Laurent Robert says he will never understand why Newcastle United sacked Sir Bobby Robson back in 2004.
The legendary winger admits that he knew his career was as good as over when the Magpies decide to part company with the man he considered a “father figure” during his days at St James’ Park.
It was Robson who snapped up Robert for £11million from Paris St-Germain when the winger was one of Europe’s hottest properties back in 2001.
However, despite delivering fourth place, third place, and fifth place in just three seasons, Robson was told his contract had been terminated by United.
Robert told the Chronicle: “I still can’t understand why he was allowed to leave.
“We finished fifth!
“That would be a great season now for Newcastle.
“Bobby had the team playing very well and we finished fourth, third, and then fifth so to see him leave was very strange.
“When he left it was a different club.
“The style of football changed too, and we tried to do different things with different players.
“It was the reason why I left Newcastle.
“Once Bobby Robson had gone I wanted to go to.”
Although it had all started so well for Robert and Sir Bobby at St James’, the 43-year-old, now a youth coach at Montpellier, said: “I was at Newcastle United for four years and when I signed they had one of the top managers in Europe in Sir Bobby Robson and they told me they wanted to be playing in the Champions League.
“So it was the best club for me at the time to sign for.
“To play for Newcastle in the Champions League was fantastic as you can imagine.
“In my first season we finished fourth, then we followed that up with third the next year.
“In both of those seasons we challenged strongly for the Premier League title itself and we were genuine contenders for most of each year.
“When you play football the way we did under Sir Bobby Robson and you establish yourself as one of the big four it is brilliant for a player.
“We not only had a very good manager but great players as well, world class players like Alan Shearer, Nobby Solano, Shay Given, and Gary Speed.
“This was a very good group.
“We not only worked well on the pitch but had a great relationship off it which counts for a lot.”
Under Robson’s guidance, Newcastle went on to qualify for the Champions League in 2002 and 2003 - a stage where they have never been since.
And incredibly in Mike Ashley’s 11 years on Tyneside, the club have played in Europe just once back in 2012 after Alan Pardew led the team to fifth place.
Robert said: “When you are playing Champions League it means you are focused on real success.
“We had the players for it and were able to compete in the Premier League.
“But we played good football with it.
“We had confidence in each other and for the players, it felt easy.”
