The Bournemouth View On Lewis Grabban

Bournemouth fan Carey Paton was kind enough to answer some questions on Lewis Grabban, you can follow her on Twitter @CareyPaton

Why do you think Eddie was happy to let Grabban leave the Vitality?

The problem with our squad is that we have so many talented attacking players and they can't all play. And Lewis Grabban has been a victim of this. He's behind Callum Wilson, Benik Afobe and Josh King so only makes the bench once in a while. We're out of all the cups now and it's highly unlikely that Grabbs would get on the pitch for us, so a loan away is the best thing for him. And a stroke of genius from Reading - a proven Championship front-pairing for the run-in.

Are you sad to see him go?

Grabban is a very Marmite player. Just ask Norwich fans. And the fact that we bought him back from Norwich for a reported £7m divides fans even more. A lot of fans don't like the way he moves from club to club. For me, he hadn't played enough for us in his latest spell at Dean Court to either live up to that price tag or for me to be sad to see him go. I am happy that he's gone somewhere that has a player in Yann that he knows he can work with so well, and I'll be watching to see how they get on.

What are his main strengths?

He'll nick a goal out of nothing, he's a fantastic goal-poacher, has good pace and with a good strike partner he'll read balls well and get around defenders with ease.

Any particular weaknesses?

His main weaknesses are probably not on the pitch - if he's not playing he's not happy and, although he never did it with us, he can play up - as Norwich found out. On the pitch, if he doesn't get the service he can get a bit fed up & sulky, but it only lasts till the next attack. When he gets into his stride it's totally worth it.

What sort of partnership did he form with Mr Kermorgant?

It's probably down to his partnership with Yann that we went from flirting with relegation when Yann arrived to finishing 10th in our first season in the Championship. They're probably a bit rusty, it's been a couple of years, but let them get that old telepathy going again in training and they'll be great on the pitch. It didn't take them long to get a partnership going for us from nothing, so they'll be firing before you know it. Lewis reads Yann's flick-ons and through balls with ease. And Yann knows Lewis's runs. They were a joy to watch. It's exactly what Yann needs too - he was just starting to get a good partnership going with Rakels when he got his injury, and Yann's at his best when he has a pacy strike partner to work with.

Any good or bad stories off the pitch?

My favourite Grabbs story was with Norwich, when he'd decided he wanted to come back to us, so went AWOL from the Norwich team hotel. I'd imagine after this whole sorry saga, Alex Neil wouldn't want anything to do with Bournemouth or Grabbs again.

Finally, do you think he'll be a success at the Mad Stad?

Whoever came up with the idea to get Grabban on loan is an absolute genius. I'd never have thought of it and yet it makes so much sense. Between Grabbs and Yann they got 19 goals for us from deadline day January 2014 when Yann signed until the end of that season. It's the partnership that nearly got us up to the playoffs from 15th, when we'd only just come up from League One, and it's a partnership that makes me think I'll have an away day at the Mad Stad next season (if we stay up) which I'll really look forward to!