Pompey and circumstance

Confirmation, at last, that Laurent Robert has completed his move to Portsmouth, and snubbed Bolton's offer of European football to join up with his old sparring partner Andy Griffin on the South Coast.

Hardly a move that will shock too many people, with Souness and Robert unlikely to break into bouts of mutual backslapping anytime soon a parting of the ways is probably best for all concerned.

In terms of his time on Tyneside, the statistics will show a player who scored and created goals throughout his time here, but that doesn't really tell the whole story. Often erratic, and apparently disinterested, Robert was one of those players who could conjure a goal from nowhere and for that reason was rightly regarded as a player who could be a joy to watch. However, his regular sulks, and whinging to the press regularly stuck in the throat, and no matter how often he changed a game in our favour there were equally times when his inactivity cost us dearly and left us exposed down the left.

Whether you choose to treasure your memories of fabulous strikes and game changing free kicks both home and away to the likes of Spurs and Derby is up to you, but for me the thrill of seeing him in a black and white shirt, on his game and taking aim thirty yards out will be one I'll treasure for a long time to come.