CITY coach Jim Cassell is adamant Micah Richards' absence from the Blues Youth Cup semi-final with Newcastle tonight is great news.
Richards was City's star man in the early rounds of the competition but his surge into Stuart Pearce's senior squad saw him miss the quarter-final win over Manchester United.
And the defender's first-team appearance against Aston Villa on Tuesday night means he will also be unavailable the first-leg encounter at St James' Park.
His absence is bound to dent City's hopes of lifting the prestigious Under-18 trophy for the first time in 20 years, yet Cassell could not be more delighted.
"It is great news for the academy and the club that we will be without Micah because that means he is doing fantastically well," said Cassell.
"The first priority for any academy is to supply players for the first team and that is what we have done with Micah.
"In fairness, we have been planning without him since he scored in the FA Cup game at Aston Villa, so there will be no loss of confidence in terms of how we approach Newcastle."
How highly to you rate Richards? Have your say.
Comments
Login or Register to comment
he looks very good, on a par with ned, they can both be top drawer.
Jim Cassell is clearly doing a great and unsung job. Would Kevin Keegan have given Richards - and all the rest of the home-grown players SP has blooded - a chance? The evidence suggests not.
If the side is good enough,the loss of one player should not affect the outcome.With City having an outside chance of winning the FA Cup, Richards who looks an outdatanding prospect should quite rightly not be included.
This boy's the true star for the future - he's strong, fast and comfortable on the ball (everything that's required at Premiership standard) .... and on top of that he has a swagger and cockiness about him - Hail Micah !
He is going to be a hell of a player.Good luck to the lads tonight.
i would still play him tonight for the u18 he is vry strong and we need to win this cup for the accademy
Cassell, congratulations on a fantastic conveyor belt of talent !.
This kid is a natural. He has that calm and presence in the team. Look at the way he controls the situation. His greatest strength seems to be that jumping ability and power on his headers. With time, he will become the complete player. He tends to remind me of Mike Doyle in his day. MR has that commitment and passion for the team.
One of many quality youngsters coming through the ranks & making the red scum envious.
Richards is a good prospect at the moment, as long as he keeps his feet on the ground and doesn't get carried away in the praise thats thrown his way like Joey Barton did, He has shown recently that he is able to compete at this level, all he needs to do is continue doing the simple things and I'm sure SP will reward him appropriately! Keep it up Micah!
great preformance from micah over the two games. still a lot to learn but he will be a good player.
we have one of the best youth setups in the country
You know, this article is very similar to the last one when the position of Micah in the Youth or first team was first raised.Come on the youth - look where Micah's got to, you too could do it as well!
Bertie Blue Nose when are you and all the other gloom merchants give up on the Keegan bashing - Rememeber whwere we were before he came and accept that he was merely a valuable step on the road to where we are today - I'm sure you think Pearce is the bees knees so remember who brought him here in the first place - muppet !
to the first comment on this subject!! I think it is unfair on Keegan to keep saying he would never have brought through the youth. all the players would have been too young for him to play them!! and also he brought through SWP, Barton, BWP, Onuoha, Flood, jordan, etuhu. how many players in the same age group as SWP and Barton have made it either at us or other clubs? so who could he have brought through?! i know for a fact he used to rave about a young lad called ireland.
I also think richards is 10 times the player onuoha is. I hope im wrong but i have my doubts about Ned cos he can sometimes not look to comfortable on the ball and seems to think too much (he is a clever lad after all!)in certain situations.
No doubt at all Micah will be the man in c def or c mid!!
I have a worry though that he will be at arsenal in 2 yrs!! gunners fan, agent jerome anderson (i think)!! lets hope not!! future legend!!
every thing looks rosy for city ,with richards miller bradley croftie ,im not convinced about jordan ,i think hes a yard of the pace ,but saying that hes better than mills or thatcher
I know not many will look at Frank Clark's time at MCFC with fondness, but his legacy on the youth set-up is being shown again and again. I'm proud that we have so much home-grown talent, far better than KK's habit of buying overpriced and over the hill old geezers.
I heard Fred Eyre,who I rate very highly, comment at the Portsmouth match that he thought Micah was a bit too cocky.
I agree on this occasion with 'Barry Silkman' in that Micah's got swagger and he is cocky, something we need at this club.
I'm just looking at the first team squad in two years:
GK's
N.Weaver,K.Schmeichel,
Defenders
N.Onuoha,M.Mills,M.Richards,R.Dunne,S.Distin,S.Logan
Midfielders
L.Croft,S.Ireland,K.Musampa,A.Reira
Forwards
G.Samaras,D.Vassaill,I.Miller,D.Sturridge
This is not including the new players Stuart Pearce will inevitably bring in.
The futures bright,the futures Sky Blue.
if he carrys on with these types of performances i think he may have an outside chance for an england call up i think he is a type of player sp was i his hayday and samaras is looking good after every game come on city
Well done Wigley and Cassell for taking care of our young guns. Micah looks the real deal dun'he. I see we won the semis of youth cup against newcastle. Even without our gifted Micah.