THE man who stood face-to-face with Sir Bobby Robson yesterday morning to tell him he was being 'relieved of his position' at St James' Park has, at best, enjoyed a mixed relationship with the Newcastle United fans.

Despite many supporters voicing concerns at the way the 71-year-old knight was dumped by the club, chairman Freddy Shepherd's reputation amongst the St James' Park is unlikely to fall any further.

The fans remain cold to a chairman who in six years has failed to bury the albatross of his Spanish indiscretions.

It was in 1998 Shepherd and deputy chairman Douglas Hall publically ridiculed the fans when they were caught out in a sting operation by the News of the World's fake sheikh in southern Spain.

A storm eruped after they mocked Alan Shearer, branded Newcastle women as "dogs" and boasted of ripping off the supporters.

Hall and Shepherd quit but four months later returned to the boardroom.

Slowly but surely Shepherd has again become the public face of Newcastle and over the summer he was seen as the power behind much of their transfer activiy. Indeed it was seen that the summer acquisitions - especially Patrick Kluivert and Nicky Butt - were Shepherd's signings and not Robson's.

A self-confessed Newcastle fan and the man who sees his role as the driving force behind the club, his relationship with Robson was initially strong but the cracks began when Partizan Belgrade ended their interest in the Champions League a year ago this month.

That defeat spelt the beginning of the end for Robson and since then Shepherd's comments have done nothing to solidify his manager's position.

Keen to give the fans what they want he mulled over whether Robson should go at the end of last season but felt the best move was to give him one final season.

But from the start of the current campaign all attention has focused on the increasingly fragile relationship between the two. The pair looked increasingly distant last term as Shepherd bemoaned Newcastle's fifth-place finish and their failure to qualify for the Champions League.

On the season's eve the chairman publicly confirmed Robson would not be retained beyond next May.

"Sir Bobby Robson's contract expires at the end of the season, " said Shepherd. "We have no plans to extend that arrangement.

"Sir Bobby has given the club great service and we fervently hope he can bow out with a trophy.

But this is his sixth season at the club and we have to look to the future."

The fans growing frustration at the lack of success on the pitch must have been the last straw. That sixth season ended prematurely yesterday and Shepherd must decide now whether the future is now paved for Alan Shearer's eventual succession or a clean break with the present and a new regime.

In a strange way the decision to sack the man loved by the fans may be a masterstroke by Shepherd. If his successor can bring the fans the trophy they so desire only then will his rehabilitaion begin.

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