Tom Hopper 8 Appearances, 2 Goals
Tom Hopper is the future and to write anything meaningful about him right now isn’t entirely possible. The truth is for six games he failed to impress me at all, but they were during quite a tough period as we lost a lot of cohesion and first-team continuity. After an enforced break we came out a little differently against Burton and Hopper put in a proper striker’s master-class, bagging twice and leaving us with fond memories of what turned out to be our final game of the season (we think).
I suspect Tom will be a key player for us, he’s certainly a target man of sorts who can also run in behind, perhaps a direct John Akinde replacement. Whether he can win the fans over quicker than the current Gillingham striker won’t be clear until next season, but he did appear to be on the right track in that Burton win.
Tyreece John-Jules 7 Appearances, 1 Goal
John-Jules exploded onto the scene with a goal on his home debut against Blackpool and, had Tyler Walker remained as his strike partner, I feel we might have pushed up towards the top ten by March. Instead, we got five games in which the Arsenal man looked a little brow-beaten and easily knocked off the ball. His confidence dipped with a couple of glaring misses too, and confidence breeds success. he looked to have lost his and injury eventually curtailed what was heading towards being a disappointing loan spell.
There is no doubting the lads quality and if the appearance count had got to 15 or 20, I suspect he would have adjusted to life as the leading striker in a League One side. Calling it as it is though, he didn’t have the immediate impact of Walker, nor did you get a sense he’d score every time he touched the ball, which you did with Walker. Perhaps it is unfair to compare him to a striker with lots of senior football, but life is unfair.
Aaron Lewis 5 Appearances, 1 Goal
I think the best way to describe Aaron Lewis is as an ‘enigma’. Rarely did a player come in on trial and earn a deal under Danny Cowley, but Lewis did. He then looked competent at Huddersfield and extremely impressive against Everton; indeed his endeavour set up Bruno’s thunderbolt of a goal. After that, he dropped off the radar, until Michael Appleton arrived. He was then one of the players who seemingly thrived under the new boss, getting a new deal and appearing twice in the league. One of those games was Accrington, where he came on and made an instant impact going forward, bagging his first goal for the club.
I think Aaron is verging on being a cult hero; fans are expecting him to keep developing and he plays with a certain reckless abandon that impresses supporters. To me, there is an element of Bradley Wood in him; he’s a fan’s footballer. Maybe we could label him the thinking-man’s Bradley Wood because despite having the same commitment and drive, he also has a more considered approach to the full-back role.
I’m excited to see what the future holds for young Aaron. Perhaps, a better tracksuit?
Liked the look of Lewis ,Melbourne will be better after a pre season (if we get one),Hopper as well .Think Smith has been very unlucky.I thought Tyreece was getting more into it then got injured again,i think Arsenal may let him come back again.
Morrell was superb and will be my player of the season if we get to vote on it.Maybe he will come back in january if he has not played enough games at BCFC by then?
Im afraid i didnt see alot in Hesketh whatsoever and his finishing was diabolical and was always falling over.I hope Payne is given a good chance by MApp in the new season whenever it starts.
How on earth did Lewis not make a single league start? He looked a class act every time he was on the pitch and he was terrific against Everton, which should have signalled a run of games. I know he was injured for a while, but I still struggle to see why he made only three more appearances following that game against the Toffees. You’re not necessarily going to drop a quality player like Eardley, but Lewis should still have been found a place in the side. And then there’s Hesketh who was a regular despite showing very little, as Gary says.