| Question for those around in the Robson era 13:00 - Oct 12 with 5802 views | Jrm_72 |
One of the things that characterises our current fandom is the anxiety of McKenna getting poached by a "bigger club". For me, this is a new feeling - there was never any anxiety about Burley being poached, it was far more holding onto our players if we didn't go up.
So, I wondered, was there any poaching anxiety about Robson? I know its not a like for like, as we were in and around the top of Div 1 for a lot of his time and we are now, as we were in the Burley era, in and around the top of the division below. This means in the 70's/80's the list of "bigger jobs" is much smaller.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd probably say the bigger clubs would have been Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal, Man U (they were in their wilderness years but huge history). Villa I know were around the top but I would see them as level with us in that era. And of course England.
Was holding onto Robson a stress? What was it like when England came calling? |  | | |  |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 13:21 - Oct 12 with 4332 views | stonojnr |
I might be misremembering it, it was over 40 years ago, but I thought Robson had made it clear at the time, the only job he would consider taking him away from Town in that period, was the England job.
And there wasn't the kind of manager merry go round there is now, cliche I know but football was different then, but he had every chance to take Ipswich to the highest level, what could another top tier divison team offer him ? | | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 13:29 - Oct 12 with 4286 views | Blue_badge |
One big difference was the total lack of TWTD forum, facebook, etc., where everyone feels free to put their stresses on public display.
You might discuss such things with your mates down the pub, but there wasn't the constant stream of anxieties on show... we typically talked face to face for a while then forgot it over the next pint.
Also, during much of Robson's reign we felt equal to the Liverpool's, Arsenal's, etc., - it didn't take long for that self confidence to establish itself.
When England came calling, though, he went leaving a mixture of sadness and pride. |  | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 13:29 - Oct 12 with 4287 views | Keno |
There was this story around him calling off a move to Everton
"In the summer of 1977, Everton missed out on the best boss they never had ? a man who would have suited Everton and he knew it. Approached no more than four times, Bobby Robson never became Everton manager despite even accepting the job.
?We agreed a 10-year deal. It was the original offer I couldn?t refuse ? and I didn?t,? said Robson. However, after Sir John Moores made the deal public despite Robson?s request not to, the then Ipswich Town boss ripped up what he descried as ?a rather large cheque? and thus, he never became Everton manager.
Four times Everton tried to land Robson. Four times they failed. Indeed, what he said about the club showed just what the Blues had missed out on: ?Let?s face it, Everton are a magnificent club, every bit as big as Liverpool and success would elevate it to the stars. The club is one of the gems in the English crown." |  |
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| Question for those around in the Robson era on 13:46 - Oct 12 with 4206 views | 66notout |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 13:21 - Oct 12 by stonojnr |
I might be misremembering it, it was over 40 years ago, but I thought Robson had made it clear at the time, the only job he would consider taking him away from Town in that period, was the England job.
And there wasn't the kind of manager merry go round there is now, cliche I know but football was different then, but he had every chance to take Ipswich to the highest level, what could another top tier divison team offer him ? |
It was the club that said he would only leave Ipswich for the England job. Bobby was courted by many, among them Derby County, Leeds United, Sunderland, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, but he did agree to join Everton, who gave him a handsome signing-on fee and also agreed to buy his house to help speed things up. The story was leaked to the Daily Express and when he offered his resignation it was refused, at which point chairman Patrick Cobbold said they would only agree to release him if it was to England. | | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 14:17 - Oct 12 with 4123 views | Bluespeed225 |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 13:46 - Oct 12 by 66notout |
It was the club that said he would only leave Ipswich for the England job. Bobby was courted by many, among them Derby County, Leeds United, Sunderland, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, but he did agree to join Everton, who gave him a handsome signing-on fee and also agreed to buy his house to help speed things up. The story was leaked to the Daily Express and when he offered his resignation it was refused, at which point chairman Patrick Cobbold said they would only agree to release him if it was to England. |
I think Sunderland offered to double his money? | | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 14:24 - Oct 12 with 4103 views | Sharkey |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 13:46 - Oct 12 by 66notout |
It was the club that said he would only leave Ipswich for the England job. Bobby was courted by many, among them Derby County, Leeds United, Sunderland, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, but he did agree to join Everton, who gave him a handsome signing-on fee and also agreed to buy his house to help speed things up. The story was leaked to the Daily Express and when he offered his resignation it was refused, at which point chairman Patrick Cobbold said they would only agree to release him if it was to England. |
What would the law have said, I wonder? Was there just some sort of 'gentleman's agreement' by which no club would appoint a manager whose resignation had not been accepted by the employer?
