I was thrilled, getting in to work this morning on my last day, to discover I'd be interviewing Bryan "Captain Marvel" Robson that afternoon. He captained England, of course, as well as spending over a decade at Manchester United before going on to manage Middlesbrough and now West Brom.

He's up in Manchester to promote his new autobiography, so the interview was to take place just before the start of a book signing at the Trafford Park ASDA. This is home to the ginormous Trafford Centre, so you can imagine the ASDA itself was huge in its own right.

I turned up with time to spare, then made my way to the Customer Service desk to track down someone who'd lead the way to Bryan. And lo, down the escalator came the PR lady.

"Are you him?" She asked.

I found this a little abrupt, but nodded.

"You've not come here hoping for an interview, have you?" And suddenly a reproachful look. "Your radio station didn't publicise any of this, you're not getting an interview - there was never one agreed, I didn't reply to your email, there was no fax, you've no right and there'll be no interview. He's here to sign books, not talk about relegation."

All this in a raised voice in the middle of the packed shop floor. Then Bryan Robson himself materialised behind me and she scuttled off. I tried to find a hole in the ground to jump into, then rang my sports editor to report this minor technical hitch and see if we could do anything.

But just as I got off the phone, back she came. "I am so, so sorry. Please, come and talk to Bryan, he's just up here. So much confusion! Not anyone's fault, not your fault at all."

Well, yes. I knew that! I have no idea what caused this absolute sea change in opinion and attitude over the space of no more than five minutes, but the difference was immense. The four copies of Robson's autobiography I had asked her to pass to him to be signed - "I might be able to sort that but they won't be personalised," said the dragon pre-change of heart - came back immediately, personalised exactly as requested.

The interview was great too. Bryan Robson - who of course had nothing to do with any of this - is a lovely man, warm and friendly, fire in the eyes still, a genuine pleasure to talk to. The man either talks naturally in fifteen second commercial-radio-friendly soundbites, or he's a seasoned pro at this sort of thing. I suspect the latter.