hear hear
for me, grant holt is the finest signing the club has ever made (well, certainly in my lifetime anyhow).
the £400k fee that was raised by us, the supporters, by refusing a rebate on season tickets upon relegation to league one is the best £400k the club has ever or indeed probably will ever spend. the word legend gets bandied around like there's no tomorrow but in this case, the guy is an absolute
legend. he joins messrs fleck, eadie, huckerby and mackay in my top five favourite canaries heroes of my lifetime (sorry iwan, you're number 6)
i suppose it was fitting of the man in many ways that his debut came on the clubs lowest ever day - a home defeat at the hands of colchester united, but not just any home defeat... a 7-1 reversal! yet just four dramatic years later, his finale would see him net the second goal in an impressive 3-2 win away to the dethroned champions of england. what a remarkable four years it's been for the club and holty has been at the heart of it all.
there will be a lot of people wondering if this is the right move by the club. i would have fallen into that club but in the end, it was difficult because holt himself has wanted away for more than a year. i know we had the stuff about him wanting to stay last summer despite handing in a transfer request but now he's leaving i feel able to say this was not the case - he was having difficulties in his personal life and wanted to move throughout that time. the fact his family have moved back to carlisle wouldn't have affected his football - they lived there during our season in league one and much of our championship campaign too - but unfortunately there is more to this than just 'buying a house somewhere else' and i'm not prepared to go into that on a forum, it wouldn't be fair to those involved.
what we should all do is remember what he has achieved both for the club and for himself. three times player of the year, top scorer four years in a row, 78 goals for the club, captain, leader and inspiration behind back-to-back promotions. he was genuinely being talked about as an england possibility this time last year and i was one who hailed him as someone who deserved a call up based on his form. unfortunately his form dipped last season, partly due to the role he was asked to play but also partly because his talent was visibly waning. and he is a talent. he's not fat, he's not a 'battering ram'. he's a very decent player and clever on the field. it took a long time for him to reach the top flight but he did so through hard work AND talent, something that gets missed by those outside the club, meaning he never received the plaudits he deserves.
all the best holty - we knew this day would come sooner rather than later but i for one had hoped it wouldn't be right now. i'd have loved to see you in that canary shirt for one more year but i understand why you feel the need to get your life back on track. there's more important things in life than football. cheers big man


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