Bryan Robson Quotes

“They wanted to jump on their own bandwagon. Bobby Charlton had never made it as a manager. Bobby Moore hadn't either. I think they never stopped trying to put me in the same category. That was the road they went down with me.”

— Bryan Robson

A lot of people, some of them close to me as well, have said that I sacrificed myself by doing what I did in bringing Terry on board. I didn't see it that way.

— Bryan Robson

“I've left Boro in the Premiership, which was always what I wanted to do. Actually that's not quite true. I took them to three cup finals, where they'd never been before. But I had set my eyes on being the first manager in their history to deliver a major trophy.”

— Bryan Robson

“You can't let players do what they wish and be professional. That's a fact. As for the team, Boro had two internationals when I got there in 1995. Now they have more than 15. And they didn't cost the fortune some suggest.”

— Bryan Robson

“Could I have walked out then? If I had, Terry wouldn't have accepted the job.”

— Bryan Robson

In a way, certain sections of the media always wanted to knock me because I had captained my country and been skipper at Old Trafford. It was all a bit odd really.

— Bryan Robson

“In the end, a small section of the crowd, maybe 2,000 to 3,000, turned against me. And that was it. Inside the club they know your best intentions, but the minority shout louder than the rest.”

— Bryan Robson

All the stuff about being a drinking club, or having players who were not good enough, I treat as rubbish.

— Bryan Robson

Last season when things weren't working out, I thought we needed a different voice around the place.

— Bryan Robson

“I had to make a change. It was no slight on my staff either. We'd all been at Boro for seven years. But certain players had got too familiar with the set-up. I had to turn it round. Terry was the one man I could think of to do it. So I went for him.”

— Bryan Robson

I was determined to get it right on the pitch. Then, if I had to leave at the end of the season, so be it. I never felt threatened or isolated by the arrangement. We worked together and it worked out.

— Bryan Robson

“If I'd been able to put the collection together in one go, say over two years, we'd have had a special team, most wouldn't stay. One or two glory seasons and they were off. To them, the north-east was too far out. They wanted to be with the big hitters.”

— Bryan Robson

Nobody is that thick-skinned that it doesn't hurt you. Still, you always know what happens in football. I have got used to criticism, I suppose, having been high profile with England and Man U.

— Bryan Robson

That didn't happen. Still, I had six pretty good years and one where I didn't reach what I wanted for myself or the club. I don't accept that makes you a bad manager or a poor coach. If that is the view I strongly disagree with it.

— Bryan Robson

It wasn't going to be our day on the night.

— Bryan Robson

“We're going to start the game at nil-nil and go out and try to get some goals.”

— Bryan Robson

“Winning the Championship is like taking a 26-year ball and chain from around our legs. Now we can go forward, and hopefully dominate English football for the next 10 years, like Liverpool did.”

— Bryan Robson

“When you beat Arsenal, they are a good three points.”

— Bryan Robson

“We've got to be outstanding when we start and let other people chase against us.”

— Bryan Robson

The first time I saw Giggsy, he was playing for Salford Boys against United's apprentices. He was thin and wiry but he just glided past four of our apprentices as if they weren't even there, then he put the ball in the back of the net. I just thought 'This kid's an absolute natural'

— Bryan Robson

And at the end of the season you can only do as well as what you have done

— Bryan Robson

This is the one-off occasion and you can't get any bigger occasion than that

— Bryan Robson

As far as I'm concerned, that is the end of the matter. We have a big game against Birmingham on Saturday and that is where our focus lies.

— Bryan Robson

“Paolo di Canio is capable of scoring the goal he scored.”

— Bryan Robson

“If we played like that every week, we wouldn't be so inconsistent.”

— Bryan Robson