Jay Spearing Left 'Gutted' After Liverpool Couldn't Help Him During 2013 Loan Spell
Former Liverpool midfielder Jay Spearing has revealed that the Reds' conduct during his loan spell 2012-13 season left him 'gutted'.
Spearing left Anfield permanently in 2013, joining Bolton. He now plies his trade for Blackpool, who will be looking to pull off a major giant killing when they play Arsenal in the third round of the FA Cup.
Spearing's initial loan spell with Bolton was soured by the way it ended, as a clause in his contract wouldn't allow him to participate in the end of season run in. The clause stated that Bolton would have to pay Liverpool £100,000 if Spearing made one more appearance, which meant that Neil Lennon couldn't select the youngster.
"Neil Lennon [the then Bolton manager] said on the training ground, 'You can't play tomorrow," Spearing recalled in an interview with The Times (as reported by the Express). "I was like, 'What have I done?' He said the chairman had rung and there was a clause."
Liverpool refused to budge after negotiations with Bolton, meaning that Spearing had to sit out the remainder of the season.
"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 has no regrets over his time at Anfied: "I played in every competition for the club and I did everything I had ever dreamt of doing. 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."