da poker： With the arrival of Ben Arfa at Newcastle, I thought back of another French man at St James’ Park, but not David Ginola, I was thinking of Laurent Robert. In the early 2000s, there were many good set piece takers in the Premiership, David Beckham was the most notable but perhaps none were as powerful, or as spectacular as those free kicks of Laurent Robert. So what happened to him?
da 888casino： When Newcastle signed French winger Laurent Robert for £9.5m in 2001, big things were expected from him. He had already played a handful of international games and scored. He had also already played in the Champions League for PSG where he had famously set up six goals in one match.
He scored 4 goals from direct free kicks in his first season. Including this one
[youtube P4ZkHtUs_zY Robert Free Kick]
After a game against Manchester United he drew praise from Alex Ferguson. You could even say his delivery in that game was better than Beckham’s. Indeed it appears his Newcastle career got off on the right foot, despite him having one of the best left feet in the game.
In his first season, though, he was more than just a set-piece expert. He had pace and was creative and delivered some fantastic crosses. Having helped Newcastle get into the Champions League he was still 26 and half way through a potentially long and fruitful journey.
However three years later Robert career had plateaued at Newcastle and he found himself arguing with anyone who would listen, playing on loan for half a season at Portsmouth before leaving the Premier League forever. So just what did happen to Laurent Robert?
Well sadly for Robert, he petered out quite slowly.
In his second year at Newcastle he fell out with the management, apparently being dismayed at the internal decisions of the club. He was accused of becoming lazy and selfish and although he stayed for a few seasons, when Souness arrived his days were numbered.
In 2006 Robert got signed by Benfica, who were playing Champions league football. His first goal was a 40 yard free kick in a big Derby against Porto, so again he got off to a flyer. But his chances became limited as he appeared to lose interest and again was accused of being idle and only really caring about no 1. He found himself on the peripheries, something he was not content with and later secured himself a move to Levante for the following season. There he only played a few complete games scoring a few goals, but again failing to ever make a big impression.
After Levante he had a loan spell at Derby County, there was speculation at the time that he might return to Newcastle, but it appeared these rumours were based on his desires and not the clubs.
He then moved to Toronto where despite one important goal and a few good performances he was released after just 17 appearances. He moved on and played 6 games for Greek side Larrissa before again being released.
It seems his CV would have had enough dazzling footage on it for him to be signed up in the hope that ‘maybe this time it will be different’ managers must have thought ‘with the right handling and care he could become great’. This never materialized after moving to leaving England at the end of 2005-06 he only made 53 appearances in 4 seasons.
So talented, but it appears, so very temperamental that he was never able to achieve what he could perhaps have done. He always scored good goals. But his temperament was up there with the worst of them and he was always his own biggest enemy.
With the recent retirement of Gary Neville you can only wonder how good a hybrid of the two may have been. Robert certainly lacked Neville’s desire to improve and do his best to make the most of his ability. Robert honestly has very little choice but to blame himself for never establishing himself and his career in the way he could have done, it appears he was always content on the spectacular but never interested the uglier side of the game, the dedication and the hard work.
In answer to the question whatever happened to Laurent Robert? You would have to answer; not much. He promised so much but peaked at 27 and never really got his career stabilized. That said, he had an unbelievable left foot and will never be forgotten for scoring some of the most unlikely and audacious free kicks I have ever seen….
For an extended series of highlight, see this
[youtube m-edtGtB-pY Laurent Robert]