Robbie Savage says he would have chosen to sign for Sunderland over Derby County in January 2008 – and remains baffled that Roy Keane pulled out of a deal because of his ‘Wazzzup’ voicemail.
Both clubs were battling relegation from the Premier League when they tussled to sign the Welshman from Blackburn Rovers during that transfer window – the Black Cats eventually stayed up, while Derby went down with a record low 11 points.
Savage was part of that Rams squad after a planned meeting with Keane fell through due to dodgy phone reception. At the time, the midfielder’s voicemail featured him comically imitating the Budweiser ‘Wazzzup’ advert – Keane later claimed in his autobiography that when he heard the voicemail, he cringed so hard that he immediately pulled out of a deal to sign the player.
Still baffled all these years later, Savage told FourFourTwo that Keane’s book was the first time he found out what had actually happened, and why the move to Sunderland fell through.
“I spoke to Niall Quinn at Sunderland and the chairman at Derby – both wanted me, both agreed a fee, and I agreed to meet Roy Keane at the Marriott in Hale,” Savage said, speaking on behalf of Planet Sport Bet. “He’d phone me, we’d arrange to meet, and from there I would go to Derby and decide.
“I went to my agent’s house in Wigan and there was no reception. At the time, my phone message was, ‘It’s Robbie, wazzzup!’, because of the Budweiser advert on the telly.
“Roy didn’t phone and I didn’t have a notification that somebody had rung. By 2pm, 3pm, nothing, and I had to be in Derby for 5pm.
“I phoned Niall and said ‘Roy’s not rung, if the manager can’t even be bothered to ring me, I’m not coming’. I went to Derby, and signed for Derby.
“The first I heard about what happened was years later in Roy’s book. He must have rung me and gone straight to voicemail, with no reception. I wish the phone had rung, as I would have said ‘Hiya, Mr Keane – yeah, I’ll be there, I’d love to speak to you’. I would have signed for Sunderland, because it was Roy Keane.
“A voicemail message is a bizarre reason not to sign me – it makes for a good story and it makes people poke fun at me, but I don’t understand it because if you read the book, Roy wanted a character – someone who could lift the changing room.
“All he had to do was speak to my previous managers and they would have said ‘Great in the dressing room, will give you everything, and a better player than people think’. Surely you don’t go off a voicemail as a manager.”
Savage was frozen out at Derby following relegation under Paul Jewell, but regained his place when Nigel Clough became boss, and says he enjoyed that part of his time at the club.
“I got back into the team, was reinstated as captain and won the fans over,” he said. “I thought I was retiring at 34, so I was proud to stay until 37 and finish my career as captain of Derby.”
Robbie Savage is a Planet Sport Bet ambassador
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