Grant Holt has arguably become one of the most recognised English footballers over the last few seasons to never play in the Premier League. Although some of this fame could be attributed to his celebrated “Movemberâ€charity moustache growing efforts, it has largely been due to the fact that, after years of promise, his footballing talents have finally gelled to great effect.
In Norwich’s two successive automatic promotions, Holt has been a key figure, chipping in with 45 goals and now he is set to be pivotal in their quest for Premier League survival. As club captain, Holt has successively won the Norwich City Player of the Season award over the past two seasons and has been the club’s leading scorer in both campaigns; despite recent signings in attacking areas then, Holt should firmly be in Manager Paul Lambert’s plans come 13 August.
But the Premier League is a tough testing ground and, if Holt fails to prove his worth in the opening weeks of the campaign, there are plenty of other players ready to take his place. Simeon Jackson and Chris Martin were already on the books as options, but Lambert has moved quickly to acquire the services of forward pair Steve Morison and James Vaughan who will both be keen to prove their worth.
The Statistics
Although it has been under the guidance of his latest club and gaffer where he has truly fructified, Holt has had some memorable seasons toiling away in the lower reaches of the football league.
After a unremarkable period at Sheffield Wednesday, Holt singed for Rochdale where he scored 34 goals in 75 appearances in Football League Two. He was then snapped up by Nottingham Forest and stayed at the City Ground until 2008, scoring 21 goals in 96 appearances and winning Forest Player of the Year in 2006-07.
By the time Forest had won promotion to the Championship, Holt had fallen out of favour. He continued scoring goals when transferred to Shrewsbury Town the following season however – 21 strikes in 43 appearances saw him pick up a string of individual gongs.
Since moving to Norwich, Holt has channeled all of his early career potential and found consistency, with 21 goals in 45 League games last season and 24 in 39 the season before, as well as further individual honours coming his way. Holt also has an eye for a pass and has assisted on 25 occasions for Norwich over the last two seasons.
The Prospects
Depending on the way you plan to prioritise your Fantasy Premier League (FPL) line-up next season, you may well be searching for a budget striker to complement a couple of expensive heavyweights such as Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie or Carlos Tevez. Last season’s cheaper yet successful options may no longer be viable – West Brom’s Peter Odemwingie, in particular, is surely due a significant rise in valuation.
With this in mind, Holt – who is likely to be priced at 5.0 or perhaps 5.5 – could come into serious contention. With 20 goals or more in each of his last three seasons, there seems to be no stopping Holt. It would be remarkable, and quite unlikely, for Holt to reach these highs again, but having seen DJ Campbell achieve double figures for Blackpool last season, it wouldn’t be unfeasible for Holt to creep to a similar figure. It’s worth considering that he is also the principal penalty taker for the club, a fact that will surely boost his season tally.
The sheer number of individual accolades picked up over the last few seasons indicate that, even when not scoring goals, Holt continually puts in a shift. He is therefore the sort of player he could quite easily attract the majority of Bonus Points within the Norwich lineup. On the flipside, his determination and graft have also led to Holt getting a bit of a reputation for giving away free kicks – he conceded 103 fouls last season so we can perhaps expect a spate of Premier League bookings after picking up 7 yellows last term.
Much depends on Lambert’s first-choice strike partnership decision, which will be duly revealed in pre-season and the opening weeks of the league, as to whether Holt is worth a punt. Initially as a budget option, the Canaries’ captain certainly looks like to be a viable option in the budget bracket.
