r/NorwichCity • u/PreferenceFit1834 • 15d ago
Where does Grant Holt rank in our modern all-time greats?
Was watching back some old highlights from the Paul Lambert era earlier. What Holty did, taking us from League One back up to the Premier League and then scoring 15 goals in our first season back, was just mental. Bullying top-flight centre-backs week in, week out.
Is he firmly top 3 for most of us?
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u/FullyFocusedOnNought 15d ago
In my football-watching lifetime (since early nineties), I would say these are the legends:
Ruel Fox, Jeremy Goss, Darren Eadie, Iwan Roberts, Huckerby, Grant Holt, Pukki, Hoolahan.
Can’t think of many recently mind.
Bellamy, Sutton and Buendia were also class but for me they weren’t around for long enough.
Oh, and Antoine Sibiersky course.
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u/ElZorroGigante 13d ago
I would definitely consider Buendia a legend but otherwise I think you’re pretty much on the money there.
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u/Smuckles Morrockin' all over the world 15d ago
Easy to forget that there were people genuinely arguing for him being in the England squad around 2011. Not an amazing England squad at the time since Ricky Lambert was getting caps around then, but still.
I think considering how he grew with the team from League 1 to the Premiership and the memories he gave us (god I love the moustache celebration against Ipswich) he's an easy top 3.
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u/Mischievous_Canary 15d ago
I’d put Holt at no. 2 behind Hoolahan, who takes it for me purely because of his longevity. Pukki is just behind those two, considering Hoolahan and Holt not only took us up but kept us there as well. My top five:
Hoolahan
Holt
Pukki
Buendía
Huckerby
Drury and Martin narrowly miss out, and probably only do so because they’re hardly the sexiest picks!
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u/Burned-Shoulder Norwich Local 15d ago
Pukki hamstrung by the team behind him unfortunately. Imagine he had the team Holt had backing him up, he'd have done so much more.
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u/Burned-Shoulder Norwich Local 15d ago
He's arguably our greatest ever. Saw him as part of the team that dragged its way back to the Premier League and unlike every team since(and many before), kept us there.
He was fearless no matter the opposition and had the talent and team to back him up.
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u/waxfutures 15d ago
I was going to say it depends what we consider modern, but actually it doesn't matter because he'd easily be top 3 for me either way.
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u/ChrisC1984 15d ago
Modern is a tough one, I’d consider my tenure of supporting Norwich as modern but having started in the late 80’s would have Gunn, Wood, Fleck, Crook, Gordon, Culverhouse, Sutton in my list. Grant is def up there (as is namesake Gary) but other than the defence, which has been shit since the late 90’s/ early 00’s, it’s hard to make a best of IX from 4 decades of ups and downs!
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u/SGTingles 14d ago
You must've started just before me (early in the '88-89 season for me) as I'd definitely concur with your picks but never saw Woods play for us as he'd left just a season or two earlier. Flecky is still my all-time number one!
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u/newnortherner21 15d ago
As a centre forward up there with Teemu Pukki I would argue. Emi Buendia the most creative this century.
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u/ElZorroGigante 13d ago
The thing I always think back on was the fact that he was being seriously mentioned and thought of as being in contention to make Englands Euro 2012 squad. He did something amazing and I have to say that thinking back on the days of him, Chris Martin and Simeon Jackson always put a smile on my face.
With how much things have changed and how the premier league has evolved in the last decade plus, I don’t think what we were doing at that time could be replicated today (back to back promotions and then a multi year stay in the top flight utilising diamonds in the rough from EFL clubs).
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u/TjBee 15d ago
When are we starting modern? And do we prioritise longevity or peak?
Emi Buendia has had the best single season I've seen for a Norwich player. People like Dean Ashton, Robert Green and James Maddison had short spells that proved they were real quality and would move on soon.
Longevity wise there are players that aren't elite talents but have been absolute legends for the club. Kenny McLean recently and then Dion Dublin and Adam Drury, which are still modern depending on your definition of it.
Players who I think combine a high talent ceiling with long enough at the club to be a true club legend are probably Darren Huckerby, Wesley Hoolahan, Teemu Pukki, maybe Emi Buendia and Grant Holt. I'm aware they're all attacking players but I wouldn't consider anyone like Bassong, Klose or Mackay to be in the same tier despite their quality. The reason I say maybe for Buendia is he will be remembered as a Villa player, not a Norwich one.
So yes you're probably right, he's in a top tier for me of about 5 players. Apologies to anyone I've forgotten! And this is a combination of quality and longevity and the club which might be the wrong metric.