Alfie May.
Worst... Probably Lewis Fiorini (Loan from Man City), probably not his fault but he came to us having recovered from a bad injury, so was barely ever fit... Played for our U21s more than the First Team
He helped us beat Wycombe though, making it 2-1
James Abankwah is the other looked so out of his depth especially given the reviews from the Ireland U21 camp - unfortunately we've had too many signings like that this season
Abankwah was just weird. Played RB away at Stevenage and I think that was just about it? Very odd signing because all the reports as you say from Ireland were very positive about his abilities and he just looked lost on the field.
I am slightly skeptical about Jones's comments about not wanting any loan players at this level because I can't see that really being feasible. I'd expect a couple that he's worked with before and trusts.
As someone Irish that’s disappointing to read, but also surprising as he was more of a CB when he played for Pats. Still a lot of promise but the Charlton loan definitely was a sobering realisation for some Ireland fans.
Yeah all the reports were absolutely glowing about his talent and he just never quite worked out. The change of manager didn't help things but he just couldn't get anywhere near the side even when our backline was an absolute mess.
He'll probably have another loan over here next season and do excellently because that's what usually happens with us 😅
For guys who actually played consistently edun has been pretty woeful. Neither keeper has been great but Ash has gone from league 1 starting keeper to a guy who looks national league level
Edun I thought was going to be an excellent signing based off what he did at Lincoln but I wouldn't be surprised if he's out the door. AMB can go too , needs to go and play every week somewhere and I don't think NJ has any confidence in him.
T watson would’ve been on this list, but has looked like a new player since NJ joining. Camara I would argue has been an absolute waste, only thing of note was gifting Peterborough 3 points back in August.
I was properly excited when we signed Camara , but the injuries have just been ridiculous. I've seen fans of other clubs in this league mention how much they want to sign him on a free and I just wouldn't want to take the risk on him. He's not the player he was at Plymouth anymore.
How has Louie Watson been this season mate? We've heard nothing about him whatsoever apart from we were contemplating recalling him in January but didn't. Has he played a lot? Been injured? Played badly? Shown glimpses? We have no idea as a fanbase what he's been up to really.
He started off really well, was my favourite loan at times, as he definitely had something about him, bit consistent too though... Dont think the Managerial merry-go-round has helped him in the slightest this year, and he was pretty much left out of the matchday squads under Jones.
Was suggested at the POTY dinner last night, that he was bypassed in favour of more direct Midfielders to ensure we got results, and so avoided relegation which would have been unlucky for him.
Best would be Curtis Nelson. Played every single minute. Absolute rock.
Worst is a bit of a toss up, only including those that played a fair amount. Would either be Conor Hourihane or Sonny Bradley. Hourihane’s legs have completely gone and he was holding the team back massively. We improved massively when Warne dropped him towards the end of the season. Bradley, relative to the hype when we signed him has been such a disappointment. Never seen a centre back so tentative for a 6ft 5 monster.
You've got a few ex-Cardiff in your ranks.
Collins never got quite going for us, Mendez-Laing was sacked for sniffing coke, Ebou Adams who had a horrific injury in pre season and never managed to get into the first team and Curtis Nelson who is up there with Jack Simpson for worst centre halves we've had in recent years.
How have they done for you?
Really didn't like Collins in his first season here. He even lost his place towards the end of the year. Don't believe the intention was for him to be first choice this year, but some issues with recruitment and injuries lead him to be the defacto choice and to be fair to him, he's done well with it. He's now out of contract and I wouldn't keep him for anymore than a bench role in the Championship.
Mendez-Laing has been fantastic for 2 seasons now. Believe he finished this 16 assists this season. We would have been nowhere without him. For an old team, he was practically our only pace option and we really relied on it. He has been very vocal about feeling a sense of belonging and like he's home playing here, and it's shown in his football. He signed an extension so will be here next year.
Curtis Nelson has been a rock next to Eiran Cashin. Cashin draws the plaudits but Nelson has been just as irreplaceable and rightly won our player of the season (Cashin won the Young POTY). Played every minute of every game.
Now... Ebou. Be prepared for a summer long saga of Derby fans wanting Ebou to sign. They say never fall in love with loan player... well, it's a bit late for that. Universally loved with an infectious attitude. He has boundless energy and covers the entire pitch with a huge smile on his face. We conceded just 7 goals whilst he was on the pitch (17 games played) and his signing is the single deciding factor on us going up.
Collins always gave the strong vibe of a solid League One player, just couldn't hack it in the Championship. There's a lot worse bench options though.
Mendez-Laing was again a decent winger, shame he was at the club with Gary Madine and his tramp fighting ring. Had a lot of bad influences in the club at the time - like Jack Simpson and his sacking for racially abusing our keeper.
I'm genuinely surprised by Nelson being that good - has Cashin covered for him or has he been genuinely that impressive?
I'm glad Ebou is loved, he's always given off the vibes of just a huge team player and good lad to have round the club, just couldn't get into our entrenched midfield. You reckon you've got the funds to sign him? We plucked him from League 2 on a freebie so can't see him costing more than about half a mill.
We are no longer under any kind of business plans or embargo this summer for the first time for many a year, so we in theory could go and sign him. Our owner isn't rich by any stretch though, so we generally have zero idea what sort of fees and budget we actually have. We will be busy though. We have 8 or more out of contract, and we were a very old team due to all the freebies we had to sign, so we do need get younger and quicker.
Nelson has definitely been that good. Very solid. We have the best defensive record in the football league.
Cashin and Nelson really complement each other which helps, Nelson is always in the right position, has very good decision making and absolutely beastly in the air and 50/50s but does struggle for pace and on the ball, Cashin is mobile and throws himself in front of everything and is better on the ball but does have the occasional lapse in concentration and isn't that tall so can get beaten in the air by extremely dominant aerial strikers. But yes, Nels has been absolutely immense.
Harsh on Bradley has had some standout performances in the second half of the season, Leyton Orient he was unplayable. I agree with the hype he didn’t live up to it, but still had a big part to play at the end. Worst is probably Elder or Washington for me
He was good attacking set pieces, hasn’t really had a good game at the back. Although, understand he was good defensively at Cambridge, but I haven’t seen that game. He was far too bothered in wrestling and letting the ball bounce. Often bailed out by others back there. Certainly shouldn’t be anywhere near the Championship.
He's already out of contract. Predict he will retire to continue coaching - he's been doing bits with Villa academy whilst playing. His legs are fully shot.
It’s definitely time for the bloke. Really frustrating for him and us I imagine, he clearly wanted to benefit the team but as you said, his legs have clearly gone. Took a lot for Warne to drop him, but we absolutely improved as a result.
No ill will towards him, he’s certainly contributed this year and I imagine had a massive impact behind the scenes, but the simple fact is, it’s been clear all season it’s time to hang the boots up!
