A new football season is under way and Robbie Savage is in his element. DAVID WHETSTONE talks to the player turned pundit
IT might be pushing it to suggest that Robbie Savage has the gift of the gab but his voice certainly picked up where his feet left off. Shortly after hanging up his boots at Derby County, where the blond Welshman had been plying his trade as a bull-like midfielder, he was receiving the rising star gong at the coveted Sony Radio Awards.
How time-served broadcasting pros must have winced. It was almost as if Chris Moyles or John Humphrys had suddenly pulled on football boots and scored a hat-trick at Wembley.
Robbie, as co-presenter of the 606 football phone-in show on BBC Radio 5 Live, proved as quick with his opinions as his tackles and earned a two-year deal with the corporation.
As befits an ex-footballer, he is good with statistics, claiming to have boosted the phone-in show’s listening figures by 100,000. “I’m proud of that,” he declared when I spoke to him – or rather listened to him – yesterday.
He also has 400,000 people following him on Twitter, which sounds like an awful lot of stalkers. But Robbie’s proud of that too and not ashamed to admit that he galvanised his fans to help propel him to that Sony Award.
“Social media is massive now,” he said in a telephone interview that I feared might not happen. Just before the appointed hour, I was told Robbie had had to go for emergency dental treatment.
But he was on the line just minutes later, explaining about an abscess and the speed of treatment afforded to “a famous ex-football player, if I’m completely honest” – this delivered with a roar of laughter infused with endearing cheek.
Shortly Robbie will be hitting the road with the A Question of Sport live tour which comes to Newcastle City Hall on October 25 and 26. Dennis Taylor has been signed up for both nights, Robbie for the 25th and Steve Cram for the 26th (more names to be announced). Sue Barker, of course, will be in the chair.
Given the current hand-wringing in football over Twitter, it seemed timely to be talking to Robbie.
He said he started Tweeting 18 months ago. “For me it’s great because I can promote things and tell people what I’m doing. It’s a fantastic tool because it helps you to stay one step ahead of people.
“As a player you have to be very careful not to criticise your club. But I often used to see things written in the paper and think, ‘That’s just not true’. Twitter gives you the chance to put things right.
“Also, a lot of people like knowing what Rio Ferdinand is going to see at the cinema.”