Micah Richards - Released

[colin69]

Terrible signing, I bet the club are glad to see the back of him. I know I am.

[hilts_coolerking]

It was a terrible signing.  I'm sure he's not a terrible person.

[UK Redsox]

It was a terrible signing.  I'm sure he's not a terrible person.

I agree. Apart from the Wycombe events, I don't recall Richards doing/saying anything out of place.

The bloke got injured and couldn't play. It's not his fault that Villa offered him a daft contract and, apparently, couldn't get him insured.

[Hinckley Dave]

Do we know he was injured, or just not fit to play? There's a difference. You could say that Chester was both, injured and unfit to play but he has a different character obviously.

[Toronto Villa]

His injury is something I think I can relate to. The reason I came to the US initially before Canada is I played football (ours that is) and for a scholarship out here. Things were going along just fine until I suffered a meniscus tear in my left knee. Not your bog standard clean up job which most of them tend to be either. It was a clean tear where the cartilage essentially snapped to the back of my knee. I had 3 surgery’s in total but in the end the surgeon told me there is no way to recover what was lost. So essentially I now have bone on bone contact at the front and sides of my knee. I get a gel injection to help cushion the blow but competitive sports where there is a lot of running and twisting is completely out of the question.

Now I don’t know if that’s what Micah has. But his injury is a meniscus condition and it’s one that generally won’t heal with time or treatment. So it could be that he can’t fix it and he can’t get fit and he’s on a fucking massive contract that both sides can’t just walk away from. He’ll retire after this I imagine.

[PeterWithe]

A monumental waste of money but for a short initial spell, he did very well at centre half.

[Hinckley Dave]

That sounds nasty Toronto, hope it's not too bad for you. If he has genuinely got a serious injury like that then ok, I wouldn't be too hard on him. I was just under the impression he was just generally unfit and not really trying too hard to actually get fit.

[danno]

Do we know he was injured, or just not fit to play? There's a difference. You could say that Chester was both, injured and unfit to play but he has a different character obviously.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6641229/Aston-Villas-Micah-Richards-heading-retirement-football.html

"Richards has a persistent meniscus problem in his right knee - it can swell through exercise - and while he has been determined to return to action he is expected to reluctantly bring an end to his efforts once his Villa deal runs out in June."

"On medical advice Smith has continued Bruce's policy of omitting Richards, who has not been named in a Villa squad for 16 months."

"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."

[Toronto Villa]

That sounds nasty Toronto, hope it's not too bad for you. If he has genuinely got a serious injury like that then ok, I wouldn't be too hard on him. I was just under the impression he was just generally unfit and not really trying too hard to actually get fit.

Cheers Dave. Just means today I don’t play anymore and have to manage my exercise to that which limits impact on my knee. Golf is as much as I muster now

[john2710]

We've only got ourselves to blame if we signed a crock. You can't blame Richards if we signed him knowing the problems he had.

McCormack is a different story, he's just not interested in playing.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Jelly and ice cream.

[brian green]

With hundreds and thousands sprinkles.

[Kimaster1976]

Not a single one of us who got injured in our jobs and couldnt work for the last 3 years of our contracts but would get paid anyway would walk away. Richards just sums up the ridiculous way the club was run in those last dying days of our last Premier League tenure.

McCormack seemed very interested and motivated to play football in Austrailia and Scotland in the last year. Its just the minute he's within 10 metres of Villa Park he becomes a different person. Which is bizarre considering the riches and glory for him would be far greater here. He really seemed to start hating this club a month or 2 after arriving and id love to know why.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

It was a terrible signing.  I'm sure he's not a terrible person.

I agree. Apart from the Wycombe events, I don't recall Richards doing/saying anything out of place.

The bloke got injured and couldn't play. It's not his fault that Villa offered him a daft contract and, apparently, couldn't get him insured.

He was photographed doing a "Zulu" sign with a Blues fan - though it's possible he was tricked into it.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

Just reading Brian Little's book at the mo. He was forced to retire from football due to a knee injury. He took a payout from Villa and started working behind the scenes eg in the commercial dpt; in the ticket office; selling Villa lottery tkts in clubs. Little is a legend for a number of reasons!
Sure nice but dim and the Villa board at the time have a lot to answer for where MR is concerned, but what has he done in the last 3 years besides not playing football? What community work has he done? Has he gone into schools? How has he impacted on youngsters coming through at BMH? I'd like to think I keep up to date on all Villa news and I've heard nothing about MR! In my view he is a waste and I'll be so glad when he's gone; the last of the despicable 7 from our relegation season.