Bryan Robson’s future hangs in the balance after his meeting with the Sheffield United chairmen was extended into a second day. Fog at Brussels airport delayed the start of Robson’s talks with Kevin McCabe, the plc chairman, and Terry Robinson, the football club chairman, as the possibility of restructuring the management set-up was proposed.
Middlesbrough, with whom Robson started his managerial career, visit Bramall Lane in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday, but the team’s league form has been so unconvincing after their relegation from the Barclays Premier League last May, when Robson succeeded Neil Warnock, that 1,500 supporters gathered to demand a further change of manager after the goalless draw at home to Scunthorpe United on Saturday.
The creditable goalless draw away to West Bromwich Albion, Robson’s previous club, on Tuesday, may have earned the former England captain a reprieve, but McCabe said that, with the team sixteenth in the Coca-Cola Championship table, changes on the field must be considered. Changes are taking place off it as it emerged yesterday that McCabe had bought a share in Ferencvaros, the Hungarian club.
“Talks are ongoing overnight, with Terry Robinson, Bryan Robson and myself assessing the whole organisation of the football club,” McCabe, who lives in Belgium, said. “We want to get an overview and see whether there is a need for reorganisation.”
Robson was appointed on a three-year contract last May, in partnership with Brian Kidd, who stayed on from Warnock’s reign and who had worked with Robson at Manchester United.
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McCabe is eager to hear Robson’s views on how the team’s fortunes can be improved. “It’s not my intention [to have a change in manager], but that’s just my view and we’re midway through talks,” he said. “But at the same time we’re taking on board the disappointment we’ve all felt with how things have gone so far. I’m a supporter, so I understand how they [the protesters] feel. I bring my views as a supporter into this, but it is as a chairman as well that I must make a reasoned judgment.”
Robson has reacted strongly to suggestions that new coaching personnel could be brought in. “I already have one of the best coaches in the country in Brian Kidd and I also continue to coach,” he said. “In addition, we have a fantastic fitness expert in Richard Hawkins, who the West Brom players thought so highly of that they tried to persuade him to stay at The Hawthorns. However, Scott Sellars has left the academy coaching team, so that is an area that is still to be filled.”
Gary Speed, who was a player-coach at Bolton Wanderers, has also joined United this season with a view to helping on the coaching side. Whether McCabe and Robinson see Robson’s role changing to that of director of football remains to be seen.
McCabe is buying into Ferencvaros through the Esplanade Kft, his Hungarian business, purchasing the club’s real estate for £8.45 million, with a view to begin paying off £5 million worth of debts. United have invested heavily overseas, becoming the first British owner of a Chinese club with the acquisition of Chengdu Five Bulls, now known as Chengdu Blades, in January 2006.