Money Sponge Countdown

[eddiemunster]

Any idea as to when Micah Richards' Sponging is finally over??

[Chico Hamilton III]

End of June? they'll be passing a leaving card around the changing room with an envelope for people to chip in a few coppers

[VILLA MOLE]

I wonder if he will give a similar speech as vincent company ??

[SaddVillan]

Apparently he'll be giving Gareth Bale lessons on how to handle the remainder of his Real Madrid contract to maximum effect: €17m pa with 3 years left.

One major difference - Bale helped Real to win a bit of silverware.

[Toronto Villa]

I’ll still say this. Why is it his fault? I don’t like Micah Richards but he has no obligation whatsoever to walk away from a very lucrative and lengthy contract that was offered to him. He got injured. Clauses regarding how much he gets compensated, the whole lot or a percentage will be clearly stipulated. The club could have let him go at any point but didn’t because it made more financial sense to keep him around. Probably because insurance was picking up a chunk of it while he remained employed. So I don’t blame him and to call him a sponge isn’t really accurate or fair.

[Des Little]

Doesn't our mate Ross stand to gain financially if we win on Monday?

[Legion]

He leaves our employ in June.

[brian green]

Money is one thing.  To be despised by the Villa fans is a very different ball of wax.  Any normal person could tolerate being judged a freloader but to be judged a player who could have been a Hall of Fame candidate regardless but screwed up is a very different thing.

[Ad@m]

I’ll still say this. Why is it his fault? I don’t like Micah Richards but he has no obligation whatsoever to walk away from a very lucrative and lengthy contract that was offered to him. He got injured. Clauses regarding how much he gets compensated, the whole lot or a percentage will be clearly stipulated. The club could have let him go at any point but didn’t because it made more financial sense to keep him around. Probably because insurance was picking up a chunk of it while he remained employed. So I don’t blame him and to call him a sponge isn’t really accurate or fair.

It's more the perceived lack of effort.

I don't like him and I don't like that we signed him but John Terry earned himself plenty of fans when videos emerged of him getting fit post-injury by running up and down the Holte steps.  Whereas Richard's efforts to actually contribute to the club amount to what exactly?

[Lastfootstamper]

Calling it a day, said the Daily Mail, January this year. He's not got locked in his own house, he's not hushed the crowd following his first goal for 7 years. I think he'd have been more than happy with an ability to pound those Holte steps. I wasn't his biggest fan, bit of a loose cannon on the pitch for me. But I don't think he's deserved the vitriol directed at him.

It is understood talks last year to allow Richards to become a free agent were undermined because insurance premiums would not cover Villa, who were therefore happy to keep him on the books for the duration of his contract.

[ktvillan]

I’ll still say this. Why is it his fault? I don’t like Micah Richards but he has no obligation whatsoever to walk away from a very lucrative and lengthy contract that was offered to him. He got injured. Clauses regarding how much he gets compensated, the whole lot or a percentage will be clearly stipulated. The club could have let him go at any point but didn’t because it made more financial sense to keep him around. Probably because insurance was picking up a chunk of it while he remained employed. So I don’t blame him and to call him a sponge isn’t really accurate or fair.

It's more the perceived lack of effort.

I don't like him and I don't like that we signed him but John Terry earned himself plenty of fans when videos emerged of him getting fit post-injury by running up and down the Holte steps.  Whereas Richard's efforts to actually contribute to the club amount to what exactly?

Wasn't he also supposed to have been a major contributor to the clique culture that froze out the French speaking players to a degree?  That was a major contributory factor to our relegation I think.

[Duncan Shaw]

I think any free agent then also gets paid for July if they don't find a club.

[Toronto Villa]

I’ll still say this. Why is it his fault? I don’t like Micah Richards but he has no obligation whatsoever to walk away from a very lucrative and lengthy contract that was offered to him. He got injured. Clauses regarding how much he gets compensated, the whole lot or a percentage will be clearly stipulated. The club could have let him go at any point but didn’t because it made more financial sense to keep him around. Probably because insurance was picking up a chunk of it while he remained employed. So I don’t blame him and to call him a sponge isn’t really accurate or fair.

It's more the perceived lack of effort.

I don't like him and I don't like that we signed him but John Terry earned himself plenty of fans when videos emerged of him getting fit post-injury by running up and down the Holte steps.  Whereas Richard's efforts to actually contribute to the club amount to what exactly?

Wasn't he also supposed to have been a major contributor to the clique culture that froze out the French speaking players to a degree?  That was a major contributory factor to our relegation I think.

Not that I want to sound a defender of his but is there any truth to that? If it was anyone I would put my money on Dim Tim who after saying he agreed with the signings, complained bitterly about them when things went shit shaped. If anyone destroyed the atmosphere it was him.

[Jon Crofts]

The Fat Santa video did it for him.

[danno]

Harsh as it is I think it's better for us that he has had his injury problems.

When he was fit because of his profile and wages we felt the need to play him and frankly he was mince.