Savage Signs

[waggy]

What sort of comment is that?

And who do you propose we bring in to replace him? or have you seen one of your godly youth players who can do a better job

348862[/snapback]

well the balls in sparky's court now

[greggyk]

I think our first half performance showed how we missed Savage today. Reid and Tugay were both average/crap

[stuwilky]

well the balls in sparky's court now

350678[/snapback]

And after the display in the middle of the park Savage will be stright back in.

Tugay was woeful and Reid cannot replace Savage's energy and closing down and even tackling Im afraid.

Fortunately Hughes rates him.

[AlanK]

It would apppear that certain individuals are easily swayed by the media and will dislike sportsman on their say so. I am confident that come the end of the season we will be happy with Robbie`s season. As fans we are all entitled to an opinion but it is the gaffer running the show and he is not exactly a bad judge. ( nelson and axe for free ! ). Sounesss would have paid 10mill for those two. Kuqi for free aswell although that still isn`t good enough for some!

Hughes is doing a fine job and if lilly is part of them plans then that is fine by me.

[waggy]

It would apppear that certain individuals are easily swayed by the media and will dislike sportsman on their say so.

I think i'm old enough to make my own mind up al,savage does nothing for me,never has and whilst he has been a rover all he has shown is that he can run for 90 mins.

tugay and reid may not have set the world alight yesterday but i for one was much happier with that pairing,as for kuqi when he gets a brace against a top 10 team i will eat my words,btw i love the way he pushed dickov out the way for the 2nd

[Exiled_Rover]

Savage isn't disciplined enough in my opinion, so much so that I'm unsure what type of player he is. He's not got the ability to sit in midfield and protect the back four, nor has he got the ability on the ball to dictate a game. I suppose you could say he's just a quality central midfielder because he does a bit of it all to a certain degree, but not enough of any of it to excel - a jack of all trades if you will. Personally I think he's just a high energy player useful for setting the tempo, past that he's pretty average. I'd much rather see Mokoena start, he gives the team a greater sense of freedom going forward knowing he's there to protect the back four, our own Makalele.

[bellamy11]

I'm really baffled how anybody could have possibly watched Reid yesterday and NOT wanted Savage back in the team.

The only thing that annoys me about Savage are the needless cautions (also true of Dickov and Neill). He's much like Flitcroft in that a lot of his (essential) work is done without the ball at his feet. He presses where others don't and he isn't afraid to put himself about.

Reid didn't do this half as well yesterday. His first touch was abysmal and he basically didn't influence the game. Savage hasn't set the world alight at Rovers but he does so much in a game that people can miss that it isn't really a surprise that some people don't rate him.

We certainly don't have anybody nearly as good at what he does. He's a necessary part of the midfield. Ask Tugay who he prefers to protect him - it won't be Reid.

[BlueMonday]

I have to admit I'm starting to warm to Savage.

He'll never set the world on fire and would be more effective without the needless bookings. But he works hard for the team and seems to build confidence and as time goes on is settling in at Rovers.

[American]

Savage isn't disciplined enough in my opinion, so much so that I'm unsure what type of player he is. He's not got the ability to sit in midfield and protect the back four,

350716[/snapback]

His doing that saved us from a loss at Bolton.

[thenodrog]

It would apppear that certain individuals are easily swayed by the media and will dislike sportsman on their say so.

tugay and reid may not have set the world alight yesterday but i for one was much happier with that pairing,as for kuqi when he gets a brace against a top 10 team i will eat my words,btw i love the way he pushed dickov out the way for the 2nd

350714[/snapback]

Well thank God Hughes was obviously not very happy with that pairing waggy!

As for continually criticising Kuqi you are being churlish. Sure he's no jimmy greaves but last season we'd have had to see Bambi come on as sub and that alone would have been enough to guarantee WBA at least a share of the points. Hughes has got a better player and put a million quid in the kitty, so how can you possibly argue with that?

I've got to say one thing that is never commented on is the amount of defensive work done by both Dickov and Kuqi. They allow no teams the luxury of building from the back and that is incalculable in terms of team work. Their 'in your face' attitude was typified yesterday when Kuqi's first contribution was to close the left back down so quickly that all he could do was lump it wildly 60 yards into Friedal's arms. And that aspect of the game is more important than most on here appear to recognise waggy.

[sausagemandog]

I think Rovers missed Lily yesterday, his work rate alone forces the other team into errors as they have no time on the ball, his work rate also lifts the team and the crowd.

Kuqi is in the same mould not the most tallented, but cant recall when I have seen a rovers player want the ball as much as this guy, he is pure raw hunger for the game and to do well. For the second goal yesterday, I could imagine if Dickov had gone for that ball, Kuqi would have picked him up put him on his shoulder and then put the ball in the net, thats how much he wanted it. He also seems to get into more goal scoring positions than our other strikers, now he has a brace his confidence will soar. He also has pace and wins the ball in the air for flick ons, i am looking forward to him and Bellamy playing together as they both have pace .

