[Slick_Footwork]

I had never realised Karlan Grant was quite so unpopular with you.

Handicapped by a dimwit manager and sub-standard and very confused squad he still got 18 goals last season, didn't he? At Huddersfield what was it 23 goals in 50-odd games? Another decent strike rate. This season amidst upheavals, he's hardly scored. But surely when a player is not-performing to his best that isn't a one-way pendulum? Surely he has shown enough not to be some kinda write-off? Equally his time at Charlton showed it took time and the right loan for him to show what he could really do. He is obviously not the easiest character. But getting the best out of difficult people is surely part of what management is about. Would Ronaldo have showboated out on the wing forever without Ferguson having a serious word with him and pointing out his potential for sticking it in the onion bag?

Are the forwards at the rest of the challengers in the Championship that much better than Karlan Grant? Make him unhappy and keen to move and he'll not be the player he could be until he reaches a new environment. He won't be trying to fail, or failing to try. He won't be able to help it. Remember Joni Mitchell's words, "Don't it always seem to go that you .......................................................................... " You've got no money, if you sold him, could you get anyone as good for that money?

I'm not sure Karlan Grant is unpopular with all fans on this forum, but personally I think he's a dreadful footballer. I'll explain why...

I have an expectation that every footballer should be able to do the basics first and foremost. That is control the ball, pass accurately and put a decent shift in. Grant's can't play and he's lazy to boot.

He's the type of player who passes the ball and you think "who was he aiming that at". And it happens far too often.

On the wing he has no skill or creativity. The guy couldn't beat an egg, let alone a full back. And on the occasions he's played up top, his first touch is so bad it's like we are playing with 10 men.

To his credit, he's got a good shot on him that's why he scores goals. But that's about it really.

His negatives far outweigh that positive. The number of times he gives the ball away. The number of moves that break down in good positions when he gets the ball because he can't see the simple pass.

It's not a coincidence that our upturn in form and style of play came when Grant got injured. He came back into the team for the cup ties away at Chesterfield and Bristol and we were dreadful. He scored against Chesterfield, so another good performance "on paper". In reality, he was anonymous against a non league team for 80 minutes. His goal was a poor finish when one on one, but it went through the keeper, so another goal that make his statistics look decent.

Whoever sanctioned spending £15m on him was an absolute lunatic. £15m on a player who couldn't control a bag of sand. The irony is, at the time we were linked with him and Ivan Toney, who went to Brentford for about £4m Our scout wasn't sure Toney could make the step up, but was happy to leave sanction a deal for Grant that would leave us paying for years to come. That decision just about sums up our transfer dealings in the last 3 years. Presume it was the same guy that recommended we spent £9m on Keneth Zohore.

If we sold Grant I doubt we would get much, so you might be right that we might not be able to replace his goals for whatever fee we receive. But we could almost certainly get a better alround player that can contribute in other ways.

Thomas-Asante cost less than £1m and he's a much better player than Grant. Better touch, can pass, can head the ball. Grant is a decent player "statistically". But the problem with stats is you don't get stats for how many times someone has given the ball away under no pressure, passed it into touch when there's an easy ball on or the amount of times you've left the full back exposed.