Iwan Roberts
A legend to Norwich supporters after seven successful years there, Iwan Roberts says if he can help Cambridge United retain League status this season it would rank alongside winning the title with the Canaries.
Iwan was raised in the picturesque village of Barmouth on the west coast of Wales and grew up as a keen Liverpool supporter, but his own football career began in the south with Watford at the age of 17.
Future England manager Graham Taylor was in charge and the first team included stars like John Barnes, Luther Blissett and Tony Coton. But the strength of their top-flight side meant that Iwan's chances were limited and after five years he dropped down two divisions to join Huddersfield for £275,000 in 1990.
"That was quite a lot of money in those days and I still hold the post-war record of 34 goals in one season at Huddersfield," he notes, "so obviously that's something that I've very proud to hold. It's the best total in my career and I can't see me breaking that in the near future," he adds with a smile.
Three years later he moved on to Leicester for £100,000, finishing as their top scorer in each of his three seasons and experiencing two promotions through the play-offs to the Premiership and one relegation.
"It was a successful time and I really enjoyed it. I had some really good managers too," he adds. "Brian Little signed me, then we had Mark McGhee and Martin O'Neill, and I've been very fortunate to have worked with some good managers in my time."
It was McGhee who took Iwan to Wolves in 1996 for £1.3million but he was only there for a season before moving on to Norwich, newly-relegated from the Premiership.
"I wasn't too sure whether I really wanted to go," he admits, "but it's probably the best decision I've ever made. I scored 96 league goals, made over 300 appearances, and I had seven fantastic years there.
"When I first joined them the first thing I wanted to do was to help them get back into the Premier League, where I thought they deserved to be, and obviously that came true last year so I achieved what I aimed to do when I went to the club."
But a season that ended with promotion for Norwich also marked the end of the personable Welshman's time at Carrow Road, and he signed off with a brace in the final game of the season at Crewe.
"I'd never scored on the final day of a season before, it was my final game in a Norwich shirt, which was a very sad occasion, Nigel Worthington made me captain for the day and I'll be forever thankful for that, and I managed to cap it all off by getting two goals. One of them was a left footed volley into the top corner and I haven't got too many of those in my career!" he adds.
Amidst the excitement of promotion back to the top flight, Iwan was obviously sorry to be leaving the Canaries. "I still thought I could have done a job for the club in that league, even as a sub for 20 minutes, but I can understand the reasons that Nigel gave so there are no hard feelings," he stresses.
"I will never have a bad word to say about the place because it's a good place to live and a great club with great people running it. I've only been back once so far but I was welcomed back with open arms."
As a proud Welshman, Iwan also has good memories of representing his country: "I think it's the best honour you can get. I've got 17 caps - most as substitute I might add! - but I've been fortunate to play in the Millennium Stadium against Brazil, Argentina, West Germany, so I've played against the best sides in the world and I've been very fortunate.
"Mark Hughes gave me a lot of opportunities that I hadn't got under any other manager, but I'd had to compete against the likes of Mark Hughes, Ian Rush, Dean Saunders, so there were some world-class strikers before me and I was just happy to get in the squad."
Iwan joined Gillingham last summer and took up a player-coaching role under Andy Hessenthaler.
His season got off to a bright start and he scored three times in the opening games but, as often happens in football, a change of manager altered the picture.
"I was really looking forward to it - it was a Championship team and it was a great opportunity for me to get into the coaching side of the game, but when the new man came in and brought his own people in it changed, and I thought the best thing was to try to get away on loan until the end of the season and assess the situation in the summer.
"Rob Newman had rung me numerous times to see what the situation was and I spoke to the manager Steve Thompson as well, but they didn't really have to sell the club to me," he says.
"I've played at Cambridge many times with Norwich in friendlies and I knew they were in a predicament, and I just thought what a good challenge to come here and help. It's a young squad and they need a bit of help on the pitch, and hopefully I can bang a few goals in and give it a right good crack for ten games.
"We can only concentrate on our own games and if we survive then I'd be very, very happy. I think it would rank up there with winning the title with Norwich last season."
Iwan made a goal scoring debut for the U's at Bury, and the goal is one he will never forget: "That was a very special goal for me because it was my 200th league goal. I can't remember where I was for my 100th league goal but if anyone ever asks me where I was for my 200th I'll know where I was and who I was playing for.
"But we lost so I'd have settled for winning 1-0 and the goal being an own goal if we could have got the three points. That was the important thing for us on the day.
"Then last week at Leyton Orient I hit the bar after two or three minutes so I was disappointed not to score there. I should have done better there really, but the signs were good. I hadn't played a full first team game since November so I'm a little bit rusty, but I've had two full games under my belt and I'm definitely getting there."
Is goal scoring something that players can learn, or is it a knack? "I think it is a knack. You can coach players what sort of areas they will score goals in and what sort of runs they should make, but I don't think you can teach them to put the ball in the back of the net. I think that's something within you. It's the same with goalkeepers; they have a strange mentality and I think goal scorers are the same."
Coaching at Cambridge - first impressions? "I think there's some tremendous talent here. The youth team manager at Gillingham told me there was a fantastic youth set-up here and looking at the young lads here now it's exciting for the club, but obviously not in this situation. You want to be putting young boys into the team when things are going well or you're in a comfortable position, so it's not the easiest of times for young boys to be coming into the team."
