Poor old Keiron finds himself in a Dyer situation again
after learning his season is over.
Summer arrival Dyer has only managed to play around seven
minutes of football in a QPR shirt after limping out of the first game of the
season with a foot injury. The injury has kept Dyer out until his comeback
appearance this week in a friendly against Spurs. Dyer again limped out after a
knock to his troublesome foot and now requires an operation.
The versatile Dyer performed well in pre-season and got a
decent amount of playing time under his belt. The ex-England international was
keen to prove the doubters wrong; he was praised for his attitude, turning up
to training an hour or so early every day in order to stretch and have a
massage, taking no risks. However my, and I assume most people’s, first fears
when signing the player have been justified.
You have to feel sorry for Dyer as a man but as a player it
is fair to say he is an injury menace. His playing ability is unquestionable
but his body seems to be made of glass.
It would have been an interesting bet at the beginning of
the season of who would play more games Gabbidon or Dyer. Both injury prone and
haven’t played many games in the last few years but Gabbidon has done better
than expected, in my view. I think you would be kidding
yourself if you thought he would play every game. It is inevitable that he
would miss games but the question mark over how many. In terms of position I
think it is lucky that is has been Gabbidon that has been available as central
defenders is certainly a weakness in numbers.
Written into Dyer’s contract was the option for QPR to
terminate the deal in January if there were fears over the player’s fitness.
However, Dyer is to stay on until the end of his contract (and the end of the
season) thanks to the good nature of owner Tony Fernandes and the shareholders.
I think it is testament to the club that they have taken
this route and I can’t think of many other, of our size anyway, who would do
this. Similar situations that spring to mind are Owen Hargreaves at Man United
and Jonathan Woodgate at Spurs, both of whom were released by clubs not short
of a bob or two. It is understood that Dyer will provide some sort of service
to the Rangers during his rehabilitation.
It is an unfortunate end to a promising start in pre-season
but typical of the player and typical of the way things are going at QPR this
season. Injuries have been frequent and damaging. They have highlighted the
lack of depth the squad has and this is something that needs to be addressed in
the transfer window, which isn’t too far away thankfully.
It is with deep regret that I am wishing Dyer good luck with
his rehabilitation rather than wishing good luck for an upcoming game.
