Names fail sagacious Robson but little else

When news broke of his appointment by the FAI a few months back, veterans of the Bobby Robson press conference circuit insisted we, their Irish colleagues, were in for a bit of a treat. So it proved yesterday as the former England manager met with the media to chew the fat.

Up for discussion were Wednesday's defeat by Chile, his latest take on Ireland's prospects in the next qualification campaign and, in the wake of his third encounter with cancer, his health. While the list of topics had promise there are many in his position who would have come through without, as an observer once wrote of David Beckham, "ever knowingly saying anything interesting". Not Robson.

He displayed throughout, of course, the sort of problems with names that have made him a darling of football quote compilers. Early on he asked for guidance on the pronunciation of Kevin Kilbane's surname, then got it right just once, while he seemed determined to give the name McGeady something of a Welsh twist.

There was talk, too, of seeing Czechoslovakia over the summer and a reference to the forthcoming qualification campaign being for the World Cup.

For all the minor slip-ups, though, there was a substance to what he had to say that, sadly, is all too often absent when mangers, or their advisers, sit down to discuss the game in public.

Though he repeatedly stated his desire to avoid being critical, the veteran coach analysed the team's failings against Chile in a clear and concise manner, then pointed, in particular, to shortcomings in the performances turned in by John O'Shea and Liam Miller in midfield.

Robbie Keane, he observed, had become "lost" during the game while the attacking side of the home side's game had, he concluded, been fatally undermined by the reluctance of Ireland's "wing-backs" to push on down the flanks.

Robson was visibly surprised to hear that Wednesday's game was Miller's 12th international but quickly added the midfielder was still "finding his feet".

O'Shea, he said, "will be an influential player over the next few years but," he added, "he never quite got to grips with their number six (Jorge Acuna) and 10 (Luis Jimenez) in the way we would have hoped. He certainly needed to knock the number six about a bit more."

Keane's dip in form had a knock-on effect as the entire Irish attack suffered, said Robson.

Richard Dunne was, notwithstanding his role in the concession of a "schoolboy goal", singled out for praise while the efforts of Kilbane and Steve Reid were perhaps damned with faint praise as Robson described the pair as "willing horses".

Reid, he believes, should be in the centre of midfield, probably alongside O'Shea, while Damien Duff could best be used behind the front two with either Kilbane or Andy Reid filling in on the left side of midfield.

"We've got to improve our attacking," he said. "We've got to do a lot of work in practice because last night we didn't look like we could open too many doors. It's something that needs working on, getting players forward, getting the full backs to create an overlap.

"What's important now is to decide on our best team, our best formation and to go with them against the Dutch because we need to settle on the way we're going to play and it wouldn't be good to lose our last friendly before the qualifying campaign starts."

The Englishman will, like Staunton, be in Germany next month to watch Ireland's group rivals in action and he cautions against being overawed by the prospect of the game in Stuttgart.

"I've been told that defensively, the Germans aren't as good as they have been over the years but I've yet to see for myself," he says. "They'll be a tough nut for us and there's nothing to say that if we lose in Germany we won't qualify but I don't think we should be in any way afraid. If you were then there's no point in turning up for the game."

Robson says he is making a good recovery from a recent operation to remove a tumour from his lung. The 73-year-old admits he was shocked when told about his condition but feels fortunate about the way it was discovered.

"I'd hurt my ribs and torn my calf in a skiing injury and it was giving me a lot of trouble when I went to see PSV (one of his former clubs) play Lyon in the Champions League. I was talking about it to the club doctor there (Cees Rein van den Hoogenband, the man who diagnosed Robson's first bout of cancer, in his bowel - back in 1992) and he suggested I have an X-ray.

"Afterwards, he said there was a shadow on my lung and that I should have it checked out when I got home. I did, but the X-ray there showed nothing and it was only because the doctor was conscientious and got the results from the Dutch sent over that the problem was diagnosed.

"In the end I was lucky. I got a hell of a shock but since the operation I've had the all clear. But there's a lesson," he concluded cheerily. "But for the accident I never would have known there was a problem, that's the way it goes, some of you guys could be wandering around with something like this inside you without being remotely aware of it." Forget criticising players. Some things, Robson should realise, are simply better left unsaid.