| R | Player Pics | A-Z of Players |
Personal
Fullname: Barry George Gordon Robson
aka: Barry Robson
Born: 7 November 1978
Birthplace: Aberdeen
Height: 5.11
Weight: 12st
Signed: 31 January 2008
Fee: £1.25m (from Dundee Utd)
Left: 13 January 2010
Fee: £1m (to Middlesborough)
Position: Midfielder (attacking)
Debut: Aberdeen 1-5 Celtic, League, 10 May 2008
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 17
International Goals: 0
Biog
The former Tannadice skipper was regarded by some as little more than a decent SPL journeyman when he made the move to Glasgow. Indeed at 29-years old it had appeared that the former Rangers youth player and Inverness Caley man had missed his chance to play at the very highest level.
But that would all change when Celtic sealed a transfer deadline day deal to bring Robson to Glasgow.
Despite the reservations of some of the Hoops support Barry Robson had been in outstanding form for United and had earned himself international recognition from Scotland. An industrious midfielder with no little skill and a keen eye for goal he was unquestionably one of the most consistent and talented performers outside of the Glasgow sides, and was regularly a standout whenever the Bhoys faced the Tangerines.
He may not have been a glamour signing but within four months of joining Celtic Robson had more than repaid his transfer fee and justified the move.
His made an immediate impact, scoring with his very first touch of the ball as a Celt, as he came off the bench to curl home a delightful free-kick in a 5-1 thrashing of Aberdeen at Pittodrie on February 10th.
A goal in the 3-2 Champions League defeat to Barcelona at Parkhead followed, but it would be in April’s Celtic v Rangers double header that Robson would show his greatest worth.
In the opening moments of the first game Barry Robson showed his intent – and had the Parkhead crowd on their feet – with a strong challenge on Christian Daily. It was an obvious foul but it was also a clear sign to the Rangers midfield that the Celts would not be bullied by the visitors’ typically physical approach. So it proved as Robson and Paul Hartley ran the show in the middle of the park as the Celts snatched a last gasp but thoroughly deserved 2-1 win.
Just 11 days later he put in a superb show and kept his cool to convert a penalty to give the Bhoys a championship lifeline and their second victory v Rangers (3-2) in a fortnight. Barry Robson picked up the April Player of the Month Award, and he would stay on top form for the remainder of the season, helping to drive the Hoops to the title.
After his performances for both United and Celtic, Barry Robson was a deserved nominee for the SPFA’s Player of the Year Award.
Things didn’t reach those heights again. Season 2007/08 was difficult. He played a good part before spending the last third of the season out injured. Celtic had squandered the league as a lacklustre side (managed by the increasingly ostracised Gordon Strachan) could not string a series of good performances or results together. If Barry Robson had been around for the end-run, it might have made enough of a difference to the side to capture enough points to win the league but that’s just theorising now. Celtic definitely lacked someone with his ability to just get stuck in, and it likely wasn’t a coincidence that Celtic’s worst spell was when he was out of the side for a long duration.
Barry Robson for all his limitations was a player who gave his all. The truth was that players like Gravesen, Donati & Jarosik were far more talented and experienced but gave only a fraction of what Robson did. Scott Brown was far better technically and was known to have some ‘dig‘, but let’s face it when the chips were down Barry Robson was the one who stepped up to the mark and was worth more to Celtic than any other player. You could argue that Barry Robson’s influence paid off as a learning experience for Scott Brown in later years.
Barry Robson was though too easy a target for some critics, and it showed. Being a domestic purchase meant that he was marked down compared to anyone who was bought from a foreign side (inferiority complex on being Scottish?). Admittedly, he lacked finesse, was one footed (his left) and his ball control skills could have been a lot better, but he made up for it in other ways. The word ‘dig‘ is not far away when you talk about Barry Robson, as that was his greatest quality, and you sometimes need players like him to give the team that push or advantage to get the win.
In a squad with many high transfer fee players, few seemed to be able to take a free kick or penalty. Critics can say what they want about his method but at least Barry Robson had the bottle to take them. He could have improved his technique, but he had a good scoring rate at penalties (usually kicked down the middle!) and scored a few free-kicks. Only Nakamura in the past ten years was more successful.
He returned during season 2009/10 from a long injury spell with limited opportunities under new manager Tony Mowbray. The squad was now chock-a-block with midfielders, and with the purchase of N’Guemo, Zheng Zhi and the emergence of Crosas, Robson was to be far behind in the pecking order. Yet he got his opportunities and still gave his all which you can respect him for immensely. Many even back then felt he was better than that quartet of players.
