NCM Report Cards: #3 Ian Richardson
Name: Ian Richardson
Age: 34
Position: Centre back
No. of Appearences 04/05: 12
Season Highlight: Being entrusted with the role of manager for seven months.
Season Lowlight: Managing to play just 12 games due to a knee injury.
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For a man who's been in the game as long as Richardson, it may be easy to think that he's done it all. But for the 34-year-old stalwart, this season certainly put an end to that myth.
There are ALWAYS surprises to be had in football.
In a season that, somewhat disgracefully, began with Richardson's Magpies' future in serious doubt, the fact that the defender ended up as the club's player/manager - despite initially having no intentions of going into football management - would certainly prove that.
Richardson began the season as one of the bulging group of players who were treated badly by former boss Gary Mills (this is a growing trend with these players cards).
Stripped of the captaincy in favour of new man Mike Whitlow, the signings of not only Whitlow, but also Mike Edwards and Julien Baudet suggested that Richardson was going to be consigned to a bit-part role in what could possibly be his final year at Meadow Lane.
However, an early influx of injuries to a number of the squad means that we'll never know what would have happened had Mills had his full strength squad to choose from.
As things turned out, Richardson went on to be one of the few Notts players to come out of the first handful of games with much credit. Talk of being 'past it' was rubbished with a number of assured performances, despite being handed a further blow when Rob Ullathorne was handed the captaincy in Whitlow's absence.
The former Birmingham man also managed to notch an extremely early goal in the campaign, netting in the club's first win of the season at Bradford in the Carling Cup First Round.
The experienced defender was to follow that up with majestic displays against Lincoln, Northampton and Cheltenham - where Mills stated that Richardson had gained Notts a point "all on his own" in the 0-0 draw.
A match against the side 'Richo' supported as a boy was to follow, with a superb display capped with a cooly taken goal in the 3-2 Carling Cup defeat at West Ham.
It certainly was all a far cry from pre-season, where it looked like his Notts days may be numbered.
Richardson's excellent start was going to come to a crunching halt though, when the news was announced that the defender required knee surgery that would keep him sidelined for around 2 months.
Whilst Richardson was sorely missed as Notts succumbed to hammerings at Mansfield (3-1) and Rushden (5-1), the season threatened to spiral out of control as Notts hovered nervously near the relegation zone.
Action had to be taken and when Mills was removed as manager in early November, the board took the decision to offer Richardson the position of Caretaker boss.
Richardson - despite previously stating he had no intention of moving into football management - immediately accepted the chance.
And he never looked back. Though the on-the-field improvement was hardly a startling one, Richardson stuck to the task of managing the club admirably, gradually looking more and more confident in his role - so much so that he was officially given the job until the end of the season in January.
What came as a consequence of his managerial escapades though, was his playing career - with Richardson featuring in only one match- a 1-0 defeat at Bury in only his third match in charge.
That the player/boss even featured in that game at all is testament to his commitment to the club, with him admitting that he shouldn't have played with his knee injury not yet fully healed.
The fact that he did play set his recovery back a number of months, but the defender was happy to take the risk, knowing that the club would benefit from his presence in the side that day.
After losing out to Gudjon Thordarson in the race to be the club's manager this season, Richardson will have to revert back to his role of being 'one of the lads' - should he recover from his knee injury - after this whirlwind campaign.
After being named the Supporters' Club Player of the Year, the least Richardson will hope for is that he is given the chance to earn it this year.
Should he manage to prove that he has fully recovered from the knee injury, thus earning a new contract, he will be in line for a testimonial after 10 years service for the club.
One thing's for sure, after this campaign, he certainly deserves one.
Season Rating (out of 10): 7
Age: 34
Position: Centre back
No. of Appearences 04/05: 12
Season Highlight: Being entrusted with the role of manager for seven months.
Season Lowlight: Managing to play just 12 games due to a knee injury.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For a man who's been in the game as long as Richardson, it may be easy to think that he's done it all. But for the 34-year-old stalwart, this season certainly put an end to that myth.
There are ALWAYS surprises to be had in football.
In a season that, somewhat disgracefully, began with Richardson's Magpies' future in serious doubt, the fact that the defender ended up as the club's player/manager - despite initially having no intentions of going into football management - would certainly prove that.
Richardson began the season as one of the bulging group of players who were treated badly by former boss Gary Mills (this is a growing trend with these players cards).
|
However, an early influx of injuries to a number of the squad means that we'll never know what would have happened had Mills had his full strength squad to choose from.
As things turned out, Richardson went on to be one of the few Notts players to come out of the first handful of games with much credit. Talk of being 'past it' was rubbished with a number of assured performances, despite being handed a further blow when Rob Ullathorne was handed the captaincy in Whitlow's absence.
The former Birmingham man also managed to notch an extremely early goal in the campaign, netting in the club's first win of the season at Bradford in the Carling Cup First Round.
The experienced defender was to follow that up with majestic displays against Lincoln, Northampton and Cheltenham - where Mills stated that Richardson had gained Notts a point "all on his own" in the 0-0 draw.
A match against the side 'Richo' supported as a boy was to follow, with a superb display capped with a cooly taken goal in the 3-2 Carling Cup defeat at West Ham.
It certainly was all a far cry from pre-season, where it looked like his Notts days may be numbered.
Richardson's excellent start was going to come to a crunching halt though, when the news was announced that the defender required knee surgery that would keep him sidelined for around 2 months.
Whilst Richardson was sorely missed as Notts succumbed to hammerings at Mansfield (3-1) and Rushden (5-1), the season threatened to spiral out of control as Notts hovered nervously near the relegation zone.
Action had to be taken and when Mills was removed as manager in early November, the board took the decision to offer Richardson the position of Caretaker boss.
|
And he never looked back. Though the on-the-field improvement was hardly a startling one, Richardson stuck to the task of managing the club admirably, gradually looking more and more confident in his role - so much so that he was officially given the job until the end of the season in January.
What came as a consequence of his managerial escapades though, was his playing career - with Richardson featuring in only one match- a 1-0 defeat at Bury in only his third match in charge.
That the player/boss even featured in that game at all is testament to his commitment to the club, with him admitting that he shouldn't have played with his knee injury not yet fully healed.
The fact that he did play set his recovery back a number of months, but the defender was happy to take the risk, knowing that the club would benefit from his presence in the side that day.
After losing out to Gudjon Thordarson in the race to be the club's manager this season, Richardson will have to revert back to his role of being 'one of the lads' - should he recover from his knee injury - after this whirlwind campaign.
After being named the Supporters' Club Player of the Year, the least Richardson will hope for is that he is given the chance to earn it this year.
Should he manage to prove that he has fully recovered from the knee injury, thus earning a new contract, he will be in line for a testimonial after 10 years service for the club.
One thing's for sure, after this campaign, he certainly deserves one.
Season Rating (out of 10): 7
Check back to NCM in the next few days for the report for defender and fashion icon Michael Edwards.