Versatility works from back to front

There is a history to Ian Robertson's positional wanderlust. Around the capital this week the hot talk was that Tom Carr, having deployed the Ballymun Kickhams man as a central defender all winter, would select him at full forward for the start of the championship against Louth.

It would seem perverse, had the player not been Robertson, for ever since he first pulled on the pale blue jersey as a child, he got used to packing his suitcase and checking out every perspective available.

Alan Larkin, who coached Robertson at minor level in 1993, recalls overseeing the youngster's inaugural season as a nomad.

"I think he originally started out as a full forward with us, was switched to midfield and then settled in as a centre back. It's always been the way with Ian."

More truculent players might have demanded at least squatter's rights to one position but the quiet-spoken, er, attacker, is unfazed by all the journeying.

"My only preference is that I play down the middle. I don't really care so long as it's not the wing. I just grew up in those spots so I'm used to it. I don't mind the idea of playing as a forward, I like to get a score same as any other player - when I can."

Usually when a manager sticks utility player beside a player's name, it means he considers that youngster an asset worthy only of the utility room. In Robertson's case, though, the shuffling merely highlighted his versatility.

"Ian was always singled out as one to watch growing up," comments Larkin.

"He was and remains a very intelligent footballer. He was chosen unanimously by that 1993 team as their captain and even though he wasn't one to shout and rage before a match he really held their respect. He's a tremendously bright guy and I think his peers recognised that."

It was a heady time to be lining out for Dublin as a minor, an era when the senior squad was sequined with characters who conspired to create annual championship intrigue with all the twists and pathos of a high-class soap. In the summer of 1994, a few of the more prominent minors were hustled along to senior training by Pat O'Neill, just informal linking for future years.

Jason Sherlock was among the numbers.

"I think Alan (Larkin) maybe pushed for a few of us to be there," says Robertson. "But God, it was a thrill, I mean, I was still a fan of many of those lads. They were really welcoming - we were open to slagging and took it - but it was a brilliant experience."

It's hard to believe that nearly five years have passed since that time and that Robertson has been rattling around the confines of the panel ever since because, if anything, he seems to be emblematic of the new regime assembled by Carr. He has been partly blighted by injury over the seasons and also had the misfortune to mature at a time when Dublin was blessed with a preponderance of quality half backs. Patience was always going to be a prerequisite.

"I suppose it's true to say I'd be regarded as one of the newer players. I certainly feel as though I have a definite role this year and you do assume a certain level of responsibility over the younger lads fresh in. But it has been strange this year, not seeing the fellows who were there since I first came on the scene. Makes you grow up," he says.

And the Dublin team did just that over the winter, manufacturing impressive results until the last breaths of the league. Robertson had fallen victim to an injury by then and watched the defeat by Cork in the league final from the stands.

"It was a poor game. Our lack of consistency has been a source of concern and that was reflected in our play that day. I think we were more disappointed in ourselves than at losing, but we just moved on from it, concentrated on the championship."

Robertson has spent time easing himself back into training and clocking up the hours as a physicist in DCU. He specialises in Solid State Physics. The term sort of describes the Louth team Dublin meet tomorrow.

"They definitely have this latent talent. I know I'm expected to say this, but we really do expect a hard game. They have good players and just don't seem to win out. I watched them from the terraces against Meath last year and was astonished they didn't win. Just lack of belief or whatever."

But Robertson is, understandably, more preoccupied with what makes this Dublin team tick. He has tempered his own precocious ability for maybe too many seasons and all of a sudden, blueprints revolve around his frame. At whatever position.