Andy Robinson: The Third Coming


By Matthew Jones
January 27 2011

Exciting midfielder re-joins Tranmere once again.....

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Experienced midfielder Andy Robinson has today rejoined Tranmere Rovers for the second time, joining the club on a free transfer.

Robinson comes to the club just a day after the departure of leading goalscorer Ian Thomas-Moore, having been training with the club for the last week following his release by Leeds United in September.

Birkenhead born Robinson started his professional career with Tranmere as a hugely exciting young player, but never really got a chance with the club, playing just once before being released in 2003, joining Swansea City on a free transfer.

At Swansea, Robinson's career went from strength to strength and over five years with the South Welsh side he was a hugely influential player as he helped them win two promotions.

Robinson Andy (Tranmere)

Netting 54 goals in 226 goals for Swansea, a hugely prolific record for a wide player, Robinson was coaxed away from the Liberty Stadium in 2008 as he joined Leeds United following the end of his contract.

However, his career never really got going at Leeds and at the end of the 2009/10 season, he re-joined Tranmere on loan, scoring a crucial goal against Millwall as he helped the club retain their League One status.

Robinson was released by Leeds in September having not played a first team game for the club in nearly twelve months and looked set to join Huddersfield Town at the start of the January transfer window.

However, that deal fell through and following the departure of Ian Thomas-Moore to Rotherham yesterday, more wages have become available for the club to spend on a player, allowing Tranmere to offer Robinson a contract.

Now 31, who should hopefully still have a good few years at this level left in him, is mainly a wide player and can play on either the left or the right, so he will work well in Les Parry's 4-3-3 formation, as well as being able to slot in equally as adeptly to a 4-4-2 formation, should Parry choose to go with that instead.

Robinson has been given an 6-month contract, whilst he is likely to be given the number ten shirt.

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Andy Robinson: The Third Coming
Discussion started by Total Tranmere (IP Logged), 27/01/2011 14:47
Total Tranmere
Total Tranmere
27/01/2011 14:47
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MESSAGES->author
bigmart
27/01/2011 14:57
A bit suprirsed with only a 6 month deal but still a good player

philg16
philg16
27/01/2011 15:01
6 month deal?

Makes selling Moore look like a bad bit of business!

JonesMusic
Matthew the rover
27/01/2011 15:04
In effect, he's replacing Thomas-Moore in terms of wages. We wouldn't have been able to have one without the other. However, how long is it going to take him to get fit?!

ronnie barmy army
ronnie barmy army
27/01/2011 15:12
brillant news on robbo coming back.DDDD ANDY ROBO DDDD ANDY ROBO DDDD ANDY ROBO.

DevonExile
DevonExile
27/01/2011 16:00
2 years would have been more exciting.It could take at least until March to get him really match fit after such a long period of inactivity.

Are we simply paying him to get fit enough to get a contract with another club and in return getting a handful of games. On the other hand he may be close to full fitness although to me he looks like someone who has to work hard to get match fit

Badgerdoom
Badgerdoom
27/01/2011 16:21
I like the signing, a back 5 of Warner, Kay (if we can keep him a bit longer), McCrystal, Goody and Cresswell is strong. Ash Taylor protecting in front of them, Welsh holding the midfield and Joss making runs to help up top. Enoch leading the line and Robbo and Dale on either flank. Thats a pretty strong first choice team. Its only when we have to use back up players does it become weak, are Morrow, McGurk and Akins all that bad and how far is Mahon away from fitness?

MESSAGES->author
TT Admin
27/01/2011 17:18
McGurk looks a great player and as for Mahon, I was surprised to see him not in the Reserve team yesterday afternoon to be honest.

iagoapcen
iagoapcen
27/01/2011 18:17
agree about mcgurk and mcchrystal too good stuff there. mahon i think being wrapped in wool for tuesday.

kiws
kiws
27/01/2011 19:06
6 months makes a lot of sense, if he does well and we stay up then a long term offer on the table, if he fails then we aren't paying high wages for a crocked player for the next 2 years (mahon springs to mind). If we can get a settled team and a run going then the play offs are sill within our grasp, 9 points away, some of the loan players that Les has brought in have been excellant, Les is proving to be quite shrewd in his dealings, lets see what the next 10 games bring, 6 wins would see us up there, this is a tight division this season I predict 52 points to stay up, 68 to be in play offs, which way will we go?

Kirkby
Kirkby
27/01/2011 19:30
Strange signing for me.

