Robbie Savage
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| Robbie Savage | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert William Savage | |
| Date of birth | October 18, 1974 | |
| Place of birth | Wrexham, Wales | |
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 111⁄2 in) | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Derby County | |
| Number | 44 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1993–1994 1994–1997 1997–2002 2002–2005 2005–2008 2008– |
Manchester United Crewe Alexandra Leicester City Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Derby County |
0 (0) 77 (10) 172 (8) 82 (11) 76 (1) 16 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1995–2004 | Wales | 39 (2) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Robbie Savage (born October 18, 1974, in Wrexham) is a professional footballer. He plays for Derby County, and formerly played for the Welsh national team.
He has gained notoriety for his playing style; in particular, his close-at-the-heels defending tends to wind up opponents, and he is frequently singled out by opposition fans for invective.
Savage is married to Sarah. The couple and their son Charlie live in a new build house in Cheshire, as featured on MTV Cribs.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Early years
Born in Wrexham, Savage attended Ysgol Bryn Alyn, Gwersyllt.
[edit] Club career
[edit] Early career
Savage started his playing career as a trainee at Manchester United, but was released and moved to Crewe Alexandra's Academy, learning his craft under Dario Gradi.
[edit] Leicester City
Savage was transferred to Leicester City 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.
[edit] Birmingham City
When Leicester were relegated from the Premiership at the end of the 2001–02 season he transferred to Birmingham City, who had just been promoted.[2] At the beginning of January 2005 he submitted a written request for a transfer, allegedly wishing to be nearer his ailing parents in Wrexham. On January 19 Savage completed his move to Blackburn Rovers.[3]
[edit] Blackburn Rovers
Savage finally moved to Blackburn Rovers for £3m in January 2005. His first five months as a Blackburn player proved a success, making 13 appearances and gaining 5 yellow cards.
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.[4] His feud with Toshack and the Welsh FA continued long into the 05/06 season as insisted he retired from international football only because Toshack sucked his dick and told him he wasn't good enough to play for Wales.
In 2005/6, Savage was a regular performer for Blackburn, making 42 appearances and scoring once. The 2006/07 campaign was another success, but it was cut short by a broken leg in January, which kept him out for the rest of the season.[5]
During the 2007/2008 season, Savage endured further problems with his knee suffering a knock in the 2-1 win at Spurs after being caught by Robbie Keane. A scan confirmed the clubs worst fears, resulting in surgery keeping him out of the starting lineup for 6 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 11.
[edit] Derby County
On 9 January 2008 Savage joined Derby County for a fee of £1.5 million on a two and a half year contract.[6] As the number 8 shirt, which he had worn at previous clubs, was already allocated to captain Matthew Oakley, he took the number 44 shirt because the numbers add up to 8.[7] He skippered the Derby side in his first match, a 0–1 home defeat to Wigan Athletic. He took over as club captain permantly after Oakley left for Leciester City
[edit] International career
Savage retired from international football in September 2005 having attained 39 caps, saying he wished to concentrate on his club career.[8] However, many people believe the reason he quit was due to a spat with Wales manager John Toshack. On March 6, 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. Savage was initially dropped by Gould from the squad only to be reinstated the next day.
[edit] Style of play
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 in his career of any Premiership player in the league's history.[9] He tends to be disliked by most opposition and neutral fans, and is arguably the pantomime villain in the Premiership as his long blonde hair, high profile and playing style attract attention. Nevertheless, because his work rate and commitment generally seems to help his team, he has been strongly admired by many of the supporters of the teams he has played for.
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 March 18, 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. Savage is highly regarded by the Blackburn Rovers fans for his commitment and effort.
One famous incident of his eccentric behaviour was while he played for Leicester. In an incident to become known as "Poogate" he used the referee's toilet during a game, after being substituted, claiming he had an upset stomach. The Football Association charged him but he was not fined or banned for the misdemeanour.
During a match against Newcastle United some seasons ago, the referee Matt Messias swung his arm out and accidentally hit Savage in the face as Savage was running behind him. 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 said in the future he would like to finish his career at home town club Wrexham before going on to manage them.
[edit] Honours
- Leicester
- Winner
- Runner Up
[edit] References
- ^ Always his own man, Sav refuses to hide. Daily Post (January 6 2005). Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
- ^ "Savage completes Blues move", BBC Sport, 2002-05-30. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ "Savage seals switch to Blackburn", BBC Sport, 2005-01-19. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ Savage announces Wales retirement. BBC Sport (14 March, 2005). Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
- ^ Savage suffers broken leg agony. BBC Sport (24 January 2007). Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
- ^ Savage completes switch to Derby. BBC Sport (2008-01-09). Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
- ^ "The numbers add up for Savage", Derby Evening Telegraph, 2008-01-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-17.
- ^ Savage quits international scene. football.co.uk (Septemebr 29 2005). Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
- ^ 2007/2008 | Official Site of the Premier League - Barclays Premier League News, Fixtures and Results | Statistics
[edit] External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Matthew Oakley |
Derby County F.C. Captain 2008- |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by N/A |
Leicester City F.C. Player of the Year 2001, 2002 |
Succeeded by Paul Dickov |
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