Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Bradwell canary

Grabban's comments in Bournemouth Echo

Recommended Posts

LEWIS Grabban is fiercely determined to prove wrong the doubters who reckon Cherries paid over the odds to bring him back to Dorset.

The striker, who left Dean Court for Norwich in a £3million move in June 2014, this week returned to the club for a fee of around £7m.

It ended a lengthy pursuit by Eddie Howe with Cherries having had four bids for the player turned down by the Canaries in the summer transfer window.

Norwich’s reluctant to sell resulted in Grabban being fined and suspended after he had walked out of the team hotel in protest prior to a League Cup tie at Rotherham.

And while Grabban insisted he had no axe to grind with the Norfolk club, he admitted his career at Carrow Road had come to a “standstill”.

Grabban, who helped the Canaries follow Cherries into the Premier League via the play-offs, had been restricted to three starts and three substitute appearances in the top flight this season.

He became one of former manager Neil Adams’s first signings after hitting 22 goals during Cherries’ 2013-14 campaign in the Championship but fell out of favour under Alex Neil.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Echo, Grabban said: “I can’t control the fee. British players nowadays are expensive and Norwich set the fee and weren’t budging on it.

“For whatever reason, they reached a figure and the manager here thought I was worth it. If he thought that, I think the fans should probably take notice of what he did so, hopefully, I can prove wrong the doubters who say I am not worth it and do well again here.

“It has been a journey, not just for me but for the club. When I first came here we were in League One and now we are in the Premier League. Hopefully, we can continue the rise.”

Grabban joined Cherries for £300,000 from Rotherham in 2012 and made an inauspicious start under Paul Groves and Shaun Brooks. But he flourished under Howe and hit 13 goals to help the club finish as runners-up in League One in 2013.

“It is reassuring to know that the manager thinks I am a good player, wanted me back and still rated me,” added Grabban. “That meant a lot. He is considered as one of the best young managers out there so it was a nice compliment.

“Everything he does from a philosophy point of view and in training suits me and I think I suit him as well. It is a good match. It was before and, hopefully, it can be again.”

Asked about the prospect of facing Norwich on Saturday, Grabban said: “I haven’t got any malice against them. Hopefully, we can get the win and push on.”

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Career came to a stand still. May need to look at yourself there Lewis. Alex Neil was building around you until you punched someone. When you should have been getting your head down and working for a place in the team you walked out on them. Well done McNally and Co for the money you got for him, he is never worth that amount.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I honestly think the best thing to do on Saturday as fans is to ignore him. Don''t boo him or sing about him because that can fire him and/or Bournemouth up. Hope we all just forget about him and pay no extra attention to him Saturday.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
A perfectly acceptable and coached interview , probably using some of the media training he received with us, as well as having his agent in the next room . Grabban left the Hotel on his agents instruction (as nodded to by Russ Martin in an interview shortly after) so he clearly has a lot of influence over him.

Really cant argue that a player that hadn''t featured for 5 games had reached a "standstill" which again I suspect was carefully chosen.

An inference that Howe is a better "Young" manager than another "Young" manager Grabban has previously worked with is about all you can get out of this one.

I expect it might change a bit when he comes off the bench and gets the winner on Saturday

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...