He's hardly played in 18 month's, and I know I can't really talk, but he is renowned for being "big boned".
How fit is he?

Les has said Mahon wasn't ready because of the bad weather postponing reserve games, so he didn't have match time.
I bet Robbo plays next Tuesday.

He also enjoys his social life quite a bit, and he's on home turf, which makes that easier.

He's effectively been unemployed (albeit on decent money) for 12-14 month's, with Leeds publically declaring they want rid.
Leeds released him a good while back, yet he didn't find himself a club.
Was this him being fussy and holding out for similar money that he was on at Leeds, or was it a case of clubs being wary of his lack of football and fitness?
I know he's local, but if he's as good as people think he is, why has he come to a "two bob" club like Tranmere?

Don't get me wrong, I thought he was excellent at Swansea, and his early days at Leeds, but that's a while back now.

Of course people are going to throw the Millwall goal at me, but for all the hype and the wages he was earning, albeit payed by Leeds on the whole, was he really that good for us at the backend of last season?
I would suggest Joss was more influential in our staying up than Robbo.

I know Moore is pished off with Les and the way the club is being run, and probably wanted out, but personally I would rather have kept him than bring in a player who could take a while to get up to speed.

@gony
@gony
27/01/2011 20:02
just as we seemed to have some balnce in the side ! not sure I'd find room for him

iagoapcen
iagoapcen
27/01/2011 20:41
you know what i think it's a sound move, if anything because he's one of us, a fan and has the advantage of being a bloody good football player too. he was in team of the year 2008, he can't have faded that much and yes i tnhink he's a step up from itm: age, motivation, skill. maybe not fitness but that will come. this team has potential now, does it have the training and leadership. oh he's a shouter as well so will bring others out of their shells. a team of local lads, irish and others is a good mix. mark my words :-)

DevonExile
DevonExile
27/01/2011 21:52
Yet midfield looked better than our defensive or attcking options. A FIT Robinson is worthwhile but with Moore gone and Broome out for the season, there may have been case for giving priority to a forward and a defender

MESSAGES->author
Matt34
27/01/2011 23:15
Robinson has it for me. His contributions last season were partly curtailed by a silly incident at Brighton, but the injury caused a problem too. HE got little opportunity ot make a case.

Now he should, assuming nothing untoward happens to him and if something could have been done in the Summer, Tranmere might possibly have had Moore and Robbo, but it couldn't be done.

His affection for the club and I think a desire to prove something he couldn't last season, will make him potentially a very influencial signing and again, Les triumphs with a 3rd player of quality AND experience this season.

I agree with the comments about Les getting shrewd signings and I'd back Robbo to be another shrewd one smiling smiley.

Perhaps in years to come, Tranmere will look back at the game, affectionately called Robbodale.

Kirkby
Kirkby
27/01/2011 23:31
Sorry but I can't agree.

Is he really a fan? I honestly don't know. People claim Les is/was a fan, again I don't know.
His brother supports Liverpool, I know that.

Let's not kid ourselves, the vast maority of football lovers in Birkenhead/Wirral support someone other than Tranmere, usually Liverpool or Everton.

I remember our halycon period when Elvis Costello claimed to be a Rovers fan. The fella off Brookside used to go to the match, but I haven't seen him in years.

Jason McAteer claimed he was a fan when he signed, yet it's a well known fact he is a Red, and never, that I'm aware of anyway, corrects anyone when they call him a Scouser, when in fact he is not.

As for being a good footballer, well you mention 2008, quite a long time in football.
People were creaming their pants on various message boards about the arrival of Alan Mahon a couple of years ago, and his CV pish's all over Robbo's Div Three CV.

He may have age on his side in comparison to Ian Moore, but motivation?
His motivation seems to be able to walk to work, and knock around with his mates.

If football was his motivation, and he believe's he's as good as some of our fans think he is, he'd have gone to a bigger, better and more ambitious club.

Don't get me wrong, I had issues with Ian Moore's return. At the time I didn't think he was the type of player we neccassarily needed, and there was the spat John McGreal from his Stockport days which annoyed me immensely, but Moore won me over.

People may say he had a cob on, and I don't doubt that he did, but that's more to do with the direction the club has taken, and despite my doubts about him, I have eaten a large piece of humble pie, and have never doubted his desire and will to win when he pulls on that White jersey.


Can I, or will I be able to say the same about Robbo in six month's, a year or beyond? I hope so, but there's a nagging doubt in the back of my mind.

