My Newcastle United – Why I loved Laurent Robert | OneFootball

Here at The Mag we have introduced a new feature, asking a number of our regular / irregular contributors to write about a past Newcastle United player that they liked / loved for whatever reason(s), not necessarily the best player they have ever seen.

More the fact that, this player became a big favourite of theirs, no matter what level of ability they had.

This time it is – My Newcastle United – Why I loved Laurent Robert.

Our thanks to David Punton for providing this overview:

Three words you could use to describe this player?

Mercurial. Powerful. Talented.

His first goal. He got it all up and running with a trademark free kick, a curler against Man Utd in a scintillating 4-3 win. Barthez was in goal for the Red Devils that day and he couldn’t get near it.

We knew then we had a special talent on our hands.

What were this player’s strengths when at Newcastle United?

Robert was a star. If he’d been an at Man Utd, who were the dominant force then, the acclaim would have been universal. He was great for assists too.

Pace, trickery and balls into the box. It was all there.

One of the reasons I chose Laurent is the simple fact that in my time going to games at St James’ Park and seeing a player live, I can’t remember many who could strike a football so hard. It was simply breathtaking execution at times, and, looking back, maybe I took it a bit for granted.

The Reunion Islander was an immense talent. A left foot like a traction engine.

The 01/02 season saw Robert chalk up a whopping 21 assists, an amazing stat in itself, and eight goals from wide on the left of midfield. We love a winger, right? Well, he’s up there with David Ginola and Hatem Ben Arfa for Gallic flair at Newcastle.

It was a sunny spring day when we bid farewell to Laurent Robert.

It’s etched into my mind even now. May 15, 2005. A 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea.

The flying Frenchman famously stripped down to his briefs as he said an emotional goodbye after four brilliant years on Tyneside. Shirt, shorts, boots, socks, shin pads – all were gifted to the crowd on a day we all knew his time at the club was over.

Issue 194 – 11 June 2005

Graeme Souness had replaced Sir Bobby Robson and there were rumblings that the Scot didn’t quite put his arm around the mavericks like Robert in the same way that his predecessor did.

In fairness, Souness still managed good performances from Robert, that can’t be denied, but the direction of travel in the 2004/05 season was one of heading towards the exit door.

Let’s face it, some fans were getting on Laurent’s back too, as his tracking back left a lot to be desired. Quite often he was a passenger in games and he could drive you crackers.

One of Robert’s biggest issues was that he could, and maybe should, have been even better than what we saw.

Your favourite memories of this player?

One: His brace at home to Spurs with two of the most outrageous long range efforts which never fully got the merit they deserved as he was doing it at a club that’s seen by many in the national media as unfashionable. They weren’t free kicks, these were pure strikes from distance which left Spurs shattered.

Two: A series of free kicks against Liverpool that gave us home wins, one of which you may well recall was immortalised in the movie GOAL!

There was some controversy too.

New Year’s Eve 2002 was the day Robert infamously invaded the press room looking for a certain Chronicle reporter. He ended up grabbing him by the lapels before being dragged away by some of the other players who had seen what was going to happen. It was an unwise thing to do but at least it showed that he cared.

It was never clear why that happened, rumours at the time of a 3/10 merit mark from a previous game, or was it a comment piece by John Gibson which debated the pros and cons of Robert in the side?

We may never know, but he was fiery, and we missed him when he left.

Hand on heart, on ability (not just your favouritism) would your player get in this current Newcastle United team that will play in the new season?

Alas, I don’t think Robert would hold a place down in the team today. He wouldn’t execute Eddie Howe’s high press.

Maybe a similar situation to what we are seeing with Allan Saint-Maximin, albeit I firmly believe ASM ought to get, and deserves, a crack at the Champions League having joined out club when it was run by clowns pre October 2021.

Pope, Tripper, Schar, Botman, Burn, Bruno, Tonoli, Willock, Joelinton, Wilson, Isak

Including your choice of much loved player of the past, please give us a whole team of your much loved Newcastle United players of the past, once again, they don’t have to be the eleven best NUFC players you have ever seen play, just 11 who you really liked down the years (you can include current Newcastle players in this much loved all-time eleven).

Given, Trippier, Kilcline, Botman, Jonas, Gascoigne, Lee, Bruno, Robert, Beardsley, Shearer.