Robson ready to support Stan

IT was just before 2pm yesterday afternoon when Bobby Robson finally escaped the media scrum that was the Round Room in Dublin’s Mansion House.

For the previous three hours, the Englishman had rarely left Steve Staunton’s side, his first official function as mentor to the newly unveiled Republic of Ireland manager.

Robson, despite his age, still boasts the bubbly enthusiasm of a teenager who can spit out a hundred words a second when he talks about a sport that has enraptured him for decades.