Peterborough United have appointed Robbie Savage as their new manager, succeeding Luke Williams, and the club’s long-serving director of football Barry Fry wasted little time in setting the tone. At Friday’s unveiling, Fry — whose association with Posh spans more than 30 years — told supporters: ‘All I can say to you Posh fans… you lucky people!’ He predicted the club’s next chapter would be anything but dull.
For Savage, it is a first step into management at an EFL club. The 51-year-old began his managerial career a little over two years ago at Macclesfield FC, the phoenix club formed after Macclesfield Town was wound up in 2020, then in the seventh-tier Northern Premier League Premier Division. His only season in charge was a roaring success: 109 goals and 109 points sealed promotion to National League North. He then joined National League side Forest Green Rovers in July 2025. In his only full season there, he guided the Gloucestershire club to the play-offs, with the campaign ultimately ending at the hands of Boreham Wood. As he departs, Forest Green sit 13th after 11 matches, with four wins, three draws and four defeats. Just 836 days after starting with the Silkmen in the seventh tier, Savage is now a League One boss.
Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony said: ‘Excitement is the word I can use to describe the appointment of Robbie Savage as our new manager. His personality, character and mindset is something we need top to bottom. Nobody will work harder to get us up and running again than Robbie. The board were blown away by him in an extensive interview and his hunger to fix our issues and get confidence back into our talented squad is what I am most excited by.’
What kind of team will he build? BBC Radio Gloucestershire’s Forest Green reporter Paul Furley said the most appropriate buzzword for Savage’s style is ‘relentless’. Furley noted that Savage loves a 4-2-3-1 formation. In his only full season at the club, Forest Green’s goals scored rose from 69 to 82 compared with the previous season, while goals conceded also increased from 42 to 52. On the touchline, Furley described Savage as ‘like a jack in the box’, someone who likes to keep team talks short, comes out early before matches to get the crowd going, and is very big on his connection with fans. Furley added that Savage revolutionised the squad at Forest Green, with only two first-team regulars predating him, and that he always pointed to reducing the club’s wage bill as one of his tasks and major achievements.
Savage’s own words at his Peterborough unveiling pointed in a similar direction. He said he loves ‘entertaining, attacking football, that is my belief. I would rather win games 5-4 than 1-0.’
The challenge is immediate. Peterborough are second bottom of League One, and with the January transfer window still the best part of three months away, a similar approach may require patience from MacAnthony and Posh fans alike. Furley also addressed Savage’s recruitment record at Forest Green, where much was made of him signing a new player every time the club lost. Furley said plenty of those were either loan signings or players from a lower level given the chance to become full-time professionals. That inevitably has a lower immediate strike rate of success, he added, but it is good for the health of the game and shows Savage’s love of football at all levels — from Macclesfield to Forest Green to League One, where his son Charlie plays and Savage now manages, to the Premier League where he played and watches as a pundit.
Savage will continue his punditry work alongside the Peterborough job. He will carry on co-hosting BBC Radio 5 Live’s football phone-in 606 and will be on air for Sunday’s edition from 18:30 BST.
At his former clubs, the off-pitch impression appears to have been significant. Forest Green fan Damian Ockham said Savage was ‘brilliant with fans’, different to anything the club had seen before, happy to meet and speak to people, open and honest, and willing to front up after good or bad results. Ockham said Savage had a difficult time with transition and players coming in and out, and that some fans speculated he had a hard time trusting players because many were brought in from a lower level in the National League North and South. Despite lots of chopping and changing, Ockham felt Forest Green generally played good football under him, with really good energy, though football-wise it was good ‘to a point’.
Macclesfield FC supporter Mark Sharpley was even more emphatic. He said Savage’s legacy at Macc is ‘absolute’, that nobody can change what he did with record-breaking points and goals, and that he is part of the club’s fabric. Sharpley added that the way Savage left left a sour taste, but everything he did was there for all to see, and nobody could say he was not good for the club. He noted that Savage got eyeballs on Macclesfield from the moment the club was reformed and described him as a big personality who would always stop to chat and shake your hand.
That is the picture Peterborough fans are being asked to buy into: a manager who promises energy, attacking football, a strong connection with supporters, and a willingness to front up — but one whose approach at Forest Green also required patience and a tolerance for constant squad turnover.