Forest Green Rovers manager Robbie Savage revealed his players are the biggest reason as to why his side have experienced a strong start to the National League season, during an exclusive interview with National League Lowdown.
Following the appointment of Savage during the summer, many people across social media speculated that Forest Green Rovers may struggle in the National League this time around, just months after their play-off semi-final defeat last season.
However, this has been far from the case thus far – with the club sitting top of the National League standings at the time of writing, but instead of taking the credit for himself, Savage took the professional approach when handing out credit.
Savage reveals players are key to success
Speaking exclusively with our National League podcast (National League Lowdown), Savage revealed that despite the tactical input and hard work behind the scenes from himself and his coaches, it’s his players that he feels are the ones that deserve the biggest plaudits.
When asked in regards to the success of his side so far this season and whether they have surpassed expectations so far, Savage stated…
“I haven’t but my players have. I’m only as good as my players and my staff, I have alluded to that numerous times when I was at Macclesfield, I had great staff around me and unbelievable players around me for the level and as a manager you are only as good as your weakest link and we’ve (Forest Green Rovers) got no weak links.”
He went on to add…
“Again, it’s been a great start, 16 new players into the football club – Mark Bowen, Dale (Vince), Asif (Rehmanwala) – there’s such an alignment between the four of us, we are relentless in what we do.
“Our analysis team as well, recruitment is based on stats as well so we look at that in fine detail and visually as well. I know players from my time at Macclesfield at these levels so again it’s been an unbelievable start hut it’s my players that deserve all the credit.”
Just how successful has their start been so far?
Despite a tricky opening day draw against ten-man Solihull Moors, Savage’s side have maintained their unbeaten run across all competitions so far this season and have subsequently deserved their spot at the top of the National League.
Sometimes with unbeaten starts, some clubs pick up a high amount of draws but this hasn’t been the case either.
In all competitions this season, Forest Green Rovers have played 13 matches and ten of them have ended in victories – meaning only three were draws. This also includes six clean sheets to their name and a three point gap at the top of the National League.
How much of an improvement has their start been to last season?
Last season, Forest Green Rovers had suffered two league defeats by this stage of the season but still had a fairly impressive start to their respective season too under Steve Cotterill.
However, this summer saw a magnitude of changes at the football club – with multiple players leaving the club including last season’s star midfielder Charlie McCann, whilst the managerial change between Steve Cotterill and Robbie Savage also brought up challenges in terms of play style/tactical changes and the management of almost an entirely new team to settle in.
Seeing Savage so humble in terms of his praise shows a lot of positivity in regards to his character, and that matched with the ambition of the club and start so far could be a recipe for a very successful season.
Therefore, the work that has gone in behind the scenes deserves a lot of praise, with the club making so many changes but still coming out at the top of the National League, with this weekend marking the 25% mark in the season already.
