METAPHORICALLY speaking, Bobby Robson has told Laurent Robert to put away the cigars and light up the Premiership like Ryan Giggs.

Newcastle manager Robson admitted after Saturday's hard-earned victory over struggling Derby that French winger Robert's apparent reluctance to take defenders on and make his pace tell, is proving a source of frustration.

On the one occasion against the Rams that Robert did as he was asked, Newcastle profited. The £10m star ran at the visitors' defence and forced Chris Riggott into a rash challenge which presented Alan Shearer with the chance to convincingly convert the resultant penalty and erase the memory of his spot-kick failure at Fulham seven days earlier.

Robert, who became Robson's record Newcastle signing when he arrived in the summer from Paris St. Germain, quickly won rave reviews in the opening weeks of the season, but has since gone off the boil somewhat.

Robson, however, is certain that careful tuition will see the 26-year-old get to grips with the demands of the English game and realise his full potential. And the Magpies' boss believes there is no better role model for Robert than Manchester United's Welsh wing wizard Giggs.

Robson said: "Laurent is terrific, but sometimes he just wants to pass the ball and then smoke cigars and watch it.

"There was a moment towards the end here when he was one-against-one with the full-back and instead of going past him, he was looking to pass the ball. "He's just got to do what Ryan Giggs does and have a go at the full-back.

"We're in the process of teaching him sensibly, so that he understands we're not getting at him but trying to make him a better player. "There's definitely much more to come from him.

"We've spent some time with him and we've explained that it's for his benefit and that, if it benefits him, it will benefit the team.

"When he shows the pace he built up on the run for the penalty, no-one can handle him.''

To maintain the entente cordiale, Robson turned to substitute Sylvain Distin, Robert's fellow countryman and former St. Germain teammate, to get the message across.

Robson said: "At half-time, we said to Distin: 'Tell him, the goal he's made is fantastic but we need that at least five times in the second half'. Laurent has got it made here if he applies himself and becomes a bit better for us in certain areas of his game.

"He's got to get used to the power and pace of the Premiership. Jamie Carragher did brilliantly against him here. Early on this season, Laurent had been getting a lot of rave notices, and rightly so.

"But they're not stupid at Liverpool, they'd seen that and Carragher got so tight on him he was almost inside his shirt.

"Carragher was rattling him, winning the ball and going down the line, and he won the battle. Laurent, with his pace and ability, has to learn to win the battle with the full-back.''

This time, though, Robert won the battle with a centre-back, when Riggott upended him in the 29th minute and skipper Shearer, denied from the spot by Edwin van der Sar in the 3-1 defeat against Fulham, exorcised that particular ghost.

It was Shearer's fifth goal of the season, his second successful penalty, and his 98th strike for Newcastle.

Derby's Fabrizio Ravanelli, however, suffered the fate which befell Shearer at Craven Cottage.

The former Middlesbrough striker, humiliated on his first return to the Riverside Stadium this month when Derby received a 5-1 drubbing, was bundled over by centre-back Andy O'Brien in the 58th minute on Saturday.

Shay Given was booked for protesting about referee Rob Styles' decision, but the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper, who in the eyes of club and country can do no wrong at the moment, sprang to his left to perform a brilliant full-length save and ensure that Italian Ravanelli endured another miserable day in the North-East.

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