I seem to remember that at that time it was extremely difficult for county cricketers to 'resign' from one county to sign for another, even if they were clearly unhappy where they were.( I'm not talking about players just wanting to move for more money, but for example players who might want to move because a team-mate had been hitting on their wife. ) Very few players ever left a county against its wishes. |  | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 14:33 - Oct 12 with 4064 views | ChampionsofInnsbruck |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 13:29 - Oct 12 by Keno |
There was this story around him calling off a move to Everton
"In the summer of 1977, Everton missed out on the best boss they never had ? a man who would have suited Everton and he knew it. Approached no more than four times, Bobby Robson never became Everton manager despite even accepting the job.
?We agreed a 10-year deal. It was the original offer I couldn?t refuse ? and I didn?t,? said Robson. However, after Sir John Moores made the deal public despite Robson?s request not to, the then Ipswich Town boss ripped up what he descried as ?a rather large cheque? and thus, he never became Everton manager.
Four times Everton tried to land Robson. Four times they failed. Indeed, what he said about the club showed just what the Blues had missed out on: ?Let?s face it, Everton are a magnificent club, every bit as big as Liverpool and success would elevate it to the stars. The club is one of the gems in the English crown." |
Credit to the Cobbolds there, allowing a good manager to leave and to just put it behind them once he did (and then didn't) and allow him to get on with the job here with no reprisals. In that era he would have probably won the League and European Cup with a club like Everton, so madness on their part. I am glad he stayed, who knows what we would have ended up like and we would have never won the FA Cup and UEFA Cup.
I think McKenna should be given a longer contract here now, I wouldn't be against 10 year deal with a large buyout. If he's done this in two years, I am confident in a decade, with the right resources, we will have some success. I can't see us going any further backward than where we are now either, and if this is the farthest we fall in that decade, I have no issue with being here. |  | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 15:17 - Oct 12 with 3975 views | Churchman |
There was no social media and by today’s standards little news coverage of poaching managers etc. in fact, very little was seen or heard of managers by todays standards. With the exception of Shankly and later Clough they sort of kept themselves to themselves. A few words on match of the day sometimes was about it.
Obviously the big names were known to mee at a young age - Bertie Mee, Nicholson, Joe Mercer, Revie, Shankly, Dave Sexton at Chelsea, then Robson and Clough, but I guess the latter did the most to increase their profile as he was one of the first Pundits (Poland at Wembley).
Managers at successful clubs tended to be there a long time and when Derby lost a relatively young Clough and Taylor it was a surprise. It was said at the time that Robson had the best job in football. Regardless, he was ambitious and nearly took the Everton job.
However, being able to build a football club up without interference was rare even back then and there were no better people to work for than the Cobbolds, even if you did have to sacrifice your liver. It must have been a fun place to be.
Your assessment of the bigger clubs of the time is about right though you’d have to add Leeds, Man City and Spurs to that. Villa for much of the 70s were in the second or third division. Clubs like Derby, Forest, Ipswich were mid sized clubs over achieving. I guess the same could be said for Wolves, Burnley and co 15 years earlier. |  | | |
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| Question for those around in the Robson era on 15:30 - Oct 12 with 3940 views | ronnyd |
Don't think that the mercenaries that litter the game now were really around in those days. Players were loyal and it was a more level playing field,  in those days too. The real pitches were far from level by the way. | | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 15:36 - Oct 12 with 3910 views | Metal_Hacker |
Strangely enough I don't recall ever thinking about him being poached as it was slightly different in the fact that I only possessed pre-teen naivety and Bobby leaving never ever entered my head or was it spoke about .The only thing I remember at the time was him being toted for the England job on the odd occasion should something happen to Ron Greenwood - the rest is history
In answer to your question it was never personally on my radar |  |
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| Question for those around in the Robson era on 16:47 - Oct 12 with 3787 views | backwaywhen |
Robson was very loyal and grateful that Town firstly gave him the job and secondly the board stuck with him , as the first 2 years proved hard work for him , he turned the ship and almost had a free hand in the big decision making ……give a tradesman the right tools and he will do the job for you , we must keep McKenna sweet and he will remain loyal ….In McKenna we trust 💙 | | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 17:16 - Oct 12 with 3705 views | JohnTy |
Man Utd would have appointed Robson in 1981 in preference to Ron Atkinson, but he was fairly clear publicly that he thought United had treated his friend Dave Sexton badly, and that was the end of the matter.
