‘How stupid’ – I was mortified when manager hooked me at half-time and it cost me Premier League title

Micah Richards has opened up on a regretful run-in with ex-Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini.

The former defender spent 14 years at Man City, winning one Premier League title and one FA Cup.

However, the FA Cup clash with Watford in January 2014 still haunts him to this day.

“Manuel Pellegrini took me off at halftime,” Richards told The Rest is Football podcast when asked about the most embarrassing thing that has happened to him on the pitch.

“It was so embarrassing, we was losing the game and yeah, that man Pablo Zabaleta goes on and takes my place, we end up winning the game. 

“I’m effing and jeffing afterwards. I missed out on my second Premier League title just because I wouldn’t go apologise to Pellegrini.

“How stubborn was I by the way? How stubborn is that?”

As always, his fellow hosts, Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker, kept him grounded with their straightforward response.

Shearer joked it was more stupid than stubborn, whilst Lineker pointed out it was 'the stupidity of youth'.

The trio broke into laughter at the image of a young, stubborn Richards — at least now he can find humour in it.

Despite the anger, Richards later acknowledged that Pellegrini’s decision ‘paid off’ as City rallied to victory after he left the pitch.

At half time, City were losing 2-0, with goals from Watford’s Fernando Forestieri and a familiar face to talkSPORT, Troy Deeney. 

Zabaleta stepped in for the disgruntled Richards, soon followed by more substitutions that turned the tide.

Sergio Aguero scored just minutes later, and that was that. City triumphed 4-2, with Aguero and Aleksandar Kolarov scoring the goals.

Richards has also spoken about the incident on Match of the Day. 

He recalled: “Basically what happened was I wasn’t in the next squad, or the one after, I thought what’s going on here? 

“You can air your frustrations in the dressing room and he said basically, ‘You’re not back into the squad until you apologise.’"

Richards never did apologise, a decision that may haunt him, as it meant missing out on a second Premier League title.

He was awarded a Premier League winners' medal the year before when City won the 2012/13 title. 

But after making only two league appearances during 2013/14, this meant he missed out on a Premier League winner’s medal. 

His chances in the first team remained scarce for the rest of the season, leading to reports in March 2014 that Richards rejected a new contract, leaving his future uncertain - a decision he ultimately confirmed in September 2014.

Afterwards, he had a brief spell on loan at Fiorentina for around 12 months.

He later played for Aston Villa before hanging up his boots in 2019 due to persistent injuries.

Man City are in action this Saturday against Salford in the FA Cup.