Looking ahead to the final nine games of the season, starting with today's against play-off chasing Wycombe, Iwan takes a positive attitude.
"We've got to string a few results together but we're more than capable of doing that. I've only played two games so far but I sense that in this division anyone can beat anyone on their day. We've got to approach every game that way.
"Saturday will be a massive game with a big crowd there and Wycombe are a decent side, but all we can do is concentrate on how we play and the results that we pick up. We can't do anything about the other results but we have to give ourselves the best chance by going out there and being positive and picking points up."
And what about his own future? "I want to play as many games as I can next year but I want to get more into the coaching side of the game as well. I've done quite a bit of work for Sky TV and being a full Welsh speaker I do some work with the Welsh team, so that's a part of the game that interests me quite a lot as well, but I want to play as much as I can so I'll have to wait and see what happens at Gillingham.
"I just want to enjoy my football again and my enthusiasm's back now. I'm enjoying coming in training every day and mixing with the boys here and working with Rob and the Gaffer. The smile's back on my face."
Andrea Thrussell
In The Hot Seat
Iwan answers some questions from supporters:
DaveS asks:
How big was the influence of Rob Newman (left) on you coming to Cambridge, as I heard you had offers from higher positioned clubs?
I was looking forward to coming to Cambridge but Rob was a massive influence. Rob was at Norwich when I first started there and we've kept in touch ever since, and he's become a very good friend.
Players move on and you lose contact, but Rob is someone I've always kept in touch with and you try to help friends in this game.
Trevor Lowe asks:
Do you agree that nine times out of ten you would have scored instead of hitting the bar at Leyton Orient?
Yes. It was one of those when I thought I'd scored almost before I'd hit it, and as a striker that's probably fatal. It was a relatively easy chance so I should have scored, no doubt about it, and it still plays on my mind.
Trevor also asks:
Did you think that Norwich would struggle in the Premier League this season?
No, I didn't. I thought Nigel had made good signings to add to the squad that he had - and we won the division by about eight points last year so we had a good side - and it just goes to show the massive gap between the Championship and Premier League.
But they've still got games to play and there are enough games and enough points to play for to get themselves out of trouble. Hopefully they can do that because they're a smashing set of lads who haven't got the results that their performances have warranted, but Nigel and boys there won't give up until it's mathematically impossible.
'Bunny' asks:
I hear Iwan is coaching the strikers a bit - what does he think of them and where are the main areas they need to improve?
I think they just need teaching the main areas to go. I watched the game against Oxford and the biggest thing for me was that JT and Webby maybe wanted to get involved in the game outside the box too much instead of getting the ball, laying it off, and getting into that box. A striker is judged in the box and the goals that he scores, not by how well he held the ball up. They held the ball up well but then they went looking for it again rather than getting themselves into that area and then trying to get on the end of a cross.
But I think they're talented players. I took them for a session on Tuesday and they're a pleasure to work with. They're so enthusiastic and they want to learn, and as a coach you can't really ask more of football players.
Bunny also asks:
Also who's the best striker you've played alongside in his career?
The best goal scorer was probably Ian Rush. I was very fortunate in my younger days to pay with Ian Rush a couple of times for Wales so as a pure goal scorer Ian Rush was the best. Other strikers that stand out for me are Darren Huckerby and Craig Bellamy at Norwich. Their pace would trouble anybody and they both made so many goals for me, and I hit it off with them off the pitch straightaway as well.
Chopper asks:
Firstly, Iwan, thank you for coming to join the fight, but would you be prepared to stay on next season whether we stay up or not?
I would definitely consider it because I've been so impressed with everything about the place, including the people behind the scenes who are working their socks off for the club.
Everyone's so helpful and friendly and it's been nothing but positive, the supporters at Bury and Orient were so good, and it's going to take everybody involved with the club to get us out of the predicament that we're in. So it's something that I would definitely consider.
NRE Boy asks:
Iwan, what's been the highlight of your long career?
I would have to say it was playing for Wales for the very first time, which was against Holland in 1991 in a World Cup qualifying game at Wrexham.
Obviously last season was all a highlight really, a great season for everybody involved with Norwich, and also scoring at the Millennium in the play-off final and thinking that I'd got the club to the Premiership, but we lost that game so I couldn't really count that as an overall highlight.
NRE Boy also asks:
Who is the best management team you have worked with?
Graham Taylor was superb and he had a man called Steve Harrison with him. Graham Taylor was known to be a bit of a disciplinarian but you couldn't wish for a nicer man off the pitch, a real gentleman. Martin O'Neill was another one; I think he'd learned so much from Brian Clough in his days at Forest and he's gone on to great things with Leicester and Celtic.
Bruce Rioch at Norwich, Mike Walker at Norwich, Brian Little at Leicester - I've been very lucky and worked with some really good managers, and I think if I haven't learned from them then you can't learn from anyone. Mark Hughes was a young international manager, but again I learned a lot from him.
Ian Pascu asks:
What has been your favourite club you've played for?
I've got to say Norwich. I've stayed there the longest and had the happiest times of my career there.
Ian also asks:
How many goals are you aiming for?
All together in my career I think I've got 237 so I would be absolutely delighted if I could reach that 250 mark by the end of the season! No, if I can get six, seven, eight goals then I'd be happy and I think as a club, with other people chipping in some goals, then I think we'd have a fair chance of staying up.
*A shorter version of this interview appeared in the programme for the match against Wycombe on 19th March, 2005.
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