Firstly for the record I acknowledge that GH is an inspirational captain and in the past four seasons has become one of the best and most influential players in the history of the club without whom we would not have made the progress we have done and for this I am extremely grateful. However what has happened to him in the past month or so? Can anyone explain why he has fallen so far out of favour that he has gone from being the first name on the team sheet to a bench warmer only given the odd 10 minutes to make an impact? I think that Kamara is decent but he's not a player you'd want leading your line in a Premiership club. Is he unfit (please no obvious bullemic jokes Ipswich trollers)? Has he had a row with Hughton? Has he got the hump as we signed RvW? Is he upset at CH's tactics? Has he just lost a little bit of what he had and is no longer the player he was? Is it a confidence thing? Do people think that he has personal issues that are distracting him - is there more to his wife moving back up North than we know? I know that he is competitive but some of his recent challenges have been pretty poor - he could easily have been sent off against Sunderland within seconds of coming on and should have got a striaght red on Saturday. I know Chico massively over-reacted but it was still studs up into another players shin which is a red card offence regardless of how much damage you cause. Is the general thought that he has just lost a bit of form and CH is simply picking the best XI he has and on current form GH is not in it or are we seeing the begining of the end of the Holt era? I suppose it is difficult because he has been so consistently brilliant (and I do not use the word lightly) for so long it seems bizarre that he is now not capable of being in the Norwich first team? Can anyone shed some light on this for me?
Being totally serious here, could he be trying to engineer a transfer away from Norwich? its in the public domain that his missus is back up north, so perhaps he thinks that if his performance level drops the club will look to offload him, thus having to pay a portion of his remaining 2 years contract and he gets a move up north? rather than put in a transfer request himself and losing a payoff.
How would you feel if your been given the thankless task of playin up front alone with no support then being berated by your own fans 24 hours a day then Dropped to the bench? Hes still the same guy, he's been poorly treated.
I am a massive Holt supporter,but I do believe that his problems stem from not being "top dog" anymore. His whole demeanour on the field is one of "i'll show show you I can still do it" His tackle on sat was a red card,and his overall contribution in the last few games has been minimal. I personally would start him against Arsenal,and let him prove us wrong.
Guru, I hadn't considered this and I would have thought that if you want away you would break your neck to perform to get clubs interested in you as not many decent northern clubs would be after him if he has no form and I can't imagine that he would want to drop down from being the captain of a PL team to one of the boys in a Championship team plus I can't imagine that he would move for a pay cut after all the fuss he made in the Summer getting a raise I do think that Beef has a point in that it has been a pretty thankless task for him this season but even if he is not playing his preferred formation he has been given fantastic support from the fans even after he held a gun to the club's head in the Summer and I would have expected him to be good enough to start for us and better from him than his recent uber-agressive performances. I would definitely start him against Arsenal and see what he can do for an hour but tell him to keep a bit of a cooler head and not get himself in trouble by making needless dangerous challenges.
IMO i just dont think the system Hughton is playing is a very good suit to him. Holty plays best with a strike partner (we all know that) drawing defenders away from him allowing him to get a shot off. He seems to be playing a very isolated role from what i have seen where balls are just tossed up to him to either try to lay off to one of the midfield (who often havent got to him in time) but mostly seems to be just to draw fouls from the opposition. Very rarely does he seem to have the ball at his feet taking on defenders, and when he does he is on his own surrounded by defenders, making it near impossible to get a shot away. I think he has become frustrated with this and we are begining to see that come out in his performances and him loosing a bit of composure. The guy must also be a bit jaded as been playing alone up front for most of the season with very little breaks. Maybe Hughton has decided to give him a bit of a rest, Kamara adds a bit more pace to the forward line but he also doesnt like the lone striker role, so it is a bit of a strange one for me. If you dont have the players to fit the role why keep persuing it, Hughton would be better off playing them together up top. Maybe even play Becchio in the Hoolahan role but to get up and support the lone striker more, use him in the build up of a move then have him running in behind.
Holt still has a lot of support but constant jibes about him not being good enough, upgrading, being fat (which has been disproven by the fact his weight is under constant surveillance by the club for any wannabe grimy and susannahs out there) and the fact he moved his family home got school reasons, still has a place here as well, and people automatically assume he's wanting a move. I think some fans need to look at themselves and question what the expect the sum outcome of berating a striker to be. It can only result in a lack of goals. Michael turners face the other day when he scored says it all. I believe a big motivation for the players now is to score and stay up to mug off the boo boys.
