Inside track on St Mirren new boy Richard King as he is tipped for success in Scotland

Daily Record

5 days ago

Daniel Blake of the Jamaica Observer has given Buddies fans an insight into what to expect from the highly-rated defender.
St Mirren new boy Richard King has been backed to succeed in Scotland with his key attributes outlined.
The Buddies have snapped up the highly-rated Jamaican international on a two-year deal from Cavalier FC of the island's Premier League.
‌
King was a player manager Stephen Robinson had been trying to get during the January transfer window — and he resumed his interest this summer as he sought a replacement for Richard Taylor who joined Sky Bet League One side Bolton Wanderers.
‌
The 23-year-old defender is currently on international duty with the Reggae Boyz in the Concacaf Gold Cup which is taking place in the United States.
And King has been tipped to play a vital part in Robbo's team – with the centre-back able to defend aggressively and play with the ball at his feet, too.
Speaking with the Paisley Daily Express, Daniel Blake of the Jamaica Observer has given the lowdown on what the black-and-white army can expect from Jamaica's rising star.
'Richard is quite a unique defender in Jamaican terms,' he said. 'Over the years, Jamaica has developed defenders who are aggressive, no-nonsense; those rough-nosed types, as they would say, but Richard is sort of unique.
'He's almost — and I don't want to directly compare him — similar to how William Saliba plays for Arsenal. He's very good on the ball, he can progress it very well and nine times out of 10, he tends to make the right decisions.
'And the way his body language is, you would never think that he is panicking. He tends to read a lot of situations before they may happen. I'm not saying that he is without fault because, sometimes, as his head coach would admit, he does look a little casual.
‌
'But I think that is because a lot of times he goes into games with the mindset – and, quite frankly, accurate mindset – of that he is a very good defender.'
In his short career so far, King has already tasted success on multiple occasions as captain after lifting the Jamaican Premier League trophy three times and also the Caribbean Club Championship trophy with Cavalier.
The success in the latter tournament saw him come up against some of the greatest players in the game in Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez after he faced United States MLS side Inter Miami in the Champions Cup in March.
‌
Most of his career has been shaped in Jamaica apart from a short loan spell in Iceland with IBV where he played with former Buddies wing-back Elvis Bwomono.
Daniel says Reggae Boyz supporters look at King in a different light as he is revered as one of the special players due to being born and having played on the island.
'Over the last maybe 10 years,' he added, 'Jamaica has done a lot of scouting of UK-based talents. [But] Richard, who has been playing in Jamaica for the last five to six years – though he did have the loan in Iceland – was basically the only local player who was a mainstay.
‌
'So, even though our league may not be comparable to the English Premier League and the Championship and so forth, every coach has seen his value because of how good he is.
'He is also one of the players where he is [seen as] 'one of us' as he was born and raised here. That isn't a slight on any of the other players who have a Jamaican connection.
'But there is a different pride when you see players grow up and play in our high school competitions, and local leagues, to then go on and make it in the game.