303: Robbie Savage, Leicester City, Merlin’s Premier League 98 Official Sticker Collection

Today we celebrate our 150th post which serves as testament to both the endless storytelling potential that football provides and the extent of achievable activities when you’ve spent over a year in some form of lockdown. We’d like to say thanks to anyone who has read, liked, shared or disagreed with any of our posts and treat you to a collaborative effort from all four of us. For our fiftieth post we chose teams from our previous work. To celebrate our century we got the lovely people at No Score Draws to immortalise us. This time we’ve decided to focus on a player who takes the Marmite metaphor to new levels. Love him, hate him or really hate him you’ll have an opinion on today’s subject. Here’s four more to add to the mix starting with Mat Jolin-Beech.

The Class of ’92. This is the best know crop of young players ever to emerge in the game we love. Some will argue for the Busby Babes but they emerged a few decades before I was born so I can’t really comment. But back to ‘Fergie’s fledglings’ that came through at the Cliffe in the early 90s: David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Phil and Gary Neville – we all know about these. But then there was: Kevin Pilkington, John O’Kane, George Switzer, Chris Casper, Simon Davies, Colin McKee, Ben Thornley, Keith Gillespie, and one Robbie Savage.

There is a lot I could say about Savage, but there are two things that spring to mind – above him being the antagonist of BBC 5 Live, and professional wind-up merchant to Alistair Bruce-Ball. The first is around the charity work he has done in his retirement – or at least his extended break from playing as he has since returned to the pitch (for one game) with Stockport Town in 2019. Sports Relief, the ‘cool cousin’ to Comic Relief, has been the main beneficiary of Savage’s efforts. First up in 2012 was him and Geordie legend and TV bald man Alan Shearer being two of 464 players to take part in a word record for the most number of players to play in a continuous five a side match. 

The next came in 2014, when Savage and Shearer once game teamed up. Or should that be lined up against each other. The challenge: ‘The Battle of the Backsides’ where each former player had to sit on 45,000 seats at Wembley. Shearer, being the model pro and competitive animal, trained for the challenge with squats being the chief exercise. Savage just rocked up in a pair of tights. The result :£200,000 for charity and a victory to Shearer who pipped the now injured Savage by 13 minutes to the 45,000-seat mark. Our Welsh friend was unable to walk properly for a week.

The other story, which I’ve only rediscovered recently, is ‘Poogate’ in April 2002, before Savage’s then relegated Leicester City were facing Aston Villa at Filbert Street. According to match official Graham Poll, the Welshman burst into the official’s changing room, announcing: “I've got to use your loo, I'm busting for a shit” before proceeding to crap with the door side open providing a running commentary as he did so! To top it off, and ultimately what led to his £10,000 FA fine and two week’s wages from Leicester, was leaving the dressing room, not washing his hands (poor practice for these pandemic times I might add) and wiping his hands down match observer Dennis Hodge’s jacket.

That, dear readers, ends this section on Robbie Savage. Footballer, Class of ’92 member, pundit, charity fundraiser, world record holder, and log layer. Over to Emlyn.

As a Reading fan, I didn't really see Robbie Savage in opposition until quite late in his career, when the Royals finally made it to the Premier League in 2006. He played a couple of games against us for Blackburn Rovers, without much impact, before making a transfer to struggling Derby County in January 2008.

Apparently, at this time, Savage was very insecure in his performances, and went so far as to create usernames for online message boards in order to big himself up. Unfortunately, this didn't help Derby's form. They managed a solitary win over Newcastle United (before Savage had joined) in an awful season, setting a record low points total and being relegated in March. It was this team that rocked up on the last day of the season with Reading needing to better Portsmouth's result to stay in the Premier League. Savage was unable to stop a determined Reading notching four goals, however Danny Murphy ruined everything with his stupid bald head by scoring for Fulham and Reading were relegated. In hindsight, a 7-0 win would have seen Reading stay up, however, both Reading and Savage's Derby were consigned to the second tier.

This wasn't the last run-in for Reading and Savage. In March 2010, in Reading's Championship clash with Savage's Derby, an injury to Rams’ goalie Stephen Bywater was followed shortly afterwards by a red card to reserve keeper Saul Deeney. This saw Savage don the goalkeeper's gloves at 2-1 down, and immediately manage not to concede from a penalty. Granted, this was because Shane Long absolutely Chris Waddled it into the Madejski Stadium car park, however, he managed a string of fine saves until finally being beaten by a deflected Ryan Bertrand effort and a late goal from Simon Church. Nonetheless, only conceding two goals in nearly fifty minutes of play was nothing to be sniffed at for an outfield player.

These incidents made Savage something of a fond opponent for Reading fans, and by chance his final professional game was at the Madejski Stadium, allowing the home support and travelling Derby fans to bid him a begrudgingly fond farewell with a standing ovation at the end of the game. In gratitude, Savage stripped to his pants and vest for a lap of honour. Clearly not feeling this was enough of a gesture of thanks, he returned in the following season's Reading v Derby game at the Madejski to perform a halftime Strictly ballroom dance with Ola Jordan for the fans.

