Fleckney Fox Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 is he still with us and if so has anybody got an update they could share..
OriginalRobboFOX Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 apparently still training at city, spoke to his dad few weeks ago
lookwhaticando Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Thought we sold him to Sunderland? Only about five years ago. He was released from his Sunderland contract about a year ago, I think. Club and player decided it was best if they went their separate ways. He's been training with us in the meantime, trying to get over his incredible injury problems.
Robbofox Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Well thats exellent news always did like Piper. What sort of injury problems? Is he likely to play at this standard? Sorry so being ignorant i live down south now so do'nt get to hear much of the local stuff.
lookwhaticando Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Well thats exellent news always did like Piper. What sort of injury problems? Is he likely to play at this standard? Sorry so being ignorant i live down south now so do'nt get to hear much of the local stuff. He's had about 900 knee ops over the last four years or so. It doesn't look terribly clever for the lad. He supposedly had his "last op" some time last year, he did an interview for LCWorld (worth looking for if you're a world subscriber). Sadly for him, he's had a "last op" before and he's broken down again... as I said, he's had something like 9 major knee operations. If he ever gets fit again, he should be able to do a job at this level. It's a large risk though, because of his injury record. He may never regain fitness... though the specialist who op'd his knee said he should have another five years of football in him. That's assuming he doesn't injure it again. We've not heard anything since about September though, so that might be a bad sign... it's been so many months, it wouldn't surprise me if he'd done a knee in, again.
OriginalRobboFOX Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Im sure his dad said that he'd been operated on by either the doctor who did Shearer, Owen or Solsjkaer this time though.
Geo V Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Im sure his dad said that he'd been operated on by either the doctor who did Shearer, Owen or Solsjkaer this time though. At least we made some money from Piper unlike the cash we wasted on Matty Jones. Lets hope a miracle happens and he somehow regains full fitness as he looked great in the early days for us.
davieG Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 This was in the Merc December 16th FRIENDS SAY 'GO ON, PLAY AGAIN.' BUT THEY WON'T BE THE ONES BEING PUSHED AROUND IN A WHEELCHAIR IN 20 YEARS 08:00 - 16 December 2006 After 11 knee operations, former City winger Matt Piper faces a real dilemma. Should he risk spending half his life in a wheelchair to play again? Lee Marlow reports The man who scored the last-ever goal at Filbert Street is sitting in a cafe at Fosse Park and trying his best not to look troubled. Matt Piper - and what a genuinely lovely and easy going chap he is, too - appears to be in rude health. He's fit again; a proud father of two young boys; the owner of a new Audi, which sits in the car park looking reassuringly expensive, and there's a bit of cash, you can be sure, squirreled away in the bank. But something is not quite right in the world of Matt Piper. The former City winger, who's still just 25, is at a crossroads. "I don't know how you're going to write this one, mate," he says. "It's not straightforward. I wish it was. You keep asking me what I'm going to do - and the truth is, I just don't know. I wish I did." The dilemma is this: once upon a time, and it wasn't all that long ago, Matt Piper was City's promising right winger. He was the local lad made good - playing for the club he loved. Four years on - after a transfer he neither sought nor wanted, and 11 knee operations - Piper is back in Leicester. He's training once more with his old colleagues at City's Belvoir Drive training ground. He's "miles away'' from being match fit and he's at pains to point out he's not on trial at City; the club are just happy to help out one of their old boys. But the inference is obvious, isn't it? Leicester City - five points away from a relegation battle, with a midfield long on experience, but short on genuine quality - could do with him again couldn't they? It's the obvious question. Piper can see it coming from a mile away and straight bats it back. Deep down, you suspect he knows it, too: couldn't he do a job once more for the club he supported as boy? "Look," he says, sheepishly, "sometimes I train and play well and think, yeah, I've still got it. And other times... well, I probably wouldn't get into the Dog and Gun side." The word at Belvoir Drive, however, is that Piper only has to say: "I'm ready if you want me' and Rob Kelly will see if he's worth a shot.'' The real dilemma is this: does he really want to do it? Because if Piper plays again and his knee ligaments give way - like they have done, routinely, throughout his short and injury-plagued career - then by the time he's 40, he'll be limping with a stick... if, that is, he's walking at all. "I have two young sons now," says the proud father of Brandon, two, and Finlay, seven months. "I remember I used to love it when my dad would take me to the field for a kick around. Do I want to throw that away? "Football is a great way to earn a living, but having a family puts things in perspective. Nothing is more important than them." Piper hasn't played a full, competitive game since turning out for Sunderland against Chelsea, last September. But, yes, he admits, it is like riding a bike - you don't forget everything you used to know. "I'm not as fast as I was," he says, "but that's no bad thing, really. Back then, I was a bit like Forrest Gump: you know, head down, run with the ball, oh dear, I'm at the byline, better try and cross it, ha, ha." Matt's more tactically aware today. He's seen plenty of football from the stands and views the game in a different way now. "If I could look into a crystal ball and know that everything would be okay, maybe I'd give it another go," he says. "But there isn't that guarantee.'' A few months ago, Piper flew to Colorado to see Richard Steadman, the world's eminent knee specialist, (a man whose operating table has welcomed the likes of Alan Shearer and Michael Owen). Piper was quietly hoping Steadman would make the decision for him. He didn't. The operation - Piper's 11th, costing £6,000 which he paid himself - was successful. But the future, concluded his surgeon, was still uncertain. The knees might be fine. Or they might never be fine again. It was the patient's call. Today, Piper has regular glucose injections in his knee to strengthen his ligaments. So far, he says, so good. It seems to be working. But there's no guarantee that it always will. Whatever Piper decides to do, he needs to work again. When he joined Sunderland from Leicester in August, 2002, he was paid handsomely. But the move - he was at Sunderland for four years and made 13 appearances - was a mistake, he says. Piper and his girlfriend, Verity, struggled to settle in the north east and the managerial merry-go-round at Sunderland meant his days were numbered. The truth is, he didn't want to leave City in the first place. On a radio phone-in at the end of that dismal 2001/2002 season which ended with City being relegated, ex-boss Micky Adams said it didn't matter if another club offered £10 million, Matt Piper was not for sale. A few weeks later, he was sold to Sunderland. "I am very happy to be joining Sunderland," he lied to the north-east press in 2002. "I kept saying that I wanted to stay here," he says. Although no one ever sat him down and said - 'look, son, you've got to go' - the inference was clear: City needed the money and Piper was the uncashed cheque. Anyway, he says, that's all over now: he still loves City and it's great to be back and training with the club he used to support. So then, Mr Piper, in your heart of hearts, what do you think you will do now? "A wwww, I don't know. All my friends say: 'Do it. Go on. Play again and live with the consequences. But it's easy to say that isn't it? They won't be the ones being pushed around in a wheelchair in 20 years' time. "Put yourself in my shoes," he says, "what would you do?"
