Before we embark on the final 30% of the season, one thought – and for me it’s a positive one – is that we are this far into the season and just who will win player of the season is entirely up for grabs (in stark contrast to last season), with a growing number of worthy candidates.
When choosing who to vote for, do you go for the greatest sustained contribution over the full season, not entirely measured by number of league appearances but with that a key indicator, for the player who had the most decisive impact, or for the player who was your favourite, who provided the best moments? Or perhaps a weighted average of all three? It’s a personal choice of course.
If you go for the first option, the leading contenders right now would be Coventry, Gillesphey, Docherty, and Edwards, plus perhaps Jones (moving up the ladder) and Mitchell (going in reverse, through no fault of his own). If it’s the second, Godden has to be in there (17 starts, 11 sub appearances, 10 goals – please refer back to a previous post asking how it was possible that he was not starting regularly given his goals-per-minute ratio), but if Ahadme came off the bench to score a hat-trick in the Wembley play-off final him too. In terms of impact, you also have to add Ramsay and Jones, given that their return has been central to our improved form. If you go for the third, Godden is also in the reckoning but the prime candidate would be Small (please refer to previous post discussing how Jones the boss needed to find a formation that incorporated him). Such a difference he has made. Like Blackett-Taylor before him, when he gets the ball with a chance to run the hairs on the back of your neck immediately rise.
If pushed right now my vote would be a choice between Coventry and Edwards. Edwards has slotted in and performed from day one, only missing out on more games because of Claire’s poor challenge. Coventry has been just about the first name on the teamsheet through the season. All others – plus the likes of Campbell(T), Anderson and Berry – deserve mention in dispatches.
The range of candidates is a fair reflection of a decidedly mixed season, with a bright start, awful period, then the recent upturn. In detail, in the first three games we took all nine points and even after six we had 13 points – which if extended over a full season would have given us 99/100 points, ie promotion form. There followed a run of 13 games with only two wins (remarkably including the one against Birmingham) and 11 points. Extend that over 46 games and you get 39 points for the season – relegation form for sure. That in turn has been followed by a remarkable 29 points from the last 13 games (102/103 for a season). Average it all out and we are of course where we deserve to be, just wish we could replay that middle 13.
There’s little point in looking at how many points we need from the final 14 games to make the play-offs as there are the four/five six-pointers coming up. But with the midweek results going our way we are, for the first time since the opening games, in the position whereby if everyone (theoretically) takes maximum points from their remaining fixtures we will have our season extended!
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