On 26 July 2017, Sunderland signed Lewis Grabban on a season-long loan from AFC Bournemouth as they looked to make a return to the Premier League.
Simon Grayson had looked to bring players with some experience to the Stadium of Light to help with their efforts, with the striker being one of a number of players added to the squad that year.
Although the fans had wanted to see the club show some ambition by spending money on players, a number of them were fairly welcoming to the then-29-year-old attacker and had hoped that he would prove to be a good signing for them.
Here are some of their reactions to the announcement that Grabban had joined the club…
Welcome to the club Lewis!
— Gavin Moan (@safc_crazy) 26 July 2017
Hey @grabbs22 welcome to @SunderlandAFC looking forward to see ya in a #RedAndWhitetop #SAFC
— milly molly MANDY (@WaiChingNg) 26 July 2017
welcome to the club. hope you have a great season for us #safc
— Gerry McGregor 💙 (@Gerry_McGregor) July 26, 2017
All we ask for is some hard work and passion mate, few goals too though.
— VS (@VerdantSkyStar) July 26, 2017
Pride and passion is all we ask for
— joecasey🏴 (@joecasey999) July 26, 2017
Welcome. Ha'way the lads!!!
— SAFC North Yorkshire (@SAFC_NYorkshire) July 26, 2017
Graft for the shirt and the fans will love you. It’s a simple equation that 90% of the squad didn’t get last season #safc
— Ross Robson (@rossrobson) 26 July 2017
Grabban had started his Sunderland loan spell in good fashion, having scored on his debut against Derby County before grabbing a brace (and an own-goal) the following weekend with a win against Norwich City.
The Cherries man would score 12 goals in his 20 matches for the Mackems before he would controversially decide to leave the club.
According to Chris Coleman, who had replaced Grayson following a poor Championship start, Grabban wanted to end his loan deal with the Black Cats and make a return to Bournemouth.
Coleman told the BBC at the time that “Lewis informed us of his desire to leave and we wish him well.”
Fans were furious that he decided that he did not want to be apart of their relegation battle and things did not get better for the Stadium of Light outfit that year.
They were eventually relegated to League One and Grabban, who then joined Aston Villa at the end of January, remained their top scorer that season.
And, looking back at their reactions, they are less likely to be as welcoming as they once were, especially considering he helped the Villans reach the playoff final, where they were narrowly beaten by Fulham.
Sunderland fans – thoughts?
