How much longer for Bobby? By 'The Insider' from www.soccernet.com

Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 0 Newcastle United

In an era when foreign ideas and the quality of boiled chicken and pasta for pre-match meals seems to be more important than old-school management, you wonder what place the likes of football knights Alex Ferguson and Bobby Robson have in the modern game.




Robson: No smoke without fire? (TonyO'Brien/Empics)

As Sir Alex suffered one of the biggest indignities of his managerial career in the Manchester derby, you couldn't help but feel Sir Bobby was struggling to find enjoyment from his day out in the North London rain.

The tales that have been emanating from St James' Park this season leave you with little doubt that there can be no smoke without fire. Robson reportedly resigned back in October after their poor start to the season, only for the story to be denied.

Then there was the suggestion that other high-profile managers were being lined up to take his job, followed by his apparent bust-up with Alan Shearer when he dropped him for the UEFA Cup game last month. The last Newcastle manager who dropped Saint Alan lasted about three days in his job, so at least Bobby has beaten that record!

There was a time when the genial nature and experience of the veteran former England boss left many to assume that he may see his 100th birthday out as Newcastle manager, but since their Champions League exit in the preliminary round stage at the start of this season, Robson has been fighting a long and apparently fruitless battle against his doubters.

They may still land fourth spot and return to the top-level European football Newcastle's board now demand, but this is a season when those fanatical Toon Army followers were expecting so much more.

And as the grandfather of English football paced up and down the White Hart Lane touchline in front of the media who have so often tormented him in his remarkable career, he appeared to be lacking the life and passion he showed in his early days at Tyneside.

However, it is wrong to dismiss the man who has revitalised Newcastle United without some reflection. Those who criticise Robson neglect the fact that he has taken a club that has not lifted a major honour in the modern era and positioned them back among the Premiership's elite - and the only question now is whether he is the man to take the club onto the next level.

And even though this game ended in defeat, Newcastle were unfortunate losers. Robson's front two of Craig Bellamy and Alan Shearer tormented the Spurs centre-back pairing of Gary Doherty and Anthony Gardner all afternoon and the Magpies often maligned defence kept the dangerous trio of Keane, Kanoute and Defoe quiet throughout.

The first half was a tepid affair that was only sparked into life by long-range shots and a penalty appeal that infuriated Robson and his players. When Aaron Hughes tumbled in the box after 26 minutes, it looked like a spot-kick.

From where we were sitting - and that was the same view enjoyed by the Newcastle bench - it seemed that Maurico Taricco had tripped the Northern Ireland international in the box and the fury of the visiting players further confirmed Robson's belief that his team had been denied. His angst was taken out on referee Webb as he confronted him in the tunnel at half time, pointing and shouting with venom.

They say the sign of a manager's authority is how his player's respond to a half-time team talk and Newcastle were invigorated at the start of the second half. Passing the ball superbly, they came close to breaking down Tottenham's leaky defence on a couple of occasions, but they lacked a cutting edge.

Newcastle were on top, but the opener so nearly went Tottenham's way after 68 minutes as Defoe hooked an effort towards goal and Jonathan Woodgate was at full stretch to scoop it off the line. That before the ultimate indignity befell Robson and his team as substitute Stephane Dalmat inspired the winner.

His low cross on 85 minutes would have been tapped in by Keane were it not for the intervention of Andy O'Brien, but the Newcastle defender did the job for his Ireland team-mate and Sir Bobby could only hang his head on the touchline resign himself to another defeat.

'We didn't deserve that,' he protested. 'If anything we deserved to win and the penalty decision that went against us is a nonsense. I confronted the referee and told him that he has to have the courage to give that decision. It was a stone-wall penalty. What was he doing, not seeing it?

'He also got it wrong when Bellamy went into the box and Gardner pulled him back. Then we were hit hard in the last minute and it is a massive blow to us. Our first way defeat in a while and now the Charlton game next week is massive for us.'

The suggestion has been that Robson is a tired figure these days and he appeared to be showing signs of fatigue as he faced the press again today. 'What is failure for us this season, I don't know,' he added. 'The top three teams are away and gone this season and fourth has to be our target. We should be there challenging for that position, but I don't know. It's wide open, up for grabs and we have to go after it.

'I want to be where the top three are. We are not there. In the transfer window, the top three clubs bought three great players for more than £10m each. No one else has money to compete with that at the moment, so my job is getting tougher all the time.'

David Pleat's ever jovial press briefing focused on the influence of Dalmat for the final quarter of the game. 'We took off Kanoute went for a more balanced line-up in the final few minutes,' stated the acting-Spurs boss. 'In the end, fortune favoured the brave and we got the all-important goal and I cannot fault the players for their commitment and determination.'



Frederic Kanoute gets his cross away from Laurent Robert (TonyO'Brien/Empics)

Pleat knows that his career as a Premiership manager is almost certain to end this summer. You just wonder whether Sir Bobby Robson's time in the high-pressure world he has lived in for such a long time will have a similar lifespan.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Anthony Gardner - On a day when the embarrassing Dean Richards was finally dropped, Gardner showed that he looks a much better player when he is not playing alongside Tottenham's £8m defender.

FOOD WATCH: A rather tasty moussaka with rice, with meat pies on offer at half-time. We will come back here again!

PRESS BOX CHATTER: Another one out. It seemed that the test match in Jamaica was of more interest to most of the hacks on a when England's cricketers ran riot.

SIR BOBBY WATCH: His side deserved better, but that is the story of Newcastle's season. You don't expect a man in his 70s to bound around the touchline, but his shoulders were sagging for much of the afternoon.

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