Richards: 'I'm so young, but I've been around a long time.'

It seems to be quite a busy weekend for City-related interviews, and today features one by David Conn with Micah Richards in the The Observer.

Touching on a number of topics ranging from the Academy, Stephen Ireland's 'bling' comments and the changes the club has undergone in the five years since he made his debut, he also talks of the effect Roberto Mancini has had:

"He doesn't keep himself apart in a negative way, more in a positive way: he's the head and what he says goes. I think that's the way to get respect, especially when you have world stars as City have now. He sets the standard, and you get the detail from other people. That's what Brian Kidd and David Platt [Mancini's assistants] are here for. 

"But on the training pitch, he's very involved, he's a good coach. He's taught me a lot since he's been here. That's his style of management, some like it, some don't. But I think if you want to get places, you need to get under his wing and do what he says."

Richards has often been criticised for his approach to the game (accusations of being lazy, a poor trainer, lack of concentration etc), but following on from Brian Marwood's interview in The Telegraph yesterday, it may be that Mancini's arrival and the added professionalism and attitude (Patrick Vieira, Yaya Toure and James Milner were all cited as prime examples) may well be having a positive effect on Richards (amongst others).

It perhaps is easy to forget how young (22) Richards still is and quite how much came his way very early in his career, notably an England debut at just 18 years of age. It is fair to say things haven't quite gone his in recent times but if there were any questions with regard to his application, it looks that he is very much trying to answer them.

Although he does look to have a job on his hands to try and oust the now fit Jerome Boateng from the starting line-up, his inclusion and performances suggest that reports that Mancini may look to move him on are somewhat wide of the mark.