dead Sir Bobby Robson

[Windsor 2,233]

He's fighting cancer once more....

 

Heading for Relegation?

 

Hmmm.....18 months, tops!

 

Lets hope for a bit less. Say 7 months...

[maryportfuncity 10,658]

Something over 7 months would do the rest of us. The Lou Rawles of 2008, maybe.

[Dr Hackenslash 25]

Bobby Robson gave an inspirational pre match speech to Gretna this afternoon, Gretna lost 0-2. Here's a photo of him taken this very day:

 

 

The man standing to his right, is none other than Brookes Mileson, who I believe has his own thread somewhere on this forum.

 

Brooks Mileson indeed has his own thread and was lucky to survive when his arse exploded earlier in the season.

 

Interesting to see who goes first.

[maryportfuncity 10,658]

Brooks Mileson indeed has his own thread and was lucky to survive when his arse exploded earlier in the season.

 

Perhaps this is the time to revive my suggestion for a 'Playing for Their Lives' league, wherein terminal cases form themselves into sports teams competing and at the same time trusting in the power of hard exercise to boost their immune system and delay the inevitable. I believe this chairman and manager would be a formidable combination. We just need eleven lads with a killing first touch and unwelcome lumps about their persons to get the whole thing started.

[Octopus of Odstock 2,205]

Sir Bobby's cancer fight is "going well".

 

Now, I know there's cries of "he would say that, wouldn't he?", I, for one, am glad to hear Sir Bobby is battling this latest scare as well as his previous cancer fights.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

Bobby Robson is still well enough to open a Northern Rock bank account . (But he had to do it online as he was too ill to visit the store in person...)

[Anubis the Jackal 77]

Bobby Robson is still well enough to open a Northern Rock bank account . (But he had to do it online as he was too ill to visit the store in person...)

 

Probably didn't fancy queuing behind 4000 panicking old biddies taking out their life savings.

[Deadly Doug 0]

The lad's done fantastic to get this far, you have to say. But, at the end of the day, it seems that the end of the day might be near, Brian.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle2666407.ece

[Octopus of Odstock 2,205]

You do realise there is a search function, Doug? If you used it, you would find Sir Bobby has been mentioned in numerous threads, including a dedicated Bobby Robson thread.

 

Search is at the top, you type in the name & voila! Do try & use it, at least once, if you could, good man.

[Death Watch Beatle 41]

Well said Odo, topics now merged.

 

DWB

[Youth in Asia 1,087]

Perhaps Bobby needs a new challenge to extend his lifespan.

 

Like England manager?

 

It won't be too stressful as they won't be playing over the Summer period next year.

[maryportfuncity 10,658]

On last night's lifetime achievement award on BBC Sports Personality Sir Bobby looked in pretty bad shape. Definitely some paralysis in the left side of his face and there seemed to be movement problems to do with the paralysis also being down one side of his body. Whether it's lingering but arrested damage or his cancer progressing is the question but I was left wondering if he got the award because they'd have no chance to give it to him in the future.

 

If so; it's good to see the BBC providing us with a form guide by fingering future deadpool runners; keep it up, eh?

[themaninblack 2,112]

On last night's lifetime achievement award on BBC Sports Personality Sir Bobby looked in pretty bad shape. Definitely some paralysis in the left side of his face and there seemed to be movement problems to do with the paralysis also being down one side of his body. Whether it's lingering but arrested damage or his cancer progressing is the question but I was left wondering if he got the award because they'd have no chance to give it to him in the future.

 

If so; it's good to see the BBC providing us with a form guide by fingering future deadpool runners; keep it up, eh?

 

I don't think he looked too bad. The glint was back in his eyes, which they definitely were not a few months ago. I'm going to revise my '18 months tops!' prediction and reckon he'll hang on till 2009. At least...

[Octopus of Odstock 2,205]

Definitely some paralysis in the left side of his face

 

He's had that for years, since his cancer operation in 1994 where his face was totally rebuilt. He explained it in some (rather gory) depth in his autobiography.

[Rotten Ali 600]

On last night's lifetime achievement award on BBC Sports Personality Sir Bobby looked in pretty bad shape. Definitely some paralysis in the left side of his face and there seemed to be movement problems to do with the paralysis also being down one side of his body. Whether it's lingering but arrested damage or his cancer progressing is the question but I was left wondering if he got the award because they'd have no chance to give it to him in the future.

 

If so; it's good to see the BBC providing us with a form guide by fingering future deadpool runners; keep it up, eh?