In the early years nobody would have thought of poaching Robson. He had come to Ipswich, a struggling 1st Division side, as third choice after an unsuccessful period at Fulham. There was some talk of him being sacked in the early years and rumours/hopes that Alf Ramsey would be brought back.
McKenna has achieved success far earlier, but from a much lower base. A big difference between McKenna and every previous Ipswich manager is his coaching experience at the top level of the game. This added to his early success makes him a far more attractive proposition for other clubs.
At the same time he has already gathered round him a tight knit squad and staff that is obviously very loyal to him, far quicker than Robson was able to do. This I suspect would be a factor which would make him think twice about leaving too soon. |  | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 17:23 - Oct 12 with 3674 views | bluelagos |
Have you read his autobiography? He is clear that he wouldn't walk out mid contract and I don't think he ever did in his career. (England excepted and that was agreed)
Barcelona definitely made approaches but he stayed loyal to Towen. Was only a kid so don't really remember worrying about it. As others say, social media today means you hear far more rumour and speculation now than you ever did back in the day.
If you wanted rumours you had to phone a premium line number and there was rarely anything of interest. Just a bit of a scam really and I got a proper thick ear when running up a phone bill as a teenager :-) |  |
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| Question for those around in the Robson era on 18:29 - Oct 12 with 3582 views | Vic |
No it wasn’t a stress! As others have said, no social media, no TWTD so no Frimmers et al to worry and pontificate over every little thing. We knew only what Dave Allard wrote in the EADT x and he never gave much away. It was a different world, and to lose our end manager to the England job was an honour, though it filled. OST of us with dread as we kind of knew our best days were behind us. |  |
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| Question for those around in the Robson era on 19:16 - Oct 12 with 3487 views | gosblue |
I could be remembering it wrong but the club and us fans were much more laid back in those days. I guess as some have said previously, there wasn’t a daily overload of information and rumour and tan power wasn’t really a thing. The same could be said about many things back then such as the royal family, politics and economics. What we didn’t know we didn’t worry about. | | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 19:26 - Oct 12 with 3453 views | Jrm_72 |
This has been a really useful and informative read. Thanks all for your contributions | | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 19:37 - Oct 12 with 3423 views | FrimleyBlue |
Can't speak of the Robson times
But the Burley years.. I can't remember hearing many wanting rid despite year after year of heartbreak.
But then I can't remember many mangers getting sacked as easy as they are now.. I might be remembering it wrong... but I swear managers and clubs were more loyal back then.. |  |
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| Question for those around in the Robson era on 20:46 - Oct 12 with 3336 views | Churchman |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 19:37 - Oct 12 by FrimleyBlue |
Can't speak of the Robson times
But the Burley years.. I can't remember hearing many wanting rid despite year after year of heartbreak.
But then I can't remember many mangers getting sacked as easy as they are now.. I might be remembering it wrong... but I swear managers and clubs were more loyal back then.. |
The Burley years were much closer to now than Robson’s time. You have to remember that in the 70s there was one, maybe two with the European Cup, live club matches a season. MOTD was one recorded main game plus a bit of another. Match of the Week, the same.
Football was on the back pages of the papers, including the EADT. Nip to the Cornhill for your Green Un for a bit more and same day report. Radio: limited. Shoot for a teenager was good - image for the Kevin Beattie statue was on the front page.
At least in Burley’s time football was far more in the news. Talk Sport didn’t have rights to the PL so focussed on the Championship. Fanzines, the internet late 90s - things were changing rapidly.
Clubs did sack managers more frequently in the 90s than they did in the 70s, but nothing compared to now. This is very much a subjective view over time, so if people challenge it - they’ll probably be right! | | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 20:59 - Oct 12 with 3316 views | Coastalblue |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 20:46 - Oct 12 by Churchman |
The Burley years were much closer to now than Robson’s time. You have to remember that in the 70s there was one, maybe two with the European Cup, live club matches a season. MOTD was one recorded main game plus a bit of another. Match of the Week, the same.
Football was on the back pages of the papers, including the EADT. Nip to the Cornhill for your Green Un for a bit more and same day report. Radio: limited. Shoot for a teenager was good - image for the Kevin Beattie statue was on the front page.
At least in Burley’s time football was far more in the news. Talk Sport didn’t have rights to the PL so focussed on the Championship. Fanzines, the internet late 90s - things were changing rapidly.
Clubs did sack managers more frequently in the 90s than they did in the 70s, but nothing compared to now. This is very much a subjective view over time, so if people challenge it - they’ll probably be right! |
Whilst I was probably more familiar with very late 70's into 80's I'd agree with all of that, but make an addition.
