ON the day Blackburn Rovers bid to secure their safety at West Ham, one of their former players will take to the pitch for the final time.

At the Madejski Stadium, he will irritate his last opponent, wind up his final crowd, nag his last referee and pick up his final yellow card. It just wouldn’t be Robbie Savage if he didn’t.

There will be plenty of people around the country who will not mourn the passing of Savage’s football career, and yet the truth is football will miss him.

Few players have ever embraced the role of pantomime villain with such vigour.

If there have been incidents that have not endeared him to some, so too have there been mishaps that have meant he could never be taken too seriously.

We remember the day he was elbowed by a referee, or the time he landed himself in hot water for using the toilet in the officials’ dressing room. It could only happen to Savage.

For some time now, one corner of the Blackburn Rovers website has carried a video of Savage advertising the club DVD ‘Ten Years at the Top’. He left Ewood three years ago, but in recent months it served as a reminder of brighter times.

Savage was an important contributor in a successful period for Rovers, as they battled against the odds to twice qualify for Europe under Mark Hughes.

His commitment to the cause was unquestioned. Thirty-two bookings in three years suggested he rarely shirked a tackle.

Like Jermaine Jones, who has picked up seven yellow cards in 12 games since his arrival on loan from Schalke, Savage was generally the expert at taking one booking for the team but knowing how to avoid a second.

And, just as with El-Hadji Diouf this season, Rovers have missed Savage’s edge and presence since he departed. If he did not always lead by example, he was still a leader of sorts.

A burgeoning media career suggests that Savage’s final appearance, for Derby at Reading on Saturday, will not be the last we hear of him.

But never again will opposing fans politely suggest his hair may be in need of a bit of trim, or query where he left his caravan.

The football field will be duller without him.