After a ten month absence from first team football Steven Caulker was back in action last night.
A 1-0 League Cup win over Northampton is unlikely to be in the career highlights of many players but Tuesday night was no ordinary match for the one time England defender.
Since playing against Brentford at Loftus Road last October Caulker’s life has been in some dark places as his career was put on hold.
Multiple personal problems were splashed across the newspapers as the career of the 25-year-old descended into the depths.
Along the way Caulker made contact with Brendan Rodgers who had helped shape his career at Swansea where Scott Sinclair was a team-mate.
Sinclair’s problems only related to his playing career but as he looked on from afar Caulker saw how a former team-mate and manager were being rehabilitated to the joy of 60,000 fans on a fortnightly basis.
In pre-season Rodgers spoke out about Caulker, how highly he rated the defender and how he had been on the phone trying to help him sort out the demons.
With a year left on his contract it’s natural that a move to Celtic is being speculated over but after a ten month personal nightmare the sanctuary of Loftus Road against Northampton Town must have been a welcome sight for Caulker.
“I had to make changes to protect some of the players who played so well against Reading on Saturday and I played a team that wasn’t as balanced as I wanted it to be,” Ian Holloway told getwestlondon about the nine changes to the side from the weekend.
“But I’m pleased with all my squad players. It’s difficult when the team play on Saturday, you’re not involved and then you have to go out in a very different game.
“I’m delighted for Caulker and I want to mention all of them. We can be a lot better than that but Northampton played really well. It’s about standing up and being counted and we’ve done that.”
Caulker joined QPR for £8m on Premier League wages and is in the final year of his four year contract.
With the finances at Loftus Road returning to normality a similar contract can be ruled out, a move to rejoin Rodgers and Sinclair could be on the cards.