Did we ever worry about losing Robbo?

[briever]

32 minutes ago, Thought Police said:

Excuse my ignorance, but people keep mentioning pre-bosman and freedom of contract etc.

What exactly was the contract situation then? Surely he still would have had a contract that he could then decide whether to stay on or leave? Or were contracts open ended and renewed at the club’s choice?

 

If you have a TNT sports there is a brilliant document on Bosman - it explains all.  Basically ruined his life, current players should pay a % of their salaries to him as a thank you.

[Shaggy2]

10 hours ago, Mikey1874 said:

The rumour came out shortly before he left. Rangers was being mentioned.

 

We played Rangers at Ibrox last game of season with 2nd to play for. We got a penalty and people were saying he shouldn't take it in case he deliberately missed it. 

 

(Scored penalty and we got 2nd). 

The Rangers win was 4 or 5 games from the end of the season and they were never in the equation at that stage, although that’s not to say some Weegie rat journalist never tried to link him to them. They definitely tried to gazump Hearts when he came back up the road but Hearts had agreed a fee which Dundee Utd were also willing to pay so Hearts was a no brainer for him, especially when the orange man/greengrocer said he’d stump up a % of his wages. 
Nobody else was ever taking that penalty. 👍

[4marsbars]

10 hours ago, 1971fozzy said:

When Robbo left it was like the end of the world. He would easily of upped his wage and likely a bumper signing on fee as well as he fancied a crack in England . 
The fact they played him out of position worked in our favour and we got him back which was the best news ever. Debut back and he scored the winner v hibs (skinhead and all).

partly funded by a local businessman I’m sure.

nothing like the money nowadays available which makes Shanks very difficult to call.  We can only pray that he loves it that much here and what we offer him is enough. Worse case is he goes and you know what ? We have had 2 (hopefully 3) seasons of an unbelievable player we bought for only £400,000 or thereabouts.  Short career and these players usually need/want to maximise their earnings. 
re’ Hibs , it was 98 that they were sniffing about I’m sure after the cup final and they wanted him as they’d been relegated (another belter - we win the cup and they went down), but Robbo has said he was never going to be signing for them as it was too much hassle and he was hearts through and through

 

From memory (might be wrong)

 

His debut back was against Rangers. Also a debut for Tosh McKinlay. We won 2-0. Galloway scored and also got sent off. Robbo went off injured and his replacement, Iain Ferguson, who we'd bought from Dundee Utd when Robbo departed, scored. Ferguson would go on to score that cracker against Bayern Munich same season.

 

Robbo's injury was significant, because it may have contributed to his lack of impact at Newcastle.

 

[briever]

59 minutes ago, Tommy Brown said:

'kin hell, I don't remember that, Livi I do

Livi?  Wasn't it Raith?

[spirt of 98]

14 hours ago, GlasgoJambo said:

I was only party to Robbo’s second spell at the club (post Newcastle) and despite his consistency I don’t recall us fearing losing him in the same way we are resigned to with Shankland.

Reasons for this may be;

I was too young to notice speculation - we weren’t as informed (obsessed) back then without the internet

The monetary divide wasn’t as great and a Hearts wage was relatively decent.

Interested to know what others remember about that time. 

 

I was gutted when he left for Newcastle. I was well chuffed when he came back. There never seamed to be any other question of him leaving. 
 

We were also not as reliant on him as we are on shanks 

Edited February 16 by spirt of 98

[1971fozzy]

3 hours ago, 4marsbars said:

 

From memory (might be wrong)

 

His debut back was against Rangers. Also a debut for Tosh McKinlay. We won 2-0. Galloway scored and also got sent off. Robbo went off injured and his replacement, Iain Ferguson, who we'd bought from Dundee Utd when Robbo departed, scored. Ferguson would go on to score that cracker against Bayern Munich same season.

 

Robbo's injury was significant, because it may have contributed to his lack of impact at Newcastle.

 

Ah , think your right there 👍

[Hansel]

4 hours ago, martoon said:

 

Although a players contract was up a club still held his registration and could demand a fee.

 

Crazy when you think about it now.

Did that mean the player would stop receiving a wage when the contract was up? 

[vegas-voss]

15 hours ago, Fort Vallance said:

It was a long time ago and memory might be flawed. But as the previous poster said the club held all the cards in these days and I think it was the club that decided to take the money on offer. 

Which was mental what was it £750k and we then spent about £500k of it on Ian Baird

[HopeDiouf]

28 minutes ago, Hansel said:

Did that mean the player would stop receiving a wage when the contract was up? 

effectively, if they didn't sign up.  Clubs had to offer a contract >= what they had IIRC.

