Robbie Savage’s first League One match in charge of Peterborough – and his first EFL managerial role – happened to be at Leicester, the club where he made his name. It felt as though the stars had aligned, and by the end of Saturday’s game Peterborough had delivered a stunning win at the King Power Stadium. They scored three times, with Leicester replying through Emil Riis’s back-post tap-in.
Savage has long been a divisive figure in English football. His playing days, with long blond hair bouncing as he hurtled around midfields and launched into challenges, at one point made him the most booked player in Premier League history. He was a pantomime villain, a prankster and an eccentric. He was once fined £10,000 by the Football Association and two weeks’ wages by Leicester for using referee Graham Poll’s toilet before a match; Savage blamed an upset stomach brought on by antibiotics. That persona followed him into the media after retirement and hardly screamed management material.
Yet Savage has quietly built a more serious reputation on the touchline. At Macclesfield, he was handed his first chance in the dugout by his friend Rob Smethurst, the club’s owner, and won promotion to the National League North with 109 points, winning 35 of 42 games. Last season he guided Forest Green Rovers to the National League playoffs, where they lost to Boreham Wood.
Perhaps because of his personality, scepticism has shadowed the 51-year-old throughout his fledgling managerial career. In a lengthy interview with the Peterborough board, he won them over with his passion and ideas for restoring confidence in a young, talented but struggling squad. Darragh MacAnthony, the club’s chair, suggested Savage’s character and work rate were required from “top to bottom” at the club. When Savage took the Posh job, he immediately addressed “the doubters” before anyone had really expressed any doubt. He pointed out that he was told he was not good enough when he was released by Manchester United – one of the forgotten members of the Class of ’92 FA Youth Cup winners – and that he had battled his way into the Leicester team.
At the King Power Stadium on Saturday, Savage was so animated on the touchline it bordered on parody. He approached the travelling Peterborough fans and pumped his fist towards them before kick-off, a gesture most managers save for after a victory. Dressed in baggy dark grey trousers and a jacket, he was equally lively once the game started, crouching on the edge of his technical area, shouting instructions, clapping his hands and pointing his fingers. There was a lot of pointing. His exertions were so energetic that the jacket came off within 10 minutes. “I’m exhausted,” he said. “I think I’ve done 10k in the technical area, kicking every ball for my team.”
It is no surprise he was handed a two-match ban last season for yellow cards received for over-exuberant celebrations and overexuberant discussions with officials. When Lucca Mendonça crunched Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Savage leapt and punched the air with as much enthusiasm as he celebrated Owura Edwards’s opening goal.
As at Macclesfield and Forest Green, his football was fast and direct. A ball over the top allowed Bolu Shofowoke to round the Leicester goalkeeper before Harry Leonard tapped in. The Posh fans started chanting Savage’s name just before half-time, then called for him to give them a wave. But he was so engrossed in the Peterborough attack that led to their third goal that he did not hear them. That marauding style does leave them exposed at the back, but Savage does not care. “My philosophy is: the best players are at the top of the pitch,” he said. “If I can get it there as quick as we can, by limiting the passes, but on the floor, through the lines, you can push the full-backs out. At times we were 2-1-1-6. That’s how we play. We are open. But let’s be brave.”
Even then, Emil Riis’s back-post tap-in – Savage held his head in his hands as though the world was ending after conceding – took only a lick of gloss off the occasion. It was a stunning result for a side that in the league had won once all season, scored four times and gone seven weeks without a victory.
Savage was keen to keep perspective. “I’m just humble to come up against somebody like Russell Martin, who’s managed in the Premier League,” he said. “Two and a half years ago I was up at Hebburn and Stockton, playing in front of 200-300 people. My team have come to the King Power and put in a performance like that. I’m so proud of them.”
At the final whistle, Savage hurried around the pitch, where he must have shaken the hand, slapped the back or hugged every player, coach and staff member from both teams. The Peterborough fans stood and chanted his name long before and well after he returned to pump his fist in celebration. Savage will be entertaining this season. And he might just surprise a few people with his football, too.