Anthony Gardner started the season as one of the snazzy new signings for Hull City's snazzy new existence. Now, six months later, he finds himself totally left behind in the great Tigers adventure.
Gardner was initially signed on loan but soon the parties came to a permanent arrangement and he ultimately cost £2.5m when he joined from Tottenham Hotspur in August. Pretty much all we've had to show for this substantial investment is a long period on the treatment table. To be frank, this is not a new experience for the imposing central defender, whose near-decade at White Hart Lane was ravaged by injuries, curtailing the progress of a player whose precociousness as a Port Vale teenager made a Spurs regime, with one eye on the future, shell out very big money for him.
The last time Gardner played for Hull City was back in September when the Tigers won 2-1 at Newcastle United. He played the full match, but later we learned he had suffered an injury, the complications from which he is only just beginning to recuperate now. Kamil Zayatte made his debut, as a late sub for double goalscorer Marlon King, the same day and ended up starting the next game and forming a key partnership with Michael Turner at the back while Gardner watched, frustrated and riddled with setbacks, from the sidelines.
Gardner was the expensive new signing but his status in terms of worth has been wildly crushed by the form of Turner and the permanent acquisition for another £2.5m of Zayatte. With Turner now signed up on the sort of deal which only a mega bid from a very wealthy club can break, and Zayatte settled as his slightly madcap but certainly effective partner, Gardner is now the third man, the back up, the locom.
The club has given little away about Gardner's progress during his months in the wilderness. He seems to have been "a week away" from recommencing training rather a lot, and his continued absence despite these vague assurances has led to one or two whispers of worry that the thigh injury is far worse than anyone dare claim. However, he has been on the warm-weather jaunt to Dubai this week and seems set to feature in some capacity during the FA Cup fifth round tie at Sheffield United this weekend.
If he does play, then irrespective of his or the team's performance, the best he should hope for when Tottenham Hotspur visit the KC little more than a week later would be a place on the bench. Turner and Zayatte have to be where it's at. The investment in Gardner has now been matched by heavy investment in the other two centre backs and so, now, Gardner has to extend his patience from the physio's room to the subs bench.
.jpg)
