Jay Spearing has explained the situation in 2012/13 where he was loaned to Bolton, but couldn’t play the final 13 games of the season due to a clause inserted into his contract.
At the time, Bolton were struggling financially, but had agreed a loan deal that would see them pay an extra £100k for Spearing’s temporary services if he played a certain number of games.
The player has discussed how it hurt him that Liverpool didn’t intervene and allow him to play those games without activating the clause – especially considering he’d been with us since he was a small boy.
“Neil Lennon [the then Bolton manager] said on the training ground, ‘You can’t play tomorrow,’ ” Spearing said, reported in the Express.
“I was like, ‘What have I done?’ He said the chairman had rung and there was a clause.
“I’m not saying I would have been the saviour but there were still 13 games and it was difficult to watch.
“I didn’t ring anybody [at Liverpool]. I was just a little bit gutted they didn’t help me out.”
However, Spearing holds no bitterness towards his boyhood club and has spoken in glowing terms about Liverpool and his time with us.
He also reckons that under Jurgen Klopp, we can go on to win the Premier League this season, currently holding a four point lead on our closest rivals Manchester City.
“I played in every competition for the club and I did everything I had ever dreamt of doing,” Spearing continued.
“I will always look back and think, ‘What a time that was.’
“I don’t have one regret. I genuinely think they will win the title and the city will go into shutdown. Look at the Champions League final in 2005. I was 16, on a scholarship, and sitting on top of a traffic light outside the town hall for five hours waiting for the bus to come round.”
We really hope Spearing is right!
The scenes will be absolutely incredible, but it’s important that we don’t focus on it right now, as there’s still 17 games to go and nothing is won.