Jay Spearing relaxed over contract talks this summer

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.”

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Is it 5 years already? I have to confess that I clamoured for us to get him in and was chuffed when he came on loan, even more so when he played brilliantly during his loan spell. When we signed him I thought it was good business for under £1.5 million and maybe that's because the handful of performances he made for Liverpool as Gerrard's understudy were still in my mind. But then I started to notice his passing was getting worse the more confident he got and he developed this tendency to try to spray the ball around but lacked the accuracy and touch required. 
He's been a disappointment for me but perhaps that's because I was expecting great things - and I think he expected to be better than he has been too.

wanderlust wrote:Is it 5 years already? I have to confess that I clamoured for us to get him in and was chuffed when he came on loan, even more so when he played brilliantly during his loan spell. When we signed him I thought it was good business for under £1.5 million and maybe that's because the handful of performances he made for Liverpool as Gerrard's understudy were still in my mind. But then I started to notice his passing was getting worse the more confident he got and he developed this tendency to try to spray the ball around but lacked the accuracy and touch required. 
He's been a disappointment for me but perhaps that's because I was expecting great things - and I think he expected to be better than he has been too.

I understand where you're coming from, in fact I even agree that his performances didn't match the hype and expectation surrounding his permanent arrival but I don't think the terms we signed him on helped. The add ons for number of appearances for example. I think he, like many other players was deeply unsettled by the off field situation, particularly in terms of whether or not they themselves would be paid and whether or not they'd even have a club to play for. I for one would offer him another deal, not for five years perhaps and certainly not on crazy money but definitely a 2 or 3 yr deal because I believe he still has more than enough ability to do well in the Championship.