[AlanK]

as for kuqi when he gets a brace against a top 10 team i will eat my words,

Only top 10 teams count now do they? I guess none of Chelsea`s 4 goals count against Liverpool today then seeing as the scousers are in the bottom half. Poor old Frank won`t be happy. Waggy dictates that it has to be a top ten team you score against for it to be significant. The rest of the premeirship is just to easy. Oh by the way, is that top ten as it stands on the day or top ten at the end of the season? Or just whoever or whenever in Waggy land?

Edited October 2, 2005 by AlanK

[thenodrog]

Alan! WAKE UP AND GET OFF THE SPACE BAR FFS!

[thenodrog]

I thank you.

[AlanK]

Bloody infra red keyboards are to clever for their own good.

[pksrover]

anybody who saw Savage's suit on saturday??! black suit with silver stripes and a silver number 8 on his chest (left side)

[RevidgeBlue]

I thought Savage was badly missed on Saturday, especially in the first half.

Reid, who was in stunning form in the second half of last season, is currently not in the best of form and Tugay seems very inconsistent these days compared to two or three seasons ago.

[FourLaneBlue]

As for continually criticising Kuqi you are being churlish.  Sure he's no jimmy greaves but last season we'd have had to see Bambi come on as sub and that alone would have been enough to guarantee WBA at least a share of the points.  Hughes has got a better player and put a million quid in the kitty, so how can you possibly argue with that? 

Quite true, some people on here keep saying that Kuqi isn't a 'Premiership striker' but even if he isn't he would still be a better Championship player than Stead. Stead got lucky, had a good scoring run for a few months and ever since we keep saying he is being unlucky. Let's be honest...you need some serious amount of bad luck not to be able to make it into the current Sunderland starting XI.

[thenodrog]

anybody who saw Savage's suit on saturday??!   black suit with silver stripes and a silver number 8 on his chest (left side)   

350906[/snapback]

I'm led to believe it was velvet too!

He doesn't help himself does he? I bet the shop owners love him for being daft enough to take all the stuff that they couldn't even sell in the sales. "Quick Everard, get that daft suit out of the sale window and stick a stupid price on it, I've just seen Robbie Savage heading this way"

[thenodrog]

Let's be honest...you need some serious amount of bad luck not to be able to make it into the current Sunderland starting XI.

350922[/snapback]

I'm not sure that he's even making the bench these days FLB. Kinda invalidates the judgement of many on here who for some unknown reason thought "Bambi on Ice" was a 'good un' and didn't want Hughesy to sell him I would suggest.

Some people will never learn will they?

[John]

Savage slates Tosh..........

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

Savage slates Tosh..........

And there goes the final nail in the Welsh coffin for Savage - in terms of Toshack changing his mind and selecting him again.

For me, Savage needs to forget the TV cameras.  He needs to forget his former high profile status.  Forget Wales, forget John Toshak, forget everything except doing what Hughes invested so much trust in him to do.

I agree Tris, but it seems as if our Robbie refuses to let sleeping dogs lie, and remains determined to pursue his petty vendetta against Tosh.

It shouldn't be forgotten that it was Savage himself who told Toshack that he wanted to quit Welsh football, slamming the phone down on him when he called. Afterwards, Robbie changed his mind - and now it seems he's changed his mind again.

Savage now ought to forget about Wales and concentrate on Rovers. Rather than criticising Tosh, he should start by looking closer to home at his own poor disciplinary record - five bookings in seven games which has cost him a suspension.

[thenodrog]

And lest we forget........... it's only about playing for Wales ffs!

Edited October 3, 2005 by thenodrog

[Bing]

It shouldn't be forgotten that it was Savage himself who told Toshack that he wanted to quit Welsh football, slamming the phone down on him when he called. Afterwards, Robbie changed his mind - and now it seems he's changed his mind again.

351166[/snapback]

I think Sav had every right to feel victimised at being dropped in favour of Carl Robinson and Carl Fletcher who couldn't even make the teams of Sunderland and West Ham last season. Even if Toshack wanted to see those two in action, why drop Sav from the squad all together other than to humiliate him? At 30 he still has four more years in him so the long-term argument he put forward was ridiculous.

The newest spat with Ben Thatcher must raise some doubts over Toshack's man-managment and no goals in their last five games is hardly showing the new regime to be a success.

[James No. 7]

I'm led to believe it was velvet too!  

He doesn't help himself does he?  I bet the shop owners love him for being daft enough to take all the stuff that they couldn't even sell in the sales. "Quick Everard, get that daft suit out of the sale window and stick a stupid price on it, I've just seen Robbie Savage heading this way" 

350959[/snapback]

His pockets are overflowing with money so it hardly matters that he's daft.