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Bryan Robson Interview
Bryan Robson Interview
James Goyder
Bryan Robson is a long way from home. Despite having played for and managed multiple teams he had never previously worked at a football club further from his native Durham than West Bromwich Albion. For Robson the south of England probably feels like a foreign climate yet he now finds himself plying his trade in South East Asia as manager of the Thai national team.
Robson was appointed with a mandate to take Thailand to the 2014 World Cup and life away from the pressure cooker that is the Premiership appears to suit him,
"I'm quite happy in Thailand and I'm enjoying international management. I thought I would because when I worked with England and Terry Venables for two years that was one of the most enjoyable jobs I have had. I like the international scene because you have got a lot of time to prepare for games," he said.
The Thailand team have not got off to the most auspicious of starts under Robson, who was only appointed last September. They recently failed to reach the Asian Cup for the first time in 22 years after a disappointing qualification campaign saw them finish behind both Jordan and Iran in their group.
It was a major setback for Robson and an ample demonstration of how much work will have to be done if he is to fulfill the lofty ambitions of his employers at the Thai FA,
"I was disappointed about getting beat in the Asian Cup but we left ourselves too much to do because we didn't win our home games. Defensively the players look good and technique wise we look good but we just need a little bit more composure in front of goal. Hopefully some of the young strikers can provide that," he said.
If qualifying for the Asian Cup was a challenge then reaching the World Cup is a task of Herculean proportions. Out of 43 footballing nations in Asia only four can qualify automatically with the fifth places side entering a play off. Robson's Thailand will have to compete for qualification with much more established sides such as Australia, who are now considered part of the Asian Football Confederation, South Korea, Japan and Iran.
Thai people are fiercely patriotic and the Thai FA are currently unwilling to countenance the idea of nationalizing foreign players. This puts Thailand at a distinct disadvantage when competing against nations such as Singapore who will happily field a handful of foreign born players. Robson admits to having discussed the issue but does not think the Thai FA are likely to change their current stance,
"If it did happen I think we might have a slightly better team but long term I don't think it helps the development of kids. The young lads who are in the team now getting the chance to prove themselves probably wouldn't get the chance if there were foreigners playing who had been nationalized," he said.
The former Manchester United captain's assignment as manager of the Thai national team presented some serious cultural challenges. Profanity laden training ground banter is a feature of everyday footballing life in England. In Asia, by contrast, players will react extremely badly to anything remotely resembling a public humiliation. Robson admits he has been forced to adjust his managerial style accordingly,
"I've adapted to a certain degree. When you are annoyed you can't lay into them like you would with European players because that is not their cultural way. There was one incident when I had to bite my tongue off when one of the players did something which was totally beyond me. You just have to count to ten and act in a more controlled manner. I suppose it has helped me in a way because sometimes you say the wrong things when you really lose your temper because you are raging, I've done that before in England," he said.
Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Robson has been overcoming the language barrier with only a handful of his players speaking the same language as him. He believes that having an English manager as his predecessor has actually made the transition more straightforward.
"With Peter (Reid) being the coach before me I think they got used to his ways and got confident with a European coach. To start with none of them would let on they could speak English because they are shy lads. About six of the players speak perfect English and they translate what I say so I don't even have to use my translator except in meetings when they are all in a close knit group," he said.
Fabio Capello came in for a lot of criticism after England's lackluster performance at the recent World Cup. As a former England captain Robson followed the tournament with interest and had some sympathy for his opposite number,
"England were poor. The Premiership players didn't perform at the level they do week in, week out for their clubs. A lot of blame went on Capello but individual players just didn't play to the standard they had set themselves," he said.
He also feels that the expectation surrounding this current crop of England players is unrealistic and does not believe they are necessarily any better than previous generations,
"I don't think the England team now is better than it was when I was playing.
When they started calling it a golden era I didn't see that at all. That's what the media built the lads up to be and that's why the expectation was higher than what it should have been but I didn't expect England to go any further than the semi finals," he said.
Robson has sympathy for erstwhile England captain John Terry and feels strongly he should have kept the captaincy despite revelations about his personal life in the build up to the tournament,
"I don't agree with that decision. As far as I am concerned that is his private life. What's that got to do with football? For me it doesn't make any difference whatsoever. He should have been left to get on with captaining England," he said.
Robson has captained England to a World Cup finals although his appearances at Mexico '86 were severely restricted by injury. He is under no illusions as to the challenge ahead of him if he is to take Thailand to a World Cup for the first time in their history and acknowledges that they will need a lot of luck both with the draw and with the matches themselves.
If Robson did manage to get Thailand to the 2014 World Cup then more prestigious job offers would surely arrive. He could be forgiven for keeping one eye on the Premiership's managerial merry go round but he claims to be content in Thailand where he has spent ten of the twelve months since his appointment.
"I enjoy life here, the apartment is really nice, the food's great, people are really courteous towards you and the weather's good. There is work to be done on the footballing infrastructure but the Thai Premier League is definitely getting stronger. I would never rule out going back into club management but it is not the sum of my ambitions," he said.
Regardless of whether his team can actually make it to the tournament in Brazil he is confident he will emerge from his time in Asia as a more accomplished manager,
"You can only learn things from an experience like this. You have to go away and assess what you have done in a country like this so you can look back and see where you have improved. It will definitely make me a better coach." he said.
© James Goyder & Soccerphile.com
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