with Barry Robson
If you dig out the big book of footballing clich?s, you will find that “There’s no substitute for experience” is one of the real favourites. It’s a very valid point, but equally, “you need hungry players” is another one of the hardy perennials. Which is why Derek McInnes played a blinder by signing Barry Robson during the summer.
Seventeen years into his playing career, and Robson is as keen to win every game – be it at Pittodrie, Tynecastle, Tannadice or on the training pitch – as ever he was and probably more so. In part it’s down to the nature of the man, a born competitor.
Once a footballer gets over the age of 30, age is constantly thrown at you, always brought up and, more often than not it is even put before your name as if you were given a title. In the modern world though, with all the advances on nutrition and preparation, players who have looked after themselves can play longer.
“35 is only a number,” insists Robson. “I look after myself but I also have to give credit to the club physios who work you real hard when you are out injured, so when you do come back you can hit the ground running. I still feel as fit as I ever did. I think you can see that in the games I play. I can still move like I used to and get about the park, and hopefully I could still play for another year or two after this season”.
Injury meant a disrupted start to Barry’s Aberdeen career, but the midfielder has really started to hit his stride over the last month and, having played less football than many in the Premiership, he’s liable to be that bit fresher when the decisive games start to build up in the final stages of the season. Even so, I doubt he says that as a silver lining to what was a frustrating period.
“It has been a strange season so far for me personally because I have been stuck in the treatment room for a large part of it. It was not the easiest time for me being out injured. It was very frustrating but it is great to be back playing again, back in amongst the boys and there is still a long way to go in the season with a lot of games coming up.
“It has been well documented that I am not the best when it comes to watching from the sidelines! Both physios John Sharp and David Wylie have had their hands full with me! They also had Willo Flood stuck in the treatment room for a bit so it was an even harder few months for them, they really earned their money then!
“Coming back into the team was made easy because the boys have played terrifically well so far this season. It was great for me to come back into a side that was playing well. It’s been a pleasure to be a part of things again”.
It’s been a pleasure for Dons fans to see Robson back in harness too, employing that left foot that could open the proverbial can of beans for the good of the club. Robson’s ability with the ball at his feet can be taken as read after a decade and more proving just what a talent he is, but observing him at close quarters on a regular basis gives us the opportunity to pick up on less obvious facets of his game.
During his comeback from injury Barry played a couple of games for the U20s. In the rather quieter atmosphere of those games, you could see or, more accurately, hear, what he brings to the team, particularly with his communication and organisation skills. He is a talker, an attribute that his manager had in spades during his playing career.
“I think it is a dying art in the game, I think people have a tendency not to talk anymore. We are not all Xavi, we are not all Iniesta, where we know where everything is on the pitch. I think a simple shout of ‘man on’ or ‘turn’ is important. If someone shouts that when I have the ball, I know someone is coming on me and to lay it off or make sure I keep the ball. If you do turn the wrong way without knowing, you could lose the ball and lose a goal. It is a simple thing that your friend or your team mate can help you with. It maybe comes with experience, maybe you know the game a little bit better.
“Equally, you get players who are young and are full of energy and pace who do all these runs that they don’t need to do, just as I did at that age. I know what it is like! So I sometimes I talk to them and tell them to sit in a bit. Then you also have Russell behind me who speaks to me and tells me what is happening and also the manager as well – sometimes if I get carried away, I can hear him screaming at me!
“Some of the young kids here are only 16, 17, 18, 19 so everything is still pretty new to them. They are just interested in the ball and maybe don’t see the other side of the game at that age at times. It’s something that comes with games and experience.
“I’m not sure you can teach a winning mentality though, I think it’s more something you are born with. I know there are days when I come into training and think, “Right, let’s just get through this unscathed today, there is a big game coming up” or what have you. I’m not saying I take it easy, but I am maybe a bit more conscious at my age that you can’t go flat out every day. But as soon as my team goes a goal down, the head goes again! I will then be flying into tackles, kicking people to make sure we win!
“It is just something that was instilled in me as a young kid. I have had to work and fight for everything my whole life, even as a kid I had to do that, I worked as a kid on the milk rounds at four in the morning before I went to school. I have always had to work to get to where I want to.
