Robbie Savage rejects criticism of his media work and insists his Peterborough commitment is absolute
Robbie Savage has rejected criticism of his work as a pundit, insisting his commitment to Peterborough United is absolute. A pundit is a television or radio figure who analyses matches for the audience. BBC Sport reported his comments.
Savage was appointed Peterborough boss on 2 October, succeeding Luke Williams. He has managed the club alongside his broadcasting career. He continues to present the phone-in show 606 on BBC Radio 5 Live, and he co-commentates for the broadcaster TNT.
The criticism has focused on that work. Before Peterborough's 5-0 home defeat by Reading in the FA Cup, Savage co-commentated for TNT on AEK Athens v Real Madrid and Oxford City v Leicester City, on Wednesday and Friday respectively. He also did not feature on the post-match reaction show on 606 last weekend.
Speaking to Peterborough's in-house media, the club's own media team, Savage pushed back. He said he was "first one in and last one to leave". He described his commitment to the club as absolute. He also said the talk about his outside work is "a narrative that gets created if we're not winning games", meaning it tends to grow when results are poor.
Those results have been mixed. Peterborough won their first two games under Savage, then went six matches without a win. They beat Leicester City 3-1 away on 10 October. Since then they have drawn two and lost two of four league games, and they sit 22nd in the league table, the ranking of every team by points.
The club also left the EFL Cup, the League Cup, after a defeat by Bradford City on 27 October. That ended their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the competition.
Savage's earlier management jobs were at Forest Green Rovers and Macclesfield. He said that when he works for TNT or 606 he is learning all the time. He added that he had recently been watching local sides Peterborough Sports and Wisbech Town. In his view, the broadcasting work keeps him close to the game rather than pulling him away from it.
For Savage, the test is the one every new manager faces. A winning run would do more to settle the debate than any statement, and the next few results will show whether the talk fades or grows.