 

Good call MPFC. The wife said to me "I think he has had a stroke". Now I've not heard that said in public before now so it was something of a suprise to see that he was suffering walking and standing for so long under the lights. I would judge that it could have been a "mini-stroke" maybe only in the last few days. When a person has this sort of event then a much larger fatal one is closer by far. He's got a lot of guts but when health issues stack up theres only so much you can do. I was guessing it would be the lung cancer that would do for him. Either way now for me, its sad to say that Sir Bobby will not be with us by the end of 2008.

[themaninblack 2,112]

HAPPY 75TH BIRTHDAY SIR BOBBY!

 

[Banshees Scream 110]

'Were all gonna die'. It might take decades and decades and who knows, but it will happen. This article confronts Robson about his time left on the rock we stand on and he is handling his show down with great audacity. I've always felt guilty at some limit entering 'British sport personalities' into my DDP ( Sort of how most of you feel about baseball players) and I can't figure out why. It might involve the fact that I'm not educated on the achievements of these people so I don't respect their contribution in life enough, which would sort of make their existence on my DDP team wrong. Well, I respect Robson. I see him in the same class as a Joe Torre, or a Tony La Russa, or a Lou Piniella. His mindset on his current health: It is now only a matter of when, rather than if.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle3646265.ece

[AB22 Easy Tiger 0]

He's looking pretty frail.

 

SIR BOBBY ROBSON, who is battling cancer for the fifth time, admits that he is unlikely to beat it this time. The 75-year-old former England manager was diagnosed with inoperable tumours to both lungs 12 months ago. A cocktail of chemotherapy and drugs is currently controlling this latest bout of the disease, but Robson candidly admits that it is now only a matter of when, rather than if.

 

“I’m in my 76th year. I’ve had a fantastic sporting life, but I’ve had cancer five times. None of my four brothers has had cancer, and I keep saying that I’ve had their share, but I consider myself lucky. I may have had cancer five times but thanks to the wonderful treatment I have had through the NHS my life has been saved.

 

“Now it’s time I paid them back, and I want to do this through the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, initially by raising in excess of £500,000 to equip a new cancer trials unit. We want the northeast to have the best unit not just in England, but in Europe.”

 

The Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre opens at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital in October and will boast a state-of-the-art laboratory.

 

“There isn’t much I can do about it other than to keep fighting. You have to be positive. I could spend my time moaning and complaining, but I’m not one of those people. If you are prepared to fight then I am a great believer you can overcome. I know I am going to die, but then we all die eventually. The time will come when I won’t win every battle, but my fighting spirit has seen me through this far.”

 

 

non working link removed (HCW)

Edited April 4, 2008 by heaven can wait

[TAFKAG 70]

“There isn’t much I can do about it other than to keep fighting. You have to be positive. I could spend my time moaning and complaining, but I’m not one of those people. If you are prepared to fight then I am a great believer you can overcome. I know I am going to die, but then we all die eventually. The time will come when I won’t win every battle, but my fighting spirit has seen me through this far.”

I have to say, I love everything about Sir Robert, especially the attitude displayed above. And his malapropisms.

 

"Some of the goals were good, some of the goals were sceptical".

[Phantom 2,536]

He's looking pretty frail.

 

SIR BOBBY ROBSON, who is battling cancer for the fifth time, admits that he is unlikely to beat it this time. The 75-year-old former England manager was diagnosed with inoperable tumours to both lungs 12 months ago. A cocktail of chemotherapy and drugs is currently controlling this latest bout of the disease, but Robson candidly admits that it is now only a matter of when, rather than if.

 

“I’m in my 76th year. I’ve had a fantastic sporting life, but I’ve had cancer five times. None of my four brothers has had cancer, and I keep saying that I’ve had their share, but I consider myself lucky. I may have had cancer five times but thanks to the wonderful treatment I have had through the NHS my life has been saved.

 

“Now it’s time I paid them back, and I want to do this through the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, initially by raising in excess of £500,000 to equip a new cancer trials unit. We want the northeast to have the best unit not just in England, but in Europe.”

 

The Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre opens at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital in October and will boast a state-of-the-art laboratory.

 

“There isn’t much I can do about it other than to keep fighting. You have to be positive. I could spend my time moaning and complaining, but I’m not one of those people. If you are prepared to fight then I am a great believer you can overcome. I know I am going to die, but then we all die eventually. The time will come when I won’t win every battle, but my fighting spirit has seen me through this far.”

