Sure you could argue he did with us, but I was wondering, if Rufus was as good as we all believe he was, why did nobody come in with a big money offer?
We weren't exactly in need of the cash, but was there a specific reason why the big guns didn't come in for him? I know he was linked to Liverpool before we sold Lee Bowyer but did they make an offer?
Dean Richards, rest his soul, went for a ridiculous amount when Ruf was at his peak...
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Rufus is my favourite ever Charlton player - simply because I think he was the best in his position.
There were other players picked for the senior squad who were not as good as Richard, none as mobile for sure, that he wasn't picked or transferred says everything about the managers of other clubs and countries, but is not because Richard wasn't special, they were simply blind to his qualities.
Our immense gain.
As a club we have had a lot of great players, but Richard Rufus is amongst the very elite of those.
RR wasn't a ball carrying defender - he just got it out of trouble. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it just meant that he often hoofed the ball out. To anyone watching, it might have put them off and they might have considered that such a style wasn't fitted to the Premier League.
That's the only possible reason I can think of as to me RR will always be a legend and a man who stood at the heart of those few never to be forgotten years when we could actually see CAFC not only playing the big boys, but beating them.
Yes, injuries at the wrong times and "the Charlton factor" probably didn't help but in my mind - and trying to be objective - the real top defenders are more comfortable on the ball and have better distribution than our Richard did, and they need to be because they probably see a lot more of it in possession than our guys did at the time.
As an out and out defender I would still rather have him over most of his peers of the era and am absolutely honoured that I witnessed such a great player playing for us.
Lovely fella too, by all accounts.
I'll never forget 'that' game on Sky Sports where he made a surprise return from injury to start against Spurs. A certain unlikely left-back grabbed the winning goal that night!
The way Leon Cort plays reminds me a bit of Rufus. Maybe more on the ball.
Look at players like Cleverley, if he was playing for someone like Stoke he wouldn't be anywhere near the England team but because he's at a fashionable club he's in everytime, the same with someone like Downing.
Funnily enough I saw Parker walking around the Wharf looking lost at lunchtime today.
I remember an interview in which Richard Murray revealed that his nickname was Scud (as in missile) - you knew he was coming but there was nothing (polite word) you could do about it !!