Forest Green Rovers chairman Dale Vince accused Peterborough United of making an “illegal approach” for Robbie Savage in an interview with BBC Radio Gloucestershire on Saturday. The interview came hours before Forest Green lost 4-2 at home to Hartlepool, and on the same day Savage won his first League One game as Peterborough manager, 3-1 at Leicester City.
It was an unusual afternoon even by the standards of a club that has never been conventional.
Vince’s account is that he refused Peterborough permission to speak to Savage, but the club went ahead anyway, leaving Forest Green no real choice but to agree to the move. He also said Peterborough offered no compensation. Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony has dismissed the claim. Forest Green’s own statement when the move was announced said they gave Savage permission to speak to Peterborough, and that he wanted to leave for personal reasons.
Whatever the truth of that dispute, the club’s response on the pitch has been to reject the idea of finding a replacement quickly. Vince has said there have been no talks with candidates and no vacancy. Instead, interim coaches Jonathan Gould, Yan Klukowski and Josh Bowen are sharing the job and rotating media duties. Vince’s explanation is that the club will “run without the big ego manager for a little while” and see what happens.
The first result under that arrangement was a 4-2 defeat at home to Hartlepool, in which Jordan Hugill and Nathan Sheron each scored twice for Pete Wild’s struggling Posh side. Omari Patrick and Kyle McAllister both netted consolation goals for The Green Army who are now winless in their last five and have slipped to 16th in the National League. Klukowski called it “massively disappointing” to concede four goals at home.
Supporters are not waiting for a decision either, A Stroud Times reader poll found Forest Green fans backing Ian Holloway to take over at the New Lawn. Their next game is an FA Cup trip to struggling National League South’s Chesham United, where a win will be the bare minimum expected from an already restless Rovers fanbase.
Whether the trio stays together for a month or a season will depend on results more than principle. Vince has made his case for a different way of running a football club. Saturday gave the first evidence against it.
