JAMIE VARDY HAS A GARDEN PARTY
Rodgers: He’s been growing veg.. but I want him to give me a bunch of GOALS
GREEN-FINGERED Jamie Vardy is out to show he is the brightest late bloomer of them all.
The Leicester hitman bids to join the Premier League’s 100 club at Watford today. The 33-year-old has been stuck on 99 goals all through lockdown and has found the perfect way to take his mind off his holy grail.. gardening.
Today Vardy steps out of the veg patch desperate to clinch his century. Not bad for a player who made his first topflight appearance only six years ago.
Foxes manager Brendan Rodgers (left) has praised his remarkable goal machine,
saying he is showing no signs of opting for The Good Life just yet.
Rodgers said Vardy had spent the spring break bunching radishes but it’s a bunch of something else he wants most from his King Power striker. “All I want from him is a bunch of goals,” said Rodgers. “He’ll go well beyond the hundred. He’s super-fit, super-fast and enjoying every minute of it. His story is absolutely phenomenal when you think he was playing non-league football at 25 and didn’t have his first game at the top level until he was 27. It’s remarkable and shows the talent and drive he has.
“He’s inspirational in our changing room. So focused, a brilliant pro.”
Watford boss Nigel Pearson won’t need reminding just how good Vardy is – he shattered the transfer record for a a non-league player when he handed over a £1million cheque to Fleetwood in 2012. Rodgers said: “Nigel is the one who signed him. He took him out of non-league for a fee that clubs must have baulked at. I’m sure he’s looking forward to seeing him.”
There’s plenty on the game - it’s the first time Pearson has come up against Leicester since they fired him five years ago. The Foxes are third in the table, trying to nail down a Champions
League spot, while Watford are fighting relegation.
Rodgers added: “This is the really exciting part and we have to make sure we concentrate and show that desire we had before the break. The players can go out and enjoy it. With there being no fans in, it’s almost as pure a game as you can play. It will just be like when they were playing at youth level.”