Northampton Town accepted the resignation of long-term manager Jon Brady earlier today with the Cobblers in the League One relegation places after 18 games. The club are now looking at a surprise name to take over in current TNT Sport Pundit and former Birmingham City, Leicester City and Derby County man Robbie Savage.
Savage took over as Head Coach of Macclesfield FC in July this year after becoming involved in the phoenix club in 2020, initially as a board member, then director of football and now in the dugout.
The Silkmen sit top of the Northern Premier League 15 points ahead of second place Worksop Town after just 19 games, which reportedly has been enough to convince the Northampton Town board that he could be the right man to take over the club, according to Football Insider.
Savage has had an extensive career, starting out as a player at Manchester United before going on to have spells at seven clubs before his retirement in 2020. His son, who also progressed through the academy at the Red Devils also plies his trade in League One for Reading under Ruben Selles, who has attracted interest from Hull City.
Northampton Town’s Season So Far
As previously mentioned, the Cobblers have fallen into the League One relegation zone and have only won once in the last eight games, placing them 21st in the form table. The normally resilient defence looks to be a shadow of its former self after conceding the fourth most number of goals of any side in the league.
With the sides around them such as Crawley Town and Shrewsbury changing manager, it feels like it is a case of now or never to save their season. If they are unable to turn around their form they could very quickly find themselves losing ground on the clubs around them as we head into the busy Christmas period.
Is Robbie Savage the right man?
It is a big leap for any manager to go from the depths of non-league football, to League One, but to also go from a club that you have had a huge hand in building on the pitch and off the pitch to a club desperately fighting in one of the most competitive third tier rosters we have seen in some time seems to be an impossible step to take.
However, Robbie Savage is a man that exudes confidence and if anyone will believe in themselves to take that step it is him. There will be questions over whether his style of play will translate well to Jon Brady’s physical battling side and if he can transition quick enough to save them from the drop. There will be little time on the training ground between matches, often playing two or even three games in a seven-day period so it will be tough for any manager, let alone one getting used to League One.