Greetings Shrewsbury Supporters, Gills fan here in peace...I know that Grant Holt was only with you for one season (and you got more than twice 2 what you paid for him from Norwich), but are you surprised that he is doing so well in the top flight, I only saw him play twice for you, very well at Priestfield and anomymously at Wembley so my expectations were that he may struggle (the same opinion that I would have for Simeon Jackson), but he has done very well, are you surprised too?
I would have been a little surprised had someone said to me when he was with us that he would be doing this well in the Prem, but he's adapted year upon year so well that it was fairly inevitable - 30 goals in the championship is probably equivalent to the level he's at presently (is it 7?).
The lads fitness levels were pretty impressive when with us, especially for a big lad & the amount of running & chasing he does on the field would shame many a player. I'm not really that surprised, he's also lost a bit of weight (from the looks of it) & yeah, he would give any defender at any level a difficult game. My argument would be you could take any decent striker from the lower league, surround him with a team of better players & he'll score goals. As long as he's fit enough & knows where the goal is. DJ Campbell is another example..
I am surprised he has managed to maintain his form at that high level but I think Norwich are a side who whip in a lot of juicy crosses for a canny player like Holt. We were pretty average (apart from Holt and Ben Davis , now at Derby County) when he played for us and he was carrying an injured ankle in the second half of the season so it was no surprise his form tailed off then.
His performance at Wembley was partly excused by an injury he was carrying and subsequently was operated on before he left us. I would love to have seen him with Ainsworth playing for us.
With a better midfield around him at town then i think he would have broken a few goal records. He constantly came back to get the ball from midfield and still managed thirty odd in a season. Being able to turn on the pace for a whole match whilst remaining switched on is key.really glad to see him do well though.
Thanks for your contributions, I am always pleased to see players progress. Good luck for the rest of the season, hope we meet again next year in league 1
