Former Player Recounts Abram Grant's Casino Visit Before West Ham Training

Former West Ham player Carlton Cole has shared an anecdote about his time playing under Israeli manager Avram Grant, describing an incident where Grant allegedly went to a casino and then slept through a scheduled training session. Cole recounted the story during a podcast interview in Britain, recalling Grant's frequent nights out.

Cole stated that friends working as security at clubs would sometimes inform him that Grant was present, leading Cole to joke that Grant "went out more than me." While acknowledging Grant as a "great guy" and pleasant company, Cole expressed that Grant "wasn't good enough" for West Ham during their time together, suggesting that "things just didn't work out" for him as a coach there.

The former striker detailed how small issues accumulated, culminating in him finding Grant asleep at his desk when the team was supposed to be training. Cole knew Grant had been out at a casino the night before. He recalled knocking on Grant's office door and seeing the manager just waking up, realizing "this is not good" given the team's important season and the coach having "forgotten there was training."

Cole concluded by reiterating that while Grant is a "great guy" and enjoyable to be around, he was "bad at his job" during that period, advising not to "judge a book by its cover."