Former Player Recounts 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 that Grant, whom he described as a "great guy" and "nice to have a beer with," was not a good fit for the team during their time together at West Ham. Cole mentioned that Grant "used to go out a lot," with friends working as security guards at clubs sometimes informing him when the manager was present.

The most striking incident involved Cole finding Grant asleep at his desk when the team was supposed to be training. Cole stated that he knew Grant had been out at a casino the night before. He knocked on Grant's office door and found him just waking up, realizing "this is not good" given the team's important season and the manager's apparent forgetfulness about the training session.

Despite the criticism of Grant's professional performance, Cole reiterated that Grant is a "great guy" but "just bad at his job," advising not to "judge a book by its cover" and that he was "fun to be around."