Player of the Year – Conor McGrandles
Your Stacey West Player of the Year differs from the official club vote. Jorge Grant took the accolade in the official count, and with good reason, but you lot see a different game at times and have given it to midfield maestro Conor McGrandles. Before I go on, a couple of points.
Firstly, two other players would have been there or thereabouts but did not feature in enough games. Joe Walsh actually outscored everybody over the course of the season, grabbing an average rating of 7.16, but he only appeared 25 times and therefore didn’t qualify for the award. Zack Elbouzedi had a great average too, 7.77, but only appeared six times. Finally, Liam Bridcutt finished just behind McGrandles and made the exact amount of appearances to qualify, 30 in league and cup. He enjoyed a great finish to the season too, and we might have been further up the table had he managed 40 or more.
Instead, Jorge Grant finished third, Tayo Edun fourth, and the summer signing from MK Dons took the top accolade in your eyes. He did have a super season, bagging eight Man of the Match awards, two more than Tayo Edun, three more than Harry Anderson and Jorge Grant and double anyone else. Seven of those awards came after the turn of the year, proving McGrandles to have been a massive influence since coming back into the side after his layoff. In fact, if his average rating for before New Year was taken, he would be behind Grant, Edun, Palmer, Eyoma, Jackson, Johnson, Anderson Hopper and Lewis Montsma. How’s that for having an impact late in the season?
Without further ado, all that remains is for me to crown Conor McGrandles the Stacey West Player of the Season for 2020/21. Well done Conor, all the players who won awards and the whole squad for delivering such an exciting season.