Sir Bobby Robson - A Footballing Gentleman

Most Liverpool supporters adhere to the mantra of 'We're not English, we are Scouse' and their only concern with the national side is if Steven Gerrard's involvement in the international set up will lead to any potential injury lay off for his club after representing his country.

However perhaps a few of the self-proclaimed 'Scouse separatists' will soften their stance slightly in light of the death of Sir Bobby Robson - who lost a 17-year battle with cancer. Many Reds' fans have paid tribute to the man that the football world will remember as a true gentleman of the game. Robson's managerial career was littered with trophies from championships including three major European leagues. He took Ipswich Town to the heady heights of European football by lifting the FA Cup and UEFA Cup during his time in East Anglia. With the hive of activity in the current transfer market Robson's decision to make just 14 signings in his 13 seasons at Portman Road seems inconceivable for a club who were challenging for major honours under his tenure. The Tractor Boys finished runners-up in the First Division in both 1981 and 1982.

Despite riding high with Ipswich, Sir Bobby chose to go on to bigger and better things by succeeding where Don Revie had failed - by making the transition from club management to country - as England manager. He proceeded over two World Cups, seeing his country dumped out in the latter stages of the tournament in agonising fashion; first to Argentina and Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' in 1986 and in the semi finals against West Germany at Italia '90 - an event which endeared the entire nation to the game for the first time since 1966 thanks to some fine amateur dramatics from Paul Gascoigne. It wasn't the high that he had hoped to sign off on but Robson made the tabloid hacks who crucified him and his England side in the early stages of the tournament eat their words with a performance that was a credit to the Three Lions. In the nine years that followed his England exit, he coached at Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven, FC Porto and Barcelona where he counted a translator by the name of Jose Mourinho as part of his backroom staff. No doubt the current Inter Milan manager is indebted to the gentle Geordie for some of the pointers he received at the Nou Camp.

Trophies and successful managerial stints are all well and good but Robson had something that most managers in the game today don't - humility and common decency. You only have to look on the various websites and message boards to see the lasting impression he left on supporters of all clubs, regardless of affiliation. He will never be regarded as one of the greatest. The likes of the outspoken Brian Clough will be ranked higher in the managerial polls than him. Arrogance and controversy reigns supreme in 21st century football, much to the misfortune of the late Sir Bobby.

Born in County Durham, Robson was from the old school of football. In the 1960s, when Robson was in the twilight years of his playing career, Bill Shankly, Matt Busby and Jock Stein - three of the greatest coaches at the time - were described as the managerial Holy Trinity as they were all vastly successful with Liverpool, Manchester United and Celtic respectively. In additon, they all came from working class backgrounds in Scotland. I believe that the North East has its own Holy Trinity - all of whom are named Bob. First there was Bob Stokoe who led Sunderland to FA Cup glory in 1973 and promotion to the First Division in 1976, then there was the legendary Bob Paisley whose record of three European Cups has yet to be equalled and finally there is another gentle Geordie in Sir Bobby Robson.

Robson's remarkable story saw him lose his 17-year battle with cancer. He had been diagnosed with five different strands of the disease on five separate occasions but continued the fight on and set up the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation for cancer research. Even when he was told that the cancer in his lungs was terminal, Robson still saw the glass as half full. When asked about his remaining time in life, he said: "I am going to die sooner rather than later. But then everyone has to go sometime and I have enjoyed every minute." Humility and optimism - that was the man down to a tee, You would be hard pressed to find another former Newcastle or England manager anyone could say that about.

RIP Sir Bobby Robson

Gentleman, Ambassador and Footballing Legend.

You'll Never Walk Alone

The end is nigh, Mr Cohen

To paraphrase comedian Mort Sahl's remark about former U.S. president Richard Nixon - Would you listen to a radio show presented by this man?

Yesterday Fox Soccer Channel unveiled Eric Wynalda as the new host of their flagship show 'Fox Football Fone-In'. I wonder what state Steven Cohen's cat was in after the London-born broadcaster received the new last month. The TV giant wouldn't comment on why Cohen's contract with them wasn't renewed but now that his comments about the Hillsborough disaster are common knowledge amongst Liverpool fans and the general footballing public, his broadcasting career is on its last legs. Virtually every main sponsor of his World Soccer Daily radio show has cancelled their agreements with the show and even his beloved Chelsea FC have disowned him.

