Robbo ready for Spurs return

Goalkeeper will face a very different team to the one he left

Last updated: 21st November 2008

Robbo ready for Spurs return

Robinson: Different mindset

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It will be a bittersweet return to White Hart Lane for Paul Robinson on Saturday, knowing how different things might have been if Harry Redknapp had taken charge earlier.

The goalkeeper left Tottenham Hotspur for Blackburn in the summer after a confidence-sapping six months under Juande Ramos during which he claims he received no support from the manager.

Robinson said: "I had four years there, three and a half of which were probably the happiest times of my football career so far.

"It was difficult times towards the end, very difficult for me. I was not playing as well as I wanted to play, my confidence was a little bit low and that's the time you need the support and the strength of the people around you.

Belief

"You need the manager and the coaches to believe in you and I didn't get that.

"Confidence is the biggest part of the game for a goalkeeper. You stop coming for balls that you should come for, you start taking the safer option when you should be doing other things."

But at least he hadn't lost his sense of timing, with his move north being timed to perfection. Since switching clubs, he has kept a number of clean sheets and earned a recall to the England squad.

He added: "Ramos' departure has worked out well for Tottenham, and me leaving at the time has worked out well for me. If I was still there at the beginning of this season with the run of results they had it could have been more detrimental for me.

Enjoyment

"I'm really enjoying my football again now and my performances have been gradually improving. The manager here has been great for me and given me a lot of support and a lot of backing."

With all things considered, the reaction of his former team-mates to Redknapp came as no surprise to Robinson. He only wishes he could have made the trip to White Hart Lane when things were not going so well.

He said: "I certainly would have like to have played them the first couple of weeks of the season but Harry has come in and turned it around.

"His man-management and the way he has treated players has turned it around. It's the same bunch of players but they have a smile on their face again."