Eddie Bishop
Eddie Bishop
27/01/2011 23:35
It's a great signing as he can play as one one the wide forwards in les' favoured 433 and enjoy playing there. Moore was never happy there (can't blame him as he wanted to play centre forward, even at other teams eg leeds fans said Moore sulked when asked to play out wide).

So whilst we are playing 433 (whether we like this or not - mainly we don't like this when we are at home, unless playing one of the top teams when the formation seems to work, but is less effective against the lesser teams at home in my opinion!!) Robinson may actually be a better fit into the formation. Enoch would always be the central man in the 433, mainly due to our tactic of whacking it up the field as hard and high as they can!! Meant Moore pushed out wide unfortunatley.

tran67
tran67
28/01/2011 00:26
AndY Robinson IS a Tranmere fan,his motivation apart from that is to put himself in the shop window,the better he plays the more he benefits,if you were at the Stockport game you would have seen he was a class above everyone else,he ran his socks off & linked the play all over the park.Les has had time to see how fit he is & would not have wasted the money if he thought it was going to take long to get him match-fit.Unfortunately we always seem to have some fans who are never happy unless we sign players who are high profile.I can't say why bigger clubs haven't signed him up,I am just thankful that we have got a player of his class & experience who wants to do well for our club he's supported since he was alad,& has got something to prove to everyone.Also my brother supports Liverpool,but that doesn't stop me from being a season ticket holder & Tranmere fan for 37 years

DevonExile
DevonExile
28/01/2011 06:26
It is not the signing but the time of the contract. I suspect that we are paying more than just Moore's wages for a player who is not likely to be at his sharpest for some time.If we are paying more then it is a questionable signing in terms of value for money.
If he plays himself baack to match fit then I suspect he will be off to another club at the end of the season,The fact that he did not sign sooner suggests that he holds out for the best pay(which is fair enough) if he disappoints then we would not want to keep him. Either way it looks like an expensive loan signing.
On the other hand he looks cheap compared to'odd game Mahon'

Kirkby
Kirkby
28/01/2011 10:16
tran67 - I never said he wasn't a Rovers fan, just asking the question.
So many players declare their love for a club when they sign for said club.

What type of fan was/is he? Did he just hope we win every week because it's his local club, or did he go to the games when he was younger?

As fro fans not happy unless we sign high profile players, in our circumstances, Robbo is high profile, as was Mahon.

I had big doubts about Mahon, despite me being a big fan of him in his first spell.
Devon makes a good point about value for money.
He was on something like £8-9k at Leeds. It's obvious he's had to take a huge paycut, but I bet he's on a fair amount.
We are paying someone who hasn't had much football in his legs, which is a gamble.

We all want the Swansea Robbo, and having seen every minute he played last season we seem to have the 2009/10 Robbo,

Possibly a good signing, though the fact he hasn't signed for anyone bigger, better and financially better off suggests his options were limited.

I certainly won't be creaming my pants until he proves his worth over a decent number of games.

welshpool whites
welshpool whites
28/01/2011 18:15
I think it would have been difficult for the plater to go to watch tranmere games because most weekends he was playing football at a decent standard and would not have been scouted by us if he wasnt.Give him a chance before we slaughter the player

andm76
andm76
28/01/2011 19:11
time will for robbo but lets face it he would be good addition to any league side

he will add that little bit of balance on the right and might provide enoch with a few more chances

deathrovers
dr.death
28/01/2011 20:40
If he provides Enoch with chances let's hope there to feet and not his head!!!!! 50p head or what

MESSAGES->author
Matt34
28/01/2011 20:55
Agreed. Enoch has some kind of chronic heading problem, which I don't know how he'll correct.

flying pig
flying pig
28/01/2011 21:25
Months ago on this forum I said that I would have driven to Leeds to bring Robbo back he came, he was good and as far as I am concerned he will do a great job for us. I want to stay in this division and he is Tranmere through and through. Get him fit Les.

tranmerepete
tranmerepete
29/01/2011 09:13
He is a Very good player. Maybe we should gone for another young forward player that has no games under his belt. Come on for god sake leave it alone. He is a good signing for us. ITM replacement is going to be hard cause anyone that scores goals cost money, which we don't have. So get behind him. He has not even kicked a ball for us yet and many of you have wrote him off.................................

Every ball is a white ball............TRFC

Ingleboro08
Ingleboro08
29/01/2011 10:51
Had extra training with the youth, yesterday.
Needs a little bit more, but not that far away, probably in the squad Tuesday.
The board needs to get the message out and get some bums on seats!

