Many happy returns for Robson

Damian Spellman, Eindhoven

The 71-year-old Newcastle manager is held in high regard at PSV Eindhoven, whom he led to successive league titles after moving to Holland following his spell in charge of the England team, and returned for a year before heading back to Tyneside.

However, while he admits he is delighted as the prospect of visiting the scene of his first successes in management overseas, all that concerns Robson ahead of the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals is ensuring that he takes a result back to St James’ Park which gives the Magpies a genuine chance of booking a semi-final showdown against either Inter Milan or Marseille.