I HALTED VARDY’S IBIZA PARTY
Foxes chief helped shape hitman’s career
CRAIG SHAKESPEARE says he persuaded Jamie Vardy to cancel his Ibiza party by promising to make him an England star.
The Leicester boss helped talk Vardy out of quitting football and escaping to the Spanish party island.
Now he hopes the England hitman can repay the favour by helping the Foxes complete their survival mission.
Shakespeare convinced Vardy to stick with Leicester when the striker considered walking away to work in Ibiza.
And the Foxes chief has now revealed how he steered the 30-year-old’s career back on track ® by tipping him for international honours.
In his autobiography, Vardy revealed he was close to walking away from the game during a nightmare first season with the Foxes in which he scored just five goals in 29 games.
But a pep talk from former boss Nigel Pearson and assistants Shakespeare and Steve Walsh changed his mind, in what Vardy labelled a “careerdefining moment”.
“I remember the situation really well,” said Shakespeare of the meeting in the 2012-13 season.
“Our job is to support players. Sometimes they do have selfdoubt and Jamie would be the first to admit he was going through a rough patch.
“Myself, Nigel and Steve were here to support him.
“All we did was tell him about his attributes and that we thought he could go on and do.
Attributes
“We even mentioned then about not only playing in the Premier League but also he had the attributes to play for the national team.
“We told him we wanted him and believed in him. Thankfully he didn’t go to Ibiza. I think he has made the right decision!”
Vardy, who had joined Leicester from Fleetwood as the first £1m non-League player, has since fired the club to the Premier League title and become a Three Lions regular.
Vardy has bagged four goals in as many league games since Shakespeare took over from Claudio Ranieri and will face Sunderland tonight at the King Power aiming to fire the Foxes a step closer to safety.
But Leicester will again be without captain Wes Morgan, who is now a major doubt for the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Atletico Madrid a week tomorrow.
Centre-back Morgan has yet to resume training after a back injury and Shakespeare is unsure when he will be fit.
He said: “You can never quite tell with a back problem and especially a nerve problem.”