From the guardian
Jim Smith came in and was told he needed to sell players. Myself, John Hendrie, Dave Beasant and Andy Thorn were put up for sale. John went immediately to Leeds and a bun fight started between Scottish clubs over me. Rangers came in at £500,000, Hibs, Aberdeen and Dundee United came in at £600,000. Rangers was very interesting, Graeme Souness was there, but they weren’t prepared to raise their offer. When the chairman told me about the bids, it was Rangers out of the three that I wanted to speak to but the offer was too low. Wallace [Mercer, the Hearts chairman] eventually went that wee bit extra to get me back and the stars aligned.”
Robertson featured in an era where Scottish strikers were feared. Ally McCoist, Mo Johnston, Steve Archibald, Frank McAvennie and Eric Black were among them. The recent, widespread failure to produce prolific scorers is glaring. “It’s mathematics,” Robertson says. “If you play with two centre-forwards you need two as back-up – think of the figures from under-12s up.”
Robertson was manager of Inverness when he was given compassionate leave in February. His return to work brought a new role, in which he has immersed himself. Robertson remains irked by Scottish football’s handling of the pandemic, with his Highland club encountering geographical challenges.
John Robertson last October during his time as Inverness manager. ‘I was running myself into the ground, not sleeping and taking too much on,’ he says. Photograph: Malcolm Mackenzie/ProSports/Shutterstock
“I was running myself into the ground, not sleeping and taking too much on. Three of the players’ wives were pregnant, I was worried about my own family down in Edinburgh. We lost my sister. It all built up and built up. I felt responsibility as a manager to keep players, staff and their families safe. Everything caught up and it was just too much – I had to take a step back.
“They banned players from having showers after games. That’s fine for administrators sitting in Glasgow. The attitude I got was: ‘Well, it’s not our fault you are based up there.’ They weren’t interested. We were away to Queen of the South on a Friday night, the players had to get home at 3am before they could have a shower.”
Now in fine fettle, Robertson closes his book at the conclusion of his playing days. “There’s more to come,” he says with a broad smile. “Robbo II.” You get the sense he has unfinished business.
Robbo: My Autobiography is published by Black & White and released on 28 October