Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson returns to Tottenham today with his confidence only just restored after the nightmare end to his time at White Hart Lane.
Robinson accused former Tottenham boss Juande Ramos of shattering his already fragile morale at a vital time last season.
The England international was dropped by Ramos for the final two months of the last campaign after a series of erratic performances.
Ramos then barely spoke to Robinson befoe selling the keeper to Blackburn and signing Brazilian Heurelho Gomes as his replacement in the close-season.
But the move seems to have backfired as Gomes’ poor performances contributed to Ramos’ sacking last month, while Robinson has been in good form for Blackburn and earned a late call-up to the England squad for their friendly in Germany this week.
“I had four years there, three and a half of which were probably the happiest times of my football career so far,” Robinson said.
“It was difficult times towards the end, very difficult for me. I was not playing as well as I wanted to play, my confidence was a little bit low and that’s the time you need the support and the strength of the people around you,” he said. “You need the manager and the coaches to believe in you and I didn’t get that.”
“Confidence is the biggest part of the game for a goalkeeper. You stop coming for balls that you should come for, you start taking the safer option when you should be doing other things,” Robinson said.
“Ramos’ departure has worked out well for Tottenham, and me leaving at the time has worked out well for me. If I was still there at the beginning of this season with the run of results they had it could have been more detrimental for me,” he said.
“I’m really enjoying my football again now and my performances have been gradually improving. The manager here has been great for me and given me a lot of support and a lot of backing,” he said.
Robinson sympathizes with Gomes and believeshe can still come good if he is given time to rebuild his confidence.
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About 100 people gathered at a bar in Taipei to watch the FIFA World Cup start in Mexico, despite the early hour of 3am yesterday. All seats had been reserved before the game started, said a clerk at the Brass Monkey, a bar in Taipei where customers can watch live sports broadcasts. The Group A clash between Mexico and South Africa drew supporters from multiple continents to the venue. For Misael Alanis, a Mexican student who has lived in Taiwan for two-and-a-half years, the atmosphere was just as important as the game itself. “There are a lot of Mexicans here and you can tell
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