Robbie Savage

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robbie Savage
Personal information
Full name	Robert William Savage
Date of birth	October 18, 1974 (age 32)
Place of birth	Wrexham, Wales
Height	1.85 m
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Blackburn Rovers
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-1994 1994-1997 1997-2002 2002-2004 2004-	Manchester United Crewe Alexandra Leicester City Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers	000 0(0) 077 (10) 174 0(8) 082 (11) 064 0(1)
National team2
1995-2005	Wales	039 0(2)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:44, 27 January 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 28 June 06. * Appearances (Goals)

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. He 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 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.

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. 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 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 sections of the support of each team he has played for. Indeed, his disciplinary record is good compared to other defensive midfield players, indicating allegations of him being a dirty player are based on image rather than fact.

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 sending-off of Savage seemed a harsh decision. Savage 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.

Savage retired from international football 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.

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, claimimg he had an upset stomach. The Football Association 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. The incident has been shown many times on Soccer AM in addition to many other times when Savage has been 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 broke his leg in a challenge with Alhassan Bangura in Blackburn's match with Watford on January 23, 2007, meaning he is unlikely to take any further part of Blackburn's season.

External links

• Robbie Savage career stats at Soccerbase

Blackburn Rovers F.C. - Current Squad
1 Friedel | 3 Khizanishvili | 4 Todd | 5 Tugay | 6 Nelsen | 7 Emerton | 8 Savage | 9 Nonda | 10 McCarthy | 11 Bentley | 12 Gamst Pedersen | 13 Enckelman | 14 Reid | 15 Mokoena | 16 Henchoz | 17 Jeffers | 18 Gallagher | 19 Dunn | 20 Ooijer | 21 Samba | 22 Warnock | 23 Brown | 25 Berner | 27 Derbyshire | 28 Fielding | 29 Treacy | 30 Roberts | 31 Peter | 32 Nolan | 33 Gray | Manager: Hughes