MESSAGES->author
BELMONT
29/01/2011 14:58
Seems Les is dammed(Sm113) if he does and(Sm113)dammed if he does not ,if he bring a young loanee in people moan and when he brings back Robbo the same people my also moan(Sm18) it`s
what is needed experience in the team Robbo(Sm115)was good enough for Les Aid (Sm112)last year so give Les and Robbo some slack and hope it`s a good signing(Sm42) we have 21 games left and if we win only 17 of them(Sm61)we will be in the party spirit(Sm60)(Sm63)and it could have been the signing that clicked things into place time will tell but it is at least an older head in mid field or in a attacking role might give us a bit of punch(Sm44). come you whites
let`s try for two home wins back to back in the next two starting with Rochdale and then Notts Countythumbs down.

deathrovers
dr.death
29/01/2011 21:14
Well I think it is an excellent signing and will hopefully give the team a huge boost! That's why I've predict two more wins in the prediction league. Onwards and upwards!!!! Oh Birkenhead......

MESSAGES->author
Matt34
29/01/2011 22:41
Plynouth is very winnable, given they lost to Tranmere. their season's gone badly and their recent slump in form, without certain players who have left, or were kept out of the team in readiness for being sold.

Rochdale is winnable and I think County is as well. I think Tranmere have the goalkeeping and defensive personnel to deal with players like Westcarr and Hughes, but also the forward personell to get something at the other end and the away game was a valuable 3 point win, given they were 3 points behind Tranmere on the same goal difference, so hopefully that win over them, home advantage and a few new very good signings since then, will help to get Tranmere the points.

If they actually won all 3 coming games and ended up before the Sheff Wed game, with a run 13 points out of 15, that would be fantastic, especially as some of Wednesday's form lately has been very dubious.

JonesMusic
Matthew the rover
29/01/2011 23:06
I went to Sheffield Wednesday today and their form lived up to the reports I've heard of them. Their defence was woeful and the midfield could barely strong three passes together all afternoon.

Hereford were, until they went down to ten men (through a very dubious penalty and sending off) very much on a par with Wednesday and probably the better side in the first half.

They had two quick lads up front, Jervis and Fleetwood, who played off the shoulder of their slow defence all game and this really worked to Hereford's advantage. They kept playing little lofted pass over the top, dropping it just in the gap between 'keeper and defence.

Every time, Fleetwood and Jervis successfully managed to run on to this pass. The only problem was that both, though Fleetwood particularly, had poor touches and this took the momentum out of a number of attacks.

Midfield wise; if we stick three men across the centre, we should completely snuff them out. They had nothing in that area, but wingers, particularly Jermaine Johnson, liked to come inside, so Ash Taylor would be very useful.

Clinton Morrison looked sharp up front and scored two penalties, but we all know Goody will have him in his back pocket!

MESSAGES->author
TT Admin
29/01/2011 23:11
The sending off today at Hillsborough definitely swung the game and as you say Hereford more than matched them before that.

MESSAGES->author
bigmart
30/01/2011 13:19
A lot will depend on which tranmere team turn up will it be the one who beat southampton playing well or will it be the one who player so poorly against orient

MESSAGES->author
Matt34
30/01/2011 16:40
I think Tranmere definitely have more now. Yes Moore has gone, but the squad now has Alliyu, Kay, Warner, Robinson and McChrystal and one or two new players hopefully by tomorrow.

Prenton oldpup
Prenton oldpup
30/01/2011 21:24
Regarding obtaining points from our approaching home fixtures
Watched Notts County today against Man City. Looked a different team from the one I Watched This year at Meadow Lane against Rovers. Will be a hard game to win all three points.

Journeyman79
Journeyman79
31/01/2011 00:45
He will obviously be rubbish cos Les signed him. Just like the following players that were deemed rubbish before a ball was kicked...

Joss Labaddie
Luke Daniels
Enoch Showumni
McCrystal

need I go on?

Great signing in my own opinion, and will be given a chance to impress me before any negativity from me is typed about him!

MESSAGES->author
bigmart
31/01/2011 10:11
Sam Mantom
Kaylden Brown
Arnaud Mendy
Sam Morrow
Tim Cathalina
Liam Darville
Lucas Akins
Gunnar Nielsen.

All players signed by Les some on loan some on contracts that have either been poor or injury prone and not made much of a contribution.

