As Simon remarked when announcing the 1-2-3 for 2013's Most Improved Player award, it is regarded by some as the poisoned chalice of awards night, a sort of wooden spoon for a player who's never likely to be in the running in any of the 'best player' categories.
Well, as the lucky recipient of the award this year, I can honestly say I don't think it's a veiled insult. I've always believed that if it's treated properly by the panel choosing the most deserving recipients, then it can be an excellent recognition of the player(s) who have come on in leaps and bounds during the past 12 months, regardless of what level they were at in the previous year. That last bit is the key point here:
regardless of what level they were at in the previous year. Even the best players are capable of improving year-on-year. Take Gareth Bale (and Real Madrid did): few would surely argue that his form for Spurs in the 2012/13 season was far superior to his form the previous season. Yet no one can say that Bale was a bad player in 2011/12. His contribution was still excellent – just not in the same league as the following year, when he was arguably in the top 3 of players playing in Europe. If Gareth Bale had won Most Improved Player for Spurs at the end of the 2012/13 season, no one could have denied he deserved it. And no one but the most biased Gooner would argue that he was a rubbish player getting the award as a ‘consolation prize'.
Now, I do not want to sound ungrateful for winning the award myself on Friday night. It's possible I have improved somewhat year-on-year. Certainly by the end of last year I was suffering fatigue and ended up missing a lot of football in the first quarter of this year. Then when I came back to playing, it took me a while to get up to speed. And during November I'm happy to say that I put in a couple of my best ever performances for the club. Still a vast amount of room for improvement but nevertheless, I was happy! So in that respect, I'm grateful that the team selectors have seen that improvement. The award sits proudly in my house alongside awards for my two other proudest sporting achievements: a London Marathon 2009 finisher's medal and my Club Man Of The Decade award from the Accies' belated 10th birthday awards.
However, as the headline of this post says, I believe the panel got it wrong. There is another candidate who the stats surely
prove should have been named the club's Most Improved Player of 2013. It is INCREDIBLE to me that he wasn't even placed in the top 3 as decided by Greg, Tremayne, Joe and Lee. The only explanation is that because of
who he is, the panel couldn't see the wood for the trees. Also, as it turned out, the player in question took home no less than THREE awards on the night as it was - so maybe a fourth would've seemed greedy! But his impressive haul on the night can't be used as an excuse for him not getting the nod for Most Improved, because the 3 awards he did win were all voted for by the wider club. So when he and his 3 colleagues on the selection panel debated who should win Most Improved, none of them knew that he would clean up on the night.
So, to put right the undoubted wrong as far as I'm concerned, I shall state for the record that our Most Improved Player in 2013 was GREG RAINEY.
The stats don't lie: in 2012 Greg scored 5 goals. So far in 2013 he has scored FIFTEEN. That's three times as many as last year. Now THAT'S what I call improving! What's more, his total assists QUADRUPLED in 2013, from 5 last year to TWENTY so far this year – he leads the way in the race for the Most Assists award with just two games to go.
See what I mean?!
Added to that, Greg has clearly been working on his fitness this year – to my mind his body shape has started to change for the better, the pounds seem to be coming off! It probably won't surprise Greg to learn that some of his teammates have been critical of his fitness levels in the past, so it's really pleasing to see him IMPROVING in that area. Like a lot of our squad, he's an inspiration to me personally in my own currently stalled 'battle of the bulge'.
And all this improvement came in the context of having taken over as team captain in May, during a very trying time for the club. Andy Thornes was a hard act to follow – the club achieved it's best ever results under Thorny – but Greg rose to the occasion without his own playing form suffering. Look at how England cricketers' form often wilts when the responsibility of captain is on their shoulders. The best captains are often the ones whose form IMPROVES when they're elevated to the position. Clearly Greg feels he needs to lead by example, and when he's been on the pitch this year he has undoubtedly done so.
I won't be handing my award back in protest – I'm really chuffed that Greg, Tremayne, Lee and Joe are pleased with my progress in 2013. But I would urge whoever is responsible for choosing 2014's Most Improved Player to read this post while deliberating the winner.
Well done Greg, well done to all the winners on Friday and thanks to Simon for organising another great night but most importantly, well done to everyone who has contributed to 2013 being, despite some pretty hefty speed bumps along the way, one of the club's best years yet. I'm sure most of you realise this already, but the awards themselves are largely just a fun way to look back on the past year. Thursday nights are what truly matter!
Up the Accies, I hope every single member of the squad improves in 2014!