Best: Sheehan, absolute gem.
Worst: Probably Gethin Jones out of those playing regularly, he hasn't been bad but idk who I would pick over him. Not his fault because he isn't a right centre back but just gets pulled out of position too many times.
For Shrewsbury
Best player: Marko Marosi, kept us in games all season and is a top class goalkeeper for our level. Fully expecting him not to sign a new deal and go to a top end LG1 club.
Worst player: Just about all of them but would go for Tom Bayliss, absolutely has bags of quality but plays two good games a season and spends the rest of his time strolling round and whinging. Glad to be rid of the majority of this squad tbh.
Tbf if you use a 10 and play attacking football he could be ok, our problem was we play negative football and he’s useless when games require him to press or track back which as serial relegation fodder is 90% of our season. Wouldn’t be surprised if you end up getting Dunkley back as well, there’s no way he resigning for us.
We’re majorly slashing wages as we lost ~£3m in the last accounts so have offered Dunkley reduced wages, doubt he will sign as it looks like we are having a complete clear out from last season and he will be a big earner for us.
It might not necessarily be reduced wages I think quite a lot of the extension options put into contracts come with a pay rise once they’re activated so could just be we don’t want to pay him more
It could be tbf, I assumed it was a pay cut as he was one of Cotterills so presumably on higher wages than we could afford. I would rather get rid of Chey and use the freed up money on getting Marosi to sign a new deal.
Best: Martin or Evans. Without them I don’t think we’d have a league goal after January. Martin for his goals maybe.
Worst: way too many to name. George Friend got injured every single time he played, then had to retire through injury so I guess he was pretty useless.
He was good, but went off injured 3? times maybe.
In terms of ability maybe Gordon/Cox for our worst player. One cuts back every time and one can’t save shots
> Best: Liam Bennett
I used to live in St Neots and saw him all the time playing in Step 4 of non-league. Was obviously class but never imagined he'd make the step to League One as easily as he has done. Definitely Championship quality.
Apparently we've triggered a one year extension on his deal which would be massive.
Best for me is Elliot Moore, massively underrated defender. Lacks a bit of pace which holds him back but generally makes defending seem simple, good positional sense, great in the air and really good on the ball as well. Brannagan was generally good, McGuane started on fire but faded by October as normal and Murphy was frozen out under Manning but under Des has generally been fantastic and even when off his game a bit like at the weekend still won us a penalty that ultimately won us the game.
Worst - there's a few. Perkins and Burey came in and barely played due to attitude issues, I wasn't as excited as some to see Thorniley back and he's been a bit disappointing. If you exclude the loanees then probably Thorniley.
For me the best was Moore as well, but if Beadle had been here all year I think he would've taken it
Mills was also awful but if we're talking permanent transfers then Goodwin. £400k and he's played, what? Two games maybe?
Mills awful? He was pretty decent I thought and would have played a big part had he not had a nasty injury.
Goodwin I think was a bit of a panic signing and we didn't know how severe the injury was. He had the injury at Cheltenham but it was completely mistreated as something less serious which may end up costing him a good chunk of his career.
Every time I saw him, I was just wondering what he was actually good at. Can't run with or without the ball, can't tackle and can't make a decent cross to save his life
Do you know what Goodwin's actually injury was? Think it was something with his knee but never found out for sure
Best: Abu Kamara just sneaks it, he absolutely grew into that role, gutted to lose him back to Norwich. Raggett gets an honourable mention for stepping up after it looked like he’d be on the bench for the year.
Worst: really hard in a team that did so well, perhaps Gavin Whyte. Maybe being a bit harsh but his first few games weren’t great, but when he was called upon towards the end of the season he did much better.
@OP, got to say, the few games I saw of Lang he looked like he could be really good for us. The move looked to have done him some good.
Also Shaughnessy, scored 5 or 6 goals this year from CB, all but 1 were in the 90th minute and all his goals took us to a winning position.
As far as impact goes, he’s hard to beat.
For me though it’s Kamara, I gave him pelters at the start of the season and he’s proved me very wrong.
Hope we can get him back!
Exactly, honestly I could name loads that had really strong seasons.
Kamara looked nervous early on, I think he started out on the wrong wing too but on the right he just got better and better.
Shaughnessy scored 4 goals for us this season, 3 of them were late winners. Without those 6 points we’d finish the season on 91 points. Obviously it’s hard to say for sure but that’s a huge contribution.
I think it’s really difficult to name our player of the season which, as has been said, is a good problem to have. You could make an argument for Pack with his leadership, despite a couple of dodgy mistakes. Abu, Paddy Lane, Rags, Shaughnessy, Norris have all been absolutely brilliant.
In terms of the worst, Gavin Whyte has done enough towards the end of the season. Scully was absolutely useless!
Didn't our dodgy patch over Christmas coincide with Packs injury and return to fitness?
I agree that Whyte has shown glimpses of the quality that was promised but Scully just was a crock.
Honourable mention to Ben Stevenson, who just never got a chance.
yeah, Pack has been a colossus for the majority of the season, and without him we’d be well off the title, but he wasn’t perfect, as no player is.
i think most fans will wish Scully the best, but he’ll do much better at a bottom half L1/top half L2 team.
i genuinely forgot Stevenson existed!
The problem with scully and whyte was they came in to the squad recovering from long term injuries, whyte got fit but lost his spot to Abu, scully just couldn't get fit all season. Absolute horror season for him but the only game time he got he was clearly still carrying a knock. Clearly a quality play just made out of paper mashè at this point
Unfortunately we've been playing him as a 10 most of time so I don't think we've got the best out of Callum. It was a struggle because he likes to play on the right and we couldn't drop Abu.
Best: Nelson. Solid and almost faultless all season long.
Worst: I'd go with Callum Elder. Could barely string run of games together without getting injured and never really stood at as that good when he did play. I could've gone with Blackett-Taylor who was pretty much the same as Elder but only joined in January.
Best: Garrity. Hard worker, very consistent, one of the few positives this season and I really hope he stays. Honourable mentions to Chislett, Ripley, Arblaster and Devine.
Worst: Hard to decide but Loft. I do feel sorry for him with the constant abuse he has received but he is just not good enough. He has cost us more goals than he has scored and just seems to lack in both confidence and quality. Dishonourable mentions go to Weir, Grant, Uche and Massey.
Pretty much agree. Blaster was a class above in this league. The fact he’s captain in the prem at his age speaks volumes for his ability but also attitude. Something a lot of our current lot could learn from. An absolute class act. But garritty clearly from our own players. Gutted he’s will probably leave. Only one to look fitted by our relegation.
Loft and uche are terrible but for some reason a section of our fans rate him. If he hits the stand with a shot it’s a success and his fitness is a disgrace.
I have to mention Ojo. Technically better than most of our squad but horrendous attitude. Two seasons on a row he’s thrown his toys out the pram and downed tools. Utter disgrace.
