King could of been one of the all time great defenders, if he never had injury problems, he was that good.
/
And of course he is better than Sol Campbell.
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REDKNAPP'S RECORD WITHOUT KING
GAMES PLAYED ----- 99
GOALS CONCEDED ----- 124
AV. GOALS CONCEDED PER GAME ----- 1.25
GAMES WON ----- 33
WIN PERCENTAGE ----- 33.3%
REDKNAPP'S RECORD WITH KING
GAMES PLAYED ----- 56
GOALS CONCEDED ----- 56
AV. GOALS CONCEDED PER GAME ----- 1.00
GAMES WON ----- 42
WIN PERCENTAGE ----- 75%
disgusting stats.
EXCLUSIVE
By Greg Stobart
It is heart-wrenching for Ledley King to talk about his dreaded knee, to ponder what might have been had he been injury-free throughout his career.
The Tottenham captain would rather talk solely about football but knows it cannot be ignored. For most of the last five years, he has not been able to train with his team-mates during the week because he has no cartilage in one knee, meaning bone grinds on bone with every movement. It hurts.
With three Premier League games in a row under his belt – all of which have been Tottenham victories – King is in bullish mood as he explains why he believes he can continue to astound with the quality of his performances for the north Londoners.
“I think I've become mentally strong and that's why I can play well without training,” he tells Goal.com. “I realise I'm not as fit as other players who train regularly but when you're in my position you have to get stronger in other areas.
“I'm constantly telling myself during matches that I'm fine and pushing through barriers. That's what it's become for me. I get through games at 60 or 70 per cent. I don't feel very good out there.
“Players like myself, Owen Hargreaves, Jonathan Woodgate and Kieron Dyer – we've had trouble over the years and I'm sure we all think the same thing. It can be really tough to be away from the rest of the lads for long periods. You need to have good people around you and to be mentally strong. You have to always believe there is a way around it.
“I love football. My love of the game keeps me motivated. It can be tough, any footballer will tell you. It's difficult being away from the pitch and your team-mates. My love and desire to play football at the top level drives me back.”
King may come across as a shy character but there is extra steel between his eyes these days. Now 30, you get the impression that King does indeed realise how good he is; he understands the role he can still play as Spurs push for a top-four finish this season.
Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, describes King as “a freak”. Redknapp was astonished when he learned about the severity of his captain's injury when he took over from Juande Ramos in October 2008. He was even more surprised that King could slot into the side after months on the touchline and regularly claim the man-of-the-match award.
On Sunday, Spurs enter the north London derby as favourites in the eyes of supporters and bookmakers alike. King will play, but only after he joins his team-mates on Saturday for the first time in six days to test his knee and run through some tactical scenarios.
King is revered at Tottenham, a one-club man and a bona fide leader whom everyone looks up to, from the kids in the Academy to Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart. He considers himself a leader.
“[Emmanuel] Adebayor is going to want to do well against his old club but it's important for us and the staff to make sure he keeps a cool head,” King explains, conscious of the Togolese striker's infamous knee-slide celebration in front of the Arsenal fans after scoring against the Gunners for Manchester City. “There will be a lot of attention on him and we don't want him being caught up in the moment. He needs to let his football do the talking.
“I know this game better than most players who will be out there on Sunday. There is an extra spice. When the Barclays Premier League fixtures are announced, it's the first fixture Arsenal and Tottenham fans look out for.
“We feel we can win any game by going out and attacking, putting other teams on the back foot. Whether or not we're favourites, we have our style of play and that's what we will look to do against Arsenal.”
The gameplan at White Hart Lane on Sunday will be mapped out by Redknapp, a man King feels indebted to for the loyalty he has shown. King knows another manager may have lost patience, could have decided that a part-time centre-back was no good for the club's progress.
“A lot of managers could have turned their back on me in that situation but he's supported me all the way,” King says of Redknapp, genuinely feeling affection for his boss. “It's not been an easy time for me.”