Not everybody was a football fan then, these days the world and his dog support Man City, Chelsea or whoever, back then you had a team and you followed football and principally your team, or it largely passed you by.
you might watch a WC, if you were really lucky England may even have qualified for it, you probably watched the FA Cup final and a fair bit of the all day event it was, but beyond that? Probably nothing.
Even with all of the social media, sports channels, online coverage and all the rest, I still think the biggest difference today is that virtually everybody you meet has an opinion on football and a team (likely a Premiership team who have won a trophy in the last few years) |  |
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| Question for those around in the Robson era on 21:00 - Oct 12 with 3308 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 20:46 - Oct 12 by Churchman |
The Burley years were much closer to now than Robson’s time. You have to remember that in the 70s there was one, maybe two with the European Cup, live club matches a season. MOTD was one recorded main game plus a bit of another. Match of the Week, the same.
Football was on the back pages of the papers, including the EADT. Nip to the Cornhill for your Green Un for a bit more and same day report. Radio: limited. Shoot for a teenager was good - image for the Kevin Beattie statue was on the front page.
At least in Burley’s time football was far more in the news. Talk Sport didn’t have rights to the PL so focussed on the Championship. Fanzines, the internet late 90s - things were changing rapidly.
Clubs did sack managers more frequently in the 90s than they did in the 70s, but nothing compared to now. This is very much a subjective view over time, so if people challenge it - they’ll probably be right! |
It does for me seem really brutal now. But then I guess investments made in football now are for more of an immediate return of some form rather than long term interest in having ownership of a club.
Does the town still do the green un? Used to love that | |
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| Question for those around in the Robson era on 21:36 - Oct 12 with 3272 views | TheBoyBlue |
I suppose top jobs didn't come up as often in those days as English clubs didn't sack their managers after every sticky patch back then. | |
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| Question for those around in the Robson era on 22:06 - Oct 12 with 3221 views | Churchman |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 21:00 - Oct 12 by FrimleyBlue |
It does for me seem really brutal now. But then I guess investments made in football now are for more of an immediate return of some form rather than long term interest in having ownership of a club.
Does the town still do the green un? Used to love that |
I don’t think it does, FB.. I think with the internet, EADT, instant coverage the Green Un stopped many years ago. I can’t remember whether it was an EADT or Evening Star publication, but I do miss it. | | | |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 22:35 - Oct 12 with 3161 views | monty_radio |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 17:23 - Oct 12 by bluelagos |
Have you read his autobiography? He is clear that he wouldn't walk out mid contract and I don't think he ever did in his career. (England excepted and that was agreed)
Barcelona definitely made approaches but he stayed loyal to Towen. Was only a kid so don't really remember worrying about it. As others say, social media today means you hear far more rumour and speculation now than you ever did back in the day.
If you wanted rumours you had to phone a premium line number and there was rarely anything of interest. Just a bit of a scam really and I got a proper thick ear when running up a phone bill as a teenager :-) |
Yeah - 3 premium minutes in, and still no actual information! | |
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| Question for those around in the Robson era on 22:39 - Oct 12 with 3135 views | Coastalblue |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 22:35 - Oct 12 by monty_radio |
Yeah - 3 premium minutes in, and still no actual information! |
I've said this on here before, but I think my Clubcall bill might have actually paid for Stuart Slater. | |
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| Question for those around in the Robson era on 22:40 - Oct 12 with 3132 views | monty_radio |
| Question for those around in the Robson era on 20:46 - Oct 12 by Churchman |
The Burley years were much closer to now than Robson’s time. You have to remember that in the 70s there was one, maybe two with the European Cup, live club matches a season. MOTD was one recorded main game plus a bit of another. Match of the Week, the same.
Football was on the back pages of the papers, including the EADT. Nip to the Cornhill for your Green Un for a bit more and same day report. Radio: limited. Shoot for a teenager was good - image for the Kevin Beattie statue was on the front page.
At least in Burley’s time football was far more in the news. Talk Sport didn’t have rights to the PL so focussed on the Championship. Fanzines, the internet late 90s - things were changing rapidly.
Clubs did sack managers more frequently in the 90s than they did in the 70s, but nothing compared to now. This is very much a subjective view over time, so if people challenge it - they’ll probably be right! |
"Clubs did sack managers more frequently in the 90s"
Yep - wasn't it in the 90s (I think) that Town had a season when 4 teams they had defeated on the previous Saturday lost their managers on the Monday morning? | |
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