Vital Swindon have been kind enough to answer a few question about Mike Grella who spent time on loan at the County Ground towards the end of last season.
Many thanks to Rich Pullen from the Vital Swindon site.
Had you heard of Grella before he signed for Swindon and what did you think of the signing when announced?
Of course. I recall a little bit of attention when you brought him in. Grella made an appearance as a sub at the County Ground and the following year he played 75 minutes in our 3-0 win over Leeds at Elland Road. Also, Grella had also been tenuously linked a couple of months before on the Town internet forums.
I was reasonably happy when his signing was announced. He had done alright at Carlisle but I was concerned by his lack of goals, Swindon needed goals (and quickly)
What did you think of Grella during his time at The County Ground?
He did well! He got one goal but there was plenty of application. With loan players, sometimes all you want to see is a bit of effort! Grella was popular during his time in the Swindon Town set-up.
When Hart put him on the bench for one game it caused all sorts of bemusement from the Town faithful… There was a lot of that throughout our season.
What were his strength’s and weaknesses?
Within England, I think League One is his level. Plenty of huff and puff and there is no question that he is a hard worker. However, he’s a centre forward and their principle job is to score goals, right? I certainly like my centre forwards to score goals. It probably wasn`t his fault though, Town’s distribution was shoddy throughout (hence relegation!).
What did you make of him cutting short his loan and returning to Leeds?
Personally I was very disappointed. It was Danny Wilson who brought him in and within a small period he had resigned and Paul Hart had replaced him. Paul Hart has taken the majority of the flack from fans for this but in fairness to him, he had played Grella throughout (one game aside) his tenure.
I was a bit irked and questioned whether his parent club would be happy with this because he surely wouldn’t break into the United team any time soon. A week or so later, Simon Grayson voiced his annoyance by his return to Leeds in a surprisingly blunt interview in the Yorkshire Evening Post. Grella had posted a very nice message on Twitter, which earned him praise of our fans but no me! Hart was already Public Enemy No.1 by that point; he was always going to take the blame.
At the end of the proverbial, Grella had committed to Swindon Town until the end of the season. We were in a dire situation when he arrived, one missed game wasn’t good enough reason to go AWOL.
With Paul Hart out of the way and Leeds placing him on the transfer list, would you have him back?
I think he could find a decent enough third tier outfit. Heaven knows we have enough Leeds United alumni as it is! If he wanted to join Town, I doubt that anyone would bemoan it. However, his swift return to Leeds wouldn’t have impressed the Board.
Did the Swindon fans come up with any good chants or nicknames for Grella?
Alas, We hadn’t got round to that.
Thanks Rich for your thoughts on Grella. He certainly didn`t do himself any favours when he returned to Leeds and the writing was on the wall.
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