Saturday, August 8th 2009. As the ball reaches
Grant Holt, he roots his feet to the floor and nonchalantly flicks his head at
it. It reaches the feet of Cody McDonald, who slides the ball home and reduces
the deficit to Norwich 1, Colchester 5. Had the result not been 7-1, the
Norwich City faithful may have gone home saying, “and did you see that header
from Holt, the one that set up our goal?” Instead, Norwich supporters left
Carrow Road feeling humiliated, demoralised, and slightly baffled. They had no time
to appreciate Holt’s first contribution to City – a modest, ignored assist. Holt
would go on to set his teammates up in a similar manner hundreds more times.
It
was these little mannerisms that made Carrow Road love Grant Holt. Whenever he
refused to jump for a long ball forward, forcing his opponent to fall over his
shoulders, and winning a free kick for City in the process, it reinforced just
how clever he was. Whenever the tactic went against him, he would always spread
out his arms in a gesture that suggested the world was against him. In a way,
it was. He was the man that 91 of 92 sets of supporters loved to hate. And,
because of that, the yellow army adored him even more. After four years, it
became apparent just how much of a pain Holt must have been to play against.
Holt
is, in fact, the only member of Norwich’s current squad that has been at the
club for just the last four years of
astonishing success. He became the poster boy of Norwich City 2.0. No longer
were the Canaries a hapless clump of misfits scrabbled together without
thought. He resembled everything that City wanted to be: hard working,
determined and powerful, with a knack for scoring lots and lots of goals. And
that’s what City became. Holt, and Lambert with him, didn’t know failure.
Making Holt captain was a masterstroke. By instilling someone with the utmost
belief in his own ability, it gave the old guard – Hoolahan, Doherty, Lappin,
Russell etc. – a new lease of life. The four aforementioned players had their
best seasons in a yellow shirt in 2009/10, in no small part because they had a
leader on the pitch to help them. Chris Martin also flourished alongside Holt,
showing flashes of brilliance that meant that, when Holt was unavailable, he
would take up the mantle, as in our 1-0 victories over Brentford and Leeds.
In
2010/11, Holt finally got a fair crack at the Championship, and again proved to
be City’s most influential player. Norwich’s knack for late goals that season –
14 in the 90th minute or later – was largely attributed to Lambert’s
‘never say die’ attitude, but his captain led by example, scoring last minute
winners against Scunthorpe and Reading. Even with Lambert gone, Holt’s last
minute winner against Everton last season arguably kept the club up, giving the
squad the confidence it needed to crawl over the 40-point mark. Many supporters
often say that, had Simeon Jackson not sprang into form in 2011, Norwich
wouldn’t have been promoted. Holt’s 23 goals earlier in the season made that
possible, and it all culminated in a truly remarkable night at Fratton Park – a
memory that the captain states is his favourite in a City shirt.
In
two years in the Premier League, Grant Holt scored against 13 of the 22 sides
he came up against, including Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, that bullet
header against Liverpool, and his last goal against Manchester City. He
contributed massively to two mid-table finishes, scoring 23 Premier League
goals in the process. In total, Holt scored 78 goals for Norwich, becoming the
club’s sixth highest ever goal scorer while doing so. And, more importantly, he
scored three of them against Ipswich, contributing to Norwich’s two biggest
wins over their rivals, ever. But, to paraphrase the big man, it doesn’t matter
whether he scores, as long as the team wins. Well, the last four years have
been one big victory. From the club’s biggest ever home defeat to picking apart
the dethroned champions of England on their own pitch is one hell of a journey.
Thanks for inviting us all along for the ride, Grant.
