PAUL ROBINSONÂ’S latest blunder has increased the pressure on Steve McClaren to axe him for EnglandÂ’s crunch Euro 2008 double header. The Tottenham keeper was at fault for LiverpoolÂ’s first goal yesterday when he spilled Steven GerrardÂ’s free-kick, allowing Andriy Voronin to score in the 2-2 draw.RobinsonÂ’s clanger will increase the calls for boss McClaren to drop his first-choice stopper before Estonia and Russia are able to take advantage of another mistake and wreck the nationÂ’s Euro dream. RobinsonÂ’s confidence has been fragile since his nightmare in Croatia a year ago this week, when his errors left McClaren with a mountain to climb to reach Austria and Switzerland.
No matter what the former Leeds star achieves in the game, he will probably always be remembered for ‘that’ goal in the 2-0 defeat when he completely missed his kick trying to hoof clear Gary Neville’s backpass. Robinson showed last Monday how little belief he has in himself when he gifted Aston Villa two goals as Spurs found themselves 4-1 behind with little under an hour played. He was rescued by his team-mates on that occasion. And Robbo had his skipper Robbie Keane and referee Mark Halsey to thank yesterday for diverting the focus away from his 12th-minute error at Anfield.
Gerrard’s free-kick was a bread and butter take. Yet Spurs chief Martin Jol leapt to the defence of his man when he insisted: “I am not concerned about his form because the shot got a deflection off Jermaine Jenas. “It hit his knee and no one went with Voronin, so it was a bad goal to concede because of that.”
And Jol is certain that Robinson is the man who should get the nod for England’s qualifiers against Estonia on Saturday and then Russia four days later. He added: “Every game is different and if he makes one good save, then he is back.”
Liverpool grabbed a last-gasp leveller through Fernando Torres — but only after ref Halsey had dropped a clanger of his own to let the Reds off the hook. Keeper Pepe Reina was caught in no-man’s land as he chased his own clearing header with Gareth Bale bearing down on him.
The Spanish stopper tumbled theatrically as he realised he was never going to reach the ball, handing Pascal Chimbonda a clear run on the unguarded net. But Halsey, after advice from his linesman, amazingly gave Reina a free-kick and ruled that Bale had obstructed him — and two minutes later the Reds had equalised.
Jol would not get into a slanging match over the official but admitted: “I could not understand that one. I don’t want to focus on that one particular moment but it was a big decision.” The draw still leaves Jol’s future in the balance, even though he is hoping the speculation could disappear with the international break. He added: “I am not pulling the strings in these sort of scenarios. If I was, everything would remain quiet.
Liverpool had a bad defeat against Marseille and we knew they’d want to do better. “We feel we deserved a win. It’s a disappointing result but hopefully we will get a lot of confidence from it.”