The Spurs manager says he never sees King because the former England international spends the whole week working on his own, hoping the swelling on his knee calms down enough for him to make the weekend fixture.
Some people within the game feel that, without his injury problems, King could have earned dozens more caps for England and at one stage Jose Mourinho was desperate to take him to Chelsea.
King, though, goes back to his mental strength. Of course he thinks about what might have been, but he is happy with his lot, content to play in the Barclays Premier League as much as possible and drive Tottenham towards the Champions League.
“I used to wonder what my career could have been like if it wasn't for the knee,” he continues. “I think I've now accepted I will never have two great knees. It's not perfect but it's still fair.
“It's not a case of thinking what I could have achieved, more how I could have been as a player if I was 100 per cent and my knees were OK. I've had to accept what I've got and I don't think that's too bad.”
Not too bad at all. Tottenham are an infinitely better side when King is fit and despite all his injury problems he is guaranteed to start when he feels up to it. It doesn't matter who else is fit, what the score was the previous week – Redknapp will happily throw King into the mix even when he has been out for six months.
Redknapp, however, has warned King that he needs to play at least 20 games this season if he wants a new contract when his current deal expires next summer.
And now there is an elephant in the room: retirement. Some medics have told King that, by continuing to play, he is doing long-term damage to his knees. For years he has had to deal with rumours that he may be forced to quit the game but his experiences mean he takes a pragmatic, step-by-step approach to his future.
“In my situation you can't look too long-term,” King admits. “There is nothing I can do other than stay fit and play well when I can.
“It's a big season but let's see where I am next May. I have to focus on playing games, that is the only answer.”
The answer will be on the pitch when Spurs play Arsenal on Sunday.
Woodgate as well.
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Coys
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Yiddo!!!
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Smh
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London 2012: West Ham Olympic Stadium deal collapsesThe deal to award West Ham the Olympic Stadium after the London 2012 Games has collapsed, the BBC can disclose.
The board of the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) has ended negotiations amid concerns over delays caused by the ongoing legal dispute with Tottenham.
The OPLC, government and Mayor of London have instead agreed the stadium will remain in public ownership.
A new tender process will be opened for an anchor tenant who will now lease the stadium for an annual rent.
It is understood West Ham will be bidding to become the tenant at the stadium.
The new tender process will be launched this week and any interested bidders will have to submit proposals by January.
Strained finances
A fund of £50m has been set aside from public money to convert the 80,000-capacity stadium at Games time to a 60,000-seater venue afterwards.
Both Tottenham and Leyton Orient launched a legal challenge against the original decision to award the stadium to West Ham.
Following the collapse of the negotiations, Leyton Orient's chairman Barry Hearn said: "This represents a total victory for Leyton Orient football club and we are delighted."
The post-Games stadium will be capable of hosting major athletics events and Premier League football.
That opens the possibility for Championship football club West Ham and their bid partner Newham Council to submit a new, lower risk proposal which could still see them move in after London 2012.
Continue reading the main story
London 2012 - Begin your journey here
London view
London 2012: Latest Olympic news, sport, features and programmes from the BBC
In pictures: The London 2012 Olympic Park
With West Ham's finances under strain following their relegation from the Premier League last season, the new arrangement could be much more attractive as it would only cost around £2m a year to lease the stadium.
That money will help offset estimated running costs of more than £5m a year.
The OPLC has decided to take drastic action because of the uncertainty being caused by the legal challenges from Tottenham but also Leyton Orient.
Both clubs are contesting the original decision to award the stadium to West Ham because of their reliance on a £40m loan from Newham Council, which they say is effectively state aid.
Spurs are seeking a judicial review of the decision and the next hearing at the High Court was due to be held next Tuesday.
But to complicate matters further, an anonymous complaint was made to the European Commission last week which could have meant even further delays.
