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ScouseFox

Andy King

By ScouseFox, in Leicester City Forum

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ScouseFox

ScouseFox

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one of our biggest ever legends. the ultimate hero. no words to fully describe the feeling when he scored and celebrated yesterday.

it finally hit home when I watched him wonder round just staring at his medal whilst we are the champions was playing. he didn't really speak to anyone throughout it just looked amazed at what's happened. he's one of us.

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LanguedocFox

LanguedocFox

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Highest scoring Leicester midfield player?

Won three divisions titles and proved he can play in the Prem.

Part of what is now a legendary team.

Yup, definitely a Leicester City legend now.

 

And apparently the only player ever to do it for the same club. Amazing.

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Finnaldo

Finnaldo

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I give a fvck what anyone says. He is THE Leicester City legend. He's out record midfield goalscorer and the only player ever to win the top three leagues with the same club in English football. Never moved, never demanded, always came in our times of need. Now he's a Champion of England. Hero.

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The Doctor

The Doctor

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And apparently the only player ever to do it for the same club. Amazing.

Since div three and four became national rather than regional. Ipswich won all three in a similar time span when division three was North and South

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Thracian

Thracian

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Showed why he's useful. Drinkwater's passing range is wider but sometimes tries too much. King knocks it around quickly and swiftly and rarely wasted the ball. And to get a goal, capped it off. Fitting goalscorer.

 

 

 

i'm not at all sure Drinkwater's (consistently accurate) range is greater - King just passes in an entirely different way and quickly. We had 33 shots yesterday, an extraordinary number and should have scored 8/9 goals. The ways we created those chances were many, varied and often involved several players.

 

The difference yesterday was that we felt free to attack and,  in the second half, had as many genuinely attacking players on the field as I can remember for a while.

 

It's much easier to make positive passes when colleagues are making forward runs but that's not always the strategy for City when they take the lead.

 

For me, more than anything, it showed we had options and demonstrated our ability, yet again, to win in different ways. People often talk about Drinkwater's range of passing but King played all sorts of clever balls yesterday and, yet again, showed his undisputedly greater threat in and around the box both in the air and on the ground.

 

I don't know why Drinkwater's such an indifferent marksman. He's got perfectly good technique but just doesn't despatch the ball to the net. Nor is he even a natural sniffer of chances. King in contrast, ghosts into all sorts of dangerous places and  is a cool finisher who often hits the target, particularly from his feet as opposed to his head.

 

No this is not a political broadcast on behalf of King. Drinkwater has his own qualities both as a player and a leader. I'm just glad we've got such outstanding central midfielders and that's not to forget Kante for an instant.       

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Manwell Pablo

Manwell Pablo

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i'm not at all sure Drinkwater's (consistently accurate) range is greater - King just passes in an entirely different way and quickly. We had 33 shots yesterday, an extraordinary number and should have scored 8/9 goals. The ways we created those chances were many, varied and often involved several players.

 

The difference yesterday was that we felt free to attack and,  in the second half, had as many genuinely attacking players on the field as I can remember for a while.

 

It's much easier to make positive passes when colleagues are making forward runs but that's not always the strategy for City when they take the lead.

 

For me, more than anything, it showed we had options and demonstrated our ability, yet again, to win in different ways. People often talk about Drinkwater's range of passing but King played all sorts of clever balls yesterday and, yet again, showed his undisputedly greater threat in and around the box both in the air and on the ground.

 

I don't know why Drinkwater's such an indifferent marksman. He's got perfectly good technique but just doesn't despatch the ball to the net.

nor is he even a sniffer of chances. King in contrast is a cool finisher who usually hits the target, particularly from his feet as opposed to his head.

 

No this is not a political broadcast on behalf of King. Drinkwater has his own qualities both as a player and a leader. I'm just glad we've got such outstanding central midfielders and that's not to forget Kante for an instant.

We created so much mainly because Everton totally failed to turn up. Teams have to turn up against these days otherwise that happens, and has happened in plenty of games drinks and Kante have started.

Not a knock on Andy King the man is legend now, league one to prem champion. As you say it is good we have so much quality.