Prior to his clashes with Reading, I was used to cheering Savage on as a regular starter in the Welsh National team. He lined up 39 times for his country; It almost certainly could have been more, however his international career was effectively ended by John Toshack in 2005 with the player and coach not seeing eye to eye. He'd previously fallen out with Bobby Gould, and was always somewhat in competition with the late, great Gary Speed for the combative midfielder role. Nonetheless, the proud Welshman played for a ten year period and managed two qualifying goals during a turbulent time for a Welsh side yet to find its feet.

So my memories of Savage; didn't like John Toshack, played for a comically bad Derby Premier League side, ran around in his pants then brought Ola Jordan to do the tango on the Madejski pitch. Gets the thumbs up from me. Over to Rich.

“Robbie’s legs were going a bit, but I thought he might come up to us with his long hair and give us a bit of a lift. So I got his number and rang him, it went to his voicemail: “Hi, it’s Robbie - whazzup!” like the Budweiser adverts. I never called him back, I thought I can’t be f***king signing that.” 

This quote from Roy Keane makes me really want to see him and Savage working alongside each other as pundits in a studio together. There’s no doubt in my mind that it would be funny, argumentative and make for great television. However, in lieu of this being reality, given that they work for different channels, let’s have a look at some of Robbie’s more notable moments since hanging up his boots, starting with the moment he said this to Michael Owen, Steve McManaman and Ian Wright: 

“... it depends what defines world class, because at times, I’ll be honest with you, I was world class in individual games. I played against Essien and he didn’t get a kick. I man marked Gianfranco Zola out the game.”

Ian Wright’s deadpan response was “So you stopped people. You were world class at stopping people.” McManaman, dressed like someone from the Scouse branch of Miami Vice, then chipped in with “Just following someone around the pitch for ninety minutes doesn’t make you world class!” All the while, Michael Owen sat there looking like a small child that had just heard “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” being shouted in the school playground. 

Then there is the time when Savage, Paul Scholes and Phil Neville were introduced as “two and a half members of the Class of 92” on a BT Sport show. Robbie light heartedly quipped “Scholesy’s taller than that!” to which Paul Scholes’ response was a simple under the breath “knobhead”. The TV cameras fabulously picked this up and the host had to apologise, much to the bemusement of all concerned. 

Another favourite Savage punditry moment was during the BBC’s 2014 World Cup coverage when discussing how Honduras could be effective against France with Thierry Henry: “Throughout my career when I played against Thierry Henry, we used to go out there and be strong, physical, we were like wasps around him. He used to bat us off because we were on him all the time, never gave him a minute to settle. You hated playing against that kind of team, Thierry?” Henry’s response: “We managed...”

Finally, there is the moment John Terry said this in response to Savage simply questioning whether he could play week in-week out as he came towards the end of his career: “... there are players that have not had a career, that have played at a really bad level throughout their career and come for people that have achieved what I’ve achieved, y’know, Robbie Savage being one...” As Savage said in response “I just expressed my opinion, I think I’m entitled to it, like everybody in the world is... and no career? I played 350 Premier League games, it’s not bad.” To be fair to Savage, giving his view on something is sort of in his job description. I also wonder how John Terry’s views that finishing mid-table in the Premier League is “a really bad level” go down at Aston Villa?

A bit like his playing days, people aren’t always entirely in agreement with Savage’s approach as a pundit, but I have a lot of time for him because he always has something interesting to say. That said, I’m still not convinced he was 100% barking up the right tree when he said “There are kids out there who'd chop their legs off to play football for Brighton.” Over to Manny.

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea had just run out 1-0 winners against Steve Bruce’s Birmingham City in their second game of the 2004/05 season but ‘The Special One’ was not happy. Not because new signings Didier Drogba and Petr Cech had missed an open goal from six yards out or nearly dropped a Stan Lazaridis cross into their own net respectively. Instead Mourinho was distinctly unimpressed with the attention a certain City midfielder had been giving his charges. “The blonde boy. Who is he?” I think my blogging colleagues might have given you a clue on that one already.

Robbie Savage was a master of midfield shithousery. He once held the record for the most yellow cards in Premier League history only to be overtaken by those great paragons of virtue Lee Bowyer and Kevin Davies. Oh, and Paul Scholes, who could time a pass but never a tackle. He was also a master of getting under his opponents’ skins leading to them falling foul of the officials. The genial Homes Under The Hammer star Dion Dublin saw red after laying the nut on Savage in a tense Second City Derby whilst the Welshman’s histrionics saw Justin Edinburgh sent for an early bath in the 1999 League Cup final. Even referee Matt Messias laid Savage out, apparently accidentally, during a game in 2003.

The peaks of Savage’s career coincided quite neatly with Crystal Palace languishing in Division One so I never got to see his dark arts live and direct. Perhaps if I had I’d have a different take on Wrexham’s finest. But I get the impression that he was the kind of player you’d much prefer to be on your team than playing against you. You could never question his commitment to the cause and, while such players don’t win many friends or admirers, football wouldn’t be the same without them.