Allegedly left the team hotel after being told he was on the bench tonight. If true he should rot in our reserves (on the bench) until his contract expires.
If true, he´s certainly tried it on with the wrong manager - looks as if he wants to force a move back to Bournemouth - goodbye, if that´s the case, will give us a bit more chance with Afobe
who the f**k does he think he is? i cant belive we are going to out hoops and keep him. i say sod him. get shot,and lets start with somone who has SOME loyalty to the club and the fans
AN on Lewis Grabban: "We deal with this sort of thing behind closed doors. The bids received for him are well below our asking price." #ncfc
If Bournemouth offered us £5 million, I'd take it and run. He's not even worth 7 figures. Indefensible if true, but either way I have never liked the guy and made no secret of it. Get rid ASAP.
Neil post-match: "Lewis wasn't with the squad tonight, we'll deal with it internally". "Bids have been made, nowhere near enough. Until they are Grabban is a Norwich player, end of story." No comments about not selling to a rival.
Basically Neil's comments basically say the Daily Mail had it spot on (feels very strange typing that) and is now trying to seize the initiative around the fee we get. For all the business we do behind closed doors that was a pretty public statement to Bournemouth.
I agree, I've never warmed to Grabban and always struck me as someone with a bit of an attitude. You look at Rickys support at the moment who's had a miserable time here so far, but because he's got his head down and not really grumbled everyone wants to see him succeed. The thing that really annoys me about it, is that Alex Neil shown a lot of faith in him last year. In my book the one thing Neil had done which I didn't understand. When you consider Jerome's input, he uses pace and power to chase lost causes, an absolute handful. Grabban doesn't bring much to the team and has missed some sitters in his time. It baffles me hes played as much as he had. If you were a centre half playing against Norwich you'd be praying Grabban was starting ahead of jerome.
What is worst about this is that it seems pre-meditated (with encouragement from agent), and I wouldn't like to be in Grabban's shoes because this is a slap in the face to AN, who was willing to forgive and forget Grabban's idiocy in the Rotherham away match last season. What a wonderful way to repay his loyalty, Lewis. And what a wonderful way to repay the club who pay your wages, with just a week of the transfer window left. Grabban needs to realise that you can afford to be a diva if you are wonderfully talented (e.g. Tevez) because people will tolerate you because they can't replace you. At Grabban's good, but mediocre lower-Prem/higher Champ level, there are scores of players who can take your place. The cut-off-your-nose part of me wants him to be left out of the 25-man squad and left to rot. But it's much better for the club if he's gone as soon as possible.
Also, I know people might say that Wes and Bassong have been rehabilitated after similar disloyalty, but the key thing is what they bring to the club. We have never solved the problem of how to be creative when Wes hasn't been in the team, and Bassong, when his head is in the right place, is a genuine Premiership-level centre back. The simple truth is that either of them would be very hard to replace. Replacing Grabban won't.
Excellent tweet from our very own (ex?) BlackRatGreen: OTBC....CTID @blackratgreen 47m47 minutes ago @MickDennisReal As punishment, I hear they're going to make him play in front of no fans...a loan move to #itfc please log in to view this image should see to that.
My favourite quote from AN last night was: "If the (player's) attitude isn't right it's not going to be a very pleasant place for them" Basically in more simple words: "Don't. ****. With. Me. EVER." Oh to be a fly on the wall when (and if) he next turns up to training!
Bournemouth fanzine take on it: http://afcbchimes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/grabban-unsettled-at-norwich.html
