There is a good interview piece from Ian Herbert in todays Independent with Micah Richards that touches on a number of topics and is well worth a read.
Particularly interesting are his thoughts on some of the nuances of the managers he has played under, and how this may have translated to the success that he is currently enjoying. Of Roberto Mancini's approach he says:
"Well certain managers will see you make mistakes and they'll tell you about it and then they've told you once and if you do it again, then it's up to you. He makes sure that if you make a mistake and you make it again you are out of the team. D'you know what I mean? And that's the difference. There are players in our team who ... I wouldn't say they are scared to make mistakes, but they wouldn't make the silly mistakes they normally make because they know [the consequences]."
Reading the the whole article, this is clearly a different approach than he faced under either Mark Hughes or Seven-Goran Eriksson - where his performances were punctuated with far less consistency than he has showed over the past eighteen months or so; consistency that has seen him become amongst the leaders at the club during a period when his fellow Academy alumni have all slowly, but surely fallen by the wayside.
Well worth a read.