The opening shot is a close-up of his face and the sound of his throaty, rasping laugh, and that is all it takes for everyone to fall under John Robertson’s spell all over again. There are certain people that others warm to immediately and Robertson is one of them. The council house kid who made one European Cup final winning goal, and a year later scored another one, is quite a narrative. Throw in the fact Brian Clough used to call him unattractive and unprofessional, or the little fat guy, or an unplayable genius, and that Robertson took all of it with quiet good humour, and the story is irresistible.
“You know that programme Everybody Loves Raymond?” Martin O’Neill asks at the end of