WHETHER you love him or loathe him, it's impossible not to have an opinion on Robbie Savage.

To opposition fans the length and breadth of the country, Savage is probably the most reviled figure in the Premiership - a man capable of starting a World War in an empty telephone box.

But for those who truly appreciate what he brings to the party, the Welsh international is a cult hero who's only crime is to wear his heart on his sleeve.

On the pitch, Savage is a fiercely competitive individual who will stop at nothing to ensure his team comes out on top.

Off it, he's a loving family man, who lives in a £1.25 million house and dotes on his 18-month-old son Charlie.

He regularly visits his mother and grandmother, for example, and gives the cash he makes from various newspaper columns to his father to augment his pension.

However, that caring side to the 30-year-old's nature often gets lost in all the hype that surrounds his every move because Savage is just the kind of larger than life character that newspaper editors like to paint as the pantomime villain.

He's straight-talking and opinionated, two qualities in desperately short supply in the modern game.

And if there's ever any controversy, then you can bet the former Birmingham star won't be far away - even if he had nothing to do with it!

But Savage doesn't care about what the general public think of him.

In fact, the louder they boo him, the more determined he becomes to prove them wrong.

Quite simply, he loves to be the man the rest of the Premiership loves to hate.

"As you'll come to find out, everyone has an opinion on Robbie Savage, whether it's good, bad or indifferent," said Rovers' new £3 million signing.

"Right now, though, the only opinion that matters to me is Mark Hughes' because he's paid a lot of money to get me here and I want to show him and the fans that I'm worth every penny.

"I'm probably not the most liked man in the world but I don't care about that.

"All I care about is doing well for this football club and for Mark Hughes.

"I'm sure the Blackburn fans will soon find out that I get booed at every away ground in the country, but as long as they appreciate what I do, then that's alright.

"I've still got to win them over yet. There could be a few Blackburn fans out there who might be thinking 'why have we signed him?' but, hopefully, in a few months time they'll be cheering me because I know what I can give them."

It's somewhat ironic that Savage lives in an old farm in Warwickshire, next to a house where the Gunpowder Plot was hatched, as fireworks are never far away when the midfielder is around.

Off the pitch, he's got a great sense of fun which makes him popular amongst his team-mates.

Occasionally, that can back-fire on him, like the time he tossed Paolo Maldini's Italian shirt into a bin, which famously led to a fall out with Wales boss Bobby Gould.

Or when he used referee Graham Poll's toilet and was fined £10,000.

But at heart, he's a decent, honest, whole-hearted individual who gives nothing less than one hundred per cent, whatever cause he's fighting for.

That's why Mark Hughes was so keen to add him to his squad during the January transfer window because no-one in football knows Robbie Savage better than the Rovers boss.

Where others might consider him to be 'high maintenance', Hughes sees him as the perfect man to take Rovers forward with his boundless energy, enthusiasm, and insatiable will to win.

He might upset one or two along the way but Savage makes no apologies for that.

"I won't change the way I play," said the Wales captain.

"I'm sure the Blackburn fans appreciate someone who gives everything on a Saturday, just like Paul Dickov does.

"Everyone knows what Paul Dickov has brought to this football club, he works hard and I think the fans appreciate that.

"And the reason why I've been a success at Leicester and Birmingham is because on a Saturday, I give my all.

"It doesn't matter if I play poorly or I play well, the one thing that won't change is my desire to win and that will always be there.

"If I can add something to the team then that will be great and if I can't then I'm sure people will make their own minds up."

I've got a feeling Blackburn Rovers fans might just grow to love him.