Age was creeping up and his contract was running down, though he still had another season to run before being able to renegotiate or walk out the door with his contract being up in June 2011.
Though his opportunities to start games were becoming limited he still managed to give his best when called upon by Mowbray and he started 13 games and scored two goals. In December 2009, Gordon Strachan, now manager at an ailing Middlesbrough in the English Championship started enquiring after a number of Celtic players with a view to taking them down south. A deal eventually saw Barry Robson go to Teeside in January 2010 along with season long loans (with the prospect of contracts to follow) for Willo Flood and Chris Killen.
Barry Robson’s loss was to the dismay of a number of Celtic supporters, and it’s fair to say this signalled the eventual beginning of the end of Mowbray’s reign. He was the sort of player Celtic needed to keep and not lose, especially with the declining morale in the first team due to results & performances at the time.
We wished him well for the rest of his career, he gave as good as he could with a lot of ‘dig‘. Somewhat ironically the term ‘dig‘ has also been used unfairly as a criticism of Barry Robson by his detractors, as if that was his only quality compensating for other defects in his game. Sometimes you just can’t win with some people.
Barry Robson helped to rejuvenate Aberdeen, and simply rolled up his sleeves and dug in again. He helped them finally win a trophy for the first time in way too long, the Scottish League Cup in 2013-14, but he was heading into the twilight of his career.
He finally hung up his boots after season 2015-16 and took up a well-deserved coaching role at Aberdeen.
He had the difficult position to step in as interim manager of Aberdeen after ex-Celt Jim Goodwin was sacked in January 2023 after a poor run of results (including a humiliating 1-0 defeat to sixth tier Darvel FC in the Scottish Cup). However, he took Aberdeen on a great run, culminating in a deserved two nil victory over Sevco in April 2023, and subsequently he was deservedly awarded the permanent managerial role.
[….]
Quotes
“I want to play but at a big club like Celtic there are so many players and everybody needs to rotate a bit at certain times. As long as I play in the majority of games and I’m playing well, that’s my main aim. It’s a great club to be at, a massive football club, and I want to play at the highest level, I want to play in the Champions League and win titles and cups – and that’s why I came here.”
Barry Robson (Feb 08)
Playing Career
| Season | SPL | League Cup | Scottish Cup | European | TOTAL | ||||||||||
| P | S | G | P | S | G | P | S | G | P | S | G | P | S | G | |
| 2007-08 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 3 |
| 2008-09 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 2 |
| 2009-10 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 31 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 40 | 15 | 7 |
| Club | From | To | Fee | League | Scottish/FA Cup | League cup | Other | ||||
| Middlesborough | 13/01/2010 | £1,000,000 | |||||||||
| Celtic | 31/01/2008 | 13/01/2010 | £1,250,000 | 31 (11) | 4 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 8 (2) | 3 |
| Dundee Utd | 01/07/2003 | 31/01/2008 | £ 50000 | 139 (6) | 32 | 9 (0) | 3 | 9 (1) | 1 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| Forfar | 01/10/1999 | 08/05/2000 | Loan | 25 (0) | 9 | 3 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Inverness CT | 15/10/1997 | 01/07/2003 | Signed | 102 (33) | 17 | 11 (3) | 7 | 7 (4) | 2 | 6 (1) | 1 |
| Rangers | 10/07/1995 | 15/10/1997 | Youth | No appearance data available | |||||||
| Totals | 297 (50) | 62 | 23 (4) | 11 | 17 (6) | 3 | 15 (3) | 4 | |||
| goals / game | 0.17 | 0.4 | 0.13 | 0.22 | |||||||
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
Honours with Celtic
Scottish Premier League
| KDS Honours | ||
| MOTM Winners 2007-08 | ||
| 16-Apr-08 | Celtic 2 v 1 Rangers | SPL |
| Apr-08 | Apr-08 Player of the Month | |
| 11-May-08 | Celtic 2 v 0 Hibs | SPL |
| 22-May-08 | Dundee Utd 0 v 1 Celtic | SPL |
| May-08 | May-08 Player of the Month | |
| MOTM Winners 2008-09 | ||
| 02-Nov-08 | Hearts 0-2 Celtic | SPL |
| 25-Nov-08 | Aalborg 2-1 Celtic | Champions League |
| MOTM Winners 2009-10 | ||
| 17-Oct-09 |
Celtic 0-0 Motherwell |
SPL |
Pictures