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Clever Fox

Clever Fox

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I've always liked King and believe he's more suited to a higher standard of football. Where Brains are more important than Brawn. He susses things out quickly and takes up very good positions. Which is why he get's so many Goals.

He's been unlucky this season not to have got more match's but you cannot blame anyone for not changing a winning team.

 

He's a top pro and one of our own. Good luck to him for next season. 

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Guest CityFan 06

Guest CityFan 06

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I hope we can maybe utilize him and his assets to play for us more regularly next season/future seasons. He comes in when needed, slots in perfectly, assists goals and scores goals. He's very committed to the cause both when asked to play, and even being on the bench - I actually think this is the reason our team togetherness and bond is so strong, because even for the players who do not necessarily play each week, they are still eager to play their part and be happy for us when we're doing well. Credit to Pearson for creating this squad bond and to Ranieri for continuing it on.

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Guest LCFC_World

Guest LCFC_World

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Was there a picture of King wearing the premier league crown? (Like Claudio did)

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Tuna

Tuna

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Nice interview with King in the Mail.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3589633/Boyhood-Chelsea-fan-Andy-King-reflects-Leicester-s-fairytale-ve-pinch-moments-m-starting-sore.html

 

Boyhood Chelsea fan Andy King reflects on Leicester's fairytale: 'I've had so many pinch me moments I'm starting to get sore'

As a ball boy at Chelsea 12 years ago, Andy King used to pray for a position just behind the goal. 'If you got stationed there then you knew you might get your head on Match of the Day,' King recalled with a smile this week.

 

On Sunday, back at Stamford Bridge, King will get his head on Match of the Day. He's back at his boyhood club with Leicester City, back as a Barclays Premier League champion. There will be a guard of honour from the deposed champions for the new ones. It will be another surreal day in a surreal season. 'I had my winner's medal on for about 48 hours straight but I have finally taken it off now,' said King. 'It has a couple of chips on it already where I've bashed it. I think I whacked it on the table at a party. 'Getting that medal, getting the trophy, last Saturday was the best day of my life. But this weekend will be special too.'

 

King was on Chelsea's books as a kid. A talented, rangy midfielder with an eye for a goal and a good attitude. Back then the first-team manager was Claudio Ranieri. King never made it. Nor, ultimately, did Ranieri. 'It was the start of the (Roman) Abramovich era and they said it wasn't good enough to be the best lad in London or even England any more,' he said. 'You had to be the best in Europe and they said they would be looking for someone else in my position. I took it on the chin. I could see it. They only kept three or four. I only have good memories from Chelsea but it's nice to go back as a Premier League champion to a club that kicked you out at 16. 'The manager is probably more keen to rub salt in the wounds than I am. The young players would be ball boys so I was always sitting near to Claudio or across the other side from him. 'I saw a lot of him. He used to be a lot more animated then. It is strange having watched him give out tactics and now it's turned full circle for him and for me.'

 

Ranieri has travelled widely in his own quest for glory. King, on the other hand, is a guy who bookends Leicester's incredible rise from League One to the very top of the English game. The 27-year-old was picked up by Leicester after his Chelsea disappointment and has been with the club ever since. He was in the team the night a 3-2 defeat at Brighton in October 2008 dropped them to sixth in League One, Leicester's lowest ever league position. And he played in the 3-0 win at Newcastle last November when Leicester moved to the top of the Premier League for the first time since the opening days of the season. 'I remember the game at Brighton clearly,' he said. 'We had been relegated from the Championship the season before and were fancied to come back up.

 

'It was a horrible night at the Withdean. We were 2-0 up at half-time and lost 3-2. It was shocking. Nigel Pearson kept us in the changing rooms afterwards for an hour and totally lost it. It was frightening. He just went mad. 'It was basically a Portakabin and you could hear all the fans outside. I was planning on staying down and seeing my family but he had us back up the road and we were in the next day. The bus home was very bad.

'It's stuff like this that makes you realise you are lucky and I have been everywhere in between then and now, haven't I? 'When we beat Newcastle this season to go top, it was great. But to be honest we just thought it was a long way down from there to be relegated...'