Last week their spokesman Gareth Mills spoke to LFC's New York Supporters Club and said: "He is not a representative, nor ever has been a representative of the club. We have some 90 million fans worldwide and cannot account for every fan’s opinion.” It appears that nobody wants to have anything to do with someone who launched a scathing attack on the survivors of Britain's worst ever stadium disaster on a national radio show - even if if it is a vehicle of the Rupert Murdoch empire.

The crux of the matter is, as Cohen is starting to find out, that Hillsborough has been a very sensitive subject for Liverpool fans all over the world and the boycott show after the blatant lack of respect shown repeatedly by the 46-year-old has proven have proven this much. Nobody with half a brain can fail to see that Fox dropped him like a piece of dog foul as sponsors started to withdraw from WSD and Cohen started to implode following the refusal by Reds fans to fall for his cheap attempt at an apology. His flippancy knows no bounds and, with the able assistance of his snidey sidekick Kenny Hassan, he has failed to cover himself in glory in the aftermath of the now ongoing uproar he and his show are currently facing.

Some Americans will see the boycott against Cohen started by Liverpool fans in the States as a smear campaign. To those who think that - I suggest you take some considerable time out of your day to do a little research into Mr Cohen's broadcasting history relating to Hillsborough as he has shot himself in the foot time and again on this issue. This is not a hate or smear campaign; it is a basic mission to raise awareness of the true events that happened on that fateful day in Sheffield 20 years ago and not the lies perpetrated by The Sun newspaper and others - a list which now includes Steven Cohen.

By the way, anyone who genuinely believes that Cohen is a lifelong Chelsea fan should take a few seconds to watch this video of hiim switching loyalties from Tottenham to Arsenal in 2002 following the Gunners' league and cup double truimph:

An urgent request

As most of you will probably be aware, there's a campaign to get US radio broadcaster Steven Cohen off the airwaves following continuing comments he has made about the Hillsborough disaster, accusing Liverpool fans of causing the tragedy and playing the victims. As the nephew of four Hillsborough survivors and a strong supporter of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, I've given this cause my full support and will continue to do so until Cohen is taken off the air.

Earlier this week Chelsea said that Cohen wasn't a supporter of their club and would never be after the lies he perpetrated about Hillsborough. With your help we can rid the airwaves of this despicable individual who has used the death of 96 Liverpool supporters to further his own agendas and cause controversy all for the sake of his radio programme. All you have to do is take a couple of seconds to copy and paste the following into an email:

Dear Sir or Madam

You advertise on either one or both of Steve Cohen's shows on Fox and Sirius. Mr Cohen has, and not for the first time, told lies about the deaths the 96 innocent people at Hillsborough, claiming that Liverpool fans were responsible for killing their own, amongst other lies. Is this the type of person you want representing your company? Steve Cohen has done this before, apologising when the outrage grew too large. Clearly, he will not stop, so our objective is to see him taken off air permanently so as to restrict the audience for his continued lies he repeats.

Over 50% of World Soccer Daily's original sponsors have already withdrawn all advertising from the show in light of his actions and this week Chelsea Football Club, the team Cohen claims to support, distanced themselves from him following his comments about the tragedy in Sheffield 20 years ago. Club spokesman Gareth Mills said: “We have distanced ourselves and will continue to distance ourselves from any comments that disrespect the memory of Hillsborough.

"He is not a representative, nor ever has been a representative of the club. We have some 90 million fans worldwide and cannot account for every fan’s opinion.”

I urge you to reconsider your purchasing of advertising. I will be boycotting all your products and services until your support for Steve Cohen and his lies ends.

Thank you

And send it to the following addresses:

matt@objectivo.com

info@cartan.com

support@wespeakwine.com

sonyonline@sonyusa.com

nickr@psgsports.com

declanhill2002@yahoo.com

customerservice@joinvip.com

These are all sponsors of World Soccer Daily who everyone connected to the boycott is hoping will follow in the footsteps of previous sponsors of the show such as Heineken as well as Cohen's 'beloved' Chelsea FC and UCLA professor Mark Sawyer in distancing themselves from this pathetic excuse for a human being. You won't even have to send the emails individually. Just paste the addresses into the BCC field on the email so that you be able to send them all in one go.