 

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle3646265.ece

 

working link

[Phantom 2,536]

Bobby Robson to attend charity dinner at St James' Park

[Phantom 2,536]

recent photo of Sir Bobby and more details on the charity dinner for May 9th

[The Miser 18]

recent photo of Sir Bobby and more details on the charity dinner for May 9th

 

 

Looks pretty good.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

A new article about the declining health of Sir Bobby Robson. He is due to be presenting the FA Cup to the winning team at Wembley on Saturday, but I don't think Sir Bobby is going to be making too many more public appearances.

 

Edit - Sorry, here's the link

 

http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveni...ures/story.aspx

 

Second Edit - here's the whole article.

 

He's close to the hearts of the Super Blues and recently took a starring role in the Evening Star's 30 Years of Honour celebrations. Generous in victory and gracious in defeat, a

 

16-year battle with cancer will not change Sir Bobby Robson's outlook on life, as he told PAUL KIMMAGE.

 

AT a sun-soaked Wembley on May 6, 1978, Ipswich Town won the world's most famous football competition, claiming the FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Arsenal.

 

It would have been unthinkable to have celebrated Ipswich Town's 1978 greatest moment without the team's then manager - footballing legend Sir Bobby Robson.

 

But for the past 15 months he has been living with the bottom line. Time is running out.

 

His health is failing and a 16-year battle with cancer is beginning to come to an end.

 

He walks with a pronounced limp these days. He has restricted use of his left arm and almost no use of his left hand. The loss of independence has been crushing.

 

He can't drive or play golf or tend his beloved garden. He can't tie his shoes or knot his ties (he has always loved ties) or fold his suits neatly or place them on hangers.

 

He eats fish, rather than meat, because he can't use a knife and it feels as if every second sentence he utters is, “Elsie? Are you there?” The frustration drives him crazy.

 

“I never thought I would finish like this, with this disability,” he complains sometimes to friends. “When I was 72, I was on the pitch every day; I had an active body, an active mind; I prided myself on being fit all of my life.”

 

But Elsie will just shake her head and say with a laugh: “What do you mean 'fit all your life?' You've had cancer five times!”

 

Cancer. He has always treated the most dreaded of illnesses like a mild dose of flu.

 

Round One.

 

The year is 1992, Bobby Robson is 59-years-old and living in Eindhoven and managing PSV. One day, after training, he mentions a persistent problem with bleeding piles to the club physician, Artur Woolf.

 

The physician accompanies him to a local hospital for tests and calls him with the results. “You need an operation,” Woolf announces. “You've got a bit of cancer in your colon and must have it removed.”

 

“How long will I be out of the game for?” Robson asks.

 

“At lease three months,” Woolf replies.

 

The Englishman is aghast. “Whaaatt! I can't be out for three months! What about the team?”

 

“I didn't understand the full implications of it,” he explains. “It was the first time that cancer had appeared in our family. None of my brothers had had it. My father lived until he was 86; my mother was 85, it didn't cost me a second thought. I just faced it, had it removed and moved on.”

 

Round two was slightly more serious.

 

The year is 1995, Bobby Robson is 62-years-old, it's the eve of his second season as manager of Porto and he is home on a summer break. He has been complaining for months about his sinuses. Elsie has arranged an appointment with a specialist and the obstruction - a thick black sludge - has been removed. A biopsy is conducted. The results aren't good. Robson is informed that he has a malignant melanoma on his face. He reacts as though it is nothing worse than a spot.

 

Huw Davies, the consultant surgeon, is not amused. “I understand you're a football manager,” he intones. “Well, you will not see this season out, Mr Robson. By January, this thing will have gone into your eye and then into your brain.”

 

Robson still can't believe it. “But look at me,” he protests. “I'm fit and strong. I feel fine.”

 

“We know. But you've got a malignant tumour inside your head, and we're going to have to go through your head to get it. We're going to have to cut you open, take your teeth out, go through the roof of your mouth and remove a fair proportion of the inside of your head to make sure we get it all out.”

 

The penny finally dropped.

 

“That rocked me,” he says. “He painted such a graphic picture... that was the first time I thought, 'Hmmmm, I don't like the sound of that'.”

 

Round three. The month is April 2006, Sir Bobby Robson is 73-years-old and has just accepted a consultancy post with the Republic of Ireland. His son Mark has invited him to Austria to go skiing. He's not sure. His friends in Eindhoven have invited him to a Champions League game, and then he's flying to Madrid to renew acquaintances with Ronaldo. “I can give it three days, Mark, but not a week,” he explains. There will be plenty of time for skiing when he retires.

