As such Saints have carried his wages all season for precious little return. Hardly the player's fault to get injured but another sorry tale in a sorry season.
Certainly Saints could have done with him at the back. A direct, uncompromising brute of a defender, he introduced an uncharacteristic nastiness to the Saints back line with some entertaining, if not entirely legal, challenges in the great traditions of Championship defending.
With Lancashire out of his depth, Cork better employed elsewhere and Saeijs still plying his trade in Holland, Thomas would have been a good option to add steel to the Saints back line.
Equally he is a decent option at right back with Lloyd James learning his trade on the job, slowly building on some naive performances at rookie right back to emerge as a much improved player.
He's been out for so long that it's easy to forget that he was even at the club were it not for the wage bill. It all adds to the general sense of futility at the waste of resources as Saints meekly head towards relegation after losing at home to the bottom side Charlton and then wilting under the pressure away to Sheffield Wednesday.
Saints will be reluctant to fund his relatively high wages in League One, but it will be difficult for the player to find a deal to match. Hopefully at least the player will be able to make amends by actually playing after a season for him to forget.
He may be back, but to what only time will tell.