TWO years to the week since he made his Darlington debut in front of just 3,000 people at Bootham Crescent, Olivier Bernard will today aim to demonstrate again why Sir Bobby Robson fought so hard to secure his services last summer.

Bernard heads to Charlton Athletic this afternoon in the best form of his Newcastle career, having delivered another excellent performance against Internazionale in the red-hot atmosphere of Tuesday's Champions League showdown.

The Frenchman has blossomed as a left-back under Robson's careful guidance, having arrived on Tyneside two-and-a-half years ago primarily as a midfielder.

As part of Bernard's English education, he was shipped out on loan to Darlington in March 2001, and he made ten appearances for the Third Division club.

Now, however, he is holding his own against the cream of European football, and Robson feels vindicated after preventing West Ham United from snapping him up in the last close season.

"Olivier is showing why we fought West Ham for him in the summer," Robson said.

"We found him, paid a lot of attention to him, and helped to develop him. We made him better and we wanted to keep him.

"He was almost taken away from us, but we fought the case because we thought a lot of him.

"He's left-footed, strong and quick, and we weren't prepared to let anybody come in and get him after we had done all the spadework.

"I thought he was very good against Inter Milan but got a rough deal from the referee in my mind.

"He has made big strides this season, but I've not really been surprised by his development.

"He was always a promising player; he had a ferocious left foot and he could handle the ball on his right side, too.

"He almost equalised against Middlesbrough when he came in on his right foot and shot just wide, and overall I'm very pleased with him."

Robson spoke last night of his admiration for Alan Curbishley as the Charlton Athletic manager's reign edges towards eclipsing the 70-year-old's time in charge at Ipswich Town.

Curbishley has been Charlton boss since July 1991 and he has moulded an entertaining team that lies in seventh place in the Premiership - above more fashionable clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United.

Robson said: "Alan Curbishley is one of our best young managers working at this level, and it's essential we find people like him and give them every encouragement.

"He's a very bright young manager, and we need young managers like him to keep the game going forward.

"I was at Ipswich for 13 years, and you need to get that sort of experience if you want to do well.

"You have to learn how to run a football club, and the nuts and bolts that come with it.

"You need to learn how to get the best out of players, how and when to be disciplined, how to encourage players, and so on.

"Alan always comes over very well. He seems to be very methodical in his preparation.

"He works on a limited budget - he hasn't had a lot of money to spend - but his teams always play a nice type of football."

Alan Shearer insists today's match is "more important" than the Champions League draw with Inter at the San Siro.

He said: "We played well against Inter Milan but the game against Charlton is more important, in my opinion.

"We have to go places like The Valley and pick up points if we want to be in the Champions League next season."

Newcastle left for London yesterday mindful of their wretched record at The Valley. They have not won a top-flight game there since January 1956.

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