‘He was great, just not for me’ – Micah Richards opens up on Euro 2024 manager who he called a ‘d***head’ on first day

MICAH RICHARDS admitted a former manager he called “d***head” on his first day at the club was “just not for me”.

The ex-Manchester City and England right-back, 35, discussed his old coach live on the BBC on Tuesday.

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It came during a pre-match discussion about the Euro 2024 clash between Turkey and Georgia.

Describing him, Richards said: “He’s a really tactical coach.

“He likes to play on the front foot, he likes to press really high. He wants his full-backs or wing-backs to go at every opportunity.

“He was a forward wasn’t he so his mindset was ‘get the ball forward and score goals’. But he was a brilliant coach, he was.”

When pressed on how he treated defenders, Richards then added: “We had a few problems, Mark [Chapman]. Do you want to delve into that?”

When presenter Chapman then attempted to move on, the ex-defender then said: “He was great, just not for me.”

The manager in question is Italian Vincenzo Montella who coached Richards during his one-season loan spell at Fiorentina.

Richards was talking about his old boss as Montella is now Turkey manager – who Georgia played at the Euros on Tuesday night.

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And there is a hilarious story Richards has told in the past about meeting his Italian boss for the first time.

Former Man City team-mate Mario Balotelli had told Richards to say a certain phrase to Montella in Italian – a language the English defender did not speak.

Little did he know this translated to “f***ing d***head”.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast last year, Richards explained: “I went to Fiorentina on the last day of the transfer window and obviously I don’t speak Italian – I’ve got ‘Si’ – yes, basically.

“Like the absolute idiot that I am, I spoke to Balotelli to say ‘What should I say when I’m greeting someone?’ Because he’s normally good.

“I’ve gone up to the manager and called him a f***ing d***head. What an idiot.

“You know what, why didn’t I just check? You can just Google it. For some reason, I just believed Balotelli. He set me up, he got me a kipper.

“And to be fair to Montella he just started laughing.”

Richards played just 19 times for Fiorentina before he returned to parent club Man City and was sold to Aston Villa.

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