To Sir with Love

Seldom has there been such a universal outpouring of grief at the passing of a sporting icon as that which we witnessed over the past few days.Sir Bobby Robson eventually lost his immensely brave and dignified battle to cancer. Significantly, the posthumous respect and affection shown to the Geordie great was not confined to England, as even the most narrow-minded Anglo-bashers in this island joined in lauding the 76-year-old. And this despite his part in the shambolic reign of Steve Staunton as Republic of Ireland 'gaffer' (a provider of gaffes?) earlier this decade.Yes, it was a real pity that Robson's last port of call was when effectively terminally ill in Merrion Square as the FAI's 'international consultant'. Luckily, the current incumbent in Abbotstown is in good health despite also being a septuagenarian. He has infinitely more tactical awareness than (and equally good English as) the miscast Dundalk man (in fairness, an immensely loyal servant to the green jersey as a player). No doubt, Sir Bobby will be only too delighted looking down from the great football stadium in the sky if Giovanni Trapattoni can fashion an unlikely place in South Africa 2010 for his very limited squad. It is possible already to imagine the childishly enthusiastic Robson using spare angels' wings as goalposts and urging George Best, Duncan Edwards, Stanley Matthews et al to demonstrate their skills to some of our departed loved ones in improvised games.Sir Bobby's enthusiasm for all things soccer was infectious but he is remembered in many quarters for his malapropisms and verbal gaffes which characterised his pre and post match ramblings. Given his penchant for being self-deprecating, a selection follows, as a tribute rather than a slagging off:"Manchester United dropped points, Liverpool dropped points, Chelsea dropped points, Everton dropped points, so in a way we haven't lost anything at all really, although we dropped all three"; "I'm not going to look beyond the semi-final, but I would love to lead Newcastle out at the final"; "He never fails to hit the target, but that was a miss"; "Eighteen months ago, Sweden were arguably one of the best three teams in Europe, and that would include Germany, Holland, Russia and anybody else if you like"; "We can't replace Gary Speed - where do you get an experienced player like him with a left foot and a head?"; "Gary Speed has never played better, never looked fitter, never been older"; "Alan Shearer has got two good legs now, last season he played with one leg"; "Well, we got nine and you can't score more than that"; "Some of the goals were good, some of the goals were sceptical"; "One day, someone will end a football game scoring more than Brazil and this might be the time that they lose"; "Home advantage gives you an advantage"; "Look at those olive trees, they're 200 years old - from before the time of Christ"; "They're two points behind us, so we're neck and neck"; "We didn't underestimate them, they were just a lot better than we thought"; "What can I say about Peter Shilton? Peter Shilton is Peter Shilton, and he has been Peter Shilton since the year dot"; "I would have given my right arm to be a pianist"; "I do want to play the short ball and I do want to play the long ball, I think long and short balls is what football is all about"; "If you count your chickens before they've hatched, they won't lay an egg"; "Ray Wilkins' day will come one night";"We put some good subs on to hang onto the fort"; "Tottenham have impressed me - they haven't thrown in the towel even though they've been under the gun";"They've probably played better than they've ever done for a few weeks";"The margin is very marginal"; "Their football was exceptionally good - and they played some good football"; "He has four lungs and two hearts, no doubt about it"; "The first ninety minutes of a football match are the most important"; "Anything from 1-0 to 2-0 would be a nice result"; "He's very fast and if he gets a yard ahead of himself nobody will catch him".Back in 1993, many of us shed a tear when another English footballing icon, Bobby Moore died. Now another Bobby's passing leaves us weepy and his words "maybe not goodbye, but farewell", uttered some years back after a cancer-induced break from the game, are all the more poignant. And who says nice guys don't win?Footnote.I made the assumption above that Association Football legend Sir Bobby Robson is in Heaven.But the long-term abode for which many of us feel we have already accumulated massive penalty points came to my mind last Monday, in relation to Gaelic Football matters. I intend to e-mail the lovely Susie Dent, the Countdown lexicographer, with a suggestion that the saying "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" be altered. Replace "woman" with "Kerry football team"!Incidentally, given the purgatory which Westmeath GAA fans endured on June 28th, what type of football limbo is the Lake County now in?