Player of the Season (so far...)

First of all, I must admit I'm a bit of a lurker on the JA606 forum. I'd been hoping to contribute a little more which has been as successful as my other ambitions, like to start going to the gym - I'll try it again tomorrow. I've posted on a few (very rare) occasions, and based on the fact I had a gym induction today, I don't really have an excuse not to start typing a few lines on a website I frequent often.

I thought I'd start with a conversation I've had quite recently within my local iPro community (pretty much anyone in a 2 row radius of my seat) as to exactly who's likely to win the Jack Stamps Trophy at the end of the season.

There's a few contenders all over the pitch, in my opinion:

- Craig Bryson (more so after this weekend of course <wink> has probably been one of the most influential midfielders in the league this season. I don't think it's the fact he's improved so much this season, but more the fact that he's been doing the same thing every week and this year, he's finally been playing with the players or system that's good enough to play with him.

- Chris Martin. I don't think anyone expected him to be pushing as a 20-goal-a-season striker when Clough first signed him. Of course there's been the whole 'diving' controversy with him, but I'd put it down to him going over too easy, rather than blatant diving (with the exception of the dive vs. Blackpool which completely goes against my point... ). He's still in as a strong contender if he scores more than Bryson this season, though.

- Jake Buxton. Looking at more than just this season, I think Bucko has proven everyone wrong. Admittedly, it took a 91st minute winner vs that team we beat on Saturday. Since then, he's established himself as a rock in our defence - and I can barely think of him missing a header this season. This isn't considering how suddenly he's learnt to ping 30-40 yard cross-field passes with absolute ease.

- Andre Wisdom. He parks where he wants, and he plays how he wants. He's been an absolute masterclass of a signing, and has been exactly who we needed to replace John Brayford. He hasn't seemed phased at all this season and I'm sure we'd all love to re-sign him again regardless of where we end up.

Personally, I'd put my vote to Bucko - I'd rather drop Keogh (who's also been outstanding). He seems a true leader on the pitch - some of his comments in his interviews have shown how much he cares, and as I mentioned before, I can't remember him missing a header all season regardless of who he was up against.

So, with only a small number of games to go, who do we put our money on?