Our club captain can`t cut it in the matchday squad. How far hast thou declined, Jay?
I`m sure that all of you as 10 year olds would love the honour of captaining your side against your hometown club. Had we drawn Liverpool in the Capital One Cup, midfielder Jay Spearing would have looked set to lead Bolton proudly out with his inspiration Steven Gerrard as his opposite number. Both have been instrumental for their respective clubs in the past, though now their rules with the setups remain unclear.
The Jay Spearing that we only ever really see in behind the scenes footage at the Macron Stadium is a far cry from he for whom we shelled out a hefty 1.5 million to buy. A far cry from our Player of the Season in 2013. A far cry from our club captain.
Spearing is now very much on the periphery of the club, having lost his place to the likes of Liam Trotter, and the impressive workhorses Neil Danns and Darren Pratley.
We saw glimpses of this man under Dougie Freedman at the start of this season, with the former Liverpool man topping the Championship assist charts. However, he often seemed very wasteful in possession and so lost his place under the less forgiving Neil Lennon.
Lennon has acknowledged Spearing`s impressive attitude and willingness to help the currently in-favour players- a trait befitting of a good captain. However, he still remains on the bench (if in the 18) and despite making his 100th appearance in three years for the Whites this season, he looks set to wave the Macon faithful goodbye this month.
His reputation still somewhat intact from his time at Anfield, Spearing has attracted the attention of Premier League clubs such as West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa who would no doubt be impressed by his somewhat flattering stats. They would also be able to offer a reasonable sum of money to Neil Lennon, who would graciously grasp this with no hesitation as he looks to rebuild his depleted squad.
The decline of Jay Spearing has been a weird one, a quite sad one too. I do feel that he may well have something left to offer Bolton, though it doesn`t look as though he`ll be given the chance. I look forward to seeing him grace the fields of stadiums anew, and hope he succeeds. He`s always given his heart to the club, that he continues to captain. But not for long it would seem.