Robert rounds on his critics

Newcastle's French star insists he has real desire

No more Mr Nice Guy. Or at least that was Laurent Robert's plan. Tired of being accused of laziness or, worse still, lacking passion, the normally easy-going Frenchman had sought to toughen up his image in recent weeks. No more Mr Football is the unfortunate outcome.

Robert's new resolution came to a disappointing end during Wednesday's Worthington Cup defeat by Everton, when he fractured his cheekbone in a clash with David Weir. His misery was compounded when his decisive penalty was saved by Richard Wright, a miss that saw Newcastle eliminated. "Laurent said he was OK to take his penalty, but it didn't look like that to me," was Sir Bobby Robson's blunt verdict.

The man himself prefers to see the funny side of things. "It's not been the best of weeks," he says ironically. "What can I say? I've been training hard to get back to my best form – and I actually felt I was close – when the blow suddenly came. I didn't really think there was much wrong with me at first, but then we did an X-ray on Thursday and it was clear I had a fracture."

At least the battle scar may help to convince the doubters that he cares. "People seem to have this image of me as a wimp. Well, I'm not," he says. "I may not be Alan Shearer but I can stand up for myself. I'm a fighter." If nothing else, he certainly talks a tough game.

Robert flew to Paris on Friday and, following a 30-minute operation, will now have to sit on the sidelines for four weeks. "It's so frustrating," the 28-year-old says, "because I was just getting into my groove. I had a back problem at the beginning of the season, but managed to come back from that, so I'm disappointed that this cheekbone business has happened."

Most depressing of all for the Réunion-born player is the fact that he will miss Wednesday's all-important Champions' League match at Feyenoord. Newcastle stand in third place in their group; they must win in Holland, and hope that Juventus avoid defeat against Dynamo Kiev, if they are to stand a chance of progressing to the next stage of the competition. "It's a really tall order," Robert says, "but we have to believe in ourselves. We had a slow start, dug ourselves out of the hole, and have a good shout now. We just can't afford not to take it."

He adds: "The Champions' League is the most important tournament in the world. It's the one place everybody wants to be. We're no different at Newcastle. We've come this far, so there is no reason why we can't keep going. There's certainly no point in fighting like crazy all last season to be in the Champions' League, if we then end up falling at the first hurdle."

Newcastle's current predicament stems from their poor early-season form. In a mirror image of their Premiership showings, the Magpies made a shaky start in Europe but have now rediscovered their winning ways of old. And Robert, who is well known for his self-belief, thinks he knows why the transformation has occurred. "I believe one of our main problems in the first few weeks," the French international says, "was that we were not getting the ball up to the forward players enough. I spent most of the opening fixtures defending. Since myself and Nobby [Nolberto Solano] have been getting more regular service, everything is OK again."

Robert goes even further in his very personal coaching exposé. "We have been improving steadily over the course of the season, but if we want to become a great team and reach a new plateau, then we have to find a better balance to our play." No prizes for guessing where the current imperfection lies. "The majority of our football takes place on the right," the left-winger explains. "What we need to do is come over the other side more. If we do that, we'll be better off.

"Look at our League game against Middlesbrough [last Sunday]. I only touched the ball three times in the first half. How can I influence play in those conditions? The boss acknowledges the problem. He spoke about it during the interval of that match and said I should be given more passes, but it's hard for the team to change their ways in a flash. In the end, what happens is that I defend a lot."

Not everyone, least of all Sir Bobby, would concur with that bold assessment. Like a former St James' Park favourite, David Ginola, Robert can be infuriatingly relaxed, particularly when it comes to tracking back. As a result, his doubters are as numerous as his admirers. "I know, I know," he says, "but I've taken on board what the fans and the manager have had to say and I've been working on that aspect of my game during training. Everything was a bit of a shock for me at first, but I'm used to the football here. I'm more English now."