Friday 31 January 2020

Kamil Grosicki: The Epilogue - Long Live The King!


That Kamil Grosicki’s Hull City career lasted three years is a minor miracle. The £7m signing from Rennes in January 2017 has been continuously linked with a move away since the following summer and has come close to leaving on several occasions. However, in spite of that, he racked up over 120 appearances in all competitions.




Grosicki, or “Turbo”, arrived as part of the major squad reshuffle under new manager Marco Silva – who was attempting to keep the Tigers, then relegation certainties, in the Premier League. City sold Jake Livermore (WBA) and Robert Snodgrass (West Ham) to raise the funds to back Silva with new players. The majority were loan signings on big wages. The exception was Polish international Winger Grosicki, who signed for three and a half years, with the club holding the option to add another.

Grosicki made his debut, along with a host of others, in a 2-0 win over Liverpool at the KCOM Stadium. He had a decent half a season in black and amber though was not as impressive as Lazar Markovic. He did enough to suggest that he could cut it in the Premier League with patience.

When City were relegated in May, the squad fell apart. The loanees all returned to their parent clubs, Silva’s few months in charge had been a “shop window” for the likes of Harry Maguire, Andy Robertson and Sam Clucas while others like Tom Huddleston, Curtis Davies and Ahmed Elmohamady had just had enough of a club with animosity ruling over it and ambition dwindling.

The exception was Grosicki who remained despite months of speculation and a come and get me plea on Twitter!

You can repeat that line for every transfer window since. The cynical City fans would greet every spell of good form with the suggestion that he was playing for a move. But despite every link and reported bid, he remained and he cracked on with the job. His first City goal came against Burton Albion in the early days of the Leonid Slutsky reign – during those baffling few months were City seemed to win 5-0 or lose 4-0 every week. Grosicki shone as City mullered Burton, Bolton and Birmingham. He was the act of defiance in miserable defeats at Middllesbrough and Sheffield United.

He always split fan opinion, regardless. He’s not a workhorse. He doesn’t look fit. Even the warm-up leaves him looking like he’s run a marathon. But, when you give him the ball, he comes alive. He can still frustrate with his erratic decision making and 50/50 passing and crossing but when he’s in full flow attacking a full-back, there’s not a greater sight in the game. It’s a throwback to “proper wingers” of the past and City have accommodated his lack of usefulness defensively because when he’s on it, he can be a game changer.

Nigel Adkins and Grant McCann followed Slutsky as manager and both insist on putting out teams that graft and graft, win or lose, with and without the ball. Yet both accommodated Grosicki whenever possible because they knew/know that he has the quality on the ball to damage teams. The progression of Jarrod Bowen on the other flank has made the two of them by far City’s most dangerous weapon and the period in which they really clicked with Fraizer Campbell last season saw some of the best football we’ve played.

Grosicki is the biggest earner in the squad, along with Markus Henriksen. Given both were signed for multi-millions in the Premier League, that’s no surprise. He now has six months left on his contract and there is no chance of the club exercising their one-year option as they’re now operating on a vastly reduced budget. That they’ve kept Grosicki and kept paying him what they are for the last couple of years as the PL money dried up also shows his value to the squad. This is the last opportunity to see a return on that investment. It’s a sensible business decision.

What looked like a fleeting Hull City career from another mercenary has left us with a hoard of memories. The rocket that turned the tide in Nigel Adkins’ first game against Brentford, that brilliant touch and volley away at Burton Albion, battering Bolton again, stunning free kicks at Millwall and at home to Wigan, Eaves and Magennis telling Sky Sports that a strong puff of wind would blow away his remaining hair and his last goal from a deflected free-kick giving a full house at the KCOM hope of turning the game around against Chelsea last week.

Long live the King.


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