And despite London Mayor Boris Johnson's ultimatum to Spurs last week to settle the dispute before next Tuesday and accept a funding package to help redevelop their White Hart Lane ground, the OPLC had lost confidence in a quick resolution.
Public money
The clock is ticking for the OPLC because it has set a deadline of 2014 for the new tenants of the stadium to move in.
For that to happen, planning permission must be submitted by March 2012 to ensure work starts immediately after the Games.
James Pearce toured the stadium as it neared completion in February 2011
The prospect of a never-ending battle in the courts raised fears that the stadium could lie idle for years after the Olympics had finished.
The other catalyst for the U-turn is London's bid for the 2017 World Athletics Championships.
Last week's visit of the inspection team from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was dominated by the continuing uncertainty over the stadium's future and, in particular, the running track.
With London facing a real contest against Doha in November's vote, the government and mayor wanted to send a strong message to the IAAF that they are committed to staging the event in the Olympic Stadium.
Following the latest development Ed Warner, chair of the UK Athletics board, said: "I think this is a bold and decisive move by the legacy company, supported obviously by the mayor and the Government.
"It means that the stadium will open for athletics in the summer of 2014, which was always the plan."
But the latest twist to the controversial saga will raise serious questions about how such an important decision could be thrown back into confusion with just 10 months to go to the Games.
There will also be concerns over why another £50m of public money is going to be poured into a stadium which has already cost over £500m.
Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, said he was "very disappointed" by the new decision on the stadium but believed West Ham's plans were "much more focused" than others.
YES!
Olympic Stadium
11 October 2011
Share
We welcome the OPLC decision to end the current Olympic Stadium bid process. We firmly believe that the bid we put forward was, in fact, a realistic sporting solution for the stadium, along with a substantial return to the taxpayer, community programming and athletics provision.
London 2012: West Ham Olympic Stadium deal collapsesThe deal to award West Ham the Olympic Stadium after the London 2012 Games has collapsed, the BBC can disclose.
The board of the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) has ended negotiations amid concerns over delays caused by the ongoing legal dispute with Tottenham.
The OPLC, government and Mayor of London have instead agreed the stadium will remain in public ownership.
A new tender process will be opened for an anchor tenant who will now lease the stadium for an annual rent.
It is understood West Ham will be bidding to become the tenant at the stadium.
The new tender process will be launched this week and any interested bidders will have to submit proposals by January.
Strained finances
A fund of £50m has been set aside from public money to convert the 80,000-capacity stadium at Games time to a 60,000-seater venue afterwards.
Both Tottenham and Leyton Orient launched a legal challenge against the original decision to award the stadium to West Ham.
Following the collapse of the negotiations, Leyton Orient's chairman Barry Hearn said: "This represents a total victory for Leyton Orient football club and we are delighted."
The post-Games stadium will be capable of hosting major athletics events and Premier League football.
That opens the possibility for Championship football club West Ham and their bid partner Newham Council to submit a new, lower risk proposal which could still see them move in after London 2012.
Continue reading the main story
London 2012 - Begin your journey here
London view
London 2012: Latest Olympic news, sport, features and programmes from the BBC
In pictures: The London 2012 Olympic Park
With West Ham's finances under strain following their relegation from the Premier League last season, the new arrangement could be much more attractive as it would only cost around £2m a year to lease the stadium.
That money will help offset estimated running costs of more than £5m a year.
The OPLC has decided to take drastic action because of the uncertainty being caused by the legal challenges from Tottenham but also Leyton Orient.
Both clubs are contesting the original decision to award the stadium to West Ham because of their reliance on a £40m loan from Newham Council, which they say is effectively state aid.
Spurs are seeking a judicial review of the decision and the next hearing at the High Court was due to be held next Tuesday.
But to complicate matters further, an anonymous complaint was made to the European Commission last week which could have meant even further delays.