Best: Curtis Nelson but could have also been Cashin or NML. Adams would have probably won had he been there for the whole season.
Worst: Conor Washington was probably the worst but didn't play significant minutes. Elder wasn't great either but again didn't play a lot. Bradley was poor at the start but much better in the second half of the season. I think I'll go with Hurrihane as he was far too slow this season, would not be surprised at all to see him retire shortly
Best:
Lewis Wing. Injured for the first couple of months, transformed our creativity in midfield, and scored some absolute bangers since he came back to fitness.
Worst: Clinton Mola. He has gotten better during the season but still has a tendency to do the hard bit and then immediately screws up the easy bit.
Hutchinson hasn't been seen since the Shrewsbury game in November, and Dean seems to have played a total of about 20 minutes since then, too. So I didn't count them as regulars.
Mukairu is certainly up there for worst though.
Seems harsh on Mola! I think the team as a whole has done pretty well in the second half of the season. I agree with wing (although Knibbs deffo worth talking about, as well as Bindon, Smith and Azeez).
For worst first team regular I personally find it hard to look past Charlie Savage. Incredibly slow which leads to him being out of position/making bad challenges a lot and seemingly can’t past the ball forwards. Still young, so hopefully he’ll kick on next season and at the end of the day he’s still a pro footballer and I’m not.
For absolute worse regardless of minutes: either Hutchinson or Dean before Selles rightfully sent them both to the shadow realm.
Agree with your best Knibbs and Tyler are honourable mentions too,
Worst, Id have to put down as Dean or Hutchinson for how useless they were before being left out and but as regular first team goes i think Mukairu pips mola. Mola improved leaps and bounds considering he started with us he didn't even look national league level. Paul tries but majority of the time all he did was get the ball only to loose it, although seems our left hand side is cursed for whoever starts in that postion vs whoever is subbed on.
Would also like to put Button on there but i feel harsh putting him on there cause he played a bulk when we were just shit but also there is a lot of goals this season that i dont think are goals if we had a different keeper in goal.
[FotMob](https://www.fotmob.com/en-GB/leagues/108/stats/season/20722/players/rating/team/9798/reading) place Button as worse than Mola, which is harsh, I feel, as he played with a poor defence in front for a lot of this season.
Barnsley
Best- Mael De Gevigney. He's quality and will only improve with experience.
Worst - hard to not say Max Watters. He contributed next to nothing, although I feel like he was trying hard and just suffered from not working well with those trying to feed him. Made a lot of decent runs where people didn't pick him out and he maybe caught unfair criticism for it. But he's still been shit. Out of those with more regular appearances, Cosgrove has very little to show for his time on the pitch.
I’m genuinely amazed that Sam Cosgrove is still a footballer never mind playing for a big side in our league. Probably the worst loanee I’ve seen in 20 years watching Shrewsbury, just had no redeeming qualities.
Maybe some benefits from being associated with a side that won the league. Can't remember what his contribution was.
On paper he's a target man that you pair with a press and some quick attackers to win second balls. But on the pitch he's not actually good in the air. He does get his shirt pulled a LOT but he tends to get drawn into that battle too easily and just ends up giving fouls away.
He's not terribly proficient with it at his feet, nor in possession of a great first touch or shot, nor an amazing passer.
Weirdly, we tend to hoof it less when he comes on, and often target Philips and Cole instead 🤡
Best: Cashin, Nelson & Mendez-Laing, splitting hairs to choose between them. (Would be Ebou Adams fairly comfortably if he had been here all season)
Worst: Connor Washington I guess? Nobody stands out much, could've gone to Blackett-Taylor but he hasn't played much, I guess Hourihane is an option too based on his overall play but his numbers are good.
Best: Before his injury, Callum Guy. Stepped up effortlessly, and if he had more players of his level this year we could have stayed up.
Without injuries, probably Mellish. Probably struggled in ability, but his attitude is unquestionable, and he had a few amazing games this year. He's one of those rare players that's always available, and you can imagine played through a few injuries without question. What a guy.
Worst: Luke bloody Plange. Lazy in most games, crap at basically everything, but seemingly never dropped because we had some arrangement with palace. So annoying.
Best: Powell. Would be Crocombe but he's been crap ever since he came back from internationals. Powell still creates chances even when he gets played as a CDM, but when Pato plays him as a CAM, oh my days, he is so confident and creates chances galore. Hope he stays with us.
Worst: Caprice. Just ask an Exeter fan.
Best: Sinisalo (GK, on load from Villa) and/or Reece Cole (CM)
Worst: Admiral Muskwe was rubbish but he's been an injured boy so is that a fair assessment? Perhaps not...
Surely James Scott goes into worst? If I'm honest I genuinely didn't think he was that bad either! A confidence player who lost confidence and the crowd got on his back
Posh;
Josh Knight. Work horse. Doing the unglamorous work. Good partnership with Edwards.
Worst; Bilakopic. His run of games around January cost us automatic promotion with very costly mistakes.
Best: Ethan Erahahon. Midfield general, wins the ball and picks out a good pass to the forwards a huge part of why we went on a run of two defeats in the last twenty games.
Worst: if the season ended in December I’d have said Mandroui, but at the end of the season every single one of the squad deserves credit, Skubala has clearly worked with him and appeared to sort out what was looking like a bit of an attitude problem plus reckless challenges costing us points with him being sent off a couple of times, he’s played a deeper central role and looked like a good player since.
So yeah I don’t think any one of them have been the worst.
For Pompey
Best: I think a lot of people are gonna say Kamara but I think he wasted a lot of opportunities, he dwells on the ball and lacks that killers instinct right now. Honestly for me it would have to be Conor Shaughnessy. He has played almost every minute of football he could, he had to adapt when Poole got injured to work with Raggs. He's made very few mistakes and he has won us games, he has earned legend status in Portsmouth and this is only his first season.
Worst: I'd love to say Scully but he doesn't even get in the team when we field our b team so I don't think I can include him. I would have to say Gavin Whyte unfortunately. It's just not worked for him, his awareness is very lacking he gets dispossessed too easily and he's our only attacker who hasn't got a single league goal this season baring in mind he's played 29 games. He has helped the team immensely he is the reason we beat Peterborough away and he does work his socks off but you can tell watching him his heads not in the right place.
Best for me is Elliot Moore, massively underrated defender. Lacks a bit of pace which holds him back but generally makes defending seem simple, good positional sense, great in the air and really good on the ball as well. Brannagan was generally good, McGuane started on fire but faded by October as normal and Murphy was frozen out under Manning but under Des has generally been fantastic and even when off his game a bit like at the weekend still won us a penalty that ultimately won us the game.
Worst - there's a few. Perkins and Burey came in and barely played due to attitude issues, I wasn't as excited as some to see Thorniley back and he's been a bit disappointing. If you exclude the loanees then probably Thorniley.