 

According to those who know these things, King is fundamental to the modern Leicester. 'He doesn't play every week but if you want something sorted, you ask Andy,' said a member of Ranieri's staff this week. 'Everyone respects him. Leicester wouldn't be the same without Andy King.' 

This week at the club's sunny training ground, King was lively company. He was early for our meeting - that never happens in football - and immediately offered to get the tea in. He has much to look forward to this summer - he will go to Euro 2016 with Wales - and next season when he will play in the Champions League for the first time. 'That will be another "pinch me" moment,' he laughed. 'I am starting to get sore.' King knows how football works, though. 

 

He has made almost 300 league appearances for Leicester since his debut in 2007. He has worked for seven managers (including Pearson twice) and experienced enough relegation and play-off heartbreak to know how quickly the circle can turn. In 2010, for example, Pearson's Leicester lost a play-off semi-final to Cardiff on penalties. King thought things wouldn't get any worse than that.  He was wrong. 'That presumption went out of the window three years later,' he recalled.  'We played Watford at Vicarage Road in the 2013 semi and had a 95th-minute penalty to go to the final. We missed and they went up the other end and scored. We had lost. We were stuck on the pitch as the fans poured on. They closed the tunnel and we couldn't get off. It was an absolute nightmare.  'I went outside afterwards and saw mum and dad and just started crying. I was intact until I saw them but then I lost it. I was just like, 'When is it gonna happen for me?'  'I always thought I would play in the Premier League but as each season goes by you do start to wonder. I'm sure someone like Wes (Morgan) would say the same. It starts to get to you. Gary Megson gave me my debut when I was 18. I have never been as happy after a 0-0 as I was that night. 'It's then that you realise you can play at that level. We played at Sheffield Wednesday the next weekend and won 2-0 and I was like, 'What's the big deal about this?'  'At that stage you are happy after you have played once as you then think that you will always get a game somewhere and that you will always be a professional footballer.  That's a great feeling. You don't really understand the reality of what it will be like further down the road. You think it's easy, straightforward.  'But then you get relegated and it's a long way to the Premier League and you start to wonder. Then nights like the Watford one just crush you but ultimately that night was character building for us. It gives you that "nothing can break us" feeling because that's a harsh way to lose a game. That's as low as it goes.  'We have a lot of players still here from that night. You don't think about it that much any more but it's always there in the back of your mind, telling you that you never want to be in that position again. 'These things build team spirit and togetherness. This is a club that doesn't crumble.  'We heard all the things people said this season. We knew people didn't think we could do it but, no, we don't crumble. We are strong and we deserve credit for that.' 

 

When Leicester's 2015-16 season is recalled, names like Ranieri and Jamie Vardy will stand out. It has been the collective that has got Leicester over the line, though, as anyone who witnessed the team's response to Vardy's late suspension will testify.  King has started only eight league games but has appeared as a substitute on a further 16 occasions. During last weekend's celebration victory over Everton at the King Power, he scored. 

'The fans wanted me to score because of my story with the club,' he smiled. 'I had one really good chance and headed it straight to the goalie. I thought that was it. Luckily I got another chance and I wasn't going to miss.'

 

The life of a fringe player can be challenging, more so if you have done so much to grow the club. King isn't having it, though. 'There is no culture here of players on the fringes not really bothering,' he said.  'There is no better feeling than playing 90 minutes and winning but the fact that we were up there - after all those horrible experiences I talked about - is what makes you happy and keeps you satisfied and keeps you pushing forwards. 

'It's down to you to take that chance when you get it and now we have a winner's medal round our necks and that's brilliant whether you have played five times or 38 times. Nobody can take that away from you.  'This isn't just my attitude. I think 80 per cent of players in football have that attitude but I can say here at Leicester that 100 per cent of the players have that attitude. It's fundamental. We are team-mates and good friends here. You saw that at the Vards party.'  The party to which King refers almost wasn't a party at all, of course. With the first-team squad gathered at their centre forward's house to see if Tottenham would falter at Chelsea and hand them the title, things were not going great with their rivals 2-0 up at half-time. 