And despite London Mayor Boris Johnson's ultimatum to Spurs last week to settle the dispute before next Tuesday and accept a funding package to help redevelop their White Hart Lane ground, the OPLC had lost confidence in a quick resolution.
Public money
The clock is ticking for the OPLC because it has set a deadline of 2014 for the new tenants of the stadium to move in.
For that to happen, planning permission must be submitted by March 2012 to ensure work starts immediately after the Games.
James Pearce toured the stadium as it neared completion in February 2011
The prospect of a never-ending battle in the courts raised fears that the stadium could lie idle for years after the Olympics had finished.
The other catalyst for the U-turn is London's bid for the 2017 World Athletics Championships.
Last week's visit of the inspection team from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was dominated by the continuing uncertainty over the stadium's future and, in particular, the running track.
With London facing a real contest against Doha in November's vote, the government and mayor wanted to send a strong message to the IAAF that they are committed to staging the event in the Olympic Stadium.
Following the latest development Ed Warner, chair of the UK Athletics board, said: "I think this is a bold and decisive move by the legacy company, supported obviously by the mayor and the Government.
"It means that the stadium will open for athletics in the summer of 2014, which was always the plan."
But the latest twist to the controversial saga will raise serious questions about how such an important decision could be thrown back into confusion with just 10 months to go to the Games.
There will also be concerns over why another £50m of public money is going to be poured into a stadium which has already cost over £500m.
Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, said he was "very disappointed" by the new decision on the stadium but believed West Ham's plans were "much more focused" than others.
YES!
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Tottenham has no interest in renting Olympic Stadium as it presses ahead with redeveloping White Hart LaneTottenham will tell Olympic chiefs that it has no plans to lease the Olympic Stadium after West Ham’s deal to permanently take over the Stratford venue collapsed.
Spurs are working 'flat out' on redeveloping White Hart Lane and have 'no interest' in renting the 2012 arena after next summer’s Games.
Goal.com understands that the Northumberland Development Project (NDP), which will be built adjacent to Spurs’ historic home, remains the club’s priority because there are less financial benefits in renting the Olympic Stadium and they do not want to retain the running track, a key part of the legacy aspect of London's successful bid.
Spurs, who proposed knocking down most of the stadium and building a 60,000-capacity, football-only venue, lost out to West Ham as the preferred bidder in February.
But the announcement by the Government on Tuesday that it had pulled the plug on the deal for West Ham and Newham Council to take on the 559 million euros venue next year, and that it will be rented out to the winner of a new bidding process will not affect Spurs’ plans.
“Financial benefits are greatly reduced from renting, Spurs wouldn’t be interested, the club have no interest in Stratford and there hasn’t been for ages. They are working flat out on NDP.”
The Government said it had called off West Ham’s deal after legal challenges by Tottenham and Leyton Orient, plus an anonymous complaint to the European Commission, led to fears that court action could drag on for years while the stadium remained empty.
However, Tottenham did not drop its judicial review of the initial award of the stadium to West Ham because the OPLC failed to provide guarantees that the east Londoners would have to lock in the running track in the stadium forever.
West Ham’s owners were committed to retaining the track — the major reason they were selected ahead of Spurs to occupy the stadium — but the north Londoners were adamant that their rivals should not be able to rip it out to make the stadium more suitable for watching football.
London mayor Boris Johnson had threatened to withdraw an offer of 20 million euros of public support to Tottenham’s new stadium development at White Hart Lane but Goal.com understands that this bid is deemed acceptable by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and he is unlikely to press for further state aid.
It is likely that under the new tender process any costs of transforming the stadium after the 2012 Games will be covered by the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC).
Prospective tenants will then be asked to bid for the stadium with the running track remaining in place.
The tenants would pay an annual rent to the OPLC which could actually prove to be less costly for the likes of West Ham, who have already announced that they will bid to become tenants.
Johnson insisted the stadium would not become a burden to the taxpayer.
The London Mayor said, “I am confident that this decision is the best way to ensure we have certainty over the stadium's future.