We really do need all the help we can get in driving this hate-spewing monster off the airwaves before he repeats his lies about the 96 brothers and sisters that lost their lives in Sheffield 20 years ago.

Many thanks in advance

JUSTICE FOR THE 96

Dementia anyone?

It appears that the concept of irony has not been lost on Sir Alex Ferguson. The United manager launched into a rant yesterday afternoon, all because of a poster unveiled by local rivals Manchester City last week.

The newly-rich Citizens have plastered one advertising board with an arty blue and white print of new signing and former Red Devils striker Carlos Tevez with the heading 'Welcome to Manchester' printed across it. The image of the Argentine with his arms outstretched was taken as he celebrated scoring against Wigan Athletic - his last goal for the Old Trafford club - in May.

When asked about the cheeky PR stunt, Ferguson remarked :"It's City isn't it? They're a small club with a small mentality. All they can talk about is Manchester United; they can't get away from it. They think taking Carlos Tevez away from Manchester United is a triumph. It is poor stuff."

In April this year, the Scot attacked Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez for his labelling of nearest rivals Everton as a 'small club' in February 2007 and accused the Spaniard of being arrogant for doing so.

“He called them [Everton] a small club which points to his arrogance,” he said at the time. “They are a big club and David Moyes is doing a great job.”

Mr Pot, I'd like you to introduce you to Mr Kettle...

Fair play to the Beckham boo boys

FOOLS NO MORE: LA Galaxy fans make their feelings known

about David Beckham's extended stay in Italy.

When David Beckham arrived in Los Angeles around this time two years ago, his arrival was greeted with a large fanfare. The England international was offered cheers and confetti in his grand unveiling for LA Galaxy which possessed all the razzmatazz that only Tinseltown could pull off.

He was polite, smiled, looked directly at the camera, waved to the fans who were going crazy at his arrival and said the right things. "Potentially, soccer in the States can be as big as anywhere in the world,” he told the fans that flocked to the Home Depot Center stadium to herald his arrival. "I want to be part of that and to help do that over the next five years and maybe more. It's great to see so many fans here and I'd like to thank them for that."

Twenty-four months later his words came back to haunt him when he stepped back out onto the field and faced those fans who had previously been greeted him with adulation. Instead of cheers, they reserved a chorus of boos and a barrage of abuse for the England international.

Beckham incurred the wrath of the Galaxy faithful after he missed the first half of the MLS season due to an extended loan spell at AC Milan, following a recommendation by national team manager Fabio Capello that he plied his trade in Europe ahead of the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

During last Sunday's pre-season friendly ironically against AC Milan, Beckham was subjected to a series of chants, booing and banners questioning his loyalty to the Galaxy following his stint at the San Siro. "At the end of the day, I play my game, whether I get booed or not doesn't matter to me," he said after the game. However, Beckham lost his cool when approached some of the fans hurling abuse at him at half time and appeared to be singling out one and acting in an aggressive manner. "I don't like my family seeing that and hearing that (abuse), from an organised group of fans," he later admitted. "I think it was disrespectful, some of the things that were being said and also some of the banners, but it is what it is."

His family were too busy being fawned over by the likes of David Walliams and creeping to Tom Cruise in a corporate box to pay much attention to the abuse he was receiving. As for disrespectful, what would he call the failure to honour his contract in order to further his international ambitions with a loan spell in Italy? Is it any wonder that Beckham’s return to LA was greeted with more venom that the arrival of Perez Hilton at a Black Eyed Peas concert?

The Galaxy fans who made their feelings known to Beckham should be commended for showing some backbone – a rarity in MLS football, or ‘soccer’ as it is more commonly known to the Yanks. Through their actions, the player himself learned that the entire world and his wife does not bow down to kiss the feet of Brand Beckham and turn a blind eye to his broken promises. He said he was going to try and make the game big in the States but instead chose to jump on the first plane to Europe to boost his chance of keeping his place in the England squad.

It appears that the Land of the Free isn’t so gullible and superficial as was once first thought.