Rob McDonald discusses his career that included spells at PSV Eindhoven and Sporting Lisbon.
In the late 1970s, Rob McDonald was a young striker trying to make his way at Hull. What followed was an extraordinary globetrotting career that included an Eredivisie title with PSV in 1986 and tales of hat-tricks for Sporting Lisbon. Adam Bate caught up with the Englishman, who is still living in Holland, to find out more about his fascinating career.
So you're a young lad playing for Hull. How does the move to Holland come about?
I was a local boy making huge steps to the first team and I didn't want to ruin it by going to a second division club in Holland. But when a new manager comes it can shake everything up. Mike Smith came with Cyril Lee and they were quite clear that they didn't want to go ahead with young players. So the writing was a little bit on the wall.
Cambuur wanted to loan me for half a season and I thought, 'I've got nothing to lose'. I only played seven games out there but luckily out of that I played three really good ones. And then the coach who was at Cambuur moved to Wageningen. He soon rang me up and said: 'Rob, I'd love you to come to my new club.'
And that was Eredivisie football...
They were in the Premier League of Holland. And that meant your Ajax and so on. That was when I thought this is worth the risk and breaking all ties from home. In the third game away at Ajax, we won 4-2 and I scored two goals and got two assists. All of a sudden everyone knew who Rob McDonald was.
That season we got relegated but I had a good season and got a lot of interest. I moved to a club called Willem II and it was a year when I scored a lot. I was the third-top scorer in Holland with 21 goals behind Wim Kieft and Kees Kist, two top strikers for Ajax and AZ.
But we were battling relegation so I moved again, simply because I was a player who could bring money in and they were having financial problems. So I went to FC Groningen. I think if people were to mention my name in Holland they would always mention FC Groningen. Not just because we did well, breaking into Europe, but also because I spent three years there.
It was quite a successful rise for you then. Do you think it suited you as a player out there?
Oh yeah. I never really understood the English game. I couldn't understand why a big man should run the channels and then give the ball off to the little wingers. Then you've got to be lucky for your other striker to be a big man so he can head it in.
When I came over here it was a 4-3-3 and I was reliant on crosses from the wings. I created so many more chances and it just made sense. So it suited my style of football. I don't know if I'd have been successful in England if I'd stayed. Simply because I didn't agree with the tactics.
Do you believe Dutch players think about the game more and put a greater emphasis on tactics?
I learned more in the first couple of years in Holland than I did in all my time at Hull City. And that's no disrespect to anyone at the club. But [in England] we were nearly every day in the gym - 20 against 20. It was just a matter of keeping up the atmosphere and not working on tactical things.
You didn't know you were going to play until the last minute so how can you work on set-plays if you don't know who is playing? It's little things like that. Holland really opened my eyes a great deal.
And after Groningen there was a big move to PSV Eindhoven. That must have been an exciting one?<