“I believe it will also put us in the place where we always intended to be - delivering a lasting sustainable legacy for the stadium backed up by a robust but flexible business plan that provides a very good return to the taxpayer.”
Sports minister Hugh Robertson added: “The key point is the action we have taken today is about removing the uncertainty. The process had become bogged down in legal paralysis.
“Particularly relevant has been the anonymous complaint to the EC over 'state aid' and the OPLC received a letter from Newham Council yesterday saying because of the uncertainty they no longer wanted to proceed.
“That was the straw that broke the camel's back and we thought it better to stop it dead in its tracks now. We know there is huge interest in the stadium out there from private operators and football clubs and crucially we remove any uncertainty."
YES!
Unlucky lads.
With the announcement that the running track will remain for 125 years there is ABSOLUTELY ZERO chance of THFC under Levy moving to the OS.
Sports Illustrated article on Ledders...
Besides Wayne Rooney's renascent petulance, the central narrative in England's Euro 2012 qualification campaign has been the rejuvenation of Fabio Capello's squad; piecemeal, certainly, but we are witnessing a changing of the guard of sorts. Particularly in defense, where a number of players -- Chris Smalling, Gary Cahill, Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Micah Richards and Kyle Walker -- look more or less viable alternatives to the incumbents and where Phil Jones has already shown himself comfortably capable of replacing his perpetually injured Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand -- so much so that Ferdinand's future at international level has been called in to question. Yet speaking to the Tottenham defender Ledley King a short while before England's 2-2 draw with Montenegro, international football seems an anomalous topic of conversation, a diversion too far on a tight schedule. Which is odd when you consider that he is two years younger than Ferdinand, and arguably the finest English central defender since Bobby Moore.The modern game is laced with nonsense realities, but few feel as discomfiting as the fact that King, who turns 31 on Tuesday, is playing for a new deal in the summer. The Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is not being exactly tyrannical in suggesting that he will have to let his captain go unless he makes at least 20 appearances this season (King made nine last season, when a recurrence of the groin injury that scuppered his 2010 World Cup kept him out for seven months), but King can -- and frequently does -- make a difference to Spurs when palpably unfit. He has admitted that playing is agony, and that he has rarely felt better than 70 percent on the pitch, yet still, he is determined to win a new contract at the club he joined as a teenager. As he lumbered up the pitch in support of Jermain Defoe in the last 10 minutes of the recent north London derby, struggling back even more slowly, you wondered whether it could be a coincidence that he had summoned such determination against Arsenal.
"It's a big season for me," he tells SI.com, delighted for now to be starting -- and finishing -- games on a weekly basis. "It's a big season for the club, we want to get back in to the Champions League, and for me personally, having missed the whole of preseason. I feel good." It is certainly not coincidence that King's return to something resembling fitness has accompanied the upturn in Tottenham's season; the simultaneous signings of Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor clearly remodeled Redknapp's side for the better, but King's presence is a charm. The manager has won 75 percent of the matches that King has featured in, and 33 percent of those he has not. No wonder Redknapp has recently been quoted as saying that Ledley King is "the most amazing player I've ever seen."
King broke in to Tottenham's first team at 18, during George Graham's spell in the dugout. "I was just a kid that wanted to play football, and he gave me that opportunity," says King. "He was a good person, he was very defense orientated and he was a big help for me." It was in a defensive midfield position, however, that Graham introduced King, and he would switch between that and a central defensive post several times before settling in to the latter during the 2004/05 season, which started with Jacques Santini's brief tenure at White Hart Lane and ended with Martin Jol having made King the club captain. His consistently impressive performances that season and the next -- blending the departed Sol Campbell's doggedness with pace, a slightly more cerebral grace and a Moore-esque sense of anticipation -- had Spurs fans crowing like cockerels. King looked a natural successor to the England captaincy (Jol later said that King was more talented than every other central defender in the country). And then he hurt his knee.
