Editing Bobby Robson (section)

=== Return to England ===
After Robson's contract with PSV expired, he returned to England to take up a position in the Football Association's technical department.<ref>{{cite news
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/news/432906.stm
| title = Robson: Dream to manage Newcastle
|work=BBC Sport
| access-date =17 August 2007
| date = 30 August 1999
}}</ref> Following the resignation of [[Ruud Gullit]] as Newcastle United manager, Robson moved to St James' Park in September 1999.<ref>{{cite news
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/436390.stm
| title = Robson takes Newcastle hotseat
| date = 3 September 1999
| access-date =15 May 2007
|work=BBC Sport
}}</ref> Robson was disappointed with the club's opening salary offer, stating, "[I]t was miles below the going rate," but negotiated a one-year, £1&nbsp;million deal.<ref name=p190>{{cite book
 | last = Robson
 | title = Farewell but Not Goodbye
 | chapter = Going home
 | year = 2005
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/farewellbutnotgo0000robs/page/190 190]
 | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
 | isbn = 0-340-84064-1
 | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/farewellbutnotgo0000robs/page/190
 }}</ref>

In Robson's first home match in charge, bottom-placed Newcastle faced second bottom Sheffield Wednesday, thrashing them 8–0. In his first season in charge, [[1999-2000 in English football|1999–2000]], Robson led the club to an 11th-place finish, with 14 wins from his 32 matches in charge.<ref name=p190/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/eng00.html|title=England 1999/2000|publisher=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation|access-date=26 August 2007}}</ref> In late 2000, following the resignation of ex-''Magpies'' boss Kevin Keegan as England manager, the FA asked Newcastle club chairman [[Freddy Shepherd]] to permit Robson to take over in a part-time [[caretaker manager|caretaker]] capacity, but the request was refused.<ref>{{cite news
| url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-66093481.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150328143711/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-66093481.html
| url-status=dead
| archive-date = 28 March 2015
| title = Football: FA Warned: Hands off our Bobby
|newspaper=Sunday Mirror |location=London |via=Highbeam Research
| date = 15 October 2000
| access-date =4 February 2013
|first=Brian |last=McNally}}</ref> Robson guided Newcastle from bottom of the [[Premier League]] to a fourth-place finish in the [[2001–02 in English football|2001–02]] season.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.fchd.info/lghist/fa2002.htm
|title=2001–02: F.A. Premier League
|work=Football Club History Database |publisher=Richard Rundle |access-date=19 November 2017}}</ref> The following season, Newcastle finished third, ensuring qualification for the UEFA Champions League for the second consecutive year.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.fchd.info/lghist/fa2003.htm
|title=2002–03: F.A. Premier League
|work=Football Club History Database |publisher=Richard Rundle |access-date=19 November 2017}}</ref>
However, Robson was unable to guide Newcastle through the Champions League qualifying rounds, and the club was dropped to participate in the [[2003–04 UEFA Cup|UEFA Cup]] for the 2003–04 season.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2003/aug/29/newsstory.sport4 |title=Newcastle pay price of failure |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |first=Michael |last=Walker |date= 29 August 2003|access-date=17 November 2013}}</ref> At the end of the [[2003-04 in English football|2003–04 season]], Newcastle finished fifth in the table, five points short of the Champions League qualifying fourth place but reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup before losing to [[Olympique de Marseille|Marseille]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/3685411.stm |title=Newcastle's Euro dream over|work=BBC Sport |access-date=4 February 2013| date = 6 May 2004}}</ref>

Robson held the Newcastle post until 30 August 2004, when he was dismissed by Freddy Shepherd, after a poor start to the Premier League season and alleged discontent in the dressing room.<ref>
{{cite news
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/3610042.stm
| title = Newcastle force Robson out
| date = 30 August 2004
| access-date =14 May 2007
|work=BBC Sport
}}</ref> Robson's dismissal followed publication of his [[Source (journalism)#Speaking terms|off the record]] observation of his disappointment that only 5,000 fans stayed to see the traditional lap of honour made by the players at St James' Park at the end of the previous season.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Robson
 | title = Farewell but Not Goodbye
 | year = 2005
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/farewellbutnotgo0000robs/page/257 257]
 | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
 | isbn = 0-340-84064-1
 | url = https://archive.org/details/farewellbutnotgo0000robs/page/257
 }}</ref> However, he remains held in the highest esteem by some fans;<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/5957379/Sir-Bobby-Robson-Newcastles-saviour-and-inspiration-to-Alan-Shearer.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/5957379/Sir-Bobby-Robson-Newcastles-saviour-and-inspiration-to-Alan-Shearer.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live
|title=Sir Bobby Robson: Newcastle's saviour and inspiration to Alan Shearer
|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London
|first = Henry
|last = Winter
|date = 2 August 2009
|access-date=4 February 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> he was granted the [[Freedom of the City]] of [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] on 2 March 2005.<ref name=free>{{cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/4309779.stm
|title=Sir Bobby receives city freedom
|work=BBC News
|date=2 March 2005
|access-date=10 June 2007}}</ref>

{{blockquote|What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It's not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes. It's the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It's a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father's hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.<br>{{align|right|– Robson<ref>{{cite news|title="It's the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging": What does NUFC mean to you? |url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sir-bobby-robson-quote-tell-6260751 |newspaper=Evening Chronicle |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |date=1 November 2013 |access-date=22 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522033937/http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sir-bobby-robson-quote-tell-6260751 |archive-date=22 May 2014}}</ref>}}}}

Robson's second autobiography, entitled ''Bobby Robson: Farewell but not Goodbye'' was released in 2005.<ref>{{cite book|title=Farewell But Not Goodbye (Hardcover)
|id={{ASIN|0340823461|country=uk}}
}}</ref> The title is based on one of his quotes upon leaving the England job in 1990: "I'm here to say goodbye—maybe not goodbye but farewell."<ref>{{Cite web
| url = http://www.nufc.com/html/bobby-quotes.html
| title = Newcastle United Football Club&nbsp;– Bobby Quotes (#16)
|work=NUFC.com
| access-date =27 May 2007
}}</ref> In the book, Robson was critical of Shepherd, claiming that while manager he was denied information regarding the players' contracts and transfer negotiations. He also criticised Shepherd and the club's deputy chairman [[Douglas Hall (businessman)|Douglas Hall]], for their focus on the first team and St James' Park, causing them to neglect less glamorous issues, such as the training ground, youth development and talent scouts.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Robson
 | title = Farewell but Not Goodbye
 | chapter = Going home
 | year = 2005
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/farewellbutnotgo0000robs/page/195 195–197]
 | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
 | isbn = 0-340-84064-1
 | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/farewellbutnotgo0000robs/page/195
 }}</ref> The club's training ground was later blamed by [[Graeme Souness]], Robson's successor, for a series of injuries to first team players.<ref>{{cite news
| url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2366932/Owen-injury-blamed-on-training-pitch.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2366932/Owen-injury-blamed-on-training-pitch.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live
| title = Owen injury blamed on training pitch
|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London | date = 20 October 2005
| access-date =17 November 2013
| first=Rob
| last=Stewart}}{{cbignore}}</ref>