Football can be a rough, tough business - particularly the scramble to climb into the Premier League - but the former England midfielder seems perfectly at ease with the challenges ahead.

"My immediate aim is to get this club promoted, to get the players and the supporters to where they deserve to be.

"I've been involved in the game for a long time and when you're out of it for a while it just makes you even more hungry.

"So, yes, I'm delighted to be back and I'm looking forward to making the most of this opportunity."

If next season goes half as smoothly as Robson's coronation yesterday then Bramall Lane will be reverberating to the sound of popping champagne corks in 12 months time.

A supreme competitor during his playing days, the 50-year-old proved to be as affable off the pitch as he was ferocious on it as he worked the audience with a combination of charm, pragmatism and wit.

Questions about the mixed reaction his appointment has provoked among supporters were met head on. "You get that at any club to be honest. Everyone has their opinions on their favourite managers and players and that's one of the beauties of the game," he said.

United, their new manager argued, are already equipped to secure promotion but nothing is achieved without hard work and application.

Robson in the flesh is the polar opposite of the colourless figure he can cut on television.

One of the most decorated players of his generation, sources inside the United camp confirm 'Captain Marvel' already commands the respect of the dressing room.

Passing the 'medals on the table test' will be no problem for someone who has lifted the Premiership and FA Cup trophies, not to mention tasted success in Europe and travelled to three World Cups but, nonetheless, Robson has already started the process of attempting to persuade those members of the United squad attracting predatory glances from the top-flight into pledging their committment for next term.

"I'll be telling them that if they stay and we work together then there's every chance that they will be playing at the level where they want to be.

"Obviously I want to keep somebody like Phil Jagielka here if I can because he's shown what he's capable of. But there are others as well. I'll be telephoning them to tell them what I want to do and what I think we can achieve. But I won't be calling the lads in early for training just to meet me as a group.