Jack Collison has to be one of my favourite West Ham players of recent years and I am concerned about his future with the club. As a product of the famous West Ham youth academy, Collison burst onto the scene in 2008, making his first team debut against Arsenal on the 1st of January.
Since then his time has been riddled with injury and the tragic loss of his father in 2009. In March 2009 West Ham’s number 10 dislocated his kneecap at Wigan and was ruled out for 6 weeks.
After missing most of September’s games in 2009 due to the recurrence of that knee injury suffered at Wigan, Collison returned to training in October and made his comeback on the October 9 in a behind-closed-doors friendly against French side Valenciennes, scoring a goal. He then marked his return to league action by making the starting eleven in the away loss at Stoke City eight days later.
He scored his first goals of the season in consecutive matches, against Hull City and Burnley. Having not played since Wales’ 1–0 defeat to Sweden on 3 March 2010, it was announced only a few days late that he would be out for around nine months after undergoing knee surgery, having never fully recovered from the cartilage damage he suffered in the 2009–10 season. Eventually, after 14 months on the sideline, Collison returned in the 2010-2011 season against Blackburn Rovers in a 1-1 draw.
Last season was not a great time for the 23-year-old. His first team appearances were scarce and when he did play he showed little of the talent he displayed before his injury problems. Towards the end of the season, however, the class began to shine through. Collison scored a goal at Leicester to force the race for automatic promotion to the last day and scored those 2 glorious goals against Cardiff in the play-off semi final which set us up for promotion.
If Jack Collison does return to his pre-injury form he will be like a new signing,. This is the guy who Arsenal were severely interested in before the injury troubles begun, the man that Hammers fans loved and the player with a dazzling future ahead of him. He has been hidden away this pre-season but I only hope that it’s because Allardyce is saving him for the Premier League.
If he can regain his form he will be one of the greatest assets we posses and will rival any midfielder we have for a place in the starting line up.