 

His grandson, Alexander, has also made the trip. It's Robson's first return to the slopes in 16 years but he still believes he's a version of the great Austrian downhill skier Franz Klammer and bruises a rib in a fall. The rib is still hurting him three days later. He has it X-rayed in Eindhoven and the doctor discovers a shadow on his lung. Another biopsy, another bad result. There is a tumour the size of a golf ball on his lung.

 

“I was lucky,” he says with a smile. “If I hadn't gone skiing, I wouldn't have known. I went and had this operation and they removed about a third of the right side of my lung. I wasn't going to run any more four-minute miles but I recovered quite well and I was fine.”

 

Round four. The month is August 2006, Sir Bobby Robson has just been made the honorary president of Ipswich Town and is sitting in the director's box at Portman Road for the first game of the season.

 

Shortly after the kick-off he develops a twitch in his face. “I couldn't talk,” he says. “I tried to tell my wife about the twitch and I couldn't get one word out. I thought, 'My God! What's happening to me? I'm having a stroke'.”

 

He was taken downstairs and examined. Suddenly, the twitching stopped and he was talking again. “Right, let's go back to the game,” he said.

 

“Wait, wait, wait,” the medics responded.

 

“What do you mean, wait? I'm all right,” he huffed. “The game's in progress; I've missed the first 12 minutes!”

 

“No, Bobby, let's just go to the hospital and have you checked out,” they said.

 

The scans revealed a small tumour on his brain. He was operated on at Newcastle General Hospital three weeks later. The surgeons successfully removed the growth but he haemorrhaged during the operation and was paralysed down his left side.

 

At first, they feared he might not walk again, but once more he battled back courageously.

 

Final round. The month is February 2007. Sir Bobby Robson has ticked off his 74th birthday and has an appointment with Professor Kelly at Newcastle General for the results of some routine scans. Elsie is feeling poorly and has stayed at home. Judith Horey, his personal secretary, has accompanied him to the hospital.

 

“Your brain scan is great,” the professor begins, “the swelling has gone down and it has recovered well... but we've discovered some small nodules in your lungs again.”

 

“Oh, don't tell me that,” Robson grimaces, steeling himself already to go under the knife again. But the professor hasn't finished.

 

“I'm afraid they're inoperable,” he says.

 

He paused and tried to gather his composure. “So... how long do you think I've got?”

 

“I don't know... eight... ten… 12… 24 months… you never know with cancer. It depends on whether we can control the tumours.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Judith drove him home and he broke the news to Elsie. She was upset but incredibly strong. “Well, we've just got to make the best of it and you never know,” she said. “Be upright, be bold and enjoy your life.”

 

Fifteen months have passed since he got the news. He has treasured every one.

 

This interview was originally published in The Sunday Times.

 

 

 

WEARY and nauseous from the effects of chemotherapy, Sir Bobby Robson Foundation to raise an initial £500,000, for a cancer research centre being built at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital. The response from his friends in football and the corporate sector has been gratifying, but it's the generosity of the ordinary man that has most warmed his heart.

 

These months on borrowed time have been the busiest of his life - and some of the most enjoyable. He has just returned from a hectic weekend in Ipswich, and on Saturday he will travel to Wembley to present the FA Cup to either Portsmouth or Cardiff City on the 30th anniversary of his Ipswich Town side's triumph over Arsenal.

 

He thought long and hard before accepting. “I'm a bit worried about my disability, my hand, and I don't want people saying, 'Look at that silly old bugger'. I want it to be right for the FA as well, but I'm alive and it's a great opportunity and I think I can handle it.”

 

“What would you change if you had to do it again?” I ask.

 

“Not much,” he says. “I remember, as a boy, getting a composition in school, 'What career would you like to embark on?' I wrote that I wanted to be a professional footballer. I was a kid who played in the schoolyard kicking flints and stones and tennis balls. I never thought about playing for England; I never thought I was Tommy Lawton or Stanley Matthews; I just wanted to be a footballer.

 

“So I wouldn't change anything. I managed England; I managed Barcelona; I came home and managed my father's club - things as a kid I never even dreamed of. So to ask for more would be greedy. I stretched out as far as I ever could and my arm was longer than I ever thought it would be. I've had a wonderful life.”

 

He rises from his seat on the balcony, flashes a beautiful smile and invites you to enjoy the magnificent view of the Tyne.

 

The month is May 2008; Sir Bobby Robson is 75 years and 81 days old. But here's the miracle.

 

He's not counting.

[The For Whores Man 4]

A new article about the declining health of Sir Bobby Robson. He is due to be presenting the FA Cup to the winning team at Wembley on Saturday, but I don't think Sir Bobby is going to be making too many more public appearances.

Is the article in a secret location, DDT?