Savage quits Wales after omission
LONDON, England -- Wales midfielder Robbie Savage has announced his retirement from international football after an acrimonious row with manager John Toshack.
Matters came to a head a couple of hours before the new Wales chief named his 21-man squad for the World Cup double header with Austria in Cardiff on March 26 and in Vienna four days later.
Toshack told Savage he would not be involved in either match because he wanted "to try something new".
However, he then found himself involved in a curt conversation with the Blackburn Rovers midfielder.
Former Wales striker Toshack said: "There has been a lot of speculation and I can't do anything about that, and I did get through to him to tell him he wouldn't be involved this time.
"He said 'OK' and that he was retiring. I was saying 'best of luck in the future' and I got the sensation that the line went dead and that was it."
Savage said he had decided to step away from the Wales side to concentrate on his club football.
He had already hinted at retirement when Mark Hughes resigned as international manager, with Toshack, who had been a critic of Savage while a media pundit, coming in to replace him.
Savage, 30, joined Rovers from Birmingham after Hughes took charge at Ewood Park earlier this season.
Savage played 39 times for Wales, scoring two goals but becoming an instant hit with his committed style after making his international debut in 1995 and was a member of the team that failed narrowly to qualify for last year's European Championships following a play-off defeat by Russia.
Wales are languishing in the penultimate place in World Cup qualifying Group Six, having lost two and drawn two of their opening four games as they bid to reach a major finals for the first time since the 1958 World Cup.
Savage told Blackburn's official website: "I was fortunate to be part of one of the most successful Welsh teams ever, and to work with a management team of Mark Hughes, Mark Bowen, Eddie Niedzwiecki, for whom I have the highest respect.
"I feel the time is right, I want to spend more time with my young family and concentrate fully on my career with Blackburn Rovers."
Savage becomes the latest Welsh player to quit international football joining Mark Pembridge, Andy Johnson, Gary Speed, Andy Melville and Nathan Blake who have all quit since Toshack's appointment.
He had wanted Speed to succeed Hughes and Toshack added: "I know what was said before I was appointed and then Robbie said something different.
"It is not something that is on the top of my list of important things at the moment. I do think we are going to have to make changes. We have been two years without a competitive victory and we started off this campaign with a midfield of Speed, Pembridge and Savage and they have all retired now and we have to move on.
"I am aware of Savage's comments made before I was appointed. But it would be unfair for someone to say that was held against him or it was anything personal. I did go to see him play, I did travel to talk to him and he was in the last squad."
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Danny Coyne (Burnley), Paul Jones (Wolverhampton), Lewis Price (Ipswich)
Defenders: James Collins, Danny Gabbidon (Cardiff), Robert Edwards (Wolverhampton), Robert Page (Coventry), David Partridge (Motherwell), Sam Ricketts (Swansea), Gareth Roberts (Tranmere), Mark Delaney (Aston Villa), Danny Collins (Sunderland)
Midfielders: Carl Fletcher (West Ham), Jason Koumas (West Bromwich), Carl Robinson (Sunderland), Gavin Williams (West Ham), Simon Davies (Tottenham)
Forwards: Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Craig Bellamy (Newcastle United, Celtic on loan), Robert Earnshaw (West Bromwich Albion), John Hartson (Celtic).
