Erudite Forest Green Rovers boss Robbie Savage has dismissed claims his club is splashing the cash, insisting the team is reshaping itself with intelligence rather than big spending.
Savage revealed Forest Green’s wage bill has been cut by 35%, while the average age of the starting XI has fallen from around 28 to 24.3.
“People talk about investment, but what we’ve tried to do is bring the wage bill down and lower the average age of the group — I think in the play-offs or the last game of the season the average age was 28, so that’s come down – what we’re doing as a football club is quite remarkable.”
Savage hinted at a new fresh face could be added to his ranks, he said: “Listen, we’re always looking for good players who can enhance our squad,” Savage explained. “I love giving myself more problems. It was never easy. But what we’re looking for is young players who have the potential to be sold on for good amounts. We’ve identified them all the time. Whether we can get them, who knows, but we’re having conversations with a couple of clubs and hopefully we can do a deal in the near future.”
Listen to Robbie Savage’s unabridged pre-match press conference ahead of Rovers’ televised home clash against York City on Saturday night.
With Reading loanee Abraham Kanu sidelined by a broken jaw, Savage insists he has no immediate plans to strengthen the backline.
“No, not really. We’ve got enough,” he said. “Bunks (Harvey Bunker) can cover that position. He probably thought he was out of the picture a couple of weeks ago, but that’s how football changes. We’ve kept his spirits up. He wants to be involved, and he’s been brilliant.”
Savage highlighted the squad’s flexibility, particularly in defence: “Mendy can drop into centre-half if needed, but I don’t want to take him out of midfield.”
The Forest Green boss also spoke candidly about the demands that come with ambitious owners. “I’ve been very fortunate to have two owners who are passionate about investing in the club, Robert Smethurst at Macclesfield and now Dale Vince,” he said.
“With that opportunity comes added pressure. Your anxiety is through the roof. You have to win, you have to be resilient. I’ve never been happy with mid-table. I need to be at a club challenging for league titles — that’s what I love.”
With nearly two months unbeaten, Savage said his side’s resilience gives him genuine belief that they can achieve remarkable things this season.
“Can we go unbeaten? Yes, I really do believe it,” he said.
“We’ve shown we can blow teams away, grind out results when we don’t play well, and defend resolutely. Look at Altrincham — last 10 minutes, they threw everything at us and we held strong. We can win a game of football any way. Why can’t we feel like we can be invincible?”
But he is also realistic: “We might lose on Saturday against York, and if we do everything right, we’ll still lose games sometimes. That’s football. But we’re not going to feed off fear of losing.”
With the likes of Liam Sercombe, Adam May, Sean Long and Cian Harries not featuring, Savage said he would not stand in the way if players want opportunities elsewhere, but the club’s interests always come first.
“If my players want to explore opportunities, they’ll speak to me and Mark, and it’s down to Mark to decide,” he said. “It’s about protecting the football club first. But if it suits all parties, we’re always looking at that.”
