Karlan Grant SIGNED - 2 year deal

Addickinedi · July 19

Do we suspect that Kelman will be out for a while and KAG is a quick replacement.

Bournemouth Addick · July 19

Can't believe he's still only 28, he seems to have been around for much longer. Wasn't a tremendous fan of his the first time around if I'm honest, but hopefully the experience he's gained elsewhere has improved his game.

Welcome back though.

Crispywood · July 19

Addickinedi said:

Do we suspect that Kelman will be out for a while and KAG is a quick replacement.

No Grant would have been sorted before Kelman even got injured. Grant will be another option for the TC role

Dazzler21 · July 19

To be honest this is one of those I am thrilled to see. Had he stayed you'd have to question if we'd have been relegated when we were.

Garrymanilow · July 19

se9addick said:

Garrymanilow said:

2 year deal is interesting. I think it’s a good signing on his attributes, his pressing stats are superb and he’s a very Jones sort of attacker. We’re short pace and directness in attack so filling that gap is huge. There’s things I hesitate on though, his injury record isn’t great and that could be a problem. I also never really warmed to him while he was with us the first time and I haven’t seen anything since that has changed my mind. A big thing in our squad is that there’s a lot of togetherness, I wonder how he’ll get on with the rest of the squad. All in all though it looks like a good deal

Is there actually? More than the average squad? Doesn’t really seem that way to me.

Yes. The players make a big deal about the personalities in the squad, about how there’s very little ego and negativity which comes in very handy when you’re up against it as we were last season. Jones tends to pick players on character as much as anything else so I’m hopeful he’s confident in Grant’s

Charlton and on · July 19

#awks

usetobunkin · July 19

Didn’t fully fulfil his potential, If we can keep him fit, might be a good signing.

Good luck AKG

Fortune 82nd Minute · July 19

Delighted by the signing.

I can now get out of storage the signed picture of him and Lyle Taylor that the museum sold me a few months before he departed!

Mind you, I might have to cut the picture in half so I don't have to look at the rat Taylor!

CAFC_boi · July 19

If we’re signing an unattached striker, I’d rather it was Karlan than Dykes.

Good signing in my opinion, just need more of these!

sillav nitram · July 19

Did he play against us last season for WBA?

Neutral on this, I do remember his partnership with Taylor being very fruitful maybe he’ll do the same with someone this season.

king addick · July 19

Some will shit over this signing but this is decent.

Hopefully he stays (wish that with any player TBF) and he kicks on.

Welcome back Karlan 👍

WillmoreTheRed · July 19

Massively underwhelmed to be honest.

The Prince-e-Paul · July 19

WillmoreTheRed said:

Massively underwhelmed to be honest.

It probably underlines out budget for the season. Let's see what the other 4 coming through the door (Jones said post match yesterday) look like.

Age is about right. Let's see his current attitude, quality and fitness.

The Prince-e-Paul · July 19

SELR_addicks said:

Last 3 seasons in the Championship - 4 goals, 7 goals, 6 goals.

Don't think he's going to fix all our issues, but it's another option with experience I guess.

To be fair to the lad, he hasn't been playing in a successful team for any of those seasons, has he?

How many goals did our current strikers score in comparison?

DamoNorthStand · July 19

West Brom fans saying he showed his best on the left side of a 3.

He is a great signing for the 4231 we look to potentially be starting the season with.

Campbell, Carey and Grant is a great three.

SteveACS · July 19

sam3110 said:

Hartleypete said:

Can’t stand the fella to be totally honest.

Well that's on you and maybe you need to look in the mirror

Shame. I hear he speaks highly of you...

bromleyjohn · July 19

Leaving halfway through our promotion winning season was to my mind disloyal. And so I’m surprised he’s coming back to us. If he scores goals and helps us to win, then he is very quickly forgiven. If he sees this as run of the mill with little effort, then he won’t be forgiven.

eastterrace6168 · July 19

Lots of talk about this one, so is nice to get it done, and a two year contract is about right, would have preferred an extra years option as a safeguard if it all works out...

superdulvertonred · July 19

Good signing IMO I was at Peterbough and my recollection is that it was a poor penalty nothing more still had a decent game. Welcome back hopefully works well and we are all happy

Fanny Fanackapan · July 19

A sensible, considered signing in my book.

Karlan's been an ex player I've continued to look out for since he left us to further his career which we shouldn't question & who has continued to play regularly at a decent level.

With the prospect of our younger players being more involved next season, plus overseas signings who are new to English football, we need the experience of others who have been there before ...and with the club he knows & grew up at, Karlan will fill one of those roles.

Looking forward to seeing you back at The Valley, Karlan.

LenGlover · July 19

sillav nitram said:

Did he play against us last season for WBA?

Neutral on this, I do remember his partnership with Taylor being very fruitful maybe he’ll do the same with someone this season.

No not involved. Injured presumably at the time

Addick Addict · July 19

He's only half the player that Ahearne-Grant was.

WestCountryAddick · July 19

bromleyjohn said:

Leaving halfway through our promotion winning season was to my mind disloyal. And so I’m surprised he’s coming back to us. If he scores goals and helps us to win, then he is very quickly forgiven. If he sees this as run of the mill with little effort, then he won’t be forgiven.

