ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:MARK HUGHES'S problems with disruptive players at Manchester City resurfaced yesterday when he was involved in a training-ground confrontation with Micah Richards, a player whose attitude and form are increasingly of concern to the club's management.
Richards, who was dropped for the game against West Bromwich Albion last Sunday, is alleged to have disobeyed Hughes when the players were called together for a meeting at the end of their final practice session before today’s game at Everton. Rather than join the huddle, Richards started heading towards the changing rooms and, when he was called back, one witness reported to have heard him swearing.
Hughes, who has been keen to impose a disciplinarian regime since taking over from the more lax Sven-Goran Eriksson, later spoke to his player in his office. It is not clear whether Richards went there of his accord or whether he was summoned, but Hughes made it clear it was unacceptable behaviour and would not be tolerated. Richards is understood to have accepted his manager’s criticisms and the mood was amicable at the end of their meeting.
The incident is not expected to sway Hughes’s team selection at Goodison, particularly as Richards’s replacement last weekend, Pablo Zabaleta, has a hamstring injury. However, it does signal the manager still has problems behind the scenes as he comes to the end of a difficult first season in charge.
Earlier this season Hughes identified a small but influential group of dressingroom troublemakers after discovering they had held a meeting about his methods and that one fringe player had even complained to the executive chairman, Garry Cook. Richards was not among that group, but City’s coaching staff have had reason to be disappointed about his input since Hughes replaced Eriksson last summer.
At the time, Richards was regarded as the best young defender in England, and was linked with a possible €22.2 million move to Chelsea. Yet Hughes and his coaches have come to think of the 20-year-old as a poor trainer and someone who is guilty of switching off in matches, a fault that has been picked up by Fabio Capello judging by the way he has ignored Richards since taking over as manager of England.
A string of costly mistakes has led to Hughes switching Richards from centre-half to right-back, but there have been other concerns. In February, they were disappointed about the manner in which Richards pulled out of a game at Portsmouth on the morning of the match, citing a sore ankle, but was able to train fully three days later. Portsmouth won the game 2-0, their first victory in nine matches, with one of City’s youth-academy graduates, Shaleum Logan, taking Richards’s place.
Hughes’ relationship with a number of senior players has been tested to the extreme. Tal Ben Haim was sent on loan to Sunderland after falling out with the manager and Hughes sought to break up the club’s Brazilian clique when he agreed for Jo to join Everton on loan. Three of the club’s four Brazilians – Robinho, Elano and Jo – have been fined for indiscretions and the fourth, Glauber, has become a standing joke among the club’s supporters, having not played a single minute of first-team football since signing from FC Nuremberg last summer.
GuardianService
