Nominations are open for player of the year are currently
being taken by Charlton.
There are plenty of contenders including new arrivals such
as Tony Watt, stalwarts such as Stephen Henderson and Tal Ben Haim, to a trio
of academy players that have broken into the first team including Joe Gomez and
Jordan Cousins. They all have their
merits, but for me there is only one player that makes the grade and that
player is Johann Berg Gudmundsson.
Having made 40 starting line ups and 4 substitute
appearances (pre-Bolton) he has been consistently selected by both Bob Peeters
and Guy Luzon. A natural right winger he
has often swapped sides with Frederick Bulot during periods of the game and in
my mind would make a good makeshift striker.
His work rate on the pitch is second to none.
He is a consistent goal scorer, having notched up as many
goals as Vetokele this season, 11 in all competitions and is much improved
compared to the 13 at his former side AZ Alkmaar over four seasons.
However, Vetokele cost good money and so there is an
expectation that he would deliver the goals, but we picked him Gudmundsson on a
free transfer (thanks I understand to the scouting of Karel Fraeye, Jose Riga’s
former assistant) which makes him a bargain signing.
See here for a selection of Johann’s goals this season:-
Admittedly one man doesn’t make a team and Chris Solly has
combined well with him, in a number of cases drawing players away from the
pacey wing man to create shooting space.
His scoring also comes from a variety of situations. A specialist from free kicks he is also a
solid penalty taker when Yoni Buyens is not available, but also has the
confidence to hit accurate balls from a distance in free play, resulting in some
stunning goals from his trusted left foot over the season. This reliance on the left foot is perhaps also
a weakness with good goal scoring opportunities closed by opposition defenders
as the extra touch is taken to touch the ball on to his better side.
So for these reasons, Johann gets my vote. In the meantime, with rumours of interest
from Premier League teams, I just hope that summer contract talks will open
soon and we don’t see him going away like last year’s player of the year! Oh,
and isn’t it time we had a song for our Icelandic International?
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