Andy Robertson
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Paul Lambert tells Andy Robertson that Champions League success will be life changing
[article]It’s fair to say that of the 22 players who will stand in the tunnel, stripped and ready for the flashbulbs, noise and colour that goes with the razzmatazz of club’s football’s most prestigious competition that only one of them will have once taken on a seasonal job in a high street chain for a “bit of extra money.”
Six years ago Andy Robertson took on a Christmas job in Marks and Spencer to help line his pockets; finding a place to put his spare change these days would necessitate a trip to his accountant. Not that his elevation to a seat at football’s grandest table appears to have been about the trappings that go with the job.
Robertson’s hunger and commitment have been well noted, as has his success in keeping his feet firmly on the ground. Both will auger well in the months to come, according to Paul Lambert, should he be successful in leading Liverpool’s charge towards the greatest prize in the game.
“It will change his life if he wins it, there’s no doubt about that,” said Lambert, the last Scot to have won the Champions League. Now in charge at Stoke, Lambert won the competition in 1997 when he helped Borussia Dortmund beat Zinedine Zidane’s Juventus 3-1.
Lambert was the first Scottish player to win the European Cup with a non-UK team, and the first British player to win it since its reformation as the Champions League.
“The main thing for me is that if you get there then you have to win it,” he said. “I don’t think I would have recovered if we had lost it. I think you know that you might only get one shot at it and you don’t want to come away wondering what if. You want to go and give it your best, your absolute all.
“But crucially, is the aftermath. You have to stay humble. You have to be willing to keep working, to keep pushing, keep learning. That is what the best payers do – they are relentless.
“You don’t realise what a huge thing it is to do. Winning the Champions League is beyond special. It is such a huge achievement and it is only when you do that you can appreciate that. People remember it forever. You are revered in some ways for doing it but I think you have to keep in mind that the best players are continually pushing themselves to improve.
“But it is such a huge chance for him. It is a phenomenal tournament. You play in the group stages and you get an experience of it, but to win it is something else entirely. It isn’t an exaggeration to say it is life changing.”
While Robertson’s story has been well documented as he has recovered from teenage rejection at Celtic to being a mainstay for an exciting Liverpool side, Lambert sees the parallels with the trajectory of his own career.
Having gone from Motherwell to Dortmund after catching the eye of legendary manager Ottmar Hitzfeld during a UEFA Cup tie against Dortmund the previous season, Lambert was reinvented in Germany.
Forced to learn a new culture and language forced a maturation as he became an “ultra professional,” Lambert believes that Robertson’s early disappointments were behind his driving force to reach the level he is at now.
“I think you need that hunger,” he said. “You can have all the ability in the world but you need to have that desire to get better. He has clearly knuckled down and he is getting his rewards. It hasn’t been an easy path for him and you have to respect what he has done and how he has got there.
“He is still young. He is only 24 so there is so much still to come from him. It is fabulous for him and it is great for Scotland too. When you think of the Scottish players to have won the tournament, it is breath-taking to see yourself in that company. But, honestly, you really want him to go and win it now.”
From a Scottish point of view that Robertson and Kieran Tierney both play the same position is a conundrum for Alex McLeish, the national manager, to contemplate. Tierney continues to impress in the position with Celtic – the 20-year-old has just won the Young Player of the Year award for the third successive year – but for Lambert, Robertson just edges it at the minute.
“Robertson has just got into a European final but he is also playing in a league where he is being tested every single week,” he said. “I have been impressed with Kieran Tierney and he is held in very high regard but I just think at the minute that Robertson has really kicked on again.
“I think it is good for Scotland that you have that. Having a guy who potentially has the experience of winning the Champions League in your squad can only be a good thing, while Tierney is still exceptionally young. The first-team experience that he has got will stand him in good stead and it is up to him now just how far he wants to go.
“You look at the national side and you think that it has been a long time since we had players with that kind of experience. Hopefully it is something that can help us as we look to finally get back to qualifying for tournaments again. It isn’t like we can complain about haviong too many quality players.”[/article]
[article]It’s fair to say that of the 22 players who will stand in the tunnel, stripped and ready for the flashbulbs, noise and colour that goes with the razzmatazz of club’s football’s most prestigious competition that only one of them will have once taken on a seasonal job in a high street chain for a “bit of extra money.”
