Robbie Savage

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Robbie Savage

Personal information
Full name	Robert William Savage
Date of birth	18 October 1974 (1974-10-18) (age 35)
Place of birth	Wrexham, Wales
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Derby County
Number	8
Youth career
1991–1993	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1993–1994	Manchester United	0	(0)
1994–1997	Crewe Alexandra	77	(10)
1997–2002	Leicester City	172	(8)
2002–2005	Birmingham City	82	(11)
2005–2008	Blackburn Rovers	76	(1)
2008–	Derby County	61	(2)
2008	→ Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)	6	(0)
National team‡
1995–2005	Wales	39	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:00, 26 December 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 09:41, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

Robert William "Robbie" Savage (born 18 October 1974 in Wrexham, Wales) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He currently plays for and captains Derby County, and formerly played for the Welsh national team.

He gained notoriety for his playing style; in particular, his close-at-the-heels defending tends to wind up both opposition players and fans.

Savage has two sons with his wife Sarah.^[2]

Early years

Born in Wrexham, Savage attended Ysgol Bryn Alyn, Gwersyllt, until he completed his GCSE studies in July 1991. On leaving school, Savage joined Manchester United as an apprentice. Savage had said in the future he would like to finish his career at home town club Wrexham before going on to manage them.^[3] However, since signing a new contract at Derby earlier in 2009, that will expire in 2012, Savage said that this would be his last playing contract.

Club career

Early career

Savage started his playing career as a trainee striker at Manchester United. He played in the FA Youth Cup winning team of 1992, and was later given a professional contract, but never played a first team game for the club and signed for Crewe Alexandra in 1994.^[4]

He switched into midfield and proved himself as a highly competent young player at Crewe, helping them reach the Division Two playoffs in his first two seasons at the club; a remarkable feat for a newly-promoted club who had only played at this level twice in the previous 30 years. Crewe then made it third time lucky by sealing promotion via the playoffs in 1997. It was the first time that Crewe had reached the second tier of the English football league system, but shortly after helping Crewe win promotion, Savage handed in a transfer request to manager Dario Gradi.

Leicester City

Savage playing against Barnsley in 1997-98, his first season with Leicester.

Savage was transferred to Premier League side Leicester City for a fee of £400,000, managed by Martin O'Neill, in July 1997. Savage spent five years at Leicester, where he made his name as a reliable, competitive and fiery midfielder. In 1999, Leicester reached the League Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur. In a controversial incident, Savage made a poor tackle on Tottenham's Justin Edinburgh who retaliated by swinging his arm out. Contact was minimal, but Savage fell to the ground. Edinburgh was sent off for raising his arms, and although Tottenham went on to win the final, many Spurs fans still hold a grudge against Savage for the incident to this day. However, a year later Savage reached the League Cup final again, this time winning 2-1 against Tranmere Rovers. The cup win is Savage's first and only winners medal to date.

Birmingham City

When Leicester were relegated from the Premiership at the end of the 2001–02 season he transferred to newly-promoted Birmingham City for a fee of £1.25 million, signing a three-year contract.^[5] At the beginning of January 2005 he submitted a written request for a transfer, allegedly wishing to be nearer his ailing parents in Wrexham, despite the fact that Birmingham is closer to Wrexham than Blackburn is.^[6] On 19 January he completed a move to Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £3 million.^[7] Savage played well in his time at Birmingham, scoring 11 goals in 82 league games, his best ratio of goals to games to date.

