Player of the Year?

It's that time of year. Our season is fizzling out and we are being asked to vote for the Player of the Year beginning on Saturday. The Club website tells us that "the Charlton Athletic Supporters' Club award is the highest accolade an Addick can receive, and this season, the choice is greater than ever before" as we have used more players than at any other time since 1921-22. "So that means some tough decisions." It certainly does because there are no clear-cut candidates for me which is a first.

Goalkeepers invariably do well in this when you are a Charlton supporter and they always start with the sympathy vote. Nicky Weaver has, I guess, done as much as anyone else although I can't compare him to Dean Kiely and there is still a lot more he could do to improve his game.

The defence has struggled for much of the season and it's difficult to nominate anyone here because none of them have had a prolonged run due to loss of form or injury. Paddy McCarthy is late contender but I can't forget how awful he was when he started and the goals he gave away early on which punctured our start.

Andy Reid would probably have been a shoo-in if he had stayed but I am struggling elsewhere in midfield. Matty Holland would win if showing heart was the criteria and Zheng Zhi has also tried valiantly, but I don't see either fitting the bill of Player of the Year.

That leaves our front-men who have also largely struggled, albeit due largely to a lack of supply. Luke Varney is a very good all-round footballer and his effort has been expemplary but his lack of goals count against him. That pretty much leaves Chris Iwelumo, whose effort has been total and who managed a fair goal return in the first half of the season. He has given way (been rested) in the second half of the season to Andy Gray and now Leroy Lita but still gives everything he has when introduced. As I said, there are no clear-cut candidates. Bearing this in mind I expect the lowest turn-out in recent history.