Speculation mounts on Savage’s future
Silkmen boss linked with National League club
I’ve refrained from publishing anything up until now (5pm on Wed 25 June) because I don’t want The Silkmen News to be led by rumours. However, given the rumours aren’t being shut down (despite my efforts in seeking clarity from those that can clarify), I think there’s merit in discussing how much (or how little) credence we should give them.
Almost a year on from his appointment as Macclesfield FC Head Coach, Robbie Savage is being linked with a shock move to take over as manager at National League club, Forest Green Rovers.
The Gloucestershire side, owned by green entrepreneur and climate campaigner Dale Vince, are understood to be on the verge of parting company with current first-team manager Steve Cotterill. Earlier this month Forest Green appointed Mark Bowen as director of football, and according to Sky Sports News, Bowen wants to hire Savage to replace Cotterill with the former footballers enjoying a close bond having played and worked together previously.
Forest Green, who Cotterill led to third in the National League last season, failed to secure promotion back to the EFL when they lost on penalties against Southend in the play-off semi. Southend were ultimately beaten by Oldham in the final.
No smoke without fire?
There has been a LOT of social media noise with football journalists Peter Smith (Sky Sports News), Pete O’Rourke (Football Insider 247, ex Sky Sports), Henry Winter (ex Daily Telegraph) and talkSPORT all speculating on Savage’s future.
But as we stand, they are merely guessing without foundation and I wouldn’t back any of them to be on the money. In contrast, local non-league football journalist Stephen Killen from the OffThePark website, who originally broke the story that Savage would be taking over from Michael Clegg, has suggested that it would be a ‘surprise’ if the rumours are true. Given his reliability, I’d be more concerned if Killen thought the latest rumours about Savage had any truth to them. This appears to be very much a moving story, though.
There’s also the small matter that, for now at least, Steve Cotterill remains in post at Forest Green and so there’s nothing for Savage or Macclesfield FC to deny. But whether purely coincidental or otherwise, Savage hasn’t posted on social media platform X for the last 4 days which is unusual, but in no way indicative that he’s about to jump ship!
Of all the clubs you could predict that Savage would leave the Silkmen for, Forest Green would be pretty low down on the list, if even on the list at all. The Macclesfield Head Coach, who steered the club to promotion from the Northern Premier League with a magnificent 109 points and 109 goals, surpassed all expectations in his inaugural managerial season.
Last month, Savage signed a new two-year contract to remain in charge of the Silkmen ahead of their campaign up in the National League North to put an end to speculation linking him with a move away.
Or so we thought.
There’s no doubting Sav’s passion for everything Macclesfield FC, from his relationship with Chairman Rob Smethurst to his bond with his players, coaching team, the staff and supporters. However, the 50 year-old has made no secret of his ambition to manage at a higher level and has reportedly received offers from EFL clubs previously who have been closely monitoring his success with the Silkmen – we’ll come onto this later in the article.
Why Forest Green, and why now?
Forest Green’s appointment of Mark Bowen as director of football could be significant. Bowen was Assistant Manager to Steve Bruce at Birmingham City when Savage captained the then Premier League club between 2002 and 2005, before he controversially left the Blues for Blackburn Rovers.
According to social media speculation, Savage has recently been spotted in Stroud at Forest Green’s training ground with Mark Bowen and the club’s vice-chairman Asif Rehmanwala. As well as playing under Bowen at Birmingham, the pair also worked together at Blackburn and have an association by playing for the Welsh National team where Savage earned 39 caps representing his country between 1995 and 2004.
Bowen, who previously worked as head of football operations at Reading, was suspended and fined £7,000 last summer for breaching Football Association betting rules. Bowen was given a 12-week ban, beginning on 17 July 2024, eight weeks of which are suspended until the end of the 2025-26 season.
Savage’s knowledge of Forest Green Rovers extends beyond his friendship with Bowen. The Silkmen boss was a regular visitor to watch his son Charlie play for Forest Green during a loan spell in 2023. So he’ll have some grasp of the team’s infrastructure and potential.
Are Forest Green ‘big’ enough to prise Savage away?
It’s easy to dismiss the unheralded Gloucestershire club as being an unlikely suitor for Savage, both geographically and in terms of their footballing stature. Forest Green attracted, on average, just shy of 2,000 fans to the New Lawn Stadium in the National League last season.
Without wishing to sound disrespectful, the club is better known for its sustainability efforts and vegan sausage rolls than for its football. But dismiss them at your peril.
Well-backed by owner Dale Vince, Forest Green achieved promotion to the EFL in 2017 and climbed as high as League One, before eventually tumbling down the pyramid culminating in their relegation back to the National League in 2024 after seven seasons in the EFL. But Forest Green’s achievements despite being modestly sized deserve respect, not derision, and represent most Silkmen fan’s dream since the club was reformed.
Forest Green are thought to have a sizeable budget in the National League and are expected to be in the promotion mix again. While it’s conceivable that Macclesfield could be playing Forest Green in 12 months’ time should Savage lead us to back-to-back promotions, Rovers are better placed to reach the EFL right now, and potentially kick on.
Will he stay or will he go?
If you ask me right now where I’d put my ‘2p’ on, I’d bet on Savage staying put and continuing the superb job he’s started. But I wouldn’t feel confident after a supposedly ITK (in the know) Forest Green Rovers supporter stated they believe Savage to Rovers is a ‘done deal’ with another suggesting ‘nothing confirmed yet, but realistically anticipated’.
Everyone is an expert online though, right? Let’s see…
One way or the other, we should be put out of our misery by the end of this week. Fingers, legs, toes, EVERYTHING crossed that Robbie stays.
The notion that Savage wouldn’t leave Macclesfield for a National League club, or would only take a ‘top EFL’ job, seems naïve for a couple of reasons. In an interview in December 2024, Savage revealed that he was completing his UEFA B training licence and would go on to take his UEFA A Licence (which he is commencing this September, incidentally).
“I believe if you’re on your A Licence, you can manage in the Football League. I think you need your (UEFA) Pro for the Premier League and that’s my expectation. I want to manage as high as I can. My goal as a player was to try and play in Manchester United’s first team. It didn’t happen,” he said to the Training Ground Guru website.
If the above is accurate, and those with better knowledge of the UEFA coaching badge hierarchy than me will clarify, until Savage completes his UEFA A Licence (which typically takes around 12 months), does that rule him out from taking a permanent manager’s job in the English Football League?
And If so, does this mean it’s more likely that Sav will stay put at Macclesfield, or be more receptive to joining Forest Green in the National League as a potential stepping stone towards ultimately an EFL job?
Both in temper and in jest, it’s tempting to condemn the Savage to Forest Green rumours as total nonsense. But funnier things have happened in football, and Savage wouldn’t be the first manager to leave for a ‘smaller’ club who are currently higher up the pyramid.
Rest assured, Savage will confidently back himself to succeed whichever team he is representing in the dugout. And worryingly (for Silkmen supporters) so might Forest Green owner Dale Vince, who previously appointed fledgling managers Troy Deeney and Duncan Ferguson, albeit with disastrous consequences which has seen him receive fierce criticism from Rovers’ fans.
We can only hope that with Savage being settled with his family in Cheshire, the undoubted love that he has for Macclesfield FC, both personally and professionally, and his desire to lead the club to the next phase of its journey will be enough for him to continue what he has started.
It must be infuriating for everyone concerned at Macclesfield FC, including Savage himself, to have to set the record straight on unfounded social media rumours, especially when he’s just signed a new two-year contract. Nor are they obliged to either.
As the old saying goes, those who speak the loudest often know the least. But silence can also speak volumes.