RedHanded: So Robbie, it’s been just over a year since you were playing in League One with Brighton, loaned out by Derby because they thought you, at 34, were finished. Now you’ve been recalled by Derby and reinstated as their captain. What’s going on?
Robbie Savage: It’s all turned around, hasn’t it? Paul Jewell hadn’t wanted me in the team, thought I was past it, and I guess, I was on my way out. I went to Brighton and then looked around a few other clubs and no one wanted me. I thought, “This is the end”. I even went to Lebanon, to Beirut, because a mate of mine runs a football club out there, but it just wasn’t a good enough standard compared to what I’m used to. I went back to Derby because I still had time on my contract, but I felt pretty bad about not getting in the team. It was horrible. I’d had 11 or 12 years in the Premier League, 300-odd top-flight games, but then I was nothing: thinking about maybe jacking it in. People thought my legs had gone. In my head it was like, “I’ve been a success at all my other clubs and now I’ll be remembered as a failure at Derby”. Not a nice time. Then Nigel Clough took over at the start of 2009, made me feel loved, put me in the team, made me captain and I’m playing as well as I have done for years. On a personal level, it’s pleasing to be proving people wrong at 35-years-old. I even signed a new two-year deal a couple of months back. Everything’s great again.

You just wanted to feel loved?
Yeah, you know what I mean. No one wants to feel unwanted. I guess it’s just something that happens to most football players at the end of their careers.

Sure, it’s just a little surprising to hear the “pantomime villain” of football, as you’re often described, talk about wanting to be loved. You seem to have spent most your career being hated. Why is that?
When I play against a team I just want to win and I will do whatever it takes to win. If you ask any fans whose team I have played for, they will probably say that I play how a fan would play, but with more ability. I give everything. People have said I’m mouthy, I dive, I’m a nuisance with the way I play, and I guess you just get a reputation. You get some great banter from it, though. People see my hair, and they’re like, “Where’s your caravan?” Crowds sing that at me for 90 minutes! People probably see me as a bit of a bighead because I’m on the telly, I standout a bit because I can be outspoken, I drive nice cars, I’ve been in a bit of trouble with referees and all that. But I’m not a bigheaded person at all.

Most players you’ve played with say they don’t think too highly of you until they’ve been in the same team as you.
That’s right. It’s probably because when they’ve played against me, I’ve been the guy moaning at the ref or making a nuisance of myself to win. When they’re on my team it works for them. Off the pitch, I’m not a nasty person or anything like that. I just want to have a laugh with the guys or be with my missus and two great kids. On the whole, I think my mates and teammates think I’m fun to be around. I’m not a bad bloke, but some fans have it in their head that I deserve bad things to happen to me.

How so?
I get a lot of grief, to be honest. I get prank calls a few times a week from a few nuggets and that stuff. When I’m on the pitch people can say what they like, pretty much. They go too far when they mention family and stuff: I don’t like that. But it’s the stuff that happens off the pitch that gets me. People have knocked on my parents’ door and yelled threats, vandalised my cars. The worst was when I was at the NEC in Birmingham at, the car show, a few years back. I had my son Charlie in my arms when he was just two-years-old and a Villa fan comes up to me swearing. He spat straight in my face. I know I can’t complain too much because I have a great life and I’ve been very fortunate to earn a great living doing what I love, but it’s a shame when people go that far.

Talking of shames, it seems a little unfortunate that you’ve not been part of a Wales squad since 2005, when you fell out with John Toshack. What have you made of Wales’ latest failure to qualify for a major championship?
To start with, I don’t really regret retiring from international football. In some ways it’s been a blessing in disguise because I’ve managed to extend my career by a few years and I have had some really good time at home with my family instead of going on long trips away. But of course, I miss it sometimes and I don’t like seeing the team struggle. When I look back I have great pride that I played for one of the best Wales teams ever, working for Mark Hughes and coming within a game of reaching Euro 2004.

But what are your views on the team’s current situation?
No disrespect to Wales at the minute because they have some quality players in there but I think we’re at a stage where we’re not going to qualify for anything. To be fair to Toshack, he is building towards the future and he has introduced a lot of players and they will all be getting better for the experience. But looking at the results you can see we’re not exactly winning a lot of games. The (3-0) win against Scotland (in November) was really good and it showed these boys are learning to play well together, but it was against a poor Scotland team. I’d love to see the guys do well, but it will take time to change because we don’t have a squad of Premier League players. Craig Bellamy and Aaron Ramsey are the standout players – they are fantastic – and with Simon Davies and James Collins there is some top talent. But I don’t think the overall level is high enough to qualify for a World Cup or European Championship, which is a shame because we were not far off a few years back.

Have you spoken to Toshack since it all kicked off?
Not spoken to him. It was a successful chapter of my life, playing for Wales, and I think I will always be a bit bitter towards John Toshack because he finished my international career. If it had been any other manager I would have had 70 or 80 caps (instead of 39). I look back at it as a huge success, but I wish it had ended differently.

Savage to manage Wales one day?
I don’t know about that! I’ve been a bit outspoken and the Welsh FA might not like that too much! Personally, I think Ryan Giggs and Gary Speed would do a top job. As for me in management, I’m doing my coaching badges at Christmas, but I have another two years of playing to go. I’ll stay in football but most likely working in the media. I love all that. I’m pretty outspoken so it works well for me being able to give my opinions and not be fined for it!

Outspoken, controversial and combative, but now Robbie Savage just wants to be loved, hears Riath Al-Samarrai

The comeback kid