I know its the "Fail", but its states according to Harry, Ledders needs to play at least 20 games to get a contract for next season. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...admits-Spurs-boss-Redknapp.html#ixzz1XWq80nog We all love "the King" ,but I think his time is drawing to an end. Thought?
Lets hope Ledders can overcome his injuries and contribute at least half a season, we are so much better when he plays and he is one of our few world class performers. If he has another injury blighted season he should be offered a pay as you play deal (if we can afford to use a squad place on such a player), I would hate to see a Spurs legend like King go and play elsewhere... he should finish his playing days with Spurs.
Being the only current squad player who regularly features among our top 20 all-time legends, it's perfectly clear to everyone just how much he means to us fans. My hope is that he is able to continue playing every other game for us, for at least another couple of seasons, and then retire to a coaching role at the club. I'd hate for him to over-do it and end up causing himself a lasting, crippling injury.
If it is his last season on the playing staff, lets hope he wants to go out on top. One thing though, as he doesn't train, what would he be like as a coach???
With all of the furore recently about a lack of non-white football managers, I wonder if King would consider going down that route? If Redknapp goes at the end of the season, then bringing in a highly experienced coach and installing King as part of his staff, with a view to taking over at some point in the future, might be an idea. He seems to have an excellent understanding of the game and he's been the captain and defensive organiser at Spurs for years, so I'm sure his leadership and ability to command respect are well up to scratch.
PNP an excellent post, why not start him gradually this season,and get him to start gaining his fa qualifications.
Will King want to retire as a player at the end of the season though? If we don't give him a new deal then i'm sure there are some clubs that would take a risk on him.
Hopefully he will realise that his knees really aren't up to it, and we'll make him a bloody good offer to come upstairs
You could say all the same things about Tony Adams, yet he did not take to management at all successfully. It's a nice idea but I'm not sure there's really anything to suggest he has what it takes to manage a Premier League club, though.
A little info about Adams which below is why I will never compare our Ledley to him. Despite this success, a battle with alcoholism, which started in the mid-1980s, increasingly blighted his life as he was reportedly often involved in fights in nightclubs. On 6 May 1990, Adams crashed his Ford Sierra into a wall near his house in Southend-on-Sea, and when breathalysed he was found to be more than 27 times over the legal drink-drive limit. On 19 December that year, at Southend Crown Court,he was imprisoned for four months (being freed after half of his sentence on 15 February 1991) but after being released, his alcoholism continued and he was involved in further alcohol-related incidents, including playing through a match during the 1993–94 season despite being drunk, falling down stairs and needing 29 stitches to a head wound when drunk, and letting off fire extinguishers and firing a flare gun into a disabled lavatory with team-mate Ray Parlour at Pizza Hut in Hornchurch, Essex where they were being taunted by supporters of rival clubs. Finally, on 14 September 1996, Adams admitted to the public that he was an alcoholic and, after seeking treatment, found a more sensitive side to his character emerging, which included a return to education and an attempt to learn the piano. He became one of the most high-profile recovering alcoholics in the UK.
No argument from me on the latter remark. However not many top footballers become successful managers. There's a huge difference between being able to read the play well on the pitch and understanding how to manipulate tactics to your advantage. There's not question King has football smarts but knowing when to close down, timing tackles and reading a pass are largely irrelevant in management and I've seen no other signs of him being particularly intelligent, to be honest. It could happen but it's no more likely than King Kenny bringing back the glory days for 'pool.
I cannot honestly see Ledley as a manager. He seems to shun the limelight and is uneasy in front of the camera. Like it or not it is a key part of the job. Maybe a coaching job, but the man in the spotlight? Can't really see it.
He could just play it like Dalglish does at Liverpool and refuse to discuss anything that doesn't concern his own club, Chirpy. Might be an idea for Redknapp to start doing that, too... I'm sure you can have media lessons nowdays as well, so that'd help. Not sure why clubs don't see fit to do it for most players, especially their high-profile ones. The agents should, if the clubs don't.
