When the West Bromwich assistant Nigel Pearson spoke about Bryan Robson's departure as manager yesterday, he said the 49-year-old's biggest grievance was the nagging "sense of unfinished business" that pursued him. Many others will be wondering whether Robson is simply finished in the business. Having been celebrated as one of the greatest players of his generation, his experiences as a manager at Middlesbrough, Bradford City and now Albion leave his future in football hanging in the balance.
Once offered the position as England manager, the former Manchester United midfielder and captain is in danger of being regarded as damaged goods, his covering letters falling into the paper bins before chairmen have bothered to look through the CV. It was an experience that Robson endured before, when his dismissal at Middlesbrough in 2001 precipitated a two-year hiatus. Belatedly, Bradford came to Robson's rescue but he was unable to reciprocate as the club slipped into the third tier of English football.
Again Robson appeared close to oblivion until Albion, the club he made 249 appearances for as a player before joining United in 1981, presented another opportunity for redemption. His appointment was as unexpected as the club's survival in the Premiership six months later but, all too predictably, the feelgood factor did not last. Negative tactics fuelled unrest and Robson, unable to call upon Terry Venables to save the day as he did at Boro in 2001, presided over the third relegation of his managerial career.
It is that stigma which will mark him more than most. Graham Taylor has gone through the same, his feats with Watford and Aston Villa overshadowed by England disappointment and the ignominy of missing World Cup qualification. He now fears a similar fate awaits Robson, whose name will be synonymous with failure, with the memory of three Wembley appearances with Middlesbrough and the extraordinary great escape he masterminded at Albion six months after taking over quickly forgotten.
"If Bryan wants to get back into the game then I am sure that he will make every effort to do so, but it's amazing how you can be labelled," said Taylor. "In 1990 I was deemed good enough by the majority of people to be the England manager, we didn't make the World Cup and I wasn't then deemed good enough to have an offer from our top 20 clubs. You get a label and it's difficult to escape that. If there is a label attached to Bryan in the football world then it's not necessarily easy to find the job that you would like.
"It looked like he had resurrected his managerial career by a first-class achievement - the great escape at West Brom. He [won] so many people around with that escape but, to me, last season was the killing blow for him. Where Bryan's career goes now will be totally down to him. But I think if he wanted to get back into management, it would not surprise me if a few doors were closed simply because of the labelling. I think there are clubs that would think carefully about [him]."
According to his No2 Pearson, Robson has no plans to retire and will look to return to football as soon as possible. There is no financial imperative, with his earnings from playing and managing more than enough to accommodate a comfortable standard of living. Instead it is the desire to succeed that still burns inside Robson, the yearning to prove that he is not another outstanding footballer unable to make the transition to management despite all the evidence to the contrary.
That much was apparent in the summer when Robson, speaking shortly after Albion suffered relegation to the Championship, outlined his ambitions for the future. "Before I finish my managerial career," he said, "I would like to think that I get a chance at one of the big clubs. That's the only time when you can really judge yourself as a manager because you have got the resources and you have got to compete and you have got to be winning things."
Now, just a few months on, it is difficult to believe his wish will ever be granted.
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