We confirmed the arrival of the highly decorated Scotland captain this afternoon, and the defender will join us on 1 July, following the expiration of his contract at Liverpool.
Michael joined us from Forest in 2005 before his move to Hull City in 2014. He was joined that summer by a young Scottish full-back by the name of Andy Robertson, who had impressed at Queen’s Park and then Dundee United.
Robertson became of the of the best left-backs around in three seasons at Hull and Daws was with him every step of the way – relegation from the Premier League in 2014/15, promotion straight back in 2015/16, where Andy played 52 games in all competitions and then relegation again in 2016/17. He joined Liverpool in the summer of 2017 – the rest is history...
Michael - what did you see in Andy Robertson when he walked through the door at Hull at the age of 20 at the start of the 2014/15 season?
Daws: “I'll tell you what I saw, I saw a great character, a great young man, a lad that was leaving Scotland for a new challenge in the Premier League. I saw a lad who was willing to learn from experienced players like myself, Curtis Davies, Tom Huddlestone, Robert Snodgrass and Alan McGregor, lads who took him under their wing, and I’ve probably missed a few players along the way as well, and he just took everything we said on board. He always wanted to learn, always wanted to improve and respected the fact the older lads who had been there were there to help him. Robbo had to learn quickly and I’m sure he won’t mind me saying that. He’d come from Queen’s Park and Dundee United, now he’s in the Premier League. We were in the ‘big league’ as Steve Bruce used to say, but he just bought into everything. He had a lot of lads who'd been around and everyone just took to him straight away, he was a real character at a young age. Robbo and Harry Maguire… to see what those two players have gone on to achieve is quite remarkable.”
Daws: “Now, I'd say he’s the finished article. We had two seasons in the Premier League together and a Championship campaign where we had a great group of players, got promoted, we all learnt and he had all these challenges to overcome. Then, when you go to a club of Liverpool’s stature, the pressure, the expectation… what he's given to Liverpool Football Club in the time he's been there and what he's won, the goals and assists, the way Jurgen Klopp got him and Trent Alexander-Arnold playing, was just quite remarkable. I saw him when we played at Anfield towards the end of last season. It was the first time I'd seen Robbo for a long time. It was great to catch up. He hasn't changed and now it's an honour to welcome him to this football club and it'll be amazing. He'll bring all his experience, all the leadership that he's learnt along the way from players like Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk, James Milner, Mo Salah, the list goes on. I've always loved watching him throughout his career and I'll certainly enjoy watching him play in this famous shirt that I wore for nine and a half years and was always proud to wear.”