUFC website, wishing him well, but was unable to do so because of site problems.
Bryan, I now think you are a sellout and a knob. I hate modern football with a vengeance. Parasites and mercenaries to a ‘man’.
The problem is the media – press, papers call them what you want, together with the people who listen to them. They are obsessed with the negative. If someone does something good in this nation, out come all the bloodsuckers looking for a way to bring them down. Bryan Robson is a legend, but at the same time he’s human. Most of us would fall over on something if we were set up the way Robbo was. These people are so desperate for stories that they now look to create them. Maybe this thing with Rupert Murdoch and the News of the World is the start of something good. Don’t listen to the news they create, stop watching their programs, and reading there papers. If they report a lie, or create an unfair story, lets take them on…..
Eugh. If the media hadn’t discovered and then reported on the phone hacking you wouldn’t be hearing about it now. And if Robson hadn’t taken up a position as the ambassador of a company with such dubious credentials he wouldn’t be in the mess he is now. You’re right that he’s human, and unfortunately he’s made the conscious decision that he wants even more money. His greed has got him into trouble, and now he’s paying the price.
And how dare the author of this piece bring in the fact that he has recently had cancer? What the hell does that have to do with anything?! His illness was unfortunate, but don’t use it as emotional blackmail on his behalf. Jesus…
It’s relevant because this programme was filmed months ago yet only just aired, at a time when Robson has only recently recovered from his illness.
I’m not using it to emotionally blackmail anyone, merely pointing out that he’s just gotten over one drama only to be confronted with another.
One persons greed is just another persons ambition, Robbo hasn’t turned into a villain overnight. How many of us would turn down an opportunity to make some money based on our professional knowledge. He was a world-class player and had he been playing today would have been on a salary to match any of the top players. He has to be thinking that he came along a little too early, and he never made the expected heights as a manager. Why shouldn’t he have a slice of the silly money going around in the sport today?. There have been no laws broken and he’s done nothing most people wouldn’t have done themselves given the opportunity. His illness is relative in the sense that you don’t kick a dog when he’s down, something this country appears to thrive on. As for the media reporting the phone hacking, why do you think they did that? conscience, sense of fair play? ………. I don’t think so.