In the light of re-emerging rumours of a January move to Bristol City, Grant Holt has gone public to state his intention to stay at Forest and fight for his place; which I think is great news – it seems odd that Bristol are still after him, he had a right barney with Gary Johnson, the Bristol manager, during our Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie with them earlier in the week after he felled one of their midfielders – which continued after the incident when Grant again came close to the technical area.
Grant is still our top scorer, and indeed, added another goal to his tally in our last game – I hesitate to describe him as ‘out of favour’, but clearly there’s something amiss between him and Smoulds – whether it’s personal, professional and tactical isn’t exactly clear – but his omission from the team in favour of Neil Harris continues to fuel the bile of some of our less intelligent supporters who feel the need to boo or chant derisive things towards both Harris and Calderwood.
The Carlisle-born striker can’t be too unhappy here, given our placing and results so far, Smoulderwood won’t be under any pressure any time soon, yet Holt has spoken of not only wishing to see out his contract with Forest, but to earn an extension – so he must see a future here which suggests to me that his omission from the team is more likely to be a tactical one; perhaps Colin feels he is more impactful as a late substitute? Who knows.
He said the following to an Evening Post reporter:
“I’m not just here to January and then I’m not just here to the end of the season. I’m here to stay the length of my contract, of which I’ve got two years left after this. Hopefully I can do enough, keep performing and get back in the team before January. I will try to score a few more goals and hopefully get an extension. That’s the aim – I don’t want to be just a bit-part player. I want to be in the first team and show everyone what I can do. You’ve got to battle wherever you go. You are never guaranteed a place and even though I’m scoring goals I can’t get in the team. Now that I’m staying I’ve got to prove I should be playing.”
They’re the kind of words football fans love to read – so I hope that Grant can back them up with performances to warrant them; my first bit of advice to him would be to quit being such a whiner with referees – he always seemed to be moaning to Mr Crossley on Wednesday against Bristol, even when he was giving decisions in his favour! I do think Grant gets a harsh deal from referees, he certainly did in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy game, but just get on with it – you won’t change their mind.
Filed under: News
