Source: Daily_Mail
Jamie Redknapp: The moment you're told that's it
Injury heartache: Redknapp during his time with Liverpool[LNB]Nothing prepares you for the words you knew were coming but tried to ignore. The pain in the old injury should be warning enough. Even when the latest surgeon tells you that if you keep on playing and relying on injections, it could impact on your walking in later years, you don't really hear him.[LNB]For me, even when I struggled to pull on a pair of jeans the day after a game, I was still performing in the circus, still fuelled by adrenaline, still clinging on to the only career I had known since I was a boy. The end game is the day that will never come.[LNB]And then it does . . .[LNB]Eventually, you feel relief. No more pain, no more 3am visits to the physio the morning after a match the night before to manipulate the muscles to enable you to move freely.[LNB]The first emotion, however, is fear. I was in America when the surgeon shook his head and said: 'Sorry, son. No more.' I admit I cried. It was the panic, the removal of the safety net.[LNB]Partly, also, there was a relief. No more fearing that you can't finish a match or get through a training session. No more questions, asking yourself: 'Can I rediscover the old magic touch?'[LNB]I was 31. It was the day of the Champions League final, when Liverpool came back and beat AC Milan after trailing 3-0 at half-time. Later that night, Steven Gerrard would sleep with the trophy. I went to bed fearing for my future.[LNB] All over: Ashton has been forced to retire at the age of 26[LNB]Dean Ashton will know how that feels.[LNB]I'm lucky, because working for Sky and the Daily Mail keeps me close to the action. It doesn't compare to playing (sorry, chaps), but it's a way of feeling you are still involved.[LNB]Dean will miss the thrill and the friendships in the dressing room.[LNB]He was such a talented player, too, with a bit of Alan Shearer about him in the way he led the line and a bit of Teddy Sheringham in that he could also come off the front and join the play. He had an intelligence about his football. He made the game look easy.[LNB]Players are paid a lot of money, but, when you hear news like this, you realise they are also a long time retired.[LNB]As a footballer, you think you are invincible. Then you realise you're not.[LNB] Gianfranco Zola's West Ham dream in tatters after Dean Ashton retirement... and boss faces uphill battle to sign replacement striker in January West Ham's Dean Ashton forced to retire from football at just 26West Ham striker Dean Ashton retires aged 26 and weighs up Chelsea and FA injury compensation claims Dean Ashton legal action against Shaun Wright-Phillips unnecessary, hopes PFA chief Gordon Taylor[LNB] Explore more:People:Dean Ashton, Jamie Redknapp, Teddy Sheringham, Alan Shearer, Steven GerrardPlaces:Liverpool, America
