Micah Richards - Released

[brian green]

I would not be so annoyed with his back paging if he really was "telling it how it is" and "saying what the fans are saying" but he is not.  If he was doing that he would have the courage to say "Gabby is too fat" or "Richardson can't tackle" or "Grealish does not work hard enough" or "Guzan's judgement is terrible" or "Lescott is not up to it any more". Instead he makes blanket accusations which the media present as Sherwoodisms. Villa are in the cart because they bought useless foreign Money ball players who don't give a shit for the club.

This is simply untrue. The worst contributors to our calamity are the old guard.  The new, so called Moneyball players have pulled up no trees but their shortcomings have been as nothing compared to Gabby, Westwood, Guzan, Richardson, N'Zogbia, Clark and Bacuna, but the Richards broadsides will reverberate around Sherwoodland as vindication of him and blame on anybody and everybody else at the club. Sherwood will go into folklore as a victim.

[Clampy]

I would not be so annoyed with his back paging if he really was "telling it how it is" and "saying what the fans are saying" but he is not.  If he was doing that he would have the courage to say "Gabby is too fat" or "Richardson can't tackle" or "Grealish does not work hard enough" or "Guzan's judgement is terrible" or "Lescott is not up to it any more". Instead he makes blanket accusations which the media present as Sherwoodisms. Villa are in the cart because they bought useless foreign Money ball players who don't give a shit for the club.

This is simply untrue. The worst contributors to our calamity are the old guard.  The new, so called Moneyball players have pulled up no trees but their shortcomings have been as nothing compared to Gabby, Westwood, Guzan, Richardson, N'Zogbia, Clark and Bacuna, but the Richards broadsides will reverberate around Sherwoodland as vindication of him and blame on anybody and everybody else at the club. Sherwood will go into folklore as a victim.

I think singling players out would have been a dreadful thing to do personally and probably would have been worse than what he'd actually said.

[Toronto Villa]

Now that he's said what he's said he better start showing it on he pitch. Being a leader isn't just about what you say, it is how you say it, and how you act. I don't have an issue with the article of it has the overall desired affect. I would hope he ran it by the club before giving it. The last thing we need is the captain going rogue.

[brian green]

Clampy, I am not advocating him singling out players to blame. I don't think claims made on his behalf that he is "only telling it how it is" and "saying what the fans are saying" can hold up without naming names. If he can't/won't say who he holds responsible he should say nothing.  Generalised attacks on the players serve only to put the media into a feeding frenzy and make Remi Garde's job even harder.

[Ron Manager]

Do thepayig staff have to get permission from the club before giving interviews to the press?

[Darth Villa]

He's no captain and an idiot to boot. He may have a winning mentality that some of our other players are badly missing but he plays for himself not the team and from what I've seen of him at CB he can't organise a back line. There's no need for him to air his opinions on his team mates in the media. If he has a problem with some of them then maybe he should try sorting it out privately and build up some rapport and moral with his team mates like a decent captain would.

[TheMalandro]

He's no captain and an idiot to boot. He may have a winning mentality that some of our other players are badly missing but he plays for himself not the team and from what I've seen of him at CB he can't organise a back line. There's no need for him to air his opinions on his team mates in the media. If he has a problem with some of them then maybe he should try sorting it out privately and build up some rapport and moral with his team mates like a decent captain would.

Not seen you before Darth, but that is very well put. Clichéd to say but it is a team game and they need some camaraderie.

[Diablo]

It sounds a bit like 'working his ticket' to me

Sadly you may well be right.

[Darth Villa]

He's no captain and an idiot to boot. He may have a winning mentality that some of our other players are badly missing but he plays for himself not the team and from what I've seen of him at CB he can't organise a back line. There's no need for him to air his opinions on his team mates in the media. If he has a problem with some of them then maybe he should try sorting it out privately and build up some rapport and moral with his team mates like a decent captain would.

Not seen you before Darth, but that is very well put. Clichéd to say but it is a team game and they need some camaraderie.

Cheers Malandro, been lurking here for years... I only rear my head in times of turmoil, a bit like an web based version of the Arthurian legend.

[glinch]

He's no captain and an idiot to boot. He may have a winning mentality that some of our other players are badly missing but he plays for himself not the team and from what I've seen of him at CB he can't organise a back line. There's no need for him to air his opinions on his team mates in the media. If he has a problem with some of them then maybe he should try sorting it out privately and build up some rapport and moral with his team mates like a decent captain would.

Not seen you before Darth, but that is very well put. Clichéd to say but it is a team game and they need some camaraderie.

Cheers Malandro, been lurking here for years... I only rear my head in times of turmoil, a bit like an web based version of the Arthurian legend.

I might not go as far as calling him an idiot, but agree with everything else! Seems to have a pretty lofty opinion of himself, needs to worry about doing his own job right first. Wasn't sure why he was made captain in the first place either. Time to keep your mouth shut and do the business on the pitch.

[ASHTONVILLA]

So what would you do with him?

Name a new captain, and drop him to the bench when Okore is fit.

As an aside I wish we had given Senderos a squad number, he is a better centre back than both Richards and Lescott.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Should imagine Sherwood used the captaincy thing as a bit of a carrot to get him to sign...."We think you're brilliant you can play where you like, you're obviously a born leader Micah, so if you fancy the arm-band mate, it's yours. One of those French blokes will wash yer motor, you can be first in the bath and there's a couple of extra notes for you at the end of the week."
Sorted.

[TheMalandro]

So what would you do with him?

Name a new captain, and drop him to the bench when Okore is fit.

As an aside I wish we had given Senderos a squad number, he is a better centre back than both Richards and Lescott.

I may not be happy with His attitude but he's one of the best players we have, I wouldn't be benching him.

[ASHTONVILLA]

I may not be happy with His attitude but he's one of the best players we have, I wouldn't be benching him.

Clark and Okore had a decent partnership last season when they had a run in the team together. Better than any pairing Richards has been in this season. It's his poor positional awareness that is the problem, it would less of a problem at right back, but Hutton is doing OK there.

Of course he might look better in a back three, but not sure we have the midfield options for that system.

[in exile]

So what would you do with him?

Name a new captain, and drop him to the bench when Okore is fit.

Surely if you have no faith in him at Centre Back or Right Back that means you wouldn't use him as a substitute doesn't it?