Matthew John Spring signed for the O’s in June 2010 on a two year deal. As that contract comes to an end at the end of this season I will take a look at whether Spring will get a new contract and if he deserves one or not.
If there was ever an Orient player that divides opinions with the Orient faithful, it’s Spring. At almost every game he plays in, home, away, league or cup. Whatever stand you sit in, whatever opposition, there is usually an equal chance of hearing either exuberant sighs of ‘FFS Springy’ or ‘great ball Springy’, ‘Stop messing around Spring’ or ‘Spring is running midfield’. On fan forums, Spring causes debates and slanging matches alike on whether he is Orients lynch pin or a thorn in the teams side. After a massive 74 matches in an O’s shirt, in a season and half, what is my opinion of the midfielder? I think I’m still undecided. The good news is, hopefully this means I can put forward a fairly balanced argument on the pros and cons of re-signing Spring in the summer.
So let’s evaluate his O’s career to date. Spring started his Orient career in a steady, but unspectacular fashion. He didn’t really shine in the first portion of the 10/11 season but then again neither did a lot of the team. As the season went on and we hit our form he started to play a pivotal roll in the success that we found. Calm and composed on the ball, when on form, he can control games and this was no doubt a major factor in some of the great football that was played by the team last year.
This season has almost mirrored last for Matt. He started poorly and games against Walsall and Tranmere saw him continuously waste the ball, dwell on it for too long and generally look like he was still on holiday. Slade took a bold move and for the first time he dropped Spring for a few games. Whether this gave him a kick up the arse or he wasn’t fully fit, it seemed to work. After coming back into the team he has constantly been one of our better players and whilst still not shining in every game his better games are becoming more frequent. Against ten men Charlton, apart from the scoring the winner, he ran the game from start to finish, pinging 50 yard passes, dangerous crosses and showing composure and skill to leave defenders looking foolish.
That is the best of Spring but what about his off days? Towards the back end of last year he faded badly and made one or two crucial errors from lack of concentration that lead to crucial goals. He is sometimes infuriating to watch as he puts 2 yard passes into touch or worse, into the opposition’s path. He definitely provides more heart in mouth moments than any other player, seemingly thriving on keeping the ball until the very last minute with 4 players bearing down on him! When playing badly he can often seem like a luxury we can’t afford to cater to, as his position of playing just in front of the back four often leaves us unbalanced with lack of width to break teams down with.
Another factor in whether Spring re-signs is money. It is hard to gather contract information for League One teams and therefore, we do not really have a clue on the sort of wage that Spring demands. At a guess he is probably one of the better paid players at the club, baring in mind his senior years and the fact that he has played at a higher level for almost his entire career. Although maybe not crucial, for a team like Orient who must run a tight financial ship, if the wages of a player are deemed too high where a cheaper and possibly equally talented option can be found the club will have no problem cutting ties. See Scott McGleish! Add to this that considering he has played in over 90% of Orients games since signing his initial contract and is clearly a key player for Slade; he will probably be looking for a pay rise.
So all in all I think it’s a very close call as to whether Spring gets a new contract. Even if he does get an offer he may decline it but with now being over 30, living in the local area, with young children I think that if an offer is on the table he will sign it. I think Spring still has a lot to offer but at 33 next year will the years start catching up on a player that has a lot of work to do in every game? Add to that the fact that if he does fade away a bit, which is exactly what he did after a lot of games last year, you would have committed probably upwards of about £4,000 a week which could pay for at least 2 other, younger, albeit, less experienced or possibly less skilful players. It could also depend on how many players we manage to keep in January and the summer.
If I had a gun to my head I would say that Spring will get a new contract in the summer, I would probably be happy for him to sign a 1 year deal but committing anything more I think might be a mistake.
Please let me know your thoughts
AS
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