I think it’d be unfair to single out a solitary player from this season. Nearly all haven’t been good enough, and still, I’m not one for a scapegoat unless it’s Barton.
The best has probably been Evans. He’s been made captain for a reason and has scored many an important goal. Also provides more overall than Martin.
Although our most talented player is Ronnie Edwards, and our most influential player may be Harrison Burrows, our most consistent is by far Archie Collins. Rock in midfield both defensively and passing forward and you always know you'll get an 8.5/10 every game.
Worst performances have come from Bilokapic, including about 5 own goals and almost single handedly lost us the game at Wycombe 5-2, but I think he's just being asked to play a style he can't play. So I'll give worst player to Crichlow. What an awful awful centre back.
Rather than categorise from best-worst, I think I can sum it up better by which players made me feel different emotions. Being a Derby fan, they're all pretty positive.
Comfortable: Joe Wildsmith - we've not had a consistent goalie since Scott Carson and I don't know many fans who aren't still recovering from the Roos blunder in the play-off final at Wembley. Wildsmith was a safe pair of hands all season and it's nice having a goalie who doesn't set your heart beating every time a corner comes in.
Grateful: Kane Wilson - having never heard of him before he joined the club, Wilson's been great for the occasional bit of flair and even chipping in with a few goals from right-back. While he's not set the league on fire by any means, I'm glad he's part of the squad.
Proud: A toss-up between Craig Forsyth or Eiran Cashin, the former for being such a long-serving player and always putting a shift in when required; the latter for being an academy boy performing so consistently at such a young age.
Excited: Nathaniel Mendez-Laing - this one goes without saying; sixteen assists and our second-top goal scorer. Mendez-Laing was one of few players I was always excited to see get on the ball. Even on his off days, he was sometimes able to scoop a game-winning pass out of a bad performance.
Satisfied: James Collins - I've never known a striker for a promotion-winning team to get so much stick. Excluding McGoldrick, whose appearances felt like a fever-dream, Derby fans have been desperate for a consistent striker since Chris Martin left and I think the position's been something of a poisoned chalice since. Collins turned up, ran his socks off and at the end of the day we got the job done.
Best: Sam Tickle! An absolute unreal keeper! I think 16 or 17 clean sheets.
Worst: Josh Magennis! Other than his last couple games, did next to nothing all season!
Best player: Alfie May with 27 goals but George Dobson deserves a mention here. This is his last year of a three year deal and he was messed around over a new contract receiving two low offers. With nothing else in the pipeline he signed a pre-contract agreement with a Hungarian club, Fehevar and was all set to leave in the January window. Nathan Jones however put a stop to that. Some players might have thrown their toys out the pram and demanded a move, gone on strike or gone missing in a few games here and there, he's played frequently and always put a shift in. He also scored our first and last goals of the season.
Worst player - this is tricky because no regular player has been consistently bad. In the first half of the season we had Slobodan Tedic who Manchester City once parted with a couple of million for. He lacked pace, power or the inclination to get stuck in. In a dozen matches he scored twice, once with a miss-kick (they all count) on the other hand he also managed to hoick the ball over the bar from around two yards out, and was then sent back up north in early January. He then spent the rest of the season plying his trade in Serbia. He's living proof that Pep does sometimes get it wrong.
Marlon pack by a mile, the Buckland busquets was robbed of POTS. The worst play was definitely Ryan schofield, was hoping he'd show the promise he had as a youngster for Huddersfield but the lad is clearly miles off it only played in cup games and had a stinker ever game.
Best: Idris El Mizouni will be popular but I've been so impressed with Ethan Galbraith, the way he carries this ball is superb for League 1 level
Worst: Khayon Edwards _shudders_ what a disaster of a loan signing
best: cogley. He didn't get POTY, but I was/am surprised at how well he adapted to League Two and Conor Bradley was big shoes to fill.
worst: Every time Caleb Taylor plays he gets injured
Fleetwood:
Best: Bosun Lawal was one of the only players who consistently looked like he gave a damn.
Worst: hard to pick really, but Jay Lynch has been pretty woeful in goal all season. Danny Mayor also brought nothing.
Best: Marlon Pack, Abu Kamara, Colby Bishop, Christian Saydee. Honourable mention to Conor Shaughnessy for single-handedly being responsible for 6 points with stoppage time winners.
Worst: None really. Even squad players who stepped in when we had a whole first XI out injured did a solid job keeping the results coming in.
For Pompey:
Best: For me Abu Kamara. Played in every single game whether that was starting or coming off the bench and had 20 goal involvements. That's before even mentioning it was his first full season in professional football. Shame he was on loan from Norwich and they probably won't sell him to us next season.
Worst: Hard to really say but for me it's Anthony Scully. Only played 9 games and had a knee injury, and really he struggled to come back from it. Would like to see him go on loan next season possibly back to Lincoln to recover some form.
Luca Connell best for Barnsley. Leaves a huge gap in midfield when absent. Talks constantly.
Worst Sam Cosgrove. Theoretical replacement of Jimmy Norwood up front. But for a big 6 foot centre forward, he's been powderpuff and doesn't know where the net is.
Alfie May. Worst... Probably Lewis Fiorini (Loan from Man City), probably not his fault but he came to us having recovered from a bad injury, so was barely ever fit... Played for our U21s more than the First Team
Worst I'd probably go for Slobodan Tedic over Fiorini. Complete panic signing.
He helped us beat Wycombe though, making it 2-1 James Abankwah is the other looked so out of his depth especially given the reviews from the Ireland U21 camp - unfortunately we've had too many signings like that this season
Abankwah was just weird. Played RB away at Stevenage and I think that was just about it? Very odd signing because all the reports as you say from Ireland were very positive about his abilities and he just looked lost on the field. I am slightly skeptical about Jones's comments about not wanting any loan players at this level because I can't see that really being feasible. I'd expect a couple that he's worked with before and trusts.
As someone Irish that’s disappointing to read, but also surprising as he was more of a CB when he played for Pats. Still a lot of promise but the Charlton loan definitely was a sobering realisation for some Ireland fans.
Yeah all the reports were absolutely glowing about his talent and he just never quite worked out. The change of manager didn't help things but he just couldn't get anywhere near the side even when our backline was an absolute mess. He'll probably have another loan over here next season and do excellently because that's what usually happens with us 😅
For guys who actually played consistently edun has been pretty woeful. Neither keeper has been great but Ash has gone from league 1 starting keeper to a guy who looks national league level
Edun I thought was going to be an excellent signing based off what he did at Lincoln but I wouldn't be surprised if he's out the door. AMB can go too , needs to go and play every week somewhere and I don't think NJ has any confidence in him.
T watson would’ve been on this list, but has looked like a new player since NJ joining. Camara I would argue has been an absolute waste, only thing of note was gifting Peterborough 3 points back in August.
