They say: ‘England is a great nation and we’re trying to be one’.”Saying that, Spanish clubs have created the habit of winning. Players will remember what they have done with their club sides. I expected them to win the European Nations Cup in 2000, and I expect them to reach the semi-finals this time England are quarter-final material, at best They certainly can’t win it. They have talent in midfield and up front, but I don’t think the defence gives them good enough ball. If England play Spain, I would expect Spain to win.”And the €64,000 question, who would he want to win (bearing in mind that he actually played his international football for the Republic of Ireland, after Ron Greenwood “broke my heart” by rejecting him and Eoin Hand unearthed an Irish granny)?A rare pause “Spain is my home Spain has given me an awful lot In England I often felt like a square peg in a round hole I feel at home here I laugh and cry at the same things as they do.

So, England against Spain in the World Cup? I would want Spain, but, if England won, I would still feel very proud of England.”How, then, did this son of Blackpool end up not so much switching horses, as donkeys? At Manchester City, Robinson was a flop. “I used to think Malcolm Allison woke up in the morning wondering how to complicate my life He would speak to me about angles and zones And I wasn’t the only one Mick Channon didn’t understand a blind word either But I archived it somewhere. Later, what Malcolm had been saying fell into place.”The Brighton manager Alan Mullery then took “a depressed and failed Michael Robinson and gave me back my self-esteem”. Robinson scored lots of goals for Brighton, and attracted the interest of the club that had captivated him as a boy, Liverpool.

For the Anfield side he wore the No 10 shirt, alongside Ian Rush.”And I’ve never known a shirt to weigh so heavy I felt silly playing for Liverpool I thought all my team-mates were far better. When they signed Paul Walsh, who I thought was a great player, I went to Joe Fagan and said: ‘I never want to feel bitter towards Liverpool, so will you let me go?’ He told me to speak to QPR, and when I finally left Anfield, on Christmas Eve, as the first few fans were arriving for a match against West Ham, I cried like a baby. Even now, the greatest allegiance of my life, outside my family, is to Liverpool.”In January 1987, Robinson left QPR for the Spanish club Osasuna. He enjoyed three successful seasons there before retiring and drifting into the media. Although he has since bought into Cadiz, saving them from bankruptcy – “I’ve got a large detached house share,” he says, “a large detached house on the banks of the River Thames share, but don’t tell my wife” – coaching held no appeal.”I have been offered coaching jobs in Spain, from businessmen who can sack me without knowing what I’ve forgotten about football.

There’s a merry-go-round of managers here, in England too, like Dave Bassett and Jim Smith, who get jobs, get sacked, get loads of money, then float around directors’ boxes until a team isn’t playing very well I find it quite amazing. I want to abstain from that.”All the same, when Canal Plus offered him a presenter’s job, Robinson hesitated. “I thought I would be un flor de un dia, as we say here, a flower for a day But we’re still on air, and we’ve won lots of prizes. In 1997 I won something called the Victor, for the best sports presenter in Europe.”So he is the Des Lynam of Spain? “I like the comparison with Des He’s a superstar But I hate to be compared with Alan Hansen or Andy Gray. I get paid a million pounds a year for informing and entertaining people, and I start with a blank piece of paper, and at the end I’ve got to look like Des.”What would Lawro [Mark Lawrenson, who, like Robinson, uncannily, graduated from Bispham Juniors to Preston to Brighton to Liverpool to broadcasting] do with a blank piece of paper? The video comes in, [Ray] Stubbs says to Lawro: ‘What do you think?’ And Lawro throws three adjectives and four verbs at him, and that’s it.”And Jocky [Hansen], however great a goal is, just talks about how badly they defended. They all talk in jargon, about diagonals and so on.”Lineker should turn to Jocky and say: ‘It’s possible people don’t understand what you’re saying.’ But he never does. The ex-pros in England don’t illuminate football, they have kidnapped football Nobody ever questions the buggers You need a journalist in there, upsetting Jocky.