Former West Ham midfielder and current men's assistant coach Mark Robson is the latest guest to join the Club’s official podcast, Iron Cast!
The 54-year-old, who hails from Upton Park and scored nine goals in 56 games in Claret and Blue as a player - including eight in 44 league outings during the 1992/93 promotion campaign - also featured for the likes of Exeter City, Charlton Athletic and Notts County before calling time on a storied career in 1999.
After landing a first-team coaching role under former Hammers boss Alan Curbishley at Charlton at the turn of the 21st century, Robson went on to enjoy spells behind the scenes at Gillingham, Peterborough United and Norwich City among others, as well as within the England youth set-up.
And, following his return to West Ham as the Academy of Football’s Senior PDP Coach/U23s Lead Coach in November 2021, he explained to Iron Cast co-hosts Chris Scull and James Collins just how much it means to him to have been part of a period of sustained success in the two-and-a-bit years since.
“It’s huge for me,” Robson said. “I’m from the local area, my Dad used to go to watch West Ham and he took me to my first game, so it was always a dream of mine to go back to the Club when I’d finished playing.
“I started coaching when I was playing for Tottenham when I was only about 18, and I had my full licence at 26 so it was a pretty natural pathway for me when I’d hung my boots up.
“When I retired I did some work at West Ham with the Under-9s and with the Under-13s when Mark Noble was in the team. When Charlton offered me the job in 2000 I was interested in staying here, and there have been a couple of other opportunities since that didn’t work out, so it was brilliant to eventually get it over the line.
“It’s been a great couple of years so far. We took the decision at the start of 2022/23 to move up a lot of Under-18s, and all the players who have come through and played for both Academy sides, and then up at first-team level, have done amazingly.
“Nights like the FA Youth Cup final and the UEFA Europa Conference League game at FCSB last season - where a string of Academy players were given game time - were brilliant and do make you feel really proud.”
Off the back of the first-team’s triumph in that competition, Robson was promoted to the senior set-up ahead of the current campaign, where he believes he has the tools to make a telling impact due to the knowledge he has acquired at various levels throughout football.
While he continues to enjoy working with the Irons’ players and his coaching colleagues, Robson is looking for the team to build on an impressive December and add to their recent achievements in the remainder of 2023/24.
He added: “There was an opportunity on the table for me to go and join another Premier League club as a first-team coach in the summer, but the Club said no. Paul Nevin and Mark Warburton had both moved on, and the manager [David Moyes] said he’d like to bring me into the senior set-up which I was delighted with.
“I think I’ve taken a lot from different jobs into where I am with my coaching now. Working with England Under-19s for example - where we won the UEFA European Championships in 2017 - gave me good insight into off-field tactical meetings and planning with limited time and congested fixtures.
“The likes of Phil Foden and Trent Alexander-Arnold stood out in the set-up back then, and it’s been great working with similarly talented players such as Lucas Paquetá and Mohammed Kudus here at West Ham.
“We had a brilliant December in terms of points, but also with how we played. When you look at our squad you see we have some really strong players in all positions, and you have to say the manager has done a brilliant job. I don’t see why we can’t keep challenging towards the top of the league and in the cup competitions as well going forward.”
You can check out the whole episode in the video player above, or you can download and subscribe to Iron Cast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and RSS here now!