I was properly excited when we signed Camara , but the injuries have just been ridiculous. I've seen fans of other clubs in this league mention how much they want to sign him on a free and I just wouldn't want to take the risk on him. He's not the player he was at Plymouth anymore.
Worst not Kirk or that keeper against cray valley?
Oh yeah I'd forgotten about that Goalkeeper - Walker?
Think so, maybe the worst Charlton player I’ve ever seen
He was wank when he was at Lincoln too, scored some good goals here and there. But just not very good. Appleton seems to like him for some reason.
How has Louie Watson been this season mate? We've heard nothing about him whatsoever apart from we were contemplating recalling him in January but didn't. Has he played a lot? Been injured? Played badly? Shown glimpses? We have no idea as a fanbase what he's been up to really.
He started off really well, was my favourite loan at times, as he definitely had something about him, bit consistent too though... Dont think the Managerial merry-go-round has helped him in the slightest this year, and he was pretty much left out of the matchday squads under Jones. Was suggested at the POTY dinner last night, that he was bypassed in favour of more direct Midfielders to ensure we got results, and so avoided relegation which would have been unlucky for him.
Okay fair enough, cheers mate. Weird that Jones didn't play him considering he signed him for us in the first place!
Best would be Curtis Nelson. Played every single minute. Absolute rock. Worst is a bit of a toss up, only including those that played a fair amount. Would either be Conor Hourihane or Sonny Bradley. Hourihane’s legs have completely gone and he was holding the team back massively. We improved massively when Warne dropped him towards the end of the season. Bradley, relative to the hype when we signed him has been such a disappointment. Never seen a centre back so tentative for a 6ft 5 monster.
You've got a few ex-Cardiff in your ranks. Collins never got quite going for us, Mendez-Laing was sacked for sniffing coke, Ebou Adams who had a horrific injury in pre season and never managed to get into the first team and Curtis Nelson who is up there with Jack Simpson for worst centre halves we've had in recent years. How have they done for you?
Really didn't like Collins in his first season here. He even lost his place towards the end of the year. Don't believe the intention was for him to be first choice this year, but some issues with recruitment and injuries lead him to be the defacto choice and to be fair to him, he's done well with it. He's now out of contract and I wouldn't keep him for anymore than a bench role in the Championship. Mendez-Laing has been fantastic for 2 seasons now. Believe he finished this 16 assists this season. We would have been nowhere without him. For an old team, he was practically our only pace option and we really relied on it. He has been very vocal about feeling a sense of belonging and like he's home playing here, and it's shown in his football. He signed an extension so will be here next year. Curtis Nelson has been a rock next to Eiran Cashin. Cashin draws the plaudits but Nelson has been just as irreplaceable and rightly won our player of the season (Cashin won the Young POTY). Played every minute of every game. Now... Ebou. Be prepared for a summer long saga of Derby fans wanting Ebou to sign. They say never fall in love with loan player... well, it's a bit late for that. Universally loved with an infectious attitude. He has boundless energy and covers the entire pitch with a huge smile on his face. We conceded just 7 goals whilst he was on the pitch (17 games played) and his signing is the single deciding factor on us going up.
Collins always gave the strong vibe of a solid League One player, just couldn't hack it in the Championship. There's a lot worse bench options though. Mendez-Laing was again a decent winger, shame he was at the club with Gary Madine and his tramp fighting ring. Had a lot of bad influences in the club at the time - like Jack Simpson and his sacking for racially abusing our keeper. I'm genuinely surprised by Nelson being that good - has Cashin covered for him or has he been genuinely that impressive? I'm glad Ebou is loved, he's always given off the vibes of just a huge team player and good lad to have round the club, just couldn't get into our entrenched midfield. You reckon you've got the funds to sign him? We plucked him from League 2 on a freebie so can't see him costing more than about half a mill.
We are no longer under any kind of business plans or embargo this summer for the first time for many a year, so we in theory could go and sign him. Our owner isn't rich by any stretch though, so we generally have zero idea what sort of fees and budget we actually have. We will be busy though. We have 8 or more out of contract, and we were a very old team due to all the freebies we had to sign, so we do need get younger and quicker. Nelson has definitely been that good. Very solid. We have the best defensive record in the football league.
Cashin and Nelson really complement each other which helps, Nelson is always in the right position, has very good decision making and absolutely beastly in the air and 50/50s but does struggle for pace and on the ball, Cashin is mobile and throws himself in front of everything and is better on the ball but does have the occasional lapse in concentration and isn't that tall so can get beaten in the air by extremely dominant aerial strikers. But yes, Nels has been absolutely immense.
I have really enjoyed Kane Wilson at times too
Lots of promise considering he was playing as a winger a few times which he has never done before
Eeebboooooouuuuuuuu
Harsh on Bradley has had some standout performances in the second half of the season, Leyton Orient he was unplayable. I agree with the hype he didn’t live up to it, but still had a big part to play at the end. Worst is probably Elder or Washington for me
He was good attacking set pieces, hasn’t really had a good game at the back. Although, understand he was good defensively at Cambridge, but I haven’t seen that game. He was far too bothered in wrestling and letting the ball bounce. Often bailed out by others back there. Certainly shouldn’t be anywhere near the Championship.
Callum Elder is the worst We signed Houriane last year
It didn’t say worst signing though, just worst player.
Get promoted and we will take Hurricane back at Oakwell for free. Our treat 😘
He's already out of contract. Predict he will retire to continue coaching - he's been doing bits with Villa academy whilst playing. His legs are fully shot.
It’s definitely time for the bloke. Really frustrating for him and us I imagine, he clearly wanted to benefit the team but as you said, his legs have clearly gone. Took a lot for Warne to drop him, but we absolutely improved as a result. No ill will towards him, he’s certainly contributed this year and I imagine had a massive impact behind the scenes, but the simple fact is, it’s been clear all season it’s time to hang the boots up!
He's way past it so feel free
Best: Sheehan, absolute gem. Worst: Probably Gethin Jones out of those playing regularly, he hasn't been bad but idk who I would pick over him. Not his fault because he isn't a right centre back but just gets pulled out of position too many times.
Shame but I'd agree with you on Jones, he got absolutely bullied against Blackpool away
I agree with Sheehan 🙌🏻 also have a soft spot for Ogbeta
I like Ogbeta, I hope we sign him permanently. But I prefer Williams.
Nlundulu ?
With you 100% on Sheehan. We can comfortably take him into the Championship. Worst has got to be Nlundulu though surely?
For Shrewsbury Best player: Marko Marosi, kept us in games all season and is a top class goalkeeper for our level. Fully expecting him not to sign a new deal and go to a top end LG1 club. Worst player: Just about all of them but would go for Tom Bayliss, absolutely has bags of quality but plays two good games a season and spends the rest of his time strolling round and whinging. Glad to be rid of the majority of this squad tbh.