Blackburn Rovers

Savage played well^{[citation needed]} in his first five months as a Blackburn player, making 13 appearances.^{[citation needed]}

In March, Savage called an end to his international career after new manager John Toshack dropped him for a World Cup 2006 qualifying game against Austria.^[8] His feud with Toshack and the Welsh FA continued long into the 05/06 season as Savage insisted he retired from international football only because Toshack told him he wasn't good enough to play for Wales.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005–06, Savage was a regular performer for Blackburn, making 42 appearances and scoring once,^[9] against former club Birmingham.^[10] The following season, he scored against Salzburg^[11] and Wisla Krakow^[12] in Rovers' UEFA Cup campaign, but his season was cut short by a broken leg in January, which kept him out for the rest of the season.^[13]

During the 2007–08 season, Savage endured further problems with his knee, suffering a knock in the 2–1 win at Spurs after being caught by Robbie Keane. Surgery was required which kept him out of the starting lineup for six weeks. Following the return of Steven Reid to the Rovers starting lineup and some good form by David Dunn, he found it harder to get into the starting eleven. Savage was well liked by the Blackburn fans and was given a standing ovation by a near capacity ground by the Rovers fans when he returned with Derby.^{[citation needed]}

Derby County

Savage playing for Derby against West Ham United in the 2007-08 season

On 9 January 2008 Savage joined Derby County for a fee of £1.5 million on a two-and-a-half year contract,^[14] and later revealed that he had taken a pay cut to join Derby in his search for first-team football and had rejected a move to Sunderland because he felt Derby had wanted him more.^[15] As the number 8 shirt, which he had worn at previous clubs, was already allocated to then-captain Matthew Oakley, he took the number 44 shirt because the numbers add up to 8.^[16] He was appointed the new Derby captain after Oakley was sold to Leicester, and he skippered the Derby side in his first match, a 1–0 home defeat to Wigan Athletic.^[17] Savage's arrival, however, could not prevent his first season at the club from ending in relegation, and his performances were frequently below-par, something he acknowledged.^[18]

Rumours of Savage leaving Derby came in July 2008 when he missed out on every pre-season match. In August, Leicester City chairman Milan Mandaric declared an interest in Savage, which was dismissed by Derby.^[19] Paul Jewell repeatedly left Savage out of the team, after Derby's poor start to the 2008/2009 season,^[20] and he was replaced as captain by Alan Stubbs. Stubbs was forced to retire shortly into the new season through injury, but Savage was not considered for the role due to not being in the first team, and the armband went to Paul Connolly.

After failing to break back into the first team, Savage was sent out on loan in October to Brighton for a month to keep match fit.^[21] He would later reveal one year later, in a build-up to a match between Leicester and Derby County, that he had tried to secure a loan deal to the Walkers Stadium (Leicester had declared an interest in him months earlier). Savage even telephoned club ambassador Alan Birchenall and former teammate Paul Dickov to put in a good word with manager Nigel Pearson. Pearson, however, "said no", despite Derby offering to pay "90 or 95 per-cent" of Savage's wages.^[22]

After Jewell was sacked, Nigel Clough was brought in as manager. Clough has shown faith in Savage and he has started the majority of games since Clough has taken over. Savage's performances have also improved and he is now a fan-favourite at Derby.^[23]

At the start of the 2009/10 season, Savage signed a new 2-year contract with the club on August 10, 2009, a day before being named in the Championship Team of the Week for his performance in the opening day victory over Peterborough United.^[24] Later that month, Savage was re-named as Captain of Derby County, replacing Paul Connolly, who manager Nigel Clough wanted to "concentrate on his own game". Clough felt Connolly "was quite relieved in some ways because it is a big responsibility, especially when you are at full-back and out of the action" and that Clough wanted a Captain who was "in the middle of the park".^[25] In response, Savage said that "I did not deserve the captaincy when I first came to the club. I was handed it from the first day and I shouldn't have been. It was too much pressure for me and I had a nightmare. I let it get to me. I think I'm ready for it now. I feel more comfortable with it now." ^[26]