Having played 74 games in two seasons for Tottenham, he played 96 in the next five, returning repeatedly to surgeons who quickly began to run out of Plan Bs. "I hope I'm due a bit of luck with my fitness," he says now, having just played four in a row for the first time since the end of the 2009/10 season. King is poised to start a fifth consecutive league fixture against Newcastle on Sunday, and you have to go back another year, to 2008/09, to find the last time he managed five in a row. "The last three or four years have been tough; I've felt a bit like I'm on the rebound, back in, back out, but I just keep going. Every time I have had a setback, I've just tried to work as hard as possible. Until I feel that I can't perform at the highest level, I'll always continue to try to work hard to try to stay there."
King idolizes the former Manchester United and Aston Villa defender Paul McGrath, who spent 15 years in the top flight and eventually retired at 39 despite numerous operations that left his knees knotted with scars and prevented him from training; in the end, his warmup routine consisted of a soak in the bath. When I ask King what he'd do with a week off without any obligations (secretly hoping to uncover a quiet dedication to Airfix, or time spent trawling eBay for Rococo ornaments, maybe), he focuses on what he could do to help his return to the team. "A few days away in the sun somewhere would recharge the batteries -- then you can come back and have another push," he says, staying deadly serious, "I have to do the right things." Unlike 99 percent of Premier League players, King doesn't play golf. "I probably will play, when I finish, but at the moment I don't do anything too strenuous. I can't afford to. I can't play tennis because I get carried away; I'd rather not play than try to play at 50 percent." Even a kickabout in the back garden with his son is a rare treat.
There are those who feel, reluctantly, even guiltily, that the Spurs back line would benefit from choosing a central defensive partnership and sticking with it, rather than operating a system in which King is reinstated alongside A N Other whenever he is fit. Yet there are plenty of others for whom King is a bit like a your best china: always worth keeping, no matter how rarely it comes out of the sideboard, because when it does, you feel like royalty. They will wait for the player to name his last game. When King does hang up his boots -- and he has hinted he might at the end of this season, if there is to be no new contract at Spurs -- there is the possibility that he will stay in the game, behind the scenes. "I'd like to do my badges and give myself the opportunity to be a coach," he says. "It's something that, the older I've got, the more I've thought about." If he stays in north London, he could guide young defenders such as Steven Caulker, currently on loan at Swansea City. It's a mouthwatering prospect for Tottenham supporters.
"If I had the chance to speak to my 18-year-old self, I'd probably tell him that it goes so quick, to really make the most of it, work hard, and enjoy it," he adds, musing on the changes he has seen in the game in the last decade or so and the wisdom he could offer. "A lot of the older players at the time had told me that it slides by, but at 18 you don't worry about it. You think, 'Oh, I've got plenty of time', but it really does fly by." King is not so much rueful as amazed that the time for such questions -- about retirement, the future, life after football -- really could have come already. In the last five years his chase for fitness, for a run in the team, has rendered "when Ledley King is fit" an utterance loaded with promise; his later career has imitated a young player's existence. Can it really be 10 years since that Monday night at Goodison Park when King, newly appointed in Glenn Hoddle's Tottenham back line alongside Goran Bunjevcevic, seemed to intercept every ball that Everton launched in Duncan Ferguson's direction? "It's over in the blink of an eye."
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good read, apart from "There are those who feel, reluctantly, even guiltily, that the Spurs back line would benefit from choosing a central defensive partnership and sticking with it,"
if kings fit he plays, dont care about any other partnership we could play because they will never be as good as a defence with king in it.
COYS
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what you rekon for the weekend tulse lad??
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benny >>>>>>>>
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Rsonist
Ended arsenal
BAE>
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Young £
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Da Luv Doc
Sol Needs to come back to the prem.
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King is sick, it is a shame about his knees, made people under rate him due to the injuries. Guys much better than Terry.
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