{"id":336738,"date":"2025-12-26T15:20:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T15:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/336738\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T15:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T15:20:10","slug":"john-robertson-was-a-scruffy-unfit-genius-who-did-not-get-the-kudos-he-deserved-nottingham-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/336738\/","title":{"rendered":"John Robertson was a \u2018scruffy, unfit\u2019 genius who did not get the kudos he deserved | Nottingham Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the eve of a Celtic European tie 25 years ago, Stiliyan Petrov cut an increasingly agitated figure. The young midfielder, soon to shoot to prominence under Martin O\u2019Neill, was finding it impossible to snatch the ball from a rotund, wizened coach during a possession drill. Petrov\u2019s teammates were cackling with laughter. John Robertson\u2019s brilliance was understated enough in Scotland<\/a>. Word of his talent in the game was never likely to reach Petrov as he grew up in deepest Bulgaria.<\/p>\n

Petrov is part of a recent generation who owe a debt of gratitude to Robertson the coach. More of them later. When news of Robertson\u2019s death<\/a> filtered through on Christmas Day, the prevailing sense was that his country had lost one of a kind. He was also an individual who, for reasons associated with his own modesty, really never received the kudos he deserved in the land of his birth.<\/p>\n

Robertson was two-footed (albeit much more devastating with his left), capable of a bamboozling switch of pace over five yards and a wondrous crosser. He was Brian Clough\u2019s favourite, for goodness sake; a footballer key to two crucial European Cup final goals. It is a pity that only now may Robertson be properly cherished in Scotland. Robertson was very different in style to Denis Law and Kenny Dalglish. It should not be sacrilege to suggest he was their footballing peer.<\/p>\n

There has never been any worry in Nottingham about Robertson\u2019s contribution being unheralded. Robertson was adored there, almost from the moment Clough instigated a positional switch \u2013 central midfield to the left flank \u2013 and ordered this 22-year-old to at least moderate a lifestyle which revolved around fags and a frying pan. Robertson was an outside left rather than a winger, a player who made the improbable look so blissfully easy. Clough gave him scope to do as he pleased. In Forest\u2019s halcyon days, Robertson was among the best in Europe.<\/p>\n

Clough\u2019s depiction of Robertson in his autobiography was unsparing, as a \u201cscruffy, unfit, uninterested waste of time\u201d. Indeed, Robertson had been on the transfer list (where he was barely attracting attention) until Clough sprinkled magic dust. The Scot could, however, assert the benefit was mutual. Robertson at his peak was so heavily influential in Clough\u2019s triumphs.<\/p>\n

Robertson\u2019s depiction of his finest goal does not involve the 20th minute in the Santiago Bernab\u00e9u on 28 May 1980. The solitary goal as Forest successfully defended the European Cup against Hamburg was nudged into second place by events against England at Wembley the following year. Davie Provan plays through Stevie Archibald, who is knocked over by Bryan Robson. \u201cI screamed: \u2018Penalty!\u2019\u201d Robertson recalled. \u201cThen I thought: \u2018Oh God, I\u2019m taking it.\u2019\u201d Club loyalties counted for nothing as Trevor Francis \u2013 whom Robertson had set up when Forest won the European Cup in 1979 \u2013 ran 30 yards to issue words of advice to Joe Corrigan in the England goal. Robertson duly sent Corrigan the wrong way.<\/p>\n

John Robertson revels in Scotland\u2019s win at Wembley in 1981, when he scored the winning goal. Photograph: PA<\/p>\n

Scotland have won at Wembley once since. Robertson\u2019s 28 caps feel like scant reward for his brilliance, even from a time when international fixtures were less common and Scotland had an abundance of options. He featured in two World Cups (openly admitting he did not enjoy the 1978 version), with the fact his national service spanned only five years \u2013 1978 to 1983 \u2013 explaining the low tally.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill and Robertson were to become great friends. There was a strand of jealousy, though, when O\u2019Neill bit back at a Clough half-time tirade. O\u2019Neill questioned why Robertson was always spared criticism despite occasional selfishness or wastefulness. \u201cBecause, young man, that lad is a bloody genius,\u201d Clough retorted. And Robertson was, while insisting he was only the second-best player to emerge from the Viewpark estate in Uddingston near Glasgow. It is for others to determine whether Jimmy Johnstone or Robertson was the superior export. That is one hell of a debate.<\/p>\n

Clough\u2019s faith in Robertson was absolute. For a manager prone to such whim, that has always been intriguing. O\u2019Neill displayed similar trust; the duo formed a great bond at Wycombe, Norwich, Leicester, Celtic and Aston Villa. Robertson\u2019s strength as a coach was in earning the trust of players who loved his style. No airs or graces, no bullshit, but a deep understanding of the game and its actors. O\u2019Neill trusted Robertson\u2019s judgment implicitly. That Celtic squad especially was one with strong characters. One of them, Chris Sutton, has described Robertson as a \u201cmentor\u201d. Sutton, Petrov and others quickly came to learn exactly who John Robertson was when the man himself would never have told them. With O\u2019Neill such an adept frontman, it suited Robertson perfectly to linger in the shadows.<\/p>\n

John Robertson with Martin O\u2019Neill during their time at Celtic. Photograph: Ross Kinnaird\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

There was background tragedy of which Robertson rarely spoke. His brother and sister-in-law were killed in a 1979 car crash in a vehicle Robertson had gifted to them. Robertson scored a diving header against Cologne days later. He reckoned his own father died of a broken heart within a year. Robertson\u2019s daughter, Jessica, died at 13 in 1996 having been born with cerebral palsy.<\/p>\n

Robertson\u2019s switch to Derby famously caused an irreparable row between Clough and Taylor. Clough was in the wrong by leaving his player with at least the sense he was not wanted any more amid recovery from a knee injury. Taylor used an element of inside knowledge to offer a three-year deal. Clough\u2019s outrage would have been better aimed closer to home. Robertson regretted going to Derby \u2013 a move made against the advice of his wife \u2013 with his thoughts in that period understandably dominated by Jessica\u2019s health. It was no wonder his playing career fizzled out.<\/p>\n

It is poetic that O\u2019Neill returned to manage Celtic, successfully, on an interim basis so recently. The club has changed beyond all recognition since his first tenure. The makeup of his coaching staff had to, as well. Still, it is to be hoped that Robertson was well enough to enjoy his close friend, at 73, rolling back the years with victories over Rangers and in sparkling fashion against Feyenoord. The Scottish champions described the O\u2019Neill and Robertson alliance as overseeing \u201cone of the most successful periods in Celtic\u2019s history\u201d. Those five years marked the only spell from 1970 until 2025 when Robertson did not live in the Nottingham area. An adopted home for an adopted hero.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the eve of a Celtic European tie 25 years ago, Stiliyan Petrov cut an increasingly agitated figure.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-336738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}