“For him to play in every round and for him to get into the cup final now… how fitting would it be if Jamie can score the winner.”
Pretty apt words if we say so ourselves from Danny Simpson, a former teammate of Leicester City talisman Jamie Vardy.
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Vardy will complete an FA Cup fairytale at Wembley on Saturday as Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes take on Chelsea in the FA Cup – a blockbuster showdown which is live on talkSPORT.
The 34-year-old, who became the first £1million non-league player when he joined Leicester from Fleetwood in 2012, will play in his 13th different round of the FA Cup this weekend.
Vardy has seen pretty much everything there is to see during his action-packed career to date, which also includes stints at the likes of Stocksbridge and Halifax.
Simpson knows all to well the qualities that Vardy possesses, having shared a dressing room with the forward for five years – which culminated in an improbable 5,000/1 title triumph in 2016.
“I’m running out of words to say what Jamie Vardy is and what he does for the team and the players,” Simpson said on Friday’s talkSPORT Breakfast.
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“We talk about the goals that he scores, but his workrate is second to none.
“He’ll be a little bit frustrated that he’s probably not scoring at the moment, but we’re also seeing a new side to his game.
“He’s setting up Kelechi [Iheanacho] and he’ll be happy for him. That’s just the way he is.”
Vardy’s return of one goal in his last 16 outings would worry most managers – but not Rodgers.
“The team has still been winning. What’s most important for Jamie is you have to continue to work, make runs and sometimes you just need that bit of luck,” Rodgers said last month.
“He has created a number of opportunities for us. We know his threat and he can score any time. He has just been very unfortunate, between keepers making saves and blocks on the line and some chances that, maybe, he would have put away.
“He is always going to be there. He is such a threat, his sharpness and speed, he is such an important player for us.”
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Such is the regard Simpson holds Vardy in he believes the veteran forward is still good enough to play for England – although a retirement u-turn is unlikely ahead of Euro 2020.
“I understand his reasons for stepping down and maybe that’s why he won the Golden Boot last year and is still scoring,” Simpson explained.
“He’s getting a break in international weeks so maybe it was a good decision, but for me I’d love to see Gareth [Southgate] ring him up and say: ‘Let’s have one last go, I need you.’
“Do I think we’ll see it? I don’t think so. But personally, I’d love to see it.”
One thing that is certain is that if Vardy ends up scoring the winner which ended up securing FA Cup glory for Leicester then he will go down in football folklore.
The pre-match port, as well as those Red Bulls and Vodka skittles, has certainly played its part along the way – call it the ultimate recipe to success.
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