so my clutch pedal has been making this kinda fast and furious squeeking noise for about a month now, it happens everytime i push in the clutch and everytime it releases, ive been told that its the sping and i should grease it /get a new one, well last night my laziness caught up to me

cause it just popped and half of it fell to the floor, but my question what purpse does it serve, evrything still works like it did before but without the annoying noise, why should i get a new one, just curious as to what it actually does. Thaks a million--DJ