not being top dog may have something to do with it, and with rvw arriving in the summer he needs to get used to it. was trying far too hard when he came on off the bench. still has a future with us imo slightly OT, but why is bechio not getting a look in? is he not performing in training. especially if Kei isn't suited to playing the lone striker role
Excellent post and I'm sure it will generate lots of comments. IMO, there seems to have had a MASSIVE reaction to the news that we've signed RVW and I wonder if that's part of the reason. Guru and other ITFC fans - Holt is guilty of a lot of fouls etc, but not of the type we saw him perform on Chico and I wonder if the FA may look at that and ban him retrospectively and his action within minutes of coming on could easily have reduced us to 10 men!!! In the last 4 games he has picked up 3 yellows and ALL of them for stupid offences!! At this rate, he'll soon reach 10 and be banned for a couple of games. Beef - I'm sorry, but I wouldn't even put him on the bench on Saturday and I think once again we're seeing him 'throwing his toys out of the pram', as we did when he requested a transfer last year and I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking he has gone from 'Hero to Zero' in a relatively short space of time. Yes, Hughton's tactics don't suit him, but when I've seen him over the last few weeks, I'm not seeing the GH of earlier in the season. I also agree that if he wanted a move, then surely you show what you can do, so as to make other teams interested in signing you. As an analogy - if you were selling your car and someone was coming rould to view it, you'd make sure it was washed and polished first. Sorry Norfolkbhoy, I can't shed any light on his dip in form, but only give my views.
In my view (obviously not a regular viewer of all things Holt) it seems that he has his new contract and is now beginning the slow decline that players have at that age.. I think for a number of reasons, mainly age as the intensity is through the roof, as well as already having the security of a long contract. Also the fact he isn't playing every week (struggle for form) and having to fight and scrap for very little it can be demoralizing having been talismanic and at the forefornt of every thing successful you have achieved. His lack of involvement is probably making him more reckless (challenge on Saturday) as he's desperate to do something to be that top dog again. Maybe He'll never hit the height he once has.. who knows? Some players grow old gracefully and adapt their game and some fight until the death and ultimately stay too long and tarnish their career/reputation. It will be interesting to see how this one pans out as he's never struck me as a player who could play anything other than in the face and hustle and bustle (which he obviously does well)
Hate to say it, but the last few months he has looked nothing more than a league one player if you ask me, a million miles away from the guy hammering on the door of the England squad last season. I've always watched the comparison with Ricky Lambert - similar styles and similar background and all that - and he had as good as, if not better year than Holty did last season and looks a far better player at the moment. As for what's going on, I can do no more than speculate so I won't bother, all I do know is that I hope he clicks into ace real soon because by God might we need him back to his brilliant best right now!
I think the only issue with Grant Holt is a lack of form and confidence after his penalty miss, also being played for most of the season as a lone striker it will have taken its toll physically and mentally. Next season he and RVW will play together and scores 10 plus goals each IMO
I strongly suspect he will not be a Norwich player next season and I think he knows it. Grant Holt has never been the best footballer, he is a battering ram of a player and has done brilliantly for us based on his work-rate, his heart and his general impact around the place. He has been brilliant for us but if you were to look at him on footballing ability he is average. Not massively skillful, not quick just strong and determined. Now, if he knows that he is off in the summer you can kind of understand that a little of his heart may not be as 'in it' as before. For Grant Holt who we all know is not the most gifted of players it makes a huge difference to his performance level. This is frustrating him and so he is trying to compensate with aggression. I also think it is difficult for him to get the pace of a game coming on from the bench. Being off the pace also frustrates him and contributes to the 'tackles' we have seen recently. Just my thought.
Foggo - I have always felt that Holt's technical ability and footballing brain have been underestimated as people see him as a mere blunt force weapon. Having seen many of his goals and more importantly his link up play, control and finishing I think that he is a better player than you give him credit for. I do think that he has lost form and that there is something amiss with him hence my OP. I accept that he is not the quickest player or the most gifted but he does have something about him and on his day is right up there with the best (no I am not saying he is as good as RvP or Suarez but you know what I mean)- look at his return last season from a club most people expected to go straight down. Same as Lambert this year for Saints - written off as not good enough to play in the prem at the start of the season yet doing brilliantly and pushing for an England call-up. I don't know if he reached his peak last season and the marginal drop in his level has been enough to drastically reduce his effectiveness. I am sure that changing from playing in a team whose formation suited his style of play to our current more negaive system has not helped either but the way he has been in the past few weeks has left me a bit perplexed.
Something is definitely wrong and it may be the missus being away but he is almost manic in some of his actions (tackles) now and is a potential liability as he will get sent off soon and that could cost us big time. It is all very sad but I feel that he will be on his way come the summer. He was fantastic for us but was is the operative word.
No idea what has happened to him. Of course, the lack of service is a key factor but these days defenders look entirely comfortable against him and that never was the case!