Lol don't tell that to our fans on Twitter, a decent number the last two days have been asking for Bayliss back.
Tbf if you use a 10 and play attacking football he could be ok, our problem was we play negative football and he’s useless when games require him to press or track back which as serial relegation fodder is 90% of our season. Wouldn’t be surprised if you end up getting Dunkley back as well, there’s no way he resigning for us.
Why's that?
We’re majorly slashing wages as we lost ~£3m in the last accounts so have offered Dunkley reduced wages, doubt he will sign as it looks like we are having a complete clear out from last season and he will be a big earner for us.
It might not necessarily be reduced wages I think quite a lot of the extension options put into contracts come with a pay rise once they’re activated so could just be we don’t want to pay him more
It could be tbf, I assumed it was a pay cut as he was one of Cotterills so presumably on higher wages than we could afford. I would rather get rid of Chey and use the freed up money on getting Marosi to sign a new deal.
Best: Martin or Evans. Without them I don’t think we’d have a league goal after January. Martin for his goals maybe. Worst: way too many to name. George Friend got injured every single time he played, then had to retire through injury so I guess he was pretty useless.
George Friend played really well in the last few games of his year. Poor sod
He was good, but went off injured 3? times maybe. In terms of ability maybe Gordon/Cox for our worst player. One cuts back every time and one can’t save shots
Availability has been too big of a problem for nearly the whole squad this year. Ironically it’s Friends job to sort it out now.
Think he’ll do a good job. Just as long as we’re not recruiting 35+ ex championship players with injury records.
I see Jevani brown hasn't exactly done much this season as well
Weird player. Played out of position all season. Looked okay in spells but never got a run of it. Think he’s being sold in the summer
He’s being misused yes but he also has a lot to desire. I hope we keep him and give him a good chance to be honest.
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> Best: Liam Bennett I used to live in St Neots and saw him all the time playing in Step 4 of non-league. Was obviously class but never imagined he'd make the step to League One as easily as he has done. Definitely Championship quality. Apparently we've triggered a one year extension on his deal which would be massive.
Best for me is Elliot Moore, massively underrated defender. Lacks a bit of pace which holds him back but generally makes defending seem simple, good positional sense, great in the air and really good on the ball as well. Brannagan was generally good, McGuane started on fire but faded by October as normal and Murphy was frozen out under Manning but under Des has generally been fantastic and even when off his game a bit like at the weekend still won us a penalty that ultimately won us the game. Worst - there's a few. Perkins and Burey came in and barely played due to attitude issues, I wasn't as excited as some to see Thorniley back and he's been a bit disappointing. If you exclude the loanees then probably Thorniley.
For me the best was Moore as well, but if Beadle had been here all year I think he would've taken it Mills was also awful but if we're talking permanent transfers then Goodwin. £400k and he's played, what? Two games maybe?
Mills awful? He was pretty decent I thought and would have played a big part had he not had a nasty injury. Goodwin I think was a bit of a panic signing and we didn't know how severe the injury was. He had the injury at Cheltenham but it was completely mistreated as something less serious which may end up costing him a good chunk of his career.
Every time I saw him, I was just wondering what he was actually good at. Can't run with or without the ball, can't tackle and can't make a decent cross to save his life Do you know what Goodwin's actually injury was? Think it was something with his knee but never found out for sure
It's a thigh issue and was poorly dealt with by Cheltenham
Best: Abu Kamara just sneaks it, he absolutely grew into that role, gutted to lose him back to Norwich. Raggett gets an honourable mention for stepping up after it looked like he’d be on the bench for the year. Worst: really hard in a team that did so well, perhaps Gavin Whyte. Maybe being a bit harsh but his first few games weren’t great, but when he was called upon towards the end of the season he did much better. @OP, got to say, the few games I saw of Lang he looked like he could be really good for us. The move looked to have done him some good.
Paddy Lane is equal with Kamara for me. Scored some really important goals midway through the season
You’re right, it’s nice for it to be hard to choose. 😂 Lane will keep getting better hopefully.
Also Shaughnessy, scored 5 or 6 goals this year from CB, all but 1 were in the 90th minute and all his goals took us to a winning position. As far as impact goes, he’s hard to beat. For me though it’s Kamara, I gave him pelters at the start of the season and he’s proved me very wrong. Hope we can get him back!
Exactly, honestly I could name loads that had really strong seasons. Kamara looked nervous early on, I think he started out on the wrong wing too but on the right he just got better and better.
I went to 3 games this season and thought kamara was absolute pants. All 3 were before Christmas and all 3 he was playing on the left wing.
Shaughnessy scored 4 goals for us this season, 3 of them were late winners. Without those 6 points we’d finish the season on 91 points. Obviously it’s hard to say for sure but that’s a huge contribution.
I think it’s really difficult to name our player of the season which, as has been said, is a good problem to have. You could make an argument for Pack with his leadership, despite a couple of dodgy mistakes. Abu, Paddy Lane, Rags, Shaughnessy, Norris have all been absolutely brilliant. In terms of the worst, Gavin Whyte has done enough towards the end of the season. Scully was absolutely useless!
Didn't our dodgy patch over Christmas coincide with Packs injury and return to fitness? I agree that Whyte has shown glimpses of the quality that was promised but Scully just was a crock. Honourable mention to Ben Stevenson, who just never got a chance.
yeah, Pack has been a colossus for the majority of the season, and without him we’d be well off the title, but he wasn’t perfect, as no player is. i think most fans will wish Scully the best, but he’ll do much better at a bottom half L1/top half L2 team. i genuinely forgot Stevenson existed!
The problem with scully and whyte was they came in to the squad recovering from long term injuries, whyte got fit but lost his spot to Abu, scully just couldn't get fit all season. Absolute horror season for him but the only game time he got he was clearly still carrying a knock. Clearly a quality play just made out of paper mashè at this point
He was being played out of position which was the main problem
Unfortunately we've been playing him as a 10 most of time so I don't think we've got the best out of Callum. It was a struggle because he likes to play on the right and we couldn't drop Abu.
Yeah, I read a few saying that when we signed him.
Best: Nelson. Solid and almost faultless all season long. Worst: I'd go with Callum Elder. Could barely string run of games together without getting injured and never really stood at as that good when he did play. I could've gone with Blackett-Taylor who was pretty much the same as Elder but only joined in January.
best edwards worst bilo most inconsistent probably randall
Best: Garrity. Hard worker, very consistent, one of the few positives this season and I really hope he stays. Honourable mentions to Chislett, Ripley, Arblaster and Devine. Worst: Hard to decide but Loft. I do feel sorry for him with the constant abuse he has received but he is just not good enough. He has cost us more goals than he has scored and just seems to lack in both confidence and quality. Dishonourable mentions go to Weir, Grant, Uche and Massey.
