Tuesday night, the German defender was added to the starting lineup and played for sixty-one minutes. It was Bauer’s first appearance of the season and first start since last August, having played just two games as a substitute last campaign. Bauer, who signed for PNE in 2019, has barely played for the last two years but he came in and performed admirably for an hour against Fulham. But just after an hour, he was ejected, leaving the pitch in tears and with his arm in a sling.
Heckingbottom answered, “Yeah, so we need to assess him.” The doctors were really unhappy with it and demanded that he leave right away. Thus, uncertain. Clearly, someone has told us what it might be, but we’ll have to wait and find out. It’s clear that he hasn’t played in a while. To bring him up to speed, we’ve played him in a few reserve games. I hope it’s nothing that can keep him out for an extended period of time because I got the chance to play him tonight.
In his first three years at North End, Bauer was always there, whenever he could be found. After suffering a terrible Achilles injury in December 2020, he recovered and played frequently under former manager Ryan Lowe, all the way through the 2021–2022 season.
He then found himself firmly on the fringes of the squad though and was made publicly available for transfer. A move never transpired and Bauer’s contract was expected to expire last summer, but it turned out an extra year had been triggered. It would be quite the comeback story – the centre-back is certainly in the picture for PNE’s manager. “Yeah, that’ll be down to him,” said Heckingbottom. “It is always a clean slate when you come in. I think it is really important that everyone understands that. We will treat everyone the same way, but likewise we’ll expect the same from everyone. Then it’s down to them. I think you have to… I have to make my own mind up on everyone at the club
