The ex-Israeli star who once played for Aston Villa wrongly criticised his boss’ decision to pick his in-form teammate over him.
Aston Villa once signed an Israeli star who impressed the English club in the late 1990s, Najwan Ghrayib. He was one of the few Israeli in the Premier League history. Spurs were the ones planning to sign him. Unfortunately, the move did not materialise due to his failure to pass a medical. Villa eventually snatched the left-back for £1 million in summer 1999.
Sadly, Ghrayib had difficulties getting regular minutes. He became a bench warmer behind Alan Wright, his rival and teammate in the team. This appeared to irritate him. He blindly criticised his boss, John Gregory, for picking Wright and implicitly claimed that he was better than his teammate, as reported by Sky Sports.
“If Alan Wright signed for Hapoel Haifa, he would not get a game. He is good only defensively and yet he is God-like to John Gregory.”
The Israel international’s claim was certainly subjective. He might have been just boasting about his own record in Israel’s top flight. He registered 12 goals and 16 assists with Hapoel Haifa, along with his contributions to Israel’s national team, when he scored against Daniel Passarella’s Argentina in a 2-1 win in a friendly match in 1998. He also scored when his nation ran rampant against Austria in a 5-0 win in the EURO 2000 qualifiers in June 1999, prior to his move to England.
Yet, the Premier League is definitely at a different level from international football, let alone the Israeli top flight. His rival, Alan Wright, was in fact one of the best left wing-backs at that time. He was among the top three performers in his position in the 1999/2000 campaign, just below Leeds’ Ian Harte and Sunderland’s Michael Gray. Wright was also an experienced figure at Villa. He had been playing for The Clarets and Blue since 1995. Thus, he was naturally fielded ahead of Ghrayib.
His spell at Villa Park ended prematurely. He only made six appearances, two as a starter, against Sunderland in the league and Chester City in the first round of the EFL Cup.
His failure to impress in England eventually cost him his place in the national team. He was not included when Israel faced Denmark in the EURO 2000 play-offs, despite playing regularly in the qualifiers. This frustration affected his future at Villa and led to such comment to his boss. The left-back, who had 18 international caps, did not play a single game for the Lions in the 2000/01 campaign and was sold back to his former side, Hapoel Haifa, for only £150,000.
The unexpected twist came early in his managerial career. The boss he had criticised, John Gregory, was appointed to take charge of Maccabi Ahi Nazareth in December 2009. Ghrayib eventually worked under him as an assistant manager for several months.
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