Baird: Slabber is staying put

By Wendy Gee - 

Eastleigh insist Jamie Slabber is going nowhere – despite a sudden surge of interest in the Spitfires’ top scorer.

Manager Ian Baird’s decision to drop Slabber to the bench last Saturday and hand a debut to new signing Lee Phillips from Bath City appears to have sent out a message to rival clubs that the 27-year-old’s Silverlake days could be numbered.

But nothing could be further than the truth, according to Baird, who stated firmly: “We’re not prepared to let him go.”

When Slabber joined Eastleigh from Woking in June 2010, Baird described it as the “last chance saloon” for the former Tottenham, Swindon, Aldershot, Grays, Stevenage and Havant frontman, whose stop-start career had been blighted by injury.

Slabber repaid Baird’s faith by finishing as the Spitfires’ top scorer last term and he agreed to stay on last summer after many of the club’s senior stars had departed and made way for up and coming youngsters.

He was a virtual ever present in the side until sustaining a badly cut leg at Dover in early January and, according to Baird, has not looked quite the same player since returning from a three-match lay-off.

And given that the pressure on Eastleigh to succeed is now so much greater following the influx of money from Bridle Insurance, Baird opted to draft in competition in the experienced shape of ex-Plymouth, Exeter and Torquay hitman Phillips.

Baird confirmed: “There’s been a bit of interest in Jamie from three clubs, but we’re not prepared to let him go.

“I know exactly what Jamie Slabber can do and I just felt that with the last bit of the season to come, he could do with some competition to kick him on a bit.

“He got a bad injury at Dover and needed ten stitches in his leg and he hasn’t been quite himself since.

“I hope he kicks on now and gets as many goals as he can.”

Despite reducing Slabber to the role of 67th-minute substitute in last Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat by Farnborough, Baird is still a great fan of the player.

“I took a gamble on Slabs last season when there were a lot of question marks over him and he repaid us with 25 league goals,” he said.

“He decided to stay with the club with all the restructuring going on and, for those players who stayed, it’s been a difficult season with a lot of weight on their shoulders.

“By Jamie’s own admission, he hasn’t done as well as he did last season, but there have been mitigating circumstances.

“He’s on contract here until the end of next season and he’s going nowhere.”

With Phillips having picked up a knock in training, Slabber could be back in the starting eleven at Bromley tomorrow, but midfielder Daryl McMahon is unavailable because his brother has been taken ill in Dublin and Chris Flood and Jordace Holder-Spooner are still injured.

Fifth-to-bottom Bromley beat Eastleigh 2-0 in September, making them the last visiting team to win a league game at the Silverlake prior to Farnborough.