HOLT IS JUST MADD ABOUT STAR JAMES
GRANT Holt knows what it takes to be a derby day hero and is backing James Maddison to be the match-winner when Norwich host Ipswich this afternoon.
Holt famously scored a hattrick in Norwich’s thumping 4-1 win against Ipswich in 2010 and netted 78 times in four seasons to cement his status as a Canaries legend.
But 21-year-old Maddison is the current jewel in the Carrow Road crown. It was his clever finish that separated the sides back at Portman Road in October – a win that lifted Norwich into the play-offs.
The midfielder, a reported January target for West Ham, has nine goals and five assists from 29 league games and scored from the spot in last week’s 1-1 draw with Derby.
“If Norwich can get him on the ball, then they have a fanthe chance,” said Holt, who is back at the club working as an ambassador.
“Maddison is a very good player. When they took him from Coventry (in 2016), he could not get in team and he was probably not ready.
“It took him a while, but he has hit the ground running this year. He feels every time he gets the ball he will score and every time people see him on the ball there is a sense he will do something.
“Norwich are very lucky he stayed last month and fortunate they could reject offers.”
There are more than just bragging rights on the line this afternoon, with both sides locked on 44 points in the middle of the table and separattastic ed by just goal difference. However, Norwich will be confident as they look to extend their incredible nine-game unbeaten run against the Tractor Boys – stretching back to 2009.
It has been a frustrating season in many ways at Carrow Road, with Daniel Farke’s men unable to string together a consistent run of results.
With just 31 goals in 31 games, it is not hard to see where their problems lie.
However, they are now unbeaten in three and are entering a crucial phase of the season, with five of their next seven games against bottom-half sides.
Holt, who scored 21 goals in the 2010-11 promotion campaign, is impressed with how they are regenerating the club in the face of high expectations.
“Ipswich are having a socalled good season, but they have the same number of points as Norwich, who are apparently having a bad season,” he added.
“What you can see in the last eight weeks is that the manager is learning himself – they are doing different things to win and get points.
“In the Championship, you can’t always play one way. Sometimes, you need to move away from your philosophy and reap the rewards. You saw last week against Derby that he changed things round. That’s what they need to do and they look better for it.”
Holt still lives in Norwich, despite leaving the club five years ago for Wigan.
The former striker, now 38 and player-coach at National League Barrow, played for 14 different clubs, but it is in Norfolk where he is most fondly remembered – not least because of that hat-trick in 2010.
“It is one of the main moments of my career. The good thing about it is that you become a hero and, as long as you are on God’s earth, someone will remember it,” he said.
“The scary thing is some of the kids don’t even know who I am and it is the dads who are more excited. People outside Anglia don’t understand how big the derby is, even though there are 35 miles to split them. Hopefully, someone becomes a hero on Sunday.”