Micah Richards speaks about his new punditry bromance with Roy Keane – and how he earned his respect

Micah Richards has opened up about his Sky Sports bromance with Roy Keane and said that he revelled in making the legendary midfield uncomfortable. 

The pair built up on-screen chemistry last season on Super Sunday despite representing the rival halves of Manchester as players and have endeared themselves to fans nationwide. 

Speaking to Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer on the Match of the Day: Top 10 podcast, Richards admitted he was unsure what to expect from Keane when he appeared as a pundit for the first time.

Micah Richards and Roy Keane have struck up a bromance since joining forces on Sky Sports

Richards feels he won Keane’s respect after the ‘bursting onto the scene’ exchange last season

‘Roy’s a legend of the game and when I’m initially going to work with someone I don’t get nervous – I never get nervous – but you’ve got respect for people and that’s the way it should be,’ said Richards. ‘I’ve seen his clips and he used to destroy people left, right and centre.

‘The first clip that did the rounds was where I said I’d burst on the scene as a defender, that’s the one that went viral, and he said he didn’t know any defenders that had burst on the scene.

‘I said, ”hold on, hold on, I’m the youngest ever defender for England, won the Premier League and won the FA Cup” and at that moment he was like ”OK” – I earnt a little bit of his respect.

Richards also lifted the lid on the reason for Keane’s argument with Jamie Redknapp last month

‘After that I just loved working with him because I can never compete with Roy Keane as a player, or his medals, but I can make him feel uncomfortable on camera, and that’s my strength.’

Richards recently found himself in the middle of a heated on-air debate between Keane and Jamie Redknapp before Tottenham’s game against Burnley last month and the former Manchester City has shed some light on why Keane had the hump. 

‘He was driving down to London, but he was late. He normally gets there an hour or an hour and a half before, but he was stuck in traffic and he got there 20 minutes before going on air and you could see his hair was all ruffled, along with his suit.

‘Jamie just got his anger because he was an hour later than he was supposed to be and he got the wrath!’

Match of the Day Top 10 podcast is now available to listen to on BBC Sounds and watch on BBC iPlayer.