Legendary former Town manager Sir Bobby Robson has hit back at criticism aimed at him at the time of the deal which took Darren Ambrose to Newcastle for a cut-price £1 million fee.

Robson was attacked by some for seeming to profit from Town's financial position. The Magpies' boss says that organising the financial side of a move is not down to him: "I watched Darren and my scouts saw a lot of him before we decided he was a player to enhance our squad.

"I said to my chairman 'There's a young player we should have here' and he went off to do the best deal possible for Newcastle United.

"That's how any chairman would handle it, isn't it? I didn't get involved in negotiations myself — that's the chairman's job."

Ambrose is yet to make his Newcastle debut, although he scored in the first of three appearances for the reserves. He has spent much of his time at St James' Park still recovering from the injury he sustained in the Norwich game.

Photo: Action Images

Ipswich Town Polls