After a couple of decades of smug swaggering, Robbie Williams has finally had to apologise to his nemesis and former Take That manager, Nigel Martin Smith.

Well, I say apologise, but a court ordered apology isn’t really a genuine apology at all, is it? Besides, Robbie didn’t actually make the apology himself, did he? No. He got a spokesman to do the dirty work on his behalf, with the following statement:

Robbie Williams wishes to make it clear to his fans, and the public at large, that he did not intend these lyrics to be taken at face value. Specifically, Robbie Williams did not intend to allege that Nigel Martin Smith has ever stolen any funds from Take That or anyone… he wishes now to apologise publicly and unreservedly for the distress that the original publication of those lyrics caused to Nigel.

I think the £500,000 quid compensation might be a more meaningful gesture to the multi-millionaire music mogul.

And in other Robbie news…

It has truly been a bad week for old Rob. Not only did he have a marginally humiliating insincere apology to issue, but his mother waded in to say that he might rejoin Take That at some point.

Nothing more embarrassing than your Mum jumping in and making career decisions for you. Especially in the national press.

Maybe it’s time Robbie took some of that humble pie at the top of the page.