Flynny Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 What an awful position to be in. Whether or not he ever plays for us again, good luck to the bloke.
lookwhaticando Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 What an awful position to be in. Whether or not he ever plays for us again, good luck to the bloke. Exactly. I'd love him to come back and play for us - even just a couple of times, I think it'd generate a bit of a buzz about the place. But I don't want to see the lad crippled. Poor lad. Good luck whatever he decides, though.
Guest Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 What an awful position to be in. Whether or not he ever plays for us again, good luck to the bloke. Hmmm....I'm sure his insurance company have seen him right......
He's not bald Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Exactly. I'd love him to come back and play for us - even just a couple of times, I think it'd generate a bit of a buzz about the place. But I don't want to see the lad crippled. Poor lad. Good luck whatever he decides, though. Heartbreaking..there aren't enough players as loyal to their club as that,good luck to him whatever he decides to do
Thracian Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 I'd try and play and look to getting my coaching badges too. He might still have a contribution to make and que sera, sera, you can be crippled 20 years down the road by a whole host of things that have nothing to do with football. You can live to be 100 but, once you get out of bed, there is nothing on earth like playing on a winning side at football.
renards Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Hmmm....I'm sure his insurance company have seen him right...... Not sure how the insurance works. Flowers was earning 20k per week when he was told he shouldn't play anymore he'd got 2 years on his contract so he insisted on carrying on and was picked for several games but never managed to finish them, seemed bizarre at the time but maybe the club was making a point He tried to continue as the insurance he would of get would be nothing like the 2 million in wages he was due and apparantly GK coaches are not particualy well paid
Guest Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Not sure how the insurance works. I'm sure it would be enough to cover him if he was careful with his money, and I'm sure that Sunderland must have made signing for them easier than it was by giving the lad a decent signing on fee.Given his age, I would have thought that the payout would be better than an aging goalkeeper.
Ajax Treesdown Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Thought we sold him to Sunderland? Have you been asleep for 5 years??
toonfox Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Piper will never be as good as he was... and he was s**t when we thought he was good so !!!
lookwhaticando Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Have you been asleep for 5 years?? He wouldn't be the only one. One thinks of that fine paper for wiping ones arse with, The Sun who had also took their eye off the ball for a few years. Piper will never be as good as he was... and he was s**t when we thought he was good so !!! :o Sacrilege!
Jonbluefox9 Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 I was told by a girl who's related to Piper in some way that McCarthy didn't treat him too well up at Sunderland and he's been down about that ever since. Not sure whether his heart's still in the game or not?!
He's not bald Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Piper will never be as good as he was... and he was s**t when we thought he was good so !!! Umm "Toon"!..me thinks this be a northeast tribel thing <_<
filbertboy Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 Shame for the guy really what a pity I was there like a lot of you guys were when he scored the last ever goal at filbert st. best of luck to him what ever he decides.
lookwhaticando Posted 9 January 2007 Posted 9 January 2007 I was told by a girl who's related to Piper in some way that McCarthy didn't treat him too well up at Sunderland and he's been down about that ever since. Not sure whether his heart's still in the game or not?! Only a wally of the highest order would take Mick McCarthy seriously. He's surrounded by good people now that he's back in Leicester. I'd bet he's not so distressed by Mick 'the plank' McCarthy that he'd turn his back on the game completely.
Jonbluefox9 Posted 10 January 2007 Posted 10 January 2007 Maybe so, but if you really love something you'd struggle to even consider turning your back on it and it sounds like Piper could well decide to turn his back on football despite there being a possibility that he could play on for a few more years without major long term damage. I think He loves his family more than football, nothing wrong with that at all, and he'll decide to pack it in to ensure he can enjoy his time with his kids. If he walks away from the game it won't solely be because of McCarthy but apparently his time under him did alter his enjoyment of the game.
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