 

'We arrived totally buzzing, thinking, "Could this be the night that it happens?"' he said. 'Then at half-time, it was like, "You got any water, Vards? We have training tomorrow".' It was gonna be, "See you in the morning".' Nobody actually left at half-time but I think we might have. We stayed because there were people outside and it would have looked so bad being photographed going in and then sneaking away at half-time.  'After the (Gary) Cahill goal we knew Chelsea would get another chance. It got nasty after that. Chelsea were in their faces and Tottenham lost their cool, understandably. Then (Eden) Hazard. What a goal. The place just went mad.' 

 

So on Saturday it's back to west London and the end of an incredible journey, for Leicester and for a likeable midfielder who can no longer be described as a journeyman. In London back in March, King and a small group of Leicester players were refused entry to a Mayfair nightclub after a win at Watford. A group of Tottenham players walked in as the league leaders were asked to stand aside. It may be different in the capital on Saturday evening. 'I didn't think anything of it,' King smiled. 'We just got in the taxi and went home. I know loads of people who don't get in nightclubs. It's happened to me before. 'What do you do? Hang around on the street corner? Course not.  'We laugh about it and still get some stick for it now. If any of us had said, "Do you know who I am?" 'that player would have been bantered for it here for years on end. So I'm glad nobody said it. It's not in our character to say that anyway. 'But maybe we will go back and try again this weekend after Chelsea.' For identification, Andy King could always take his Premier League winner's medal.


 
 

 

 

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Corky

Corky

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I really think more should be made of players like him. All the negative press that Vardy and Simpson get is fair enough but the likes of King and James who are polite, professional lads who work hard and just get on with their jobs deserve credit and attention too.

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Finnaldo

Finnaldo

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The man can do no wrong. Not only is he a one club man, but he's just a thoroughly good bloke. Even Gerrard (the Chelsea move issue) and Giggs (cheating scandal) and the like had issues in and away from football that affected their reputation. Kingy's a model pro, loyal to the bone and one of the nicest guys you could meet. It's a shame role models like him are cast aside media wise in the modern game. Not enough controversy to taint him with I suppose.

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davieG

davieG

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Seems to be getting a bit of well deserved attention but mainly due to his Chelsea link.

 

King ready for special Chelsea return with champions Leicester

 

Andy King and Claudio Ranieri were both victims of the Roman Abramovich era at Chelsea but return as champions with Leicester on Sunday.

Former Chelsea ball boy Andy King is relishing his return to Stamford Bridge as a Premier League champion with Leicester City.

Wales international midfielder King came through the youth ranks at Chelsea but was released as a 16-year-old as the club leapt into the Roman Abramovich era – a change of ownership that ultimately ended Claudio Ranieri's spell as manager.

Ranieri's redemption story as the mastermind of Leicester's title charge has been well-documented but King will also enjoy particular satisfaction when he and his team-mates are granted a guard of honour ahead of Sunday's final match of the season in west London.

"Getting that medal, getting the trophy, last Saturday was the best day of my life," said King, who scored in a convincing win over Everton last time out, in an interview with the Daily Mail. "But this weekend will be special too."

Reflecting on his time at Chelsea, he said: 'It was the start of the Abramovich era and they said it wasn't good enough to be the best lad in London or even England any more.

"You had to be the best in Europe and they said they would be looking for someone else in my position.

"I took it on the chin. I could see it. They only kept three or four.

"I only have good memories from Chelsea but it's nice to go back as a Premier League champion to a club that kicked you out at 16."

Despite his jovial public persona, the gravity of Sunday's occasion will not be lost on Ranieri according to King, who has seen his manager become calmer with age.

"The manager is probably more keen to rub salt in the wounds than I am," he said. "The young players would be ball boys so I was always sitting near to Claudio or across the other side from him. 

"I saw a lot of him. He used to be a lot more animated then. It is strange, having watched him give out tactics, and now it's turned full circle for him and for me."

Read more at http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/king-ready-special-chelsea-return-champions-leicester#6Tixrw6K67zDxRJ6.99

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