he was that way he was to good a man to do what he should have done imo
If that was the case though either Robson or Shepherd would have conceded this, given the reasons they gave were long after both left the club.
At the actual time a club statement read: "After a disappointing start to the Barclays Premiership season the directors of
Newcastle United have informed Sir Bobby Robson that they have decided he is to be replaced as team manager.
"The directors of Newcastle wish to place on record their thanks for the way in which Sir Bobby has worked tirelessly over the past five years to try to bring success to the club."
It was only later that Shepherd went into detail of why he sacked him. He had no reason to lie or play up the fans, he wasn't even at the club anymore. The fans weren't mentioned as a reason. The actual big thing in Freddies mind appeared to be this photo he was threatened with being published which showed the player sticking his fingers up at him. I think the only reference to the fans came about the Wolves game the season before. He said something like loads of the fans walked out without giving them the traditional lap of honour - it disappointed Robson and he told the fans via the media. I remember it well, there were only 5-10k worth of fans left. Anyone who went at the time will recall the tradition for quite some time had been to see the team off for the summer in style regardless how we went.
Shepherd appeared to take on water from the press, players but more than anything he himself felt Robson was past his sell by date. His comments were:
‘Two players came to see me and they said, “He is losing the team.” It wasn’t a case of control, the words they used were losing the team.
‘I think at the time some of the players there were a bit hard too handle. There wasn’t any shrinking violets.
‘You had the Brambles and the Dyers and they were a handful for anyone to handle. All that got on top of Bobby. He was 71. He was feeling the pressure. He was successful. The crowds loved him and all that, but at the end he got a bit tired of it, as they all do"