Robson unperturbed at Leverkusen sacking

The contrast in the Bay Arena will be unmistakable. Sir Bobby Robson, 70 tomorrow, will be celebrating his 36th year in management. In the home dug-out will be Thomas Horster, Bayer Leverkusen's youth team coach, taking charge of his first match following yesterday's sacking of Klaus Toppmoller, the man who took them to the European Cup final in May.

That 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid was part of an astonishing sequence of results, during which Leverkusen, who have never won a domestic trophy, lost the German Cup final and threw away a big lead in the Bundesliga.

Leverkusen never recovered from that setback and the sale of Michael Ballack and Ze Roberto hardly helped stem the tide of pessimism which swept over the Rhineland.

This season they have won only five games and are in danger of relegation from the Bundesliga. Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Hansa Rostock proved the final straw for their president, Rainer Calmund.

"I greatly regret having to take this action," said Calmund, "but because of our precarious position in the league I have had no choice but to do this. We have a problem in finding a new coach and I think Horster will be in charge for the next Bundesliga game."

Sir Bobby was sympathetic, but said the sacking would have no effect on his side's preparations. "I'm never happy when a colleague loses his job, whether it's in England or out of England," he reflected. "He had a fantastic year last year and did very well. He seemed to be a very young, bright man, so I'm sorry that it's happened to him.

"But as it's always been, it's about results, I guess, and the pressure to get results is always on you, and if you don't get them something like that can happen. It's a side of the game. It's not the greatest side of the game, but it happens, I guess.

"But I don't think it will affect us, how we play and what happens at Newcastle. They've taken a very dramatic step, I think. They must know what the repercussions are to that, but it doesn't affect me.

"What change it makes to Bayer Leverkusen I don't know, but I'm sorry he's gone. He seemed to be a nice man. But that's the life of a football trainer, I guess."

Newcastle, who flew to Cologne yesterday afternoon, have problems of their own. Their regular strikers, Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy, are missing because of suspensions incurred during the opening match with Internazionale, and they are joined on the sidelines by Nolberto Solano, who withdrew with a thigh strain.