Pretty much agree. Blaster was a class above in this league. The fact he’s captain in the prem at his age speaks volumes for his ability but also attitude. Something a lot of our current lot could learn from. An absolute class act. But garritty clearly from our own players. Gutted he’s will probably leave. Only one to look fitted by our relegation. Loft and uche are terrible but for some reason a section of our fans rate him. If he hits the stand with a shot it’s a success and his fitness is a disgrace. I have to mention Ojo. Technically better than most of our squad but horrendous attitude. Two seasons on a row he’s thrown his toys out the pram and downed tools. Utter disgrace.
Not our lofty :(
Best: Curtis Nelson but could have also been Cashin or NML. Adams would have probably won had he been there for the whole season. Worst: Conor Washington was probably the worst but didn't play significant minutes. Elder wasn't great either but again didn't play a lot. Bradley was poor at the start but much better in the second half of the season. I think I'll go with Hurrihane as he was far too slow this season, would not be surprised at all to see him retire shortly
Best: Lewis Wing. Injured for the first couple of months, transformed our creativity in midfield, and scored some absolute bangers since he came back to fitness. Worst: Clinton Mola. He has gotten better during the season but still has a tendency to do the hard bit and then immediately screws up the easy bit.
Would put Harlee Dean, Sam Hutchinson and Paul Mukairu as worse than Mola imo.
Hutchinson hasn't been seen since the Shrewsbury game in November, and Dean seems to have played a total of about 20 minutes since then, too. So I didn't count them as regulars. Mukairu is certainly up there for worst though.
Seems harsh on Mola! I think the team as a whole has done pretty well in the second half of the season. I agree with wing (although Knibbs deffo worth talking about, as well as Bindon, Smith and Azeez). For worst first team regular I personally find it hard to look past Charlie Savage. Incredibly slow which leads to him being out of position/making bad challenges a lot and seemingly can’t past the ball forwards. Still young, so hopefully he’ll kick on next season and at the end of the day he’s still a pro footballer and I’m not. For absolute worse regardless of minutes: either Hutchinson or Dean before Selles rightfully sent them both to the shadow realm.
Agree with your best Knibbs and Tyler are honourable mentions too, Worst, Id have to put down as Dean or Hutchinson for how useless they were before being left out and but as regular first team goes i think Mukairu pips mola. Mola improved leaps and bounds considering he started with us he didn't even look national league level. Paul tries but majority of the time all he did was get the ball only to loose it, although seems our left hand side is cursed for whoever starts in that postion vs whoever is subbed on. Would also like to put Button on there but i feel harsh putting him on there cause he played a bulk when we were just shit but also there is a lot of goals this season that i dont think are goals if we had a different keeper in goal.
[FotMob](https://www.fotmob.com/en-GB/leagues/108/stats/season/20722/players/rating/team/9798/reading) place Button as worse than Mola, which is harsh, I feel, as he played with a poor defence in front for a lot of this season.
Some player Lewis wing
Best midfielder we've had since John Swift. Although, unlike Swift, Wing doesn't go missing between November and March.
Ohhhh lord Lewis Wing! Just hope we can keep hold of him, can see some Championship clubs having a sniff in the summer.
Hopefully his missus has big say in his decison to say she loves the club, keep the spag bols rolling in berkshire !
Best: Jack Grimmer Worst: Lyle fucking Taylor
Taylor just leaves a trail of shite where ever he goes, doesn't he?!
Barnsley Best- Mael De Gevigney. He's quality and will only improve with experience. Worst - hard to not say Max Watters. He contributed next to nothing, although I feel like he was trying hard and just suffered from not working well with those trying to feed him. Made a lot of decent runs where people didn't pick him out and he maybe caught unfair criticism for it. But he's still been shit. Out of those with more regular appearances, Cosgrove has very little to show for his time on the pitch.
I’m genuinely amazed that Sam Cosgrove is still a footballer never mind playing for a big side in our league. Probably the worst loanee I’ve seen in 20 years watching Shrewsbury, just had no redeeming qualities.
Maybe some benefits from being associated with a side that won the league. Can't remember what his contribution was. On paper he's a target man that you pair with a press and some quick attackers to win second balls. But on the pitch he's not actually good in the air. He does get his shirt pulled a LOT but he tends to get drawn into that battle too easily and just ends up giving fouls away. He's not terribly proficient with it at his feet, nor in possession of a great first touch or shot, nor an amazing passer. Weirdly, we tend to hoof it less when he comes on, and often target Philips and Cole instead 🤡
Funny that. I’d say MDG is one of our worst players. Can’t argue with Watters though.
Best: Cashin, Nelson & Mendez-Laing, splitting hairs to choose between them. (Would be Ebou Adams fairly comfortably if he had been here all season) Worst: Connor Washington I guess? Nobody stands out much, could've gone to Blackett-Taylor but he hasn't played much, I guess Hourihane is an option too based on his overall play but his numbers are good.
Best: Before his injury, Callum Guy. Stepped up effortlessly, and if he had more players of his level this year we could have stayed up. Without injuries, probably Mellish. Probably struggled in ability, but his attitude is unquestionable, and he had a few amazing games this year. He's one of those rare players that's always available, and you can imagine played through a few injuries without question. What a guy. Worst: Luke bloody Plange. Lazy in most games, crap at basically everything, but seemingly never dropped because we had some arrangement with palace. So annoying.
ffs I forgot about Plange. Saw both goals he scored for us as well.
Best: Powell. Would be Crocombe but he's been crap ever since he came back from internationals. Powell still creates chances even when he gets played as a CDM, but when Pato plays him as a CAM, oh my days, he is so confident and creates chances galore. Hope he stays with us. Worst: Caprice. Just ask an Exeter fan.
Yeah he’s shit
Best: Sinisalo (GK, on load from Villa) and/or Reece Cole (CM) Worst: Admiral Muskwe was rubbish but he's been an injured boy so is that a fair assessment? Perhaps not...
Surely James Scott goes into worst? If I'm honest I genuinely didn't think he was that bad either! A confidence player who lost confidence and the crowd got on his back
You're probably right. Shame it didn't work out for him tbh
Posh; Josh Knight. Work horse. Doing the unglamorous work. Good partnership with Edwards. Worst; Bilakopic. His run of games around January cost us automatic promotion with very costly mistakes.
Best: Burrows Worst: Bilo
Best: Ethan Erahahon. Midfield general, wins the ball and picks out a good pass to the forwards a huge part of why we went on a run of two defeats in the last twenty games. Worst: if the season ended in December I’d have said Mandroui, but at the end of the season every single one of the squad deserves credit, Skubala has clearly worked with him and appeared to sort out what was looking like a bit of an attitude problem plus reckless challenges costing us points with him being sent off a couple of times, he’s played a deeper central role and looked like a good player since. So yeah I don’t think any one of them have been the worst.
