Micah Richards - Released

[ASHTONVILLA]

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?

It's not that I have no faith in him as a player, so much as I think we have a better right back (Hutton), and our best centre back pairing is Clark and Okore (when fit). He is more than good enough to be on the bench.

I don't have any faith in him as a captain though.

[bob]

He's clearly thick as fuck

[Diablo]

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.

Leading by example Sanchez would be a better captain (in my opinion).

Yeah Senderos played well when he was fit. Hopefully we can name him in the squad in Jan if he's fit etc and you can do that sort of malarky.

[villan from luton]

I cannot believe even Alan Huttons mum  would suggest he is a better right back than Richards. The man is a winner, no wonder he is pist off and not sure why he is getting pelters. He was crap at Everton, but I would say he is one of the few players who seems to care. He was only saying what many of us have been saying

[brian green]

That is the beef though VFL.  He is not saying what we are saying. He is saying what Sherwood was saying. He is slagging off the team of which he is captain. The atmosphere in the dressing room tomorrow will be exactly the opposite of what it should be and Richard's comments to a national newspaper and R5L will be substantially to blame.

[Toronto Villa]

That is the beef though VFL.  He is not saying what we are saying. He is saying what Sherwood was saying. He is slagging off the team of which he is captain. The atmosphere in the dressing room tomorrow will be exactly the opposite of what it should be and Richard's comments to a national newspaper and R5L will be substantially to blame.

I'm at all siding with him here though it might appear I am. But maybe, what he's saying is correct. I don't agree in how he has delivered the message as it might backfire on him. But we are too nice, we do need a kick up the arse, because truthfully we have been pushovers for a long time. I'm not saying it has anything to do with us signing foreign players, and a bit of English would fix it, because the English or British lads have been just as soft. But as a club we've been everyone's whipping boys for too long. Whether this has the desired affect remains to be seen but I don't necessarily disagree with the underlying message he is delivering.

[brian green]

These are times of crisis. It is simply not the time for airing grievances via the media. I am sorely tempted to consider the view of my valued friend Bob that Richards is simply thick.

[in exile]

I hate to think what stripping him of the captaincy would do to him and ultimately us.
We just don't have a "leader" in the 25 man squad. Sure, we have players who we think could do it but we don't have a leader

[West Derby Villan]

Swapping and changing players has been our problem for the last few seasons. No one feels secure in their position and understanding with team mates only comes with a settled line up. We rode our luck against Man Citeh and the future was brighter, we got roasted by a good blue scouse and we are back to square one. Both of these matches were never win-able on our recent form but I think tomorrow is a pointer. I believe that MR has been a leader and one of our more consistent performers this season. A settled team is what is required to stay up

[villan from luton]

That is the beef though VFL.  He is not saying what we are saying. He is saying what Sherwood was saying. He is slagging off the team of which he is captain. The atmosphere in the dressing room tomorrow will be exactly the opposite of what it should be and Richard's comments to a national newspaper and R5L will be substantially to blame.

If he sits meekly and says nothing, will it be better? Dion Dublin was saying this week the players should front up and say hpw sit they have been. We need players to show some balls, who can we trust? I thought Vertout showed last week he will battle, Ayew also even if not his position. Richards is, Clark was awful but will not concede and Sanchez may not be everyones cup of tea but I like the bloke. I don't think he was doing a Sherwood thing, we knew it was going to be a tough start but not the shite it has been

[GarTomas]

Is there a link to the 5Live Interview?

[ozzjim]

If he had bloody scored from a yard out against Sunderland and organised the back 4 a bit better at Leicester might not be in this situation either.

It is easy to point fingers. His job is to rally a unified side on the pitch to run through walls for each other.

[villan from luton]

If he had bloody scored from a yard out against Sunderland and organised the back 4 a bit better at Leicester might not be in this situation either.

It is easy to point fingers. His job is to rally a unified side on the pitch to run through walls for each other.

If my aunt had bollocks she would be my uncle. As for Leicester there is one person to blame for that, you are 2-0 up, albeit luckily, get a defensive player on for Gil or Grealish. No, lets bring on Gestede for Gil. Total bollox. Don't blame Richards for that

[ozzjim]

I don't VFL I was simply making the point that Richards pointing the finger in the dressing room is a completely futile act. We all know the previous manager, basically through complete incompetence through a game, threw away maybe 6-8 points this season, but just as easily if you are pointing it at individual players they all have their faults. Richards as captain and leader has been highlighted more than once for his poor organisation of the back 4, Westwood has looked stupidly lightwieght, Amavi cost us 2-3 goals, Guzan has been dodgy as fuck, whoever wins the right back of the week competition has been poor, there have been no goals from midfield, Sinclair seems to have stopped getting into the opposition penalty area, Gestede has missed chances, and so on, and so on.

We clearly are not pulling together properly as a team, Sherwood was a massive issue, but Richards as captain should be joining that up now, getting them as one and working together.

[Chinchilla Bathhouse]

I'd be inclined to agree with Bob as well.  I think Richards is dim as a 10 watt bulb.  I imagine his aim was to appease the fans by saying what he thinks we want to hear, which in itself is arrogant and presumptuous, but also overlooks the blindingly obvious fact that people don't much like being slagged off in public by colleagues who are no more competent than themselves.  It's a downright idiotic interview by a man who appears to think he's not contributed to the calamities of this season.  Whether we as fans agree with any of the points he makes is irrelevant.  His words could never do anything but damage to his team-mates.  If he had half a brain he'd realise that sharing such thoughts is not helpful in this situation.  If he had half a brain he'd realise that the best way to get us onside is to stop playing like Frank Spencer, take some responsibility for the mess he's part of and do whatever it takes to galvanise his team and lead it to safety.  If he thinks that's the way to do it he's a massive thicko, and if this was some sort of rallying cry it's as misjudged as some of his positional play.  There are enough pundits getting paid to churn out this sort of specious rubbish, I don't want to hear it from any of our players, regardless of how true it may or may not be.  From what we've seen so far I'd be surprised if Garde didn't take a very dim view of this, and I'd expect to see some punishment.  (I'd then expect to see Richards bleating about how unfair the punishment was, and the entire Sherwood press agreeing with him).