Six years ago Andy Robertson took on a Christmas job in Marks and Spencer to help line his pockets; finding a place to put his spare change these days would necessitate a trip to his accountant. Not that his elevation to a seat at football’s grandest table appears to have been about the trappings that go with the job.
Robertson’s hunger and commitment have been well noted, as has his success in keeping his feet firmly on the ground. Both will auger well in the months to come, according to Paul Lambert, should he be successful in leading Liverpool’s charge towards the greatest prize in the game.
“It will change his life if he wins it, there’s no doubt about that,” said Lambert, the last Scot to have won the Champions League. Now in charge at Stoke, Lambert won the competition in 1997 when he helped Borussia Dortmund beat Zinedine Zidane’s Juventus 3-1.
Lambert was the first Scottish player to win the European Cup with a non-UK team, and the first British player to win it since its reformation as the Champions League.
“The main thing for me is that if you get there then you have to win it,” he said. “I don’t think I would have recovered if we had lost it. I think you know that you might only get one shot at it and you don’t want to come away wondering what if. You want to go and give it your best, your absolute all.
“But crucially, is the aftermath. You have to stay humble. You have to be willing to keep working, to keep pushing, keep learning. That is what the best payers do – they are relentless.
“You don’t realise what a huge thing it is to do. Winning the Champions League is beyond special. It is such a huge achievement and it is only when you do that you can appreciate that. People remember it forever. You are revered in some ways for doing it but I think you have to keep in mind that the best players are continually pushing themselves to improve.
“But it is such a huge chance for him. It is a phenomenal tournament. You play in the group stages and you get an experience of it, but to win it is something else entirely. It isn’t an exaggeration to say it is life changing.”
While Robertson’s story has been well documented as he has recovered from teenage rejection at Celtic to being a mainstay for an exciting Liverpool side, Lambert sees the parallels with the trajectory of his own career.
Having gone from Motherwell to Dortmund after catching the eye of legendary manager Ottmar Hitzfeld during a UEFA Cup tie against Dortmund the previous season, Lambert was reinvented in Germany.
Forced to learn a new culture and language forced a maturation as he became an “ultra professional,” Lambert believes that Robertson’s early disappointments were behind his driving force to reach the level he is at now.
“I think you need that hunger,” he said. “You can have all the ability in the world but you need to have that desire to get better. He has clearly knuckled down and he is getting his rewards. It hasn’t been an easy path for him and you have to respect what he has done and how he has got there.
“He is still young. He is only 24 so there is so much still to come from him. It is fabulous for him and it is great for Scotland too. When you think of the Scottish players to have won the tournament, it is breath-taking to see yourself in that company. But, honestly, you really want him to go and win it now.”
From a Scottish point of view that Robertson and Kieran Tierney both play the same position is a conundrum for Alex McLeish, the national manager, to contemplate. Tierney continues to impress in the position with Celtic – the 20-year-old has just won the Young Player of the Year award for the third successive year – but for Lambert, Robertson just edges it at the minute.
“Robertson has just got into a European final but he is also playing in a league where he is being tested every single week,” he said. “I have been impressed with Kieran Tierney and he is held in very high regard but I just think at the minute that Robertson has really kicked on again.
“I think it is good for Scotland that you have that. Having a guy who potentially has the experience of winning the Champions League in your squad can only be a good thing, while Tierney is still exceptionally young. The first-team experience that he has got will stand him in good stead and it is up to him now just how far he wants to go.
“You look at the national side and you think that it has been a long time since we had players with that kind of experience. Hopefully it is something that can help us as we look to finally get back to qualifying for tournaments again. It isn’t like we can complain about haviong too many quality players.”[/article]
I think having both Tierney and Robertson in the squad would be excellent.
Tierney is a quality player, but in retrospect probably not as suited to Klopps gung ho style as Robertson. I think one of the things with Robertson is that hes not the best left back in the world hes the best left back for a Juergen Klopp team, he just fits seemlessly into Klopps system, you wont get that with every player, even supposedly world class ones. Same with Salah and Firmino. i know longer worry when I see us linked with a player whos not all that great, I figure Klopp sees something in them that others dont and they will grow into the side.
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