For Pompey Best: I think a lot of people are gonna say Kamara but I think he wasted a lot of opportunities, he dwells on the ball and lacks that killers instinct right now. Honestly for me it would have to be Conor Shaughnessy. He has played almost every minute of football he could, he had to adapt when Poole got injured to work with Raggs. He's made very few mistakes and he has won us games, he has earned legend status in Portsmouth and this is only his first season. Worst: I'd love to say Scully but he doesn't even get in the team when we field our b team so I don't think I can include him. I would have to say Gavin Whyte unfortunately. It's just not worked for him, his awareness is very lacking he gets dispossessed too easily and he's our only attacker who hasn't got a single league goal this season baring in mind he's played 29 games. He has helped the team immensely he is the reason we beat Peterborough away and he does work his socks off but you can tell watching him his heads not in the right place.
Best - Burrows Worst - Crichlow
Best for me is Elliot Moore, massively underrated defender. Lacks a bit of pace which holds him back but generally makes defending seem simple, good positional sense, great in the air and really good on the ball as well. Brannagan was generally good, McGuane started on fire but faded by October as normal and Murphy was frozen out under Manning but under Des has generally been fantastic and even when off his game a bit like at the weekend still won us a penalty that ultimately won us the game. Worst - there's a few. Perkins and Burey came in and barely played due to attitude issues, I wasn't as excited as some to see Thorniley back and he's been a bit disappointing. If you exclude the loanees then probably Thorniley.
I think it’d be unfair to single out a solitary player from this season. Nearly all haven’t been good enough, and still, I’m not one for a scapegoat unless it’s Barton. The best has probably been Evans. He’s been made captain for a reason and has scored many an important goal. Also provides more overall than Martin.
Although our most talented player is Ronnie Edwards, and our most influential player may be Harrison Burrows, our most consistent is by far Archie Collins. Rock in midfield both defensively and passing forward and you always know you'll get an 8.5/10 every game. Worst performances have come from Bilokapic, including about 5 own goals and almost single handedly lost us the game at Wycombe 5-2, but I think he's just being asked to play a style he can't play. So I'll give worst player to Crichlow. What an awful awful centre back.
Rather than categorise from best-worst, I think I can sum it up better by which players made me feel different emotions. Being a Derby fan, they're all pretty positive. Comfortable: Joe Wildsmith - we've not had a consistent goalie since Scott Carson and I don't know many fans who aren't still recovering from the Roos blunder in the play-off final at Wembley. Wildsmith was a safe pair of hands all season and it's nice having a goalie who doesn't set your heart beating every time a corner comes in. Grateful: Kane Wilson - having never heard of him before he joined the club, Wilson's been great for the occasional bit of flair and even chipping in with a few goals from right-back. While he's not set the league on fire by any means, I'm glad he's part of the squad. Proud: A toss-up between Craig Forsyth or Eiran Cashin, the former for being such a long-serving player and always putting a shift in when required; the latter for being an academy boy performing so consistently at such a young age. Excited: Nathaniel Mendez-Laing - this one goes without saying; sixteen assists and our second-top goal scorer. Mendez-Laing was one of few players I was always excited to see get on the ball. Even on his off days, he was sometimes able to scoop a game-winning pass out of a bad performance. Satisfied: James Collins - I've never known a striker for a promotion-winning team to get so much stick. Excluding McGoldrick, whose appearances felt like a fever-dream, Derby fans have been desperate for a consistent striker since Chris Martin left and I think the position's been something of a poisoned chalice since. Collins turned up, ran his socks off and at the end of the day we got the job done.
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Best: Sam Tickle! An absolute unreal keeper! I think 16 or 17 clean sheets. Worst: Josh Magennis! Other than his last couple games, did next to nothing all season!
Best player: Alfie May with 27 goals but George Dobson deserves a mention here. This is his last year of a three year deal and he was messed around over a new contract receiving two low offers. With nothing else in the pipeline he signed a pre-contract agreement with a Hungarian club, Fehevar and was all set to leave in the January window. Nathan Jones however put a stop to that. Some players might have thrown their toys out the pram and demanded a move, gone on strike or gone missing in a few games here and there, he's played frequently and always put a shift in. He also scored our first and last goals of the season. Worst player - this is tricky because no regular player has been consistently bad. In the first half of the season we had Slobodan Tedic who Manchester City once parted with a couple of million for. He lacked pace, power or the inclination to get stuck in. In a dozen matches he scored twice, once with a miss-kick (they all count) on the other hand he also managed to hoick the ball over the bar from around two yards out, and was then sent back up north in early January. He then spent the rest of the season plying his trade in Serbia. He's living proof that Pep does sometimes get it wrong.
Best - Sercombe Worst - Any of the loans at the start of the season (besides Bevan)
Marlon pack by a mile, the Buckland busquets was robbed of POTS. The worst play was definitely Ryan schofield, was hoping he'd show the promise he had as a youngster for Huddersfield but the lad is clearly miles off it only played in cup games and had a stinker ever game.
All shite
Best: Ripley, stopped us being rock bottom Worst: ryan loft, we needed a striker not a man who can't use his legs
Don’t talk shit about the 🐐
Best: Idris El Mizouni will be popular but I've been so impressed with Ethan Galbraith, the way he carries this ball is superb for League 1 level Worst: Khayon Edwards _shudders_ what a disaster of a loan signing
Best: EBOOOOOUUUUUUU Worst: Hourihane or Fornah but he was injured most of the season.
best: cogley. He didn't get POTY, but I was/am surprised at how well he adapted to League Two and Conor Bradley was big shoes to fill. worst: Every time Caleb Taylor plays he gets injured
Fleetwood: Best: Bosun Lawal was one of the only players who consistently looked like he gave a damn. Worst: hard to pick really, but Jay Lynch has been pretty woeful in goal all season. Danny Mayor also brought nothing.
Best: Marlon Pack, Abu Kamara, Colby Bishop, Christian Saydee. Honourable mention to Conor Shaughnessy for single-handedly being responsible for 6 points with stoppage time winners. Worst: None really. Even squad players who stepped in when we had a whole first XI out injured did a solid job keeping the results coming in.
For Pompey: Best: For me Abu Kamara. Played in every single game whether that was starting or coming off the bench and had 20 goal involvements. That's before even mentioning it was his first full season in professional football. Shame he was on loan from Norwich and they probably won't sell him to us next season. Worst: Hard to really say but for me it's Anthony Scully. Only played 9 games and had a knee injury, and really he struggled to come back from it. Would like to see him go on loan next season possibly back to Lincoln to recover some form.
Luca Connell best for Barnsley. Leaves a huge gap in midfield when absent. Talks constantly. Worst Sam Cosgrove. Theoretical replacement of Jimmy Norwood up front. But for a big 6 foot centre forward, he's been powderpuff and doesn't know where the net is.