Benoit Assou Ekotto isn't your typical footballer. He's a straight talking, grounded and decent bloke who just happens to be a footballer. You won't see Benny kissing the Spurs badge or declaring his love for the club any time soon, he openly admits football is just a job to him, and Tottenham Hotspur, nothing more than his employer. That sort of attitude can stick in the side of the fans as they want a team to worship and they want a bit of appreciation back. But a combination of his straight talking attitude and his continued development into one of the best left back's in the league has earned him the admiration of most if not all of the Spurs fans.
Assou-Ekotto's critics will say he makes too many crucial errors that lead to goals, and I say to those people that every player makes mistakes, it's just Ekotto's are usually pretty elaborate and are replayed over and over on MOTD as Alan Hansen rips into him. He's had those wobbly moments, but is overall very much on the way up and has been immense in the pre-season.
Signed under Martin Jol by Comolli who described him as one of French football's brightest prospects, he quickly displaced Lee Young-Pyo at left back before injuring his knee, and losing his place in the team again. Jol didn't favour him, neither did Ramos, but Redknapp gave him a chance and the rest is history.
Benny on...
Comolli:
"Comolli, oh la la, la la. I have one simple rule; try to be a man all your life. I said to Comolli that I had a problem with Jol but he said it was all in my head. But then, after Jol left, he said: 'Yes, there was a problem.' Try to be a man!"
Jol:
"With Jol, he had a hierarchy within the team, everybody didn't have the same starting point. He also said to me that I didn't smile a lot."
Ramos:
"Ramos was always picking little fights. He told me that I was too aggressive in training. I said, 'We don't do tennis, we play football. You think that we are in Spain but we are in England, my friend."
Redknapp:
"With Harry, it's cool. We don't speak a lot and he doesn't care if I smile or if I know who the next team we play is. If I do my job well, it's OK. He is doing simple things that the previous two managers couldn't even think of. He is straightforward and he doesn't play games."
Assou-Ekotto owns an oyster card, because he says it's easier to get around London. He drives a Smart car to and from training because he says he can get to training for £20 a week and doesn't care if the players laugh at him. He says he moved from Chigwell to central London because it was shit and the man loves Nandos! Who can argue with any of that?! Benny gets fully involved with the clubs activities in the community and was the spearhead of a United Nations project to deliver healthcare and educations to millions of African children. A cause that is close to his heart. And this week, while the rest of the league kicks off the new season, Benny has been out and about with BBC Sport, meeting the riot affected residents and shop keepers of Tottenham high road, where he's been getting his hair cut for the past five years, and says if footballers just donated one or two percent of their salary to their communities, it'd make a huge difference.
Left back of choice in my Sun fantasy football team, top bloke, hair style visionary and perhaps my favourite footballer, not just at Spurs, but in the entire game.
Watch that stroll around Tottenham on the BBC site
here
Part Two of The Benoit Assou-Ekotto appreciation series can be found here:
BAE Continues to Impress Me With His Straight Talking and Professionalism
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