This will be a short blog, I hope it stimulates positive discussion on our current crop of players and their relative abilities, compared to those of other teams in the Football League.

End-of-season awards time is upon us, with the Town supporters being asked to vote for their player of the year, and my own amateur Saturday side ready to engrave our trophies for 'best new player', 'goal of the season' and the prestigious gongs for 'tackle of the season' and 'best injury'!

Today I picked up one of my favourite football magazines which appeared with a feature naming The Best 50 Players in the Football League', as apparently decided by "talking to hundreds of regular match-going fans" and asking them to name the best three payers outside of their club in the Football League (from Championship downwards).

I was very surprised by the results. Not only at how many Wolves players featured, but also by how few Town men were in there. In fact, only one: Aaron Cresswell, at number 19. Ex-Blue Jay Emmanuel-Thomas came in at number 31, and Jordan Rhodes was (deservedly, I think) at number 10. (For those curious, the top five were: Will Hughes, Danny Drinkwater, Andy Reid!!, Ross McCormack and Danny Ings).

This got me thinking: why no Tommy Smith, no Christophe Berra, no David McGoldrick? I realised that perhaps it is a lot more difficult to actually measure how good a player is based on everyone's individual opinion. It is really great that Berra has gotten some recent recognition, but are these kinds of awards and nominations anything more than a simple fantasy prize, or a spark for debate?

I concluded that given our style of grinding out the 0-0 and the 1-0 wins this year, not many Ipswich players are likely to make a huge impression on opposition fans, especially since there are very few defenders in this 'top 50' (probably because they tend to make less of an impact as match-winners or Hollywood-passers).

So I'm keen to know what people think. Are Berra, Smith, McGoldrick or any others among the best players in the division, or do we just love them so much because they seem to have saved us from recent calamitous seasons? Would they be as good in a different team, maybe playing differently and managed by a different gaffer?

tractordownsouth added 19:14 - Apr 3 Do you have a copy or screenshot of the list you could om me out of interest please
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tractordownsouth added 19:15 - Apr 3 I mean pm
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DurhamTownFan added 20:55 - Apr 3 It's in 442 magazine this month: wasn't sure if I was allowed to publicise it in the blog, but here it is in the comments!
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Garv added 22:31 - Apr 3 We all like McGoldrick, but we over rate him. Smith has improved so much in recent years but again probably isn't that good compared to the rest of the league. Berra probably a class above both.
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gazzmac4 added 09:50 - Apr 4 Good blog and some interesting questions posed. I genuinely believe that Berra is a prem defender. Some of his reading of the game is stuff you only see in the prem and cant really be taught. Garv a little harsh i think. Tommy unlucky to miss out i feel. Cant think of many exceptional Centre halves beyond the obvious (Morgan, Onuoha) who i would think are better than he is. A blessing in disguise though really? No interest from others means we can keep him!! DMcG needs to prove he can stay fit and perform at the same level next year to be considered for a top 50 place for me. Although i havent seen anything from him this year that makes me think he wont get 15-20 again next year. He is a classy operator who clearly has an eye for goal so i believe he can do it. The problem with these awards is it is all so subjective. I thought that Trippier has been unimpressive when ive seen him but is raved about everywhere. Depends very much on when you catch opposing players i reckon. Whatever you think of these players they have all done excellently for us which i guess you could argue is all that matters?

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Blue041273 added 16:11 - Apr 4 Agree absolutely re the subjectivity surrounding the selection of 'Best' players of other teams. There have been a number of impressive individual performances from opposition players at PR this season. Yet you would have to go a long way to see a better pairing at CB than Berra and Smith. They have been reliably consistent at the back with goals to add to the mix as well.

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Nthsuffolkblue added 18:08 - Apr 15 Good little blog. The fact that they asked regular fans for their best 3 players from other clubs than their own suggests to me that those who are regularly in televised games will stand more chance of being picked. The other criteria is likely to be putting in an outstanding performance against their side. I think this suggests many of our players have been consistent this season rather than having a number of outstanding games (especially away from home). The Wolves players are likely to stand out against the level of opposition they generally are facing. Andy Reid I can only imagine takes apart sides in sufficient games to make the list. He does have a good delivery especially from a set piece.

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Marcus added 00:11 - Apr 26 The good thing is it means we're more likely to keep the majority of the squad together over the summer. Cressy is probably on his way out but hopefully for some decent money so we can afford the wages of a couple more players (if not any significant transfer fees).
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