Hence Bosman, and now we are where we are.

Edited February 16 by HopeDiouf

[martoon]

45 minutes ago, Hansel said:

Did that mean the player would stop receiving a wage when the contract was up? 

 

That's a good question, Hansel.

 

Someone, hopefully, will come along with a good answer. 😄😉

Edited February 16 by martoon

[martoon]

47 minutes ago, Hansel said:

Did that mean the player would stop receiving a wage when the contract was up? 

 

Just noticed that @HopeDiouf already has.

[CostaJambo]

I can still remember feeling sick over the loss when he left and the joy of reading on teletext the confirmation that he was coming back!

[HMFC01]

I never worried at the time.   The thought if he left would leave us ****ed did cross my mind.   He left it felt like the end.   He came back it was great. 

 

Same goes for any striker that scores you winners.   You wonder who the next will be and when. 

 

 

Edited February 16 by HMFC01
I loved his goal celebration music as well. I still miss it.

[martoon]

I remember toward the end of the first derby of 1988/89 at ER the fans signing the Karma Chameleon/Robbo song.

 

A drab 0-0 which was crying out for a late winner by the man himself.

 

Hopes of a quick return did not take long to form.

[JTJ]

Before Bosman, a Club decided if you were "retained" or "let go". If retained you had no choice but accept the club offer - I think as long as it was the same money you had no right to leave. Teams would sell if the money was right and the player was very unhappy, of course (Willie Wallace as an example), but it was very different and clubs held all the cards. Jim Cruickshank would never have stayed with us for so long otherwise - what with all his disputes with the Board.

 

Rene Moller came to Hearts from Freja Randers in 1968 and stayed a few years but wanted to go home to start a Photography business in Denmark. Hearts had him on the retained list every year till he was 40 (1986 or so). He gave up football after leaving us to concentrate on his business.  I do remember always shaking my head when reading the "Hearts Retained List" and seeing his name.

[martoon]

34 minutes ago, JTJ said:

Before Bosman, a Club decided if you were "retained" or "let go". If retained you had no choice but accept the club offer - I think as long as it was the same money you had no right to leave. Teams would sell if the money was right and the player was very unhappy, of course (Willie Wallace as an example), but it was very different and clubs held all the cards. Jim Cruickshank would never have stayed with us for so long otherwise - what with all his disputes with the Board.

 

Rene Moller came to Hearts from Freja Randers in 1968 and stayed a few years but wanted to go home to start a Photography business in Denmark. Hearts had him on the retained list every year till he was 40 (1986 or so). He gave up football after leaving us to concentrate on his business.  I do remember always shaking my head when reading the "Hearts Retained List" and seeing his name.

 

Wow.

 

Clubs really did hold all the aces back then.

Edited February 16 by martoon

[Pasquale for King]

We didn’t realise how hard it would be to replace him, a bit like me at 15 thinking we would challenge for the league again in 1986. We know better now. 

[John Findlay]

1 hour ago, martoon said:

 

Wow.

 

Clubs really did hold all the aces back then.

Go further back and the maximum wage for a footballer was £20 PW in 1960. 

This was broken when a certain Jimmy Hill was leader of the PFA(English players union) when he won in court.

Then Fulham chairman Tommy Trinder(famous English comedian), said publicly that if Hill and the union won, he would pay a certain Johnny Haynes 100 PW.

Johnny Haynes of Fulham became the first 100 pw footballer right at the start of the 1960s.

 

Jimmy Hill was much mocked by many, but he was the person behind getting everyone to change from 2pts to 3pts for a win.

Was a fully qualified official and once ran the line at Highbury(Arsenal's old ground), when a linesman got injured, and he was the only one at the game fully qualified to do so.

Was chairman of Coventry City when they first gained promotion to the old English first division.

Was a far better presenter of MOTD than Gary Lineker IMHO.

[andythejambo]

19 hours ago, Lone Striker said:

Yep, the Bosman ruling changed everything.  Players benefitted hugely, while ambitious club (and their fans) saw their costs rocket.

 

Could be wrong, but I think a player usually submitted a transfer request (in writing) to the club Board if he wanted to leave. Other than that, the club was in charge of deciding when/if  a player got transferred.  No such thing as a transfer windows back then either - it could happen at any time during the actual football season or closed season.  

I think there was a ban on transfers near the end of the season to stop title chasing or relegation fighting sides signing someone for the "Last Big Push" I'm sure it was the last 4-6 weeks of the season.

[martoon]

1 hour ago, John Findlay said:

Go further back and the maximum wage for a footballer was £20 PW in 1960. 

This was broken when a certain Jimmy Hill was leader of the PFA(English players union) when he won in court.

