CANAL PLUS´S MICHAEL ROBINSON TALKS FOOTBALL

As I approach Michael Robinson at the end of the Mallorca v Valencia match there is a group of young Spanish boys milling around the stadium seats above Canal Plus's commentary post. They are trying to get a glimpse of the man they know from the cult Spanish football show El Dia Después. Oblivious to the attention, Robinson has just finished commentating on the exciting 2–2 draw and is puffing hard on a cigarette. Not really in keeping with someone who was once a football star in both England and Spain. As an Englishman abroad he has been accepted as a football authority in a nation where everyone sees themselves as a football expert. But it is not his lively commentary the Spanish have come to love Robinson for, it is the show El Dia Después (The day after) on Canal Plus which takes an unusual and light-hearted look at the weekend's football action and which is brimming with Robinson's dry humour. As I shake hands with Robinson I realise he is a monster of a man. His knee–length woollen overcoat and slicked back hair give him the look of a Mafia boss and I am not sure if I should be asking him about Stan Collymore's recent move to Oviedo or what's the best way to bump off my brother–in–law. I go with the Collymore question and whether he sees more English players coming over to the Primera Liga now that Stan, Steve McManaman and Vinny Samways are all plying their trade in Spain. “I don't really see it as a trend,” says Robinson. “Vinny's being doing a great job at Las Palmas for years now and Macca's doing great at Madrid, but with Stan I think the case was that he could no longer get Premier League football. “The English league is self–sufficient, It's a buying league so I can't see a big influx of English players coming over to Spain. “Stan's played at, what, seven clubs in England? He came to Oviedo for free and I think it was just a case of him needing a club at which to play football.