Michael Robinson - leaving Liverpool for Spain - Part 2

By Carl Clemente - Carl Clemente (@clemente_carl)

A boyhood Red who lived his dreams with the team he supported from the Spion Kop from the age of six. LFChistory.net recently met former Liverpool striker Michael Robinson in Madrid and had a good chat with him about his career. In Part 2 we learn about his tearful Anfield exit, a rather disappointing time at QPR and his move abroad to Osasuna which was ultimately the start of something special for Michael in Spain. Link to Part 1 is on the right hand side of this article.

How did the start of the 1984-85 season start for you?

Not great as I was mainly on the bench and wasn't getting much game time. Joe had just signed Paul Walsh for £700,000 from Luton so he was always going to get a game ahead of me. Even when Ian Rush was injured I still wasn't favoured and when Ian came back from injury Paul Walsh, Ian and Kenneth would be always Joe's preferred three.

Did you ever express your frustration to Joe Fagan about not being in the team?

I was never the sort of player to ever complain to my managers. All I ever did was always do my best in training and hope that my time would come. However, in December we traveled to Japan to take part in the World Club Championship and it was there where I thought extensively about my future. My Liverpool career had come to a stalemate; I only started seven games and hadn't played since October. Therefore, when we returned to Liverpool I went to speak to Joe Fagan.

I explained that I was 27 and I needed to be playing more. Joe tried to persuade me to stay as they wanted players with my attitude at the club and even said they would offer me a new contract. I told him it was nothing to do with the money and that I just wanted to play football. Liverpool was my club from a very young age and I would never have wanted to end up resenting them, further down the line, which could have happened if I ended up staying and being stuck on the bench. Moreover, my best friend and teammate Graeme Souness had also moved on to Italy to play for Sampdoria, therefore leaving Liverpool was probably the right decision.

How was it playing for QRR after leaving Liverpool?    

I didn't really like the plastic pitch down there for a start. Being honest, I probably was slightly unfair to QPR in the sense I would compare things to how they were done at Liverpool, which was wrong of me as both clubs are miles apart, in the sense of size and what they were capable of achieving. Although I probably regretted leaving Liverpool at the time, I don't now, as destiny has brought me here to Spain.

In January 1987 your career took another drastic turn as you decided to join La Liga side, Osasuna....

Yes, I was looking for a fresh start and after playing for Liverpool I couldn't go anywhere else in England so I decided to pursue my career abroad. However, the day I signed for Osasuna wasn't the greatest experience of my career. The President and the managing director flew to London to tie up all the paperwork in the morning and fly me back to Bilbao with them in the afternoon. Anyway, the Spanish side of the party ended up missing the flight and myself and my wife Chris ended up traveling alone.

Let's not forget we didn't speak a word of Spanish and we didn't have a clue where Osasuna was or anything. When we landed in Bilbao airport there was a flurry of press and photographers there to greet me. I later found out that I was the only European Cup winner to be playing in Spain at the time, hence the attention I received. In the end after the initial palaver we managed to survive and made our way to the hotel. I remember the hotel manager was extremely chatty and friendly and went out of his way to help. As I mentioned, unfortunately I was unable to speak Spanish at that time so I couldn't converse back with him.

The following morning they took me to the training ground and introduced me to all the players. As we were warming up I looked up and saw the hotel manager on the sideline. I thought to myself what a gentleman, not only does he treat me like royalty at his hotel but he also comes along to watch me train too. He then started to do some stretches and got a ball and started running up and down the touchline. I remember thinking to myself he wasn't actually that bad and had a great touch on him. He then called not just me but all the other players for a chat, which I found rather strange but I went along with it. I soon realised that the hotel manager was actually my new manager at Osasuna.

Did you adapt easily to the Spanish game and life in Spain in general?

I did, as Osasuna at that time, as well as, many other teams from around the Basque country, played a similar style to the English game which wasn't so focused around tactics. My only principle problem was the language barrier, so I used to just do everything about two seconds later than everyone else. However, that soon changed as I was kind of forced to learn the language as nobody spoke English, which suited me and my wife as we wanted to indulge into the Spanish culture and lifestyle. I only ended up having one Spanish lesson in the end and that was cut short as I had to go back to training.

Nevertheless, we soon settled in and realised we weren't actually living in Osasuna. The city is called Pamplona and Osasuna is just the name of the city’s football team. Something I couldn’t understand at first when Chris first told me; "What do you mean!” I said to her. "Of course we are living in Osasuna, I've just signed for them!"

Moving to Spain was a great opportunity to go to the University of Life. Footballers are very restrained from pursuing their academic studies, something which I was very keen on. I used to sit on the team buses and read The Times and the broadsheets when all the other players would be reading the tabloids. Therefore, I am very grateful to Spain and the Spanish people for allowing me to do this.

Did you influence Sammy Lee’s move to Spain who joined you a few months later in August?

Yes, I had everything to do with his move. Osasuna had just avoided relegation and the president was looking to improve his squad. He approached me to see if I knew of any players from England who would be interested in coming to Spain. Sammy, like me, was at QPR at the time and was looking for a new challenge. Therefore, he jumped at the opportunity of being able to join me out in Spain. It was great playing with Sammy again and in our first season together, we ended up finishing fifth, which at the time, was a club record.

Steve McManaman said you were his mentor while he lived in Spain

I first met Steven when he was still playing for Liverpool and there was talk of him coming to Spain. Liverpool had put a ban on Spanish journalists talking to Steven, but I phoned Mr. Peter Robinson personally to see if I could speak to him. Peter was more than welcoming with me; "Michael, this is your home, you don't need to ask me permission to come here," he kindly informed me.

I flew to Liverpool to meet Steven at Anfield. He turned up rather late and entered the room where I was waiting, something didn’t seem right; "Mr. Robinson, I'm sorry I'm late, my mum has just died," he said. I was in sheer shock and instantly insisted that our meeting was called off. However, Steven himself wanted to continue, so we ended up having our chat. The message and feelings I picked up from Steven was one of frustration towards Liverpool Football Club. He was the last of his generation of players, The Bootroom had disappeared, Mr. Houllier was now in charge and Liverpool were starting to play a different style of football.