Andy King - From a Fox to a Terrier?

King takes the much sought after 29 shirt for the rest of the season.

Graeme Rayner, Feature Writer
Twitter: @b1g_daddy_g

Huddersfield Town today announced their third signing of the current Transfer window, Leicester City’s Andy King on loan until the end of the season.

So who is he, and what qualities could he bring? First, a bit of history.

Relegation and promotion, back-to-back

He spent his early footballing years (aged 10 – 15) at Chelsea in their youth ranks, but having been released by them was picked up by Leicester in 2004. He made his debut for them in 2007, a few weeks shy of his 19th birthday. He played 12 times for the Foxes that season, scoring once – a 35 yarder versus Wolves. He tasted relegation in his debut season, as Leicester found themselves dropping into League 1.

The Championship years, and an other title

King came of age the next season, playing 54 games and scoring 11 goals ion all competitions, missing just one league game as Leicester achieved promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking.

Over the next 5 seasons during which Leicester were in the championship he would play 190 games, scoring 42 goals and ultimately achieving promotion to the Premier League at the end of the 2013/4 season, with the Foxes going up as champions.

The Premier League, and place in the history books

Although he featured less often, in his first 3 seasons in the EPL he played over 20 league games a season, famously winning the league in 2015/6, making him the first player to win the top 3 divisions with the same club in the Premier League era (5 players having done the same with Ipswich Town in the 50s and 60s).

Andy King with the League One, Championship and Premier League trophies - the only player to have won each with the same club (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)

He played In the Champions League in the 2016/7 season but it’s fair to say that Leicester, and their quality and depth, had grown and so first team football became limited.

The following season he was loaned to Swansea City in the January, meaning he played 11 EPL Games for the Foxes and then 11 for the Swans in that season. He suffered the second relegation of his career that season, which is memorable for Town fans as the season we defeated the odds and survived in the top flight.

The arrival of James Maddison at the King Power in the summer of 2018 meant he did not play a league game for Leicester in the 2018/19 season. Perhaps a little ironically, many Leicester fans saw it as a straight battle between King and Danny Simpson, now of this parish, for the final space in the 25 man league squad. In a sign of his character, King tweeted Maddison to wish him well, after Maddison was given King’s number 10 shirt.

It suits you mate, I hope it brings you as much pride, success & happiness as it did for me. Go and Smash it 🙌🏻👍🏻 #LCFC @Madders10 https://t.co/QqOuRi53Rr

— Andy King (@AndyKingy) August 10, 2018

Ultimately King was loaned to Derby County on the January window’s deadline day. He made a promising start and looked set to be a regular starter, but then suffered a season ending ankle injury against Derby’s big rivals Nottingham Forest in late February and his loan was terminated.

Andy King and Danny Simpson are reunited under the Cowley brothers

This season

Last August, King went from Lampard to Gerrard, moving to Glasgow Rangers for a season long loan. He’s found playing time hard to come by, featuring just 5 times, and so his loan was again cut short. Which brings us up to date, save for the need to mention that he has played 50 times for Wales, and if playing regularly and well may hope to feature in Giggs’ squad this summer.

So what now?

The big question has to be is he still capable?

I asked a Rangers supporting mate from the comedy circuit why he hadn’t featured, and he responded that it was simply due to the ‘Gers midfield being completely settled and playing well – more of a struggle to break through than a case of disappointing and losing his place. A Leicester following comic then explained that he is a legend at Leicester, has been a superb servant to the club and will not let anyone down.

It’s not difficult to see why loans have been offered around, and why they are at a lower level than the EPL: most EPL teams have quite settled midfields, and it’s hard to see what team in the top division would be crying out for a player like King at the moment – none of the newly promoted or struggling sides seem light in the midfield, and as you might expect most are looking at the goal scoring or goal saving areas of the pitch this window. It seems to be almost just bad luck that he’s not gone to Glasgow and dominated the midfield there, and so it’s a sensible move to look down a level.

Why Huddersfield? Why now?

He ticks a lot of our boxes. Let’s have a quick look at those attributes:

He’s got bags of experience at various levels and is still only 31. He seems to have no whiff of attitude problems. In his current situation, you could imagine many a player kicking up a stink - “I’ve got a premier League Winners Medal, have been here years, played in the Champions League, why am I not being given a game?” or even worse “I’m not going out on loan, I’ll sit in the stands every week and collect my undoubtedly high wage”. Not a hint of any of that – he seems to just want to play football.

His contract is up in July, so will be wanting to impress – either to get a deal with us or somewhere else – either way, he has an incentive to preform. If he hits the ground running and proves to be a “Cowley” brand of player, he’s on a free in 6 months – could we tempt him? He’ll know Danny Simpson well, and so presumably has spoken to him, so will know wUltimately King was loaned to Derby County on the January window’s deadline day. He made a promising start and looked set to be a regular starter, but then suffered a season ending ankle injury against Derby’s big rivals Nottingham Forest in late February and his loan was terminated. hat he’s getting into.

That’s all personality – but what about his football? King is a capable, confident, technical player, the sort of which we lack. Check social media after most matches lately and you’ll see Town fans asking how Trevor Chalobah is getting so many starts. Bacuna has bags of potential but is still very raw and inconsistent – he could learn loads from someone like King. A midfield 3 of King, O’Brien and Hogg looks massively different from one of Bacuna, Hogg and Chalobah.

My perspective is that Chalobah has featured almost certainly because of some commitment to Chelsea that he will, as I can’t understand why he seems undroppable at the moment, and if I’m right this may pose a problem.

The main quality I think King will add is footballing intelligence. One of the aspects that the Cowley’s speak of is “game management” and too often we play a brand of reactive, instinctive football that could almost be called naïve.

Sure, Hogg adds bite and tenacity, but sometimes lacks the ability to play the right ball – Town fans speak of the frustration that he often turns down a 10 yard forward pass in favour of a 5 yard square of backwards pass. Lewis O’Brien is full of beans, like the Duracell bunny, but often ends up overworked, tearing around covering ground Hogg rarely ventures into and Chalobah rarely seems interested in exploring.

If this move works, King should add the right balance of calmness and intuition, with an ability to know when to put his foot on the ball coupled with an ability to pick a pass. We also lack goals from midfield and King is the sort likely to chip in with a few that may prove vital.

Conclusion

In summary, this might be on the face of it an uninspiring singing. But scratch that surface, and Town have secured an experienced player who at 31 should still have the legs for a battle, a player with an expiring contract should have the hunger to perform regularly at a high standard. He seems to have a good attitude, and it’s rare to find a player that no one speaks ill of. So long as he is fit and stays fit, it feels like a no-brainer. We have an other Premier League winner with champions league experience on our hands, and he’s also one who knows the Championship and fills several voids we have.

So, let us welcome this fox into the Terriers’ pack, and hope he can be the new King of the Kirklees Stadium (I know no-one calls it that, but I like alliteration, so sue me)