00:00Now is former Leicester City striker Steve Claridge.
00:03And Steve, really the end of an era today?
00:07Yeah, very much so.
00:09There'll be a lot of supporters of Leicester with heavy hearts, I've got to say.
00:13The memories that he's left are incredible.
00:18I mean, who would have believed that?
00:20And none more so than him playing the part that he did
00:23and then winning the Premier League was obviously a memory that no one could forget.
00:28Absolutely.
00:29Although that was some time ago now.
00:31And the fortunes of Leicester haven't been so rosy in recent years and recent months.
00:36Could that be informing his decision, perhaps?
00:41Yeah, quite possibly.
00:43I mean, it's always easier when a club is doing well for them to keep you on
00:49and obviously to look after you.
00:50And it's always easier to play in a good side rather than in a side that's really, really struggling,
00:55especially when you get to his age.
00:57I think what I found when I played later on in my career was you get to a point where people almost write you off
01:03before you begin because of your age, which makes it difficult in itself.
01:09And then to really keep proving yourself at the top level, you know, particularly in a side that isn't doing well is very, very difficult for a striker in particular.
01:18So you can see just on watching the on the on the Twitter feed that he did that, you know, there's a huge amount of emotion going behind what he's saying.
01:30Yeah.
01:30I mean, 13 years at a club, such a bond, such an association, not just with him and his teammates,
01:35but I think the whole country, any football fan really feeling that Jamie Vardy is so linked to Leicester.
01:43I mean, what happens next?
01:46Well, firstly, if his missus keeps doing what she's doing, he's going to have to play till he's 50, I should think.
01:52But I think I don't see him packing in.
01:58I think we'd have known that already.
01:59So I don't I don't see him packing in.
02:01What I do see is it's very important that he gets the next decision right, you know, because at his age, as I say,
02:08it's not a gimme that he's just going to go somewhere.
02:10Everything's going to be great.
02:12But he's the type of footballer that you think really has a passion for the game.
02:16Some players give up and they give up and they're pleased to give up.
02:20I was one of those that couldn't give up.
02:22And I think he sort of gives me that impression.
02:24He's a little bit like that, where without football, there'll be a huge hole in his life.
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