Earing Knee Injury

We’re a football club though, not a charity. Let him go and another club can take the risk.

It may only be a small thing when players are thinking of coming here, but the thought that if you get a serious injury then you will be treated well by the club could be important.

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Agree in a way we got burnt by Holden doing this.

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Whats the latest with him at port fail? Has he been playing or out injured again?

Just checked and he played an hour in their last game v Forest Green. Wasn’t in the squad for the game before against Sheff Wednesday.

But it’s the equivalent of a workplace injury and the club thus has a duty of care for him as a contracted employee. And as they are only doing what they are obliged to and not out of the goodness of their hearts, why would you expect the player to then put loyalty before their own financial wellbeing when they are fit again? It’s now pretty rare for a player to be a one-club man, these days 99% of them are journeymen who need to make the most of a pretty short career.

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Yes. The ‘benefit’ of Walsall doing this is that good players will sign for us who would otherwise not sign thinking that they will not be looked after in the event of an injury.

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In what way? He saw out his contract and then we let him go. Obviously, his injury did us no good but in what way did we lose out?

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I heard he chose to leave we wanted him to stay could be wrong though never know with rumours

I think it was reported at the time that we offered him a chance to prove himself in pre-season with us and then decide on whether to offer him another contract - which isn’t quite the same as saying we wanted him to stay.

From the player’s point of view - you were under contract so the club had to look after you while you were injured (so you don’t owe them any extra loyalty for that), and you think you have already done enough on the training ground to show you are worth being offered another contract without having to prove it all over again, so if you’ve got to do that - why not do it a club at a higher level that are showing interest (especially as it’s for a manager you’ve played under before and your current manager doesn’t really know you as a player)?

Just wondering if Earing likely being out for the rest of the season opens the door any for Sam Perry?

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Played half a dozen or so games for them.

And that door may well have been slammed shut by the signing of Willmott ?

Why? Willmott wasn’t bought in to do the role that Earing was doing at the heart of the midfield - more a wing back or wide man/attacking midfielder supplying balls into the box than an anchor job (which Perry has had experience of doing).

Willmott is not a specific direct replacement for Earing, no, however as I said on the Sam Perry thread, Perry is IMO at the back of a long line of midfielders we now have…Kinsella, Comley, Hutchinson, Maddox, Willmott, plus Labadie if/when he gets fit.

Whatever number and combination of those midfielders you use, I just can’t realistically ever see Perry playing for us again.

Couldn’t agree more. Even with Earing and Labadie out, we are far more stocked there than other positions on the pitch, especially with Perry coming back in. We have 6 central midfielders on the books by trade, without including Willmott.

Don’t forget it was less than 12 months ago that Sam scored against Vale and everything seemed on track , things change quickly in football , not sure MF fancies him .

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Thought that. Similar type of player but clearly Flynn didn’t fancy him last season or he wouldn’t have gone out on loan,
Maybe an opportunity though.

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I think its the long Covid thats done for him. Would cover as much ground as Kinsella before and spray passes all day long. He was our next big thing

I feel desperately for Jack, good player and a good lad.
He has youth on his side and will bounce back from this.
Life’s all about knocking you down and getting back up, it’s unfortunate but part of it.