I seem to remember at the time we let him go, the vast majority on here thought he should have been kept as one for the future, but the powers that be knew better. He is now first-choice starter in a top 10 Premier League team, the heart of a defence with the joint-best defensive record in the entire league. We really were run by morons, weren't we
Yup, he was a class act back then and has shone through. He seems to like playing in red & white stripes!
It would appear that none of o'neill, ball, di canio or poyet rated him. Crappy managers all advising short.
He must not have been able to make the step up as other posters have also stated. We were in the Premier and I think Gillingham were in league one, if it screams anything it's that game-time will (generally) make you a better footballer.
Egan was 22 when he left and he'd had an injury which set him back. He had to go and play league one football for a couple of years to build his career back up, then a further 3 years in the Championship before he's finally made his mark in the Premier League at 27. We'd kill to have him now, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of people wanted us to keep Louis Laing as well who left around the same time.
John Egan left us in 2014. Its took him 5 years and about 200 games to reach the prem. You can criticise the club for many many things but not this. Should we have hung on to dozens of promising youngsters giving them loan after loan in the hope. . .
I remember him having one major injury, (says on Google broken leg, one year out), struggling to remember owt else, need someone with a good memory to chip in!