Robbie Savage has defended his manager during his regular weekend talkback program in a surprisingly mature and measured fashion - our boy is all grown up!

It really is testament to Sav in his time as Derby Captain and work for the media have found him maturing his outlook on how the divide between players and the fan can be crossed.

Over a year ago criticism and questioning his team could draw a fiery response and an attack above and well beyond the original remarks. To listen to Savage now after working on 5 live and with other pundits it seems he finally has his head around how the beast works and how it can be tamed.

Mark Chapman and Darren Fletcher can probably take a lot of the credit for that as they seem to have formed a friendship with the Rams Captain and taken him under their wing. Their soothing attempts to get him to see other points of view has been at times like an episode of the ‘super-nanny'. As is the case with that show, what can start out seemingly pointless, in the end is effective.

The other influence on the player has been Nigel Clough who has been a staunch supporter of Savage and stuck with him when a lot of fans were calling for him to be ousted. The tactics and structure he has employed this season has used Savage to full advantage and although the teams form has dipped, Sav has repaid him by continually being one of the few players rolling up his sleeves.

On Saturday that loyalty between gaffer and player was as obvious as it ever has been when a Rams fan called into the 5 live – 606 talkback program that Robbie co-hosts. His reply to the criticism of Clough by the caller from Derby was a measured response and not the Savage tirade (pardon the pun) that many of us may have expected.

Here is a sample of what Sav said:

“The players have to blame themselves, we have been hopeless for him (Clough), he’s a man who gives all the players everything they need, he treats them with respect, he give us our rest, he works us as hard as we possibly can when we train and basically we have let that man down.”

“As players we should hang our heads in shame with our past six weeks, the manager cannot legislate for bad goals, individual errors which we’ve give today, which we give at Crawley and as players we should take a long hard look at ourselves and think we are letting them down”.

Robbie also talked about the American owners, investment in the club and where he thinks Nigel can take the club.

Whatever your opinion of the Rams Captain it is hard not to be impressed with the way in which he handles the call and the common sense he displays in dealing with it off the cuff.

Let’s just hope that the respect Savage says the players hold for Nigel will prompt them to begin performing for him again on the pitch, while they are not, they only make his life more difficult off it.

You can listen to Robbie’s whole response to the Derby fan on BBC Radio’s 5 Live - 606 talkback program for a few more days.

Follow the link to BBC Radio HERE or download the free podcast on iTunes.

Start listening from the 59 minute mark of the show for the full Derby related talkback call.

Photo: Action Images

paulredf58 added 17:48 - Jan 19 Can we have a synopsis of what he said about the investment and where Clough can take the club please as I can't use the radio being a Deaf bloke.
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