Stay or go? - Jay Spearing

If we have the money would you keep him?



JAY Spearing is not in a mad rush to finalise his future at Bolton Wanderers.

The midfielder is one of several big-name players out of contract at the Macron this summer but after helping the Whites back into the Championship, he is keen to enjoy promotion before making any final decisions on where he will be playing next season.

Players returned from a trip to Dubai at the weekend and those not currently tied to a deal will meet individually with manager Phil Parkinson over the next fortnight.

“I am quite relaxed about it,” Spearing told The Bolton News. “I want to enjoy the limelight, if I can put it like that, get away with the family, speak with the gaffer and then we’ll see what happens over the summer.

“There are a lot of lads out of contract but through this season the spirit in the squad has been massive. Everyone is looking forward to next year. This career is short, so you want to play at the highest possible level. I certainly want to get myself back in the Championship.”

Spearing made 43 appearances for Phil Parkinson this term, many as captain, and made his 150th league start for Wanderers in the victory over Peterborough United which sealed automatic promotion.

Closing in on five years in Bolton colours, some of which was spent on loan from Liverpool, the midfielder admits he is in a better place than 12 months ago when the club’s financial problems left him sidelined for the last two months.

“It has been tough, no doubt about it,” he said. “To top it off there was nothing worse than being sat there unable to play in the last 10 games as the team got relegated.

“It was a difficult time for me but I had to get re-focused. I knew where I wanted to be in life, where I wanted to be in the game.

“When the new manager came in it gave me a fresh start – not just me, but everyone – to show what the club means to us. We’d worked all year for that moment and it was an absolute joy to be involved You could see how much it meant.”

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/15274649.Spearing_relaxed_over_Wanderers_contract_talks/

It would be nice to have the confidence that Jay can hack it in the Championship but my confidence in him was undermined last time we were here, mainly due to some very erratic passing. Perhaps his own belief has been restored after this season but that might not be the only problem so in many respects he's a risk. 
We can't be certain that he'll find form and so I would have thought that he should be offered an average squad player's salary and if he is as committed to the club as he claims he is, he should accept  and I'd be happy enough with that.
But what mustn't happen is to offer him a large salary because we need that money to strengthen elsewhere in the team and if necessary we can manage without him depending on who else is retained.
Stay providing the price is right IMO.

League 1 standard. His complete lack of passing ability won't wash in the Championship.

Thanks for the effort Jay, but it's time for you to move on (probably to Ewood or the DW).

Limited. We can do better.

i would like to keep him but he would need to take a pay cut as we can't afford to pay him what he's on now.

I'd keep him if we can afford it. Lest we forget he was unable to play for quite some time the last time we were in the Championship because of some deferred payment we'd have to make to Liverpool. I think it's harsh to try and blame him for relegation too, he was a long way from being alone in performing at a subpar level. 

Personally I still rate him and think this season should have done good things for his confidence so why get rid of a player we'd then have to replace when we're already struggling to find the money to strengthen?