Why Leon Britton was happy to take two pay cuts to achieve football dream with Swansea City

As he?s set to go up against his former mentor, midfield star Leon Britton tells CHRIS WATHAN why he?s been happy to take two pay cuts to play for the Swans

LEON BRITTON will today get the chance to show his old mentor why he was right to take a gamble on him ? 10 years and two pay cuts later.

Britton lines up against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane this afternoon, championed by statisticians as the best passer in Europe.

And for Spurs chief Harry Redknapp (pictured below), it?s of little surprise that the midfielder he used to call his ?little man? has finally played his way to the very top of the game.

Redknapp was the one who shelled out a record fee for a 16-year-old when he tempted Britton across London from Arsenal to Upton Park when he was West Ham chief.

And the man touted as the next England boss claims only the emergence of Michael Carrick and Joe Cole prevented Britton from making the grade with the Hammers.

Britton isn?t so sure, suggesting the teenager who dropped to the basement division with the Swans in 2002 wasn?t actually good enough back then.

A decade on and two examples of putting football before finances, Redknapp?s eye for Britton?s talent has been underlined.

?He took a gamble on me,? said Britton of Redknapp?s ?400,000 decision to snap him up.

?There was me and Jermain Defoe, who he had signed from Charlton.

?It worked out well for him with Jermain ? but not so much with me!

?But you have to say that perhaps I wasn?t good enough. West Ham have shown they would give a chance to lads like Jermain, Mike Carrick and Joey Cole. I?m 29 now and I?m miles better than the 17-year-old at West Ham.

?I probably thought I was good enough at the time because you always have that confidence in yourself, but looking back now I probably wasn?t.?

Swansea fans disagreed as he came to South Wales to save the club from non-league football, signing permanently the next season and forfeiting a bumper Hammers bonus for entering the final year of his contract.

And when the chance came to end his unhappy spell at Sheffield United 15 months ago, Britton was all too ready to give up the readies once more.

?The contract negotiations were pretty easy,? smiled Britton, who signed a new three-year Swans deal on Friday.

?I remember speaking to the gaffer saying I didn?t care about the money or anything. I just wanted to sign.

?It was to prove myself to the fans again, to a manager I hadn?t played under and new and old team-mates. It was about getting trust back.

?There were a lot of rumours saying I had to pay a signing on fee back to Sheffield United but I can honestly say I never had one in the first place.

?But I took a pay cut because it wasn?t about the money, it was coming back to enjoy my football again.?

The diminutive dynamo is certainly doing that ? rated as the most accurate passer across the five top European leagues, even ahead of Barcelona icon Xavi Hernandez.

?You can?t even mention me in the same breath as him,? said Britton when it?s put to the Liberty hero.

?We?ve found this year there?s an incredible amount of stats when you?re playing in the Premier League, especially the passing ones and we?re obviously a passing side.

?And it?s gone well for me. It?s great to be at this level and doing well.

?It?s nice to be up against people like Jermain at Tottenham, who I?m still in touch with, being on the same pitch as him and knowing you?ve earned the right to be there.

?But Jermain has done it for 10 years, I?ve been here 10 months.

?I?ve just signed my contract and the aim is to make sure people are still talking about me in the Premier League at the end of those three years.?

In the here and now, Britton?s aim is to make sure Swansea are being talked about today as they target a second top-six scalp ? and a first away from home ? against a Spurs side not long ago in the title race.

And ?Arry, of course.

Britton says it?s no wonder Redknapp is being hailed for his job at White Hart Lane, tipped to be the next England boss with Rodgers linked with replacing him in north London.

?Harry deserves all the credit he gets,? said Britton.

?He used to come in the dressing room in youth games and fill you with confidence.

?He used to say, ?Get the little man on the ball, he?s on fire.? And you?d go out there feeling 10 feet tall.

?I didn?t get to work with him too much because I didn?t make the breakthrough, but I can understand when people talk about his man-management.?

But what of the rumours of Rodgers as his successor at Spurs?

?It?s natural when the team does well like we have this season, the manager is going to be linked,? he said.

?It?s the same when the players have done well, they?re going to be touted to go here, there and everywhere.

?So I think it?s natural that people are going to be linked with other jobs or moving clubs.

?But for me obviously a big thing is the manager being part of this football club because you?ve seen what he has done in just under two seasons here.

?He has done fantastically well. He has improved us as a team and as individuals.

?So this is the place you want to be if you want to improve as a footballer.

?But he has just signed a new contract so I don?t need to ask him what his plans are for the future.

?He has signed a new deal so he?s committed to us. In the 14 or 15 months I?ve been here he has been brilliant.

?He wants to keep on improving the club and doing well.?

'); tm.siteLife.daapi.getArticle( "54-91466-30667053", function(article){ tm.siteLife.display.displayCommentCount( article, 'sitelife-commentsWidget-middle', false, 'Comments', true, false ); } ); })();//call anonymous function //]]>

matt moore national grid day light savings time 2011 hocus pocus hocus pocus bj penn roasted pumpkin seeds