I agree Robbo will be a good signing & if we stay in league 1 then hopefully we can sign him for a longer period of time.

MESSAGES->author
Matt34
31/01/2011 22:49
Cathalina has been okay, though not sparkling. For me Kay is a better player.

Morrow has not had enough pitch time to prove himself.

Neilsen's injuries stopped him showing what he could have done.

Darville was good in patches.

Brown was so-so.

Akins is so-so.

Mantom was so-so.

Mendy was good sometimes and he should still be remembered for a priceless goal against in a game against Peterborough, because come the end of the season, if it helps Tranmere get another place or two and a little more blessed money to spend next season, he'll have had a small but potentially useful long-term contribution to the club.

Though I admit he did fizzle out a bit latterly.

For me the bulk of Les's signings have been very worthwhile including those in the last 4-8 weeks and given what he can spend, you have to expect a few duds, but he's signed a heck of a lot more quality players, than many would have thought possible and I don't think anybody could have realistically gotten in more quality players than Les.

Plus giving playes a few training sessions and some reserve or friendly games is no cast iron certainty of League 1 quality, so sometimes even then, a manager would probably have to go with a gut feeling.

I don't envy Les's task of assessing potential recruits, especially staring an even poorer budget and possible relegation, right in the face.

MESSAGES->author
bigmart
01/02/2011 08:48
Matt think your being too generous Akins is not so so he is poor he doesnt contribute anything at all to the team brown & mantom the same.

Nielsen in the few games he managed to play for us was awful as well, morrow & mcgurk are just injury prone so the chances of them contributing much are fairly slim.

Clearly Les has made some good signings kay looks good warner has started really well & is experienced, Mccrystal has done well but he has gone for quantity rather than quality

Ricci
Ricci
01/02/2011 14:23
In my opinion it is a good signing. Still a bit worried about who will score though. Roninson will create but Enoch's finishing is poor and Dale is a scorer of great goals rather than a great goalscorer. We may just be missing that poacher type, but definitely happy with Robbo.

Matt how you can say Akins is so-so is beyond me. Mcgurk looks to have something about him, can't comment on Morrow but Akins is terrible.

MESSAGES->author
Matt34
01/02/2011 17:59
In fairness though Mart he's had to get more players in than he would have expected, due to injuries and to replace players that went back last season and players that left like Edds and there's a possibility that unlike he normally would, one or two players couldn't be assessed properly prior to choosing them, because he'd have needed thme as quickly as possible.

Looking at the list of good players, you've got Warner, McChrystal, Blanchard, Alliyu, Kay, Wootton, Labadie, Gulacsi, Robinson, Wood is improving and he's also given quite a number of chances to people like Jennings, Cresswell and Collister when he could have given them more limited chances and encouraged Cresswell to work on dead balls, something that's helped the team to get 3 points and although Miotto hasn't started, I think his ability to work with the goalkeeping personnell, will be beneficial rather than counterproductive.

I'm happy with his overall procurement of players. There's no doubt he could have gotten more quality players in, but it would have been with more money, but that's not the case.

Overall, given some of the form this season, like the 4 wins from 5, when the two big wins happened and a lot of the signings made, I think he's still the right kind of person to make things happen and if he gets a bit more money to use next season, after the Jennings sale, then bringing in players with a slightly higher wage allowance, should increase quality overall, but in the situation he was in in June, it doesn't surprise me that there wasn't a vast dirth of quality players coming in, because 200+ game, league 1 standard players, cost too much most of the time, so he's done well overall to do what he has done.

Hopefully Rochdale will be a 3 pointer.

pedro267
pedro267
04/02/2011 14:12
i dont agree with robinsons appointment as he prefares the cool rooms too much and hes weak and petulant

leeds4529
Selby White
07/02/2011 15:20
When we played Liverpool in the cup he said in an interview he'd love to play as he was a boyhood Liverpool fan.

cadburygorilla
cadburygorilla
07/02/2011 19:05
He's by a long long way the most technically talented player we have (exception Mahon), he's got the class, he was frozen out at leeds because of a disagreement with Grayson. Give him a run of games and I believe we have one of the best attacking midfielders in the league.

da da da da Andy Robbo!!!

MESSAGES->author
Matt34
07/02/2011 19:49
I agree about Robbo. He's got a lot of the right stuff. If Mahon gets back in the team, The combination could be pretty mindblowing. Well being positive about such things can't hurt.

I'm really hopeful Les can get the Alliyu deal done long term, as it will really be a good signing.

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