I used to take a taxi to training to avoid supporters and knew Aston Villa were doomed

Tom Cavilla

9 April 2024 at 2:21 pm·2-min read

Micah Richards has revealed he used to order a taxi to Aston Villa's training ground during the infamous 2015/16 season to avoid receiving abuse from supporters.

Villa finished bottom of the Premier League on 17 points that campaign, collecting only three wins during the entirety of the season, and found themselves 22 points adrift of escaping the bottom three after playing all 38 matches.

One of the players brought to the club ahead of 2015/16 was right-back Micah Richards, who was named on-field captain shortly after his arrival following Fabian Delph's transfer to Manchester City.

It turned out to be a nightmare season for Richards and many others who were brought to the club during this period to fill the void of big-name exits such as Delph, Ron Vlaar and Christian Benteke.

Opening up on how things could have easily panned out differently for Villa as regards recruitment, Richards told the Match of the Day: Top 10 Podcast: "It was tedious. I came in there and signed in the summer. I sat down with Tim [Sherwood], we had a good chat.

"He said to me 'Delphy's staying', and then he went to Man City. He said he didn't know about Benteke, but if Benteke leaves we've got Adebayor coming in. We've got Aaron Lennon because of the Spurs connection. I'm thinking of this team with Lennon, Adebayor, Agbonlahor and then Ron Vlaar left. Within six weeks, the whole team changed and there was me thinking 'Big Meeks, I'll sort it out'."

Explaining his approach to handling the criticism that came his way as the season progressed, the 35-year-old continued: "Fans were waiting outside the training ground, so what I used to do was drive my car to the Belfry and get a taxi to training - just so I couldn't get stick from the fans or didn't have to stop and get the abuse."

Asked how early he knew relegation was on the cards for Villa, Richards added: "Honestly, around November. When Remi Garde came in, oh my god. I don't like slaughtering managers but he was s***. I was like, you've got a great pedigree, gone to Arsenal, have influence around French football, must be massive. We're thinking he's going to bring us something different. There was a divide in the dressing room, we had the French boys and the English boys. We just knew we were doomed."