Phil Sumbler
Matt Grimes is a player highly valued by Russell Martin, something which has been very evident this season but it could have been so different for the Swans captain who opened up this week on a hugely disappointing loan spell for him at Leeds that caused him to question his love for the game.
It has been quite a busy twelve months for Grimes who was heavily tipped to leave Swansea last summer and probably would have done had it not been for the appointment of Russell Martin. It became pretty evident when Martin took over at Swansea that he wanted Grimes to form the centre piece of his midfield and once again the captain has been almost ever present this season and has attracted many plaudits as one of the leading central midfielders in the division.
Grimes now has more than 200 appearances under his belt for the Swans since signing for the club back in 2015 but it took loan spells at Blackburn, Leeds and Northampton to be completed before his regular appearances in the Swans side came about.
Using his programme notes ahead of last night’s clash with Bournemouth Grimes though was very open on the loan spell he spent at Elland Road which he says was not good for his mental state and the first time that he felt that his career was not on track.
Garry Monk spent £1.75m on Grimes when the Swans were in the Premier League and it was at that stage that the then 19 year old Grimes felt his career was taking off. He wrote “Playing at Exeter was always upwards.
“I was progressing, and got my move. I needed to play more minutes than I was at the time to keep progressing. It plateaued a bit and then went on loan to Blackburn and got myself going again. I thought I was back on track and then went to Leeds.
“The mental state I was in that season (at Leeds), I don’t wish on any footballer. I was training, not playing, going home and sleeping on the sofa because I was living on my own as I wasn’t with my girlfriend at the time.
“I was just in a lull of training and not playing, running on the weekends and it impacted my mental health so much. I was stepping on the pitch, not feeling confident at all and I was thinking should I even be here? Should I be at a Premier League team? What am I going to do after this season because it has gone so badly. That, coupled with thousands of people outside of football telling me how bad I was, calling me all sorts of ridiculous things.”
It is very much testament to Grimes overall ability and strength that he was able to put that spell behind him and progress his career to the level that he has
“Obviously everybody is entitled to their opinions,” he added.
“But you just have to know what the right ones are to take in. Looking back now, it was a really good test for me if you like.
“At Leeds, because I wasn’t playing, and when I was playing, I was playing poorly and then you get all the outside noise of you’re not good enough. But because you aren’t confident in yourself you started to believe that.”
Grimes made just five starts in his season at Leeds before returning to Swansea and what followed was a season long spell at Northampton where he started 43 league games, scoring four goals and his game and career was back on track.
And the rest, as they say, is history with plenty more to follow.
