Robbie Savage
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Savage | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfield | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Blackburn Rovers | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 June 06 | |||
For the English footballer of the same name who was born in 1960, see Robert James Savage
Robbie Savage (born October 18 1974) is a professional footballer, who currently plays for Blackburn Rovers, and formerly of the Welsh national team. Born in Wrexham, Savage plays in midfield, but when at Crewe Alexandra played as a striker.
He 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. He was transferred to Leicester City F.C. in July 1997. Savage spent 5 years at Leicester where he made his name, winning 2 League Cups, as part of Martin O'Neill's successful side. He earned his debut cap for the Welsh international team. When Leicester were relegated from the Premiership at the end of the 2001-02 season he transferred to Birmingham City. At the beginning of January 2005 he submitted a written request for a transfer, allegedly wishing to be nearer his ailing parents in Wrexham, although Blackburn is actually further away from Wrexham than Birmingham. On January 19 Savage completed his move to Ewood Park.
His style as a midfield player is all action and energetic, and he regularly collects yellow cards. He tends to be disliked by most opposition and neutral fans, and is arguably the least widely respected player in the premiership. Nevertheless, in part because his methods generally seem to help his team, he has been strongly admired by sections of the support of each team he has played for. He received his first-ever red card in international competition, when he was sent off in Wales' World Cup qualification match against Northern Ireland in September 2004 for a tackle which on later review proved a harsh decision. He was ridiculed for threatening to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights over the decision.
His impressive statistic of never being sent off in a Premiership match ended on March 18, 2006 when he was dismissed against Middlesbrough_FC for two bookable offences. Both were seen as debatable - 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 gotten away with debatable challenges in the past.
He is retired from international football, Savage quit in September 2005 saying he wished to concentrate on his club career [1] 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.
He is known for his quick temper and eccentric behaviour, as well as devious tactics. A recent example of his quick temper was his disagreement with Rio Ferdinand after his teams 2-1 loss to Manchester United in the Carling Cup, there was an incident in the tunnel at half time, it was not clear what happened and neither player was charged. 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. He claimed he had an upset stomach, the F.A. charged him but he was not fined or banned for the misdemeanour.
In a strange twist during a match against Newcastle United a few seasons ago, whilst Savage was running just behind the referee, the referee accidentally swung his arm out and hit Savage in the face. Savage went down to the floor holding his face and the referee called a halt to the game. The referee looked down to see if Savage was okay, then Newcastle striker Alan Shearer promptly pulled the red card out of the referee's pocket and showed it the referee, jokingly. 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.
Oh, the Irony
It is actually a little known fact that Savage is not Robbie's real surname. It's actually a name made up by his team mates when he was a youngster at Manchester United for being such a big girl's blouse both on and off the pitch.
External links
- Robbie Savage at Soccerbase