Young Swansea full-back being chased by Huddersfield, Millwall & Birmingham
You have to feel for Jazz. After, to me, performing quite well on numerous occasions he's been called upon he still finds himself down the pecking order at the Liberty, but in honesty you can't really argue given Dwight Tiendalli has signed back on and Angel Rangel continues to enjoy almost a guaranteed place in the first team. Both the aforementioned full-backs have done everything that's been asked of them in the Premiership and despite Swansea youth product Richards impressing in various cameos it seems he's going to have to go back out on loan to try and gain some first-team football this season.
While this could be considered harsh in that until a few weeks ago we were all expecting Jazz to be the regular backup to Rangel, now that Dwight Tiendalli has decided he wants to be here after all you'd struggle to convince anyone that at present Jazz is the more dependable option. That's not a slight on Jazz though - that's based purely on Tiendalli's performances last season.
With Kyle Bartley already on loan to Birmingham it could well be that Richards fancies linking up with his Swansea teammate, and with Lee Clark in charge he should at least get to play some decent football. Bartley was signed specifically because he can defend and pass the ball - put Jazz alongside him and you've got yourselves an efficient Swansalona right side of defence. Not a bad proposition for any team in the 2nd tier of British football.
I can't say I know too much about Huddersfield or Millwall other than ex-Swansea boss Kenny Jackett had done a sterling job at the latter club over the last few years, but now that he's departed ex-Man City/West Ham man Steve Lomas is in charge, while ex-Barnsley & Coventry boss Mark Robins is in charge at Huddersfield. Mark Robins always tries to get his sides playing decent football, so that's two of the three teams mentioned who play a good style which would probably benefit Jazz. I wonder what kind of football Lomas likes his sides to play...
Hopefully Richards can get a good amount of gametime this season as it would no doubt aid his development. With opportunities likely to be in extremely short supply in SA1, it seems his best shout is a loan move, and I think it'll be good for him. Wherever you end up, good luck Jazz.