Tweed so glad Robbo has lost none of his sharpness

AS a Hibs defender, Steven Tweed knew only too well the speed at which Hearts striker John Robertson could strike.

A few years have passed since then but Robbo showed he hasn't lost any of his sharpness in snapping up his former foe after hearing he was quitting Japanese football to return home to Scotland.

Although a host of clubs both here and abroad were on the towering stopper's tail, Robertson beat them all to convince Tweed to sign a two-year contract with newly-relegated Livingston.

And so Almondvale will become the latest stop for 33-year-old Tweed in a career which has seen him play in Greece, Germany and Japan as well as for Stoke City and Dundee.

Tweed still had a year remaining on his contract with Yokohama Marinos but he and his wife Victoria decided the time was right to return to Scotland with their sons Connor, seven, and Gregor, three.

His decision stunned the Japanese club but despite strenuous efforts to persuade him to change his mind, Tweed remained resolute.

He said: "It wasn't easy to walk away with the team winning and second top of the league. The last six months have been the best of my life, the team hasn't lost in its last 15 matches, which is a record, and we've only conceded three goals in 16 games. My coach, the former Japanese internationalist Takagi, has been absolutely brilliant, I've enjoyed a great relationship with him.

"But we'd made our decision in the clear light of day, we knew it was for the best.

"As you would expect, the club was shocked, they came up with all sorts of different offers to persuade me to stay including a longer contract but it wasn't a flippant decision - you don't decide to move to the other side of the world on a whim - and when they realised it was for family reasons they understood and were great about it."

When Robertson heard of Tweed's intentions, he moved quickly, e-mails flying back and forth between the pair, followed by a long telephone conversation and a contract being faxed for the player's signature.

Tweed said: "I had lots of options, different clubs in Germany and interest from a couple down south but Robbo didn't hang around. A two-year deal was an inducement but Robbo is also going to let me coach one of the youth teams which is a great opportunity, it is well nigh impossible to do your coaching badges once you have stopped playing.

"I'll be commuting from the home we've kept at Broughty Ferry and, while there were other concrete offers, they were for one year rather than two and in addition the location wasn't what we wanted."

Tweed will be at Largs on July 1 to sit his 'B' Licence, seven days after he plays his last match for Yokohama away to Kobe - coached by fellow Scot Stuart Baxter.

It will be Yokohama's 24th game of the season but, incredibly, it will only mark the halfway point in the campaign with the J-League consisting of 13 teams who play each other four times.

By that time, temperatures will have soared to 37C and with humidity between 70 and 80 per cent, Tweed knows he and his family will find completely different conditions when they touch down in Edinburgh even although it will be mid-summer. And if it is a return home for Tweed and his wife, it will be less so for their sons as he explained: "Connor was born in England and has spent most of his life abroad while Gregor was born in Germany and has never lived in Scotland."

Tweed will also be returning just as most Scottish players report back for pre-season training, something he believes Robertson will spare him. He said: "I'll be getting off the plane in tip-top condition so the last thing I'll need is pre-season training. A top-up, yes, but the full works? No chance. Robbo was very understanding, he knows that when I come back I'll be as fit as I am ever going to be - I've got another seven games to play before then."

Tweed knows he's returning to a vastly-different footballing landscape to the one he left for a second time five years ago to join Duisburg in Germany and, with Livingston having been relegated to the First Division, he knows Robertson will be working under a tight budget.

He said: "Hopefully it won't be too dramatically cut, but there will be people moving on.

Robbo has a good reputation, he took Inverness Caledonian Thistle into the SPL and Ross County were doing very well when he left them. It's not as if he's going into the First Division blind."

So, has Tweed's wanderlust, which began when he signed for Greek outfit Ionikos, finally deserted him?

He said: "For the time being and certainly the next two years but hopefully not forever. Perhaps if I become a coach doors will open, you never completely close them behind you.

"Football was the opportunity to go and sample life in all these different places and we've enjoyed the different cultures, the laisse faire of Greece, the 'Vorsprung durch Technik' of Germany and the respectful way of life the Japanese have. And we have happy memories of each of them."

Taken from the Scotsman