A Sunderland blog is casting votes for their âPlayer of the Last 10 Yearsâ. Here is what they had to say about Kieran - at the moment heâs winning hands down! Kieran Richardson please log in to view this image Not content with his on-going reign as Sunderland's Craig Charles look-a-like champion of all time, our former left back, left sided midfielder, forward etc. also has his name in the running for our Player Of The Last Ten Years Poll this summer and I'm here to tell you why you should vote for Richardson. Two words. THAT PONYTAIL I suppose I should probably put together a stronger case for Keiran, although having the testicular fortitude to actually cultivate such an impeccable hair style should not go forgotten. It was truly a thing of beauty. Richardson became somewhat of a modern day Darren Williams and was utilised in almost every position you can imagine despite being touted as the answer to our long standing left-back issue. In truth Richardson looked to be settling in nicely in the left-back berth before a combination of injuriy and Steve Bruce's judgement led to him being removed from that spot rather prematurely. Richardson had a great footballing brain, especially when it came to timing his runs from deep, which leads me on nicely to another often forgotten aspect of his game - his pace and stamina - something which was sorely missing from the Sunderland defence at that time. Fans should look back fondly on a number of moments when Richardson proved to be a match winner on his day. Firstly there was that FA Cup win over Arsenal when he completely nullified the much hyped Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain thus eliminating one of the Gunners' main threats that afternoon. Secondly there was his brace against Blackpool when he stepped up to the plate following the exit of Darren Bent and an injury to Danny Welbeck and played in a more forward role alongside Asamoah Gyan - two clinical finishes which sealed all three points for his side. Finally there was also the small matter of a thunderous freekick in a Wear/Tyne Derby which sealed Sunderland's first victory over the Magpies on home turf in twenty-eight years, culminating in wild scenes of celebration and memories to savour. Here is a link to the site including the votes so far: http://www.rokerreport.com/2013/7/2/4464042/player-of-the-last-ten-years-poll-round-one-kieran-richardson-vs
Fair play to him - always been impressed by his ability to keep his new found faith despite God so consistently forsaking him on and off the pitch. Interesting to note he found God as a way to get his bird to go on holiday with him http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...d-boy-Kieran-Richardson-How-God-saved-me.html. On a more serious note- I'd actually forgotten he went through a patch of decent form with Sunderland. A colleague said to me, at the time we bought him, that he came in and out of form but capable of scoring special goals when you least expected them. Although I don't like the idea of him as a starter I'd be happy to give him some more time if Jol decides he is our solution to LB issue.
Sadly he's one of the very long list of English players who seem to be destined for great things but never quite live up to the potential that they sometimes (frustratingly) show. It's a shame. To be honest, though, I have never rated him much, even when he was at Sunderland..