You can't blame the guy for wanting to move up in the world. One injury and the opportunity may be gone forever.

sam3110 · July 19

SteveACS said:

sam3110 said:

Hartleypete said:

Can’t stand the fella to be totally honest.

Well that's on you and maybe you need to look in the mirror

Shame. I hear he speaks highly of you...

Couldn't give a shit what others thought of me, but people who "can't stand" someone based on what, a charge that he was then completely cleared of, and some wankers then chanting to him about that and him giving it back? Some of our fans are so thin skinned they may as well be see through

Chunes · July 19

He's a Championship-level player and we don't have many of those.

Questions about his attitude / relationship to the club are not unreasonable.

I hope he works out for us.

SouthLincsAddick · July 19

I’m surprised so many adults on here are acting like wounded children, just because a player once made a gesture to our fans. To be honest I can’t blame any player during that period trying the flee the club, Roland and Meire were absolutely toxic.

And for those that are underwhelmed. For a club that has basically the same budget as last year (bottom three), what are you honestly expecting? This is the pool we’re fishing in. Those expecting a marquee signing are just kidding themselves.

CaptainRobbo · July 19

WestCountryAddick said:

bromleyjohn said:

Leaving halfway through our promotion winning season was to my mind disloyal. And so I’m surprised he’s coming back to us. If he scores goals and helps us to win, then he is very quickly forgiven. If he sees this as run of the mill with little effort, then he won’t be forgiven.

You can't blame the guy for wanting to move up in the world. One injury and the opportunity may be gone forever.

Lyle Taylor?

NabySarr · July 19

In the top 7% of championship attacking midfielders/wingers for possession won in the final third per 90 last season. The kind of stat Nathan Jones probably values above most

Have a good feeling about this signing, think he fits what we need as an alternative to TC very well. Having one of them starting and then the other coming on at 60-70 minutes in is a big upgrade on our options last season

cafcnick1992 · July 19

Finding it hard to get excited by this one. I thought he was pretty naff even when he got his move away from us.

North Lower Neil · July 19

Interesting post on a WBA group last month, key parts on Grant in bold. Feels very Nathan Jonesy as a signing.

Why Albion want to keep Grant and Maja

ByChris Hall

Fan writer

On Friday, West Bromwich Albion revealed their released and retained list, and the announcement caused a few eyebrows to be raised in the Baggies fanbase.

Of course, not every name on the list was a shock. Jed Wallace's release was sad but not surprising.

The club captain may be a stalwart of 140 league games for the Throstles, but it's the right call.

Wallace missed half the season through injury and, at 32, it would be fair to assume those issues are only likely to get worse, not better.

While Daryl Dike is six and a half years Wallace's junior, he too carried too much risk to be renewed.

Many, myself included, made a case for the big American striker to stay. His committed demeanour on the pitch and his downright lovable personality off it had every Baggie desperate for him to succeed.

But, after four and a half years and only 22 league starts, it was a clear matter of heart ruling head to campaign for him to be given a new contract.

One player who has made a compelling case to stay is goalkeeper Max O'Leary.

In a season where Joe Wildsmith and Josh Griffiths racked up some horrendous shot-stopping statistics that went a long way to plunging Albion into relegation trouble, O'Leary offered the antidote to those ills.

He finished the season in credit in terms of goals prevented, a stat where his predecessors had been heavily in debt, and racked up an incredible eight clean sheets in 16 games.

Albion had only managed seven in 28 games before he arrived.

Little surprise then that the 29-year-old goalkeeper has been offered a new deal.

But there was more of a mixed reception to the fact that deals have been put in front of Josh Maja and Karlan Grant.

From a fitness perspective, I get some of the concerns.

Grant started just 17 games last season - fewer than the released Wallace (although he is also four years younger than the skipper).

The 14 games for which Grant was unavailable due to injury this season is more than he's missed through injury in the previous five years of his Albion career.

At just 28, it's easy to believe this level of absence won't be repeated.

Maja, too, lacked starts (just 15 to be precise), but this wasn't due to injury.

Instead, it was down to the then manager Ryan Mason who seemed to believe the forward didn't warrant a place in his starting XI.

That decision was exposed somewhat when James Morrison gave Maja six starts at the back end of the season and was duly rewarded with three goals.

It's hardly surprising when you look at the stats.

In the past two seasons, Maja has not scored once in the league when coming off the bench.

Yet in 41 league starts, in the same period, he has returned an impressive 16 goals.

That record probably goes some way to explain James Morrison's desire to keep the Nigerian striker.

For the reasons behind the efforts to retain Grant, you must dig a little deeper. However, a dip into the data justifies that call too.

Grant is one of the best forwards in the league for ball recoveries in the final third, successful dribbles per 90 and touches in the opposition box. He is also very rarely dribbled past.

In short, Grant is a wide man who works very hard, advances his team up the pitch, presses opposition defenders and looks after his full-back.

While these are not the things that will always catch the eye of spectators, trust me when I tell you that coaches and managers notice and value them.

Add to that the fact that Albion are already light in attacking areas, and retaining players is almost always cheaper than recruiting them, suddenly our retained list starts to make a lot of sense.

However, at the time of writing, none of Grant, O'Leary, nor Maja has signed on the dotted line.

Wanting to keep them is one thing - doing so is something else entirely.

Karlan Grant SIGNED - 2 year deal

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