Then Fulham chairman Tommy Trinder(famous English comedian), said publicly that if Hill and the union won, he would pay a certain Johnny Haynes 100 PW.

Johnny Haynes of Fulham became the first 100 pw footballer right at the start of the 1960s.

 

Jimmy Hill was much mocked by many, but he was the person behind getting everyone to change from 2pts to 3pts for a win.

Was a fully qualified official and once ran the line at Highbury(Arsenal's old ground), when a linesman got injured, and he was the only one at the game fully qualified to do so.

Was chairman of Coventry City when they first gained promotion to the old English first division.

Was a far better presenter of MOTD than Gary Lineker IMHO.

 

Tartan Army even paid tribute to him in song. 😄

[Craigieboy]

19 hours ago, queensferryjambo said:

It never even occurred to us that players would leave the club unless the club never wanted them. Big money wasn't flying about back then and players tended to stay at clubs long term.

 

One thing you could gauge from that era was the amount of players in the 80s and 90s who got testimonial matches, quite incredible how long so many players were with the club - Kidd, Smith, Mackay, Robbo, Berry, Levein, Dave McPherson and also players like Colquhoun who spent 9 / 10 seasons at the club as well.

 

The Bosman transfer situation changed everything but the Bosman Ruling never really came into place until 1996.

 

One thing for sure when Robbo left for Newcastle the fans were fuming.

 

I remember Hearts fans being so livid Wallace Mercer done an interview on TV trying to appease the fans after Robbo had gone and trying (and failing) to justify the transfer by telling us Iain Ferguson had already scored 7 goals (or something like that).  You might still find it on youtube.

 

 

I agree with this. I was devastated at time as a 10 year old. I couldn’t believe it when he returned. And then started banging them in again against the Hibs. 
 

The only other time I felt such heartache over a player was when Skacel signed for Dundee Utd. 

[John Findlay]

10 minutes ago, martoon said:

 

Tartan Army even paid tribute to him in song. 😄

He took it well. They mocked and admired him in equal measure.

[martoon]

1 hour ago, John Findlay said:

He took it well. They mocked and admired him in equal measure.

 

Aye.

[Benny Klack]

Remember being gutted when he left but still excited to watch how he progressed at Newcastle.

 

Seem to remember him returning came quite out the blue and it was at such a great time - we’d been on the Euro run and had just beaten Rangers at Tynecastle.

 

His first game against Hibs at Tynecastle wasn’t too shabby either 😊

[Lone Striker]

In the Back from the Brink video, Wallace recounts a conversation at the dinner table when his son Ian asked if he could buy Robbo back from Newcastle.   "I don't think we can afford to buy him, son".   To which Ian replied - "Dad, can you afford NOT to  ?"

 

 

 

Edited February 16 by Lone Striker

[Victorian]

I seem to recall being disappointed but accepting.  We had a terrific team at the time.  He was too good to be denied a chance to become a huge hit in England.  Some other time it would have happened.  

 

I actually wondered if it would work out when he came back.  Wondering is overrated.  

[cookieboy]

5 hours ago, John Findlay said:

Go further back and the maximum wage for a footballer was £20 PW in 1960. 

This was broken when a certain Jimmy Hill was leader of the PFA(English players union) when he won in court.

Then Fulham chairman Tommy Trinder(famous English comedian), said publicly that if Hill and the union won, he would pay a certain Johnny Haynes 100 PW.

Johnny Haynes of Fulham became the first 100 pw footballer right at the start of the 1960s.

 

Jimmy Hill was much mocked by many, but he was the person behind getting everyone to change from 2pts to 3pts for a win.

Was a fully qualified official and once ran the line at Highbury(Arsenal's old ground), when a linesman got injured, and he was the only one at the game fully qualified to do so.

Was chairman of Coventry City when they first gained promotion to the old English first division.

Was a far better presenter of MOTD than Gary Lineker IMHO.

a football legend 

[Fraggle]

As a young kid, who absolutely idolised Robbo, that was all I ever worried about!! Was completely gutted when my Dad broke the news to me. 

[stirlo]

On 16/02/2024 at 00:36, PaddysBar said:

There was a major rumour one Friday night that he was signing for Aberdeen in the days before a transfer window existed. 
 

I was in the abbotsford and was so worried I called Hearts Clubcall (089818741874) or something. 50p a minute and it used to update a recorded message every now and again 😂

 

Yes - I remember there was one summer during his second spell at the club when he was being heavily linked with Aberdeen.

 

I also remember phoning the Clubcall a few times back in the day. Looking back at that now, it just makes you think how much the world has changed in the last 30 years or so!