Top 70 Robbie Savage Quotes

When my business partner Rob Smethurst rang me up and said he wanted to rebuild the club as Macclesfield FC, and to bring me on board as his director of football operations, I thought he was mad.

At the top end, the pathway from academy to first team has never been more difficult for home-grown youngsters.

Football is a short-lived career, and you have to maximise your earning power while you can.

When I was playing, it wasnt even close. Arsenal were the team to beat when you turned off the North Circular.

What you don’t realise when you get injured for a long period of time is that it’s so hard to get back. You see the lads out on the training ground and you’re in every day – 8 to 5 – and it’s horrendous. So when you actually come back it’s a proud moment.

If we are going to ban players for alleged dives, its time there was a panel of ex-managers and players who put blundering referees on trial – and absolute howlers should be punished with a ban, the same as retrospective action against players.

A club steeped in nearly 150 years of history is worth more to the local community than any amount of money can express.

Im not ashamed to say Im addicted to football.

I’ve always liked the abuse on the football field. It inspires me, makes me feel better, I thrive on it.

Wading into a sell-out 3,500 crowd to separate hooligans throwing punches is not what I expected as director of football at a phoenix club.

I played professional football for 21 years, captained four clubs in the Premier League and won 39 caps for my country.

Kids who dream of reaching the top must grow up looking forward to the big games which define them at every level they play – from Sunday morning in the park to non-League, the top four divisions, Europe and the World Cup.

Brendan Rodgers is leading Leicester City back into the Champions League – and he is a future Manchester United manager.

At Birmingham, I was a pain in the backside for my manager Steve Bruce when I found out Blackburn wanted to sign me and it was a chance to play for Mark Hughes, a player I had idolised when he wore the red shirt of Wales.

The thing is, I think all my experiences, good and bad on the football field, helped me in my punditry because Ive been in situations where Ive gone to ground too easily, Ive made a mountain out of a molehill, Ive tried to get players sent off for the good of my team, wrongly. Ive acted stupidly, celebrated.

I’ve always helped my family out because I owe my success to them.

Not many people leave a job where they have fallen short and land another one higher up the ladder. Nice work if you can get it.

I love it, I love the coaching – at 15 they listen, they learn and take things on board and if they don’t there’s always someone else who wants that opportunity.

Growing up, my generation would practise on concrete in the backstreets, using garage doors or the health-centre walls as goals. Taking on the older boys in the neighbourhood taught me to be humble, too.

I even do things sometimes just to get the crowd booing me, whether it’s smashing someone or doing something deliberately silly. It’s been part of my game for a long time now.

Listen, the way I am, I’m never going to please everyone. But I wouldn’t change a thing. There are ups and downs. But overall life is great. I love being Robbie Savage.

If wildly variable refereeing standards not yet a crisis, we are reaching a tipping point. And it may take more than the dawn of VARs to sort out the mess.

People say I’m attention seeking by coming off the Twitter, but that’s not the case. If I wanted to attention seek I could drive my Lamborghini to the Trafford Centre in my underpants.

I didn’t make it at Manchester United because I had no choice, I wasn’t good enough, but I was lucky enough to go elsewhere and have a career.

In 2015-16, when Leicester won the title, I didnt really believe they were going to do it until the last four or five weeks of the season.

Everybody sees the person on the football field and has a perception of him, but in the media or on Twitter it’s just me being myself. I’m an honest, hard-working guy who likes a laugh.

If you have ever played the game, you will know there are times when it is impossible to tackle an opponent without both feet leaving the ground, if only for an instant.

You’ll find that I’ve watched around 400 games at age-group level, from six to 14 years old, over the last eight years because both my sons play for academy teams – and I have not seen a single dive.

I’d rather be at home with my family anyway. I’m a completely different person there than on the football field. Ask anybody who knows me. They will all say I’m one of the nicest people you could ever meet.

I’m not the most articulate guy in the world or the most educated but whatever I get into I’m passionate about and give everything I’ve got.

Remember success never comes easy and on the journey you will make mistakes, win some and lose some, get some things right and wrong. But always keep in mind that it is not about how many times you fall down – its about how many times you get up after falling.

Too many points are being won or lost on the back of bad decisions which could cost clubs a place in the Champions League or send them down.

Look at all of United’s successful teams under Sir Alex Ferguson and their captains were all big personalities: Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, Roy Keane, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic. You would follow them all into the trenches.

In fairness, 95 per cent of football fans are wonderful. A picture or an autograph is no problem for them.

Football should be accessible to every child, regardless of ability or background.

I remember my dad taking me to stand on the Kop at Wrexham to watch Dixie McNeil and Joey Jones, and jumping into his arms when they scored.

As the manager, Ive told my players that if anyone is sin-binned for backchat to referees or officials, they will miss the next two games – with no promises that they will get back in the side.

We read and hear a lot about the celebrity culture of football these days, but some people seem to believe that players or coaches who are millionaires by salary are fair game in public.

I dont like Graham Poll. He thinks he is pretty special, and Im not quite sure why.

Whatever he has achieved in football, Phil Neville has always bounced back from adversity – from giving away a crucial penalty at Euro 2000 to being thrown in the deep end as a pundit at the World Cup in Brazil.

I’d rather blow up than fizzle out. I don’t want to fade away and go down the leagues.

You only realise when you have children of your own how much your parents do for you. My dad, Colin, would get off work at 5pm and take me straight out and all over the country for football matches.

There is minimal scientific evidence to suggest the Covid-19 virus is transmitted on football pitches in fresh air, so let’s not play roulette with our young people’s physical and mental well-being any longer.

Lockdowns have denied hundreds of thousands of kids access to football and, with no organised physical activity as an escape, some are becoming addicted to X-Boxes and Playstations.

It’s not the armband that makes a good captain – it’s the force of personality.

It is not my intention to break up teams at local grassroots clubs – but to make sure every kid gets an opportunity to play football for free.

You know the madness of the English football season has kicked in when a fan rings up 606 and says Arsenal will win the title.

If I ran the show at Manchester United, I would be making a big effort to keep Paul Pogba.

I’ve only had to choose between family and career once before, when Vancouver Whitecaps wanted to sign me. I didn’t want to take my kids out of school so I didn’t go.

But helping to raise a football club from the ashes, and running it as director of football operations, is the hardest thing I’ve ever done by a million miles.

I’m a campaigner for grass roots because I am a product of the grass roots system and I would like every child to have the same opportunities I was lucky enough to enjoy.

For many dads, pride is often defined by events like graduations, weddings or taking their sons to their first match.

But 30 is a turning point in most footballers’ lives – because your market value starts to fall.

One of my most treasured possessions is the letter my father wrote to me when I left home to join the Manchester United Class of 92.

To be given the opportunity to talk football with the best players. I’m a fan, so even when we’re not on air, we’re still talking about football. I love it.

When I see Wales qualifying for the Euros and Leicester top of the league, I wish I was still playing.

Sin bins are the way forward if we want to turn the tide on discipline in football.

We cannot have Derby County going the same way as Macclesfield and Bury. That would be a stain on English football. It simply cannot be allowed to happen.

I believe sports minister Nigel Huddleston, Secretary of State Oliver Dowden and Health Minister Matt Hancock all recognise the importance of kids playing recreational sport.