International career

Savage retired from international football in September 2005 having attained 39 caps, saying he wished to concentrate on his club career.^[27] However, many people believe the reason he quit was due to a spat with Wales manager John Toshack. On 6 March 2006, he appeared on Welsh radio, partaking in a debate with pundit Leighton James over his exclusion from the Welsh squad. Early in his international career he clashed with former Wales manager Bobby Gould when he jokingly threw a replica of Paolo Maldini's shirt into a disposal bin before a match against Italy.^[28] Savage was initially dropped by Gould from the squad only to be reinstated the next day.^[28]

Style of play and controversies

Savage's style as a midfield player is all-action and energetic, and he regularly collects yellow cards, holding the dubious distinction of being awarded the most yellow cards of any Premiership player in the league's history - almost 90.^[29] A controversial player, Savage is loved by fans of teams he plays for and hated by many others, in part due to his style of play and in part due to several controversial incidents he has been involved in. Fans of Aston Villa, Derby, Tottenham, West Ham and Arsenal have accused him of simulation, whether to win a set play or to get an opponent red carded.^[30]

During a match against Newcastle United in August 2003, the referee Matt Messias swung his arm out and accidentally hit Savage in the face as Savage was running behind him.^[31] Savage went down to the floor holding his face and Messias called a halt to the game. Messias looked down to check Savage's condition, and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer pulled the red card out of Messias' pocket and showed it to the referee as a joke. Savage shortly got back up on his feet and had sustained no injuries, but fans, players and referees alike took much delight in this comical incident. It has been shown many times on Soccer AM as have many other recordings of Savage being hit in the face by the ball or an arm. One particularly memorable incident occurred at Arsenal's former ground, Highbury, when a ball kicked by Robert Pirès struck Savage in the face, to the delight and loud cheers of the home fans.

Savage has, however, only been sent off twice in his career: Once during an international game for the Welsh national team, and once during a Premier League game for Blackburn. He received his first-ever red card when he was sent off in Wales' World Cup qualification match against Northern Ireland in September 2004 for reacting to a foul on him by midfielder Michael Hughes. Both Hughes and Savage were sent off, but, on later review, the punishment of Savage seemed harsh to some. Savage was ridiculed for threatening to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights over the decision. His once-impressive statistic of never being sent off in a Premiership match ended on 18 March 2006 when he was dismissed against Middlesbrough F.C. for two bookable offences. Both were controversial - the first for a challenge on George Boateng where he appeared to take the ball, and the second for handball when it seemed unintentional. Savage later admitted that he was probably due a controversial sending off because he had escaped punishment for illegal challenges in the past.

One famous example of his eccentric behaviour was while he played for Leicester. In an incident to become known as "Poogate" he used the referee's toilet before a game, claiming he had an upset stomach due to antibiotics he was on at the time. The Football Association charged him and he was fined £10,000, a decision that he appealed against, but lost. Leicester fined him two weeks' wages for the incident.^[32][33]

In his first season for Leicester, in the final minute of a league game between rivals Leicester and Derby at Pride Park, Savage dived in the penalty area. Leicester were awarded the penalty, which was converted, and meant they won the game 3-2. Savage's blatant dive, his hopeful look at the referee and his aggressive fist-pumping celebration in front of the home fans resulted in a torrent of abuse from the fans and in Savage being chased across the pitch by incensed Derby players, two of whom were booked. Derby fans regularly booed, jeered and abused Savage whenever he played against them, and when he became a Derby player in January 2008, he was treated with a mixture of hostility and indifference, partly over the incident, and partly over his average form. With the appointment of the club's new manager, Nigel Clough, in 2009, his performances improved to the extent that he has become a fan-favourite and he has largely been forgiven for the incident.^[34][35][36]

Savage is also famous for an incident at Villa Park, while playing for Birmingham City. After a tackle on him by Dion Dublin, a confrontation between the two and several other players occurred before Dion Dublin headbutted Robbie Savage. Dublin was sent off by referee Mark Halsey as result.^[37]

Career statistics

^[38]

Honours

Leicester City

• Football League Cup: 1999–2000

References

External links

• Robbie Savage career stats at Soccerbase