who said Holt couldnt cut the Championship????

[Thecanaryfan 0]

Just watched the end of season party highlights on CW. Holt looked pretty peeved off during his acceptance speech for player of the season when he said "alot of Norwich fans said I couldn''t cut the Championship" I must have blinked and missed it. Does anyone remember people saying he wouldn''t be good enough for the Champ pre season? If they did they were surely in small numbers?

[Captain Holt 520]

City Angel.

[I am a Banana 0]

Ill hold my hand up and say I didn''t think he would....

[Shack Attack 0]

There was a time during the first part of the season when his performances weren''t that great and that led some (myself included) to question whether he was capable of making the step up. As far as I can remember nobody was particularly harsh in their criticism but a debate was started based on his performances up to that point and his previous career record. I think it was fair at the time and would be surprised if Grant Holt took any real offence from such discussions.At this point I would like to go on record as saying he will definitely cut it in the Premier League [:D][;)]

[nutty nigel 7,509]

I would think he did take offence at the time. And I would imagine that the manager and coaches used it to motivate him. Criticism is a part of all our lives. None of us like it. We can either be negative, dwell on it and become sulky and bitter or use it as a positive to spur us on to even better things. I should imagine, with the help of his coaches, Holt did the latter.

 

[JJ 0]

Poor Holty he will have to prove himself to most of you next season too. I never doubted Holtys footballing ability. Holty is a great captain aswell as a great footballer, Norwich will look lost with anyone else captaining us.

[Shack Attack 0]

In my opinion there is a big difference between objectively appraising the performance of an individual player and mindlessly scapegoating the latest boo boy. The criticism of Holty earlier in the season fell into the former as far as I am concerned and I don''t see any problem with it. No matter how successful we are nobody should be above criticism.

[scrappy33 0]

I must admit i thought Chris Martin was going to be the one to watch this year. Holt will be good for the prem.

[Alex Moss 2,165]

[quote user="Shack Attack"]No matter how successful we are nobody should be above criticism.[/quote]

Fair enough if you want to, Shack, but I''ll never ever criticise a City player BEFORE he''s done anything ''wrong'', end of. I have no reason to want to look for (possible) failures in our own players, especially the current crop who work so hard, and that''s why you won''t find myself and many others on those embarassing threads that frequently get dragged up where a player has shown a ''supporter'' that they shouldn''t be so quick to judge - Always nice to see a player answer fans premature criticism. Often players get slammed before they''ve had the chance to work at the level and I find it really weird and odd with how some supporters do this, I would go as far as to say that it appears some supporters actually want to see a player fail!.

Bottom line is, there are ways to debate whether a player can make the step up, and ways not to - and it''s the ways not to that gets my goat, and obviously Grant''s too.

OTBC

[Shack Attack 0]

That''s fine Alex. I''m happy for that particular thread to be dragged up and my comments analysed as I don''t feel at all embarrassed by them. Some people go over the top and make rash judgements that they later regret but there is a difference between that and merely asking the question.

 

The flip side of your opinion is that some people think you should never be critical of anything or anybody connected to the club. Some people, not necessarily me, might suggest that it is that attitude that contributed to us being relegated to the third tier [:^)]

[Brendo 0]

Just a quick question - how would he know of such criticism if he didn''t read these forums? Cause people hardly sit in the stands singing songs about him not being good enough for the CCC. Surely? If you''re reading Grant, I love you!!! [:)]

[Beauseant 0]

I''ll happily put my hand up. In the early part of the season he looked sluggish (and was probably carrying an injury, as he was for the last few games). As Shack says, there is nothing wrong in objective criticism, and I still feel that he looked likely to struggle on that form. Holty is a great leader and a player who seems to be able to rise to new challenges, but it''s silly to suggest that he''s somehow above criticism. The logical progression of that argument is that we all post about how brilliant City were after every single game, regardless of result, or risk being branded as bad supporters.

[city-till-i-die 7]

I said he would score 15ish[Y] never doubted the bigman

Im going for 10 goals from our captain in the prem[Y] OTBC

[Alex Moss 2,165]

[quote user="Shack Attack"]

That''s fine Alex. I''m happy for that particular thread to be dragged up and my comments analysed as I don''t feel at all embarrassed by them. Some people go over the top and make rash judgements that they later regret but there is a difference between that and merely asking the question.

 

The flip side of your opinion is that some people think you should never be critical of anything or anybody connected to the club. Some people, not necessarily me, might suggest that it is that attitude that contributed to us being relegated to the third tier [:^)]

[/quote]

Shack, just to clarify, I wasn''t having a go at you personally, was merely going off on one about those who are super critical before the players ''failed'', and for that I feel I have a fair point. As I made quite clear in my post there are ways to debate a players merits at a future higher level, and there are ways not to. That was what I was trying to get at - I wasn''t suggesting you were not one of those that goes down the objective route. I figure the only people who won''t like what I said are the small minority that are a wee bit over critical at times, and those posters are whom I would expect to be the only ones to reply defensively to my post ;)

[CambridgeCanary 0]

There were a number of threads on here before the season statrted doubting or questioning his ability to succeed in the Champ.  I remember because I posted several times pointing out that lesser players such as Howard and Hulse had done it so there was no reason why Grant should not do so.  That was before a ball was kicked and his subdued start led to further discussions on here.

But don''t be too egocentric.   The PinkUn is not the only forum for City comment.  Grant might have read the criticism on here but there are other places.   Neil Adams has often referred to the Canary Call callers who doubted Holt would make it so he could be referring to them.

[a1canary 0]

I''ve got that picture on my FB profile Alex - love it! Anyway, Holt shouldn''t be so sensitive. I''m sure he knows to expect that sort of thing from football fans. Personally, in showing fans that he can more than cut it in the Champ, he has already convinced me that he can cut it in the Prem. His game has come on a lot this season - i think the coaching staff have told him what his strengths are and to concentrate on them and they are the kind of strengths that are rare in the Prem and are going to give defenders nightmares. He actually reminds me a bit of Alan Shearer the way he makes a nuisance of himself with the opposition and always pushes the limits of what he can get away with. His strengths are the kind that are going to cause problems at any level of football and i think Shearer''s going to love watching him from the MoTD sofa. As will we! It''s going to be a long summer waiting for the start of the 11/12 season!