“I just want to win at every single thing I do. That winning mentality is as valuable as ability, is as good as making great passes because if you have that desire and that mentality to win a football match, you will go that extra mile.
“If you watched the recent documentary with Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira, it is the same with them. They built their careers on fear. I know everyone talks about positivity, but when you have that fear of getting beat, you can see how much it means to them and see how much they want to win a football match. I want to win everything I do, not just a game of football. It is something that is ingrained in me and it can be quite hard work at times because you want to relax but you just can’t.
“Willo is a good example of that as well, a born winner. It means so much to him, football is everything to him. It is all or nothing with Willo, he brings that determination. He brings legs, he brings energy, he brings talent, he is a good footballer. He is great at playing little balls round the corner. Most important, he is a good team mate. That is the most important thing. I have played with some talented footballers but having a really good team mate, one who wants to win and has that desire to do well and who drives players on so that we are at it every single game is so important. Willo has all those qualities in abundance. That desire can spread through the team”.
That drive and desire is important in any team, but especially in one where so many key positions are filled by comparative youngsters, players with raw talent but who have yet to do the hard yards in terms of playing game after game after game. Being able to lean on the likes of Robson, Flood and Anderson is invaluable for the likes of Joe Shaughnessy, Nicky Low, Ryan Jack or Peter Pawlett.
“I have been in some squads where you are dealing with some real big, big name players. I have played at the highest level with some terrific players who went for over £10 million, but I see a lot of quality in this squad.
“There is a nice balance to the squad. There is an older guy like Russell at the back, also Alan now as well, you have me too. You have lots of legs in the team – even myself and Russell can still move! Then you have the likes of Niall McGinn, Jonny Hayes, Peter Pawlett, big Josh when he comes on, they’ve all got pace. You have Willo who has bundles of energy and a lot of talent. So there is a great balance and that is why we are doing well this season. The manager has done a great job in building a very good squad.
“We have a lot of winners in that dressing room. You have to go out and fight for every ball every week. In this game you have to fight for everything. You are fighting the other team and very often in this county you are fighting the elements. Maybe of the games played over the festive period were played in difficult weather conditions but we are always prepared for that and the manager never lets us use it as an excuse.
“We have a lot of talented players in the squad at the moment. Every player is going to be needed in the weeks and months ahead. The manager will pick the right team for the right games. It is a great dressing room. All the boys are in there fighting for each other and if you are not playing, you know it is for a tactical reason but the next weekend you could be playing again, or someone else could be playing. The boys are great in there and long may it continue. There is a lot of hard work ahead.
“There are also some very good young players involved with the first team and in the U20 side. I remember I was only in here for a couple of days when I saw Peter Pawlett and I knew instantly this was a player we could work with, a player who can go on and produce some really good things. Credit to the manager, because he saw the same things and you can now see how he is blossoming and that is just from the manager looking after him and showing him the way. His confidence is high and he has been playing great. If he keeps going and adds more goals to his game he can go on and become a real good player”.
The months ahead offer more promise for Aberdeen than we’ve seen for a very long time, but wise counsel such as Robson’s are keen to keep a lid on expectations, well aware that no prizes get handed out in early January and that the business end of the season still awaits us.
“I have not even thought about what we could achieve this season, I just take one game at a time. I know everyone says that is a clich? but for me it has always been a case of, “What does the next game bring, how can we win the next game?” If you think that way all season, you then get to March and April and then you start to think, “Where are we? What have we got to achieve here?” That is still a long way away.
“For me I have been in teams who have had to win titles, I have been in teams who have had to avoid relegation, so I have seen it all. I have always thought that you just make sure you concentrate on what the game is in front of you. What is the team you are playing? How do we beat them? If you take care of that, enjoy it for half an hour after the match and then boom, it is on to the next one. That is all I think about.
“The manager is similar. He makes sure we are prepared for every game. He will have watched the opposition countless times. There is a lot of planning, a lot of work that goes into every game. A lot of work on the training ground, a lot of video analysis. We know what they have in their locker. So with all that preparation, the manager also makes sure we just concentrate on each game as it comes and we are ready for each game.
“You can’t promise we will win trophies. You can’t promise we will win every game. You can promise that we will go out every week and fight, show passion and desire for the club”.
That’s as good a place to start as any.
