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League 1 Team of the Year


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No Goodwillie? [emoji38] 
He has more goals and assists than the 3 forwards picked.

Would have Blair Lyons in the team has looked a player anytime we've played Montrose. Gomis of Falkirk has played well against us too.

Mitchell has been fantastic for Clyde in goal.
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Doing a combined XI is a bit of a shambles. In fact, I can't ever remember seeing something like that before.

Not including Goodwillie is downright embarrassing.

 

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15 minutes ago, Jack Burton said:

He has more goals and assists than the 3 forwards picked.

Would have Blair Lyons in the team has looked a player anytime we've played Montrose. Gomis of Falkirk has played well against us too.

Mitchell has been fantastic for Clyde in goal.

I'm not too sure about that. He got sent off against us at Falkirk and can't remember him particularly standing out in our 2 wins at Broadwood.

A view from the terrace is shite anyway so no surprise their TOTY is the same

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There must be some terrible goalkeepers in league 1 and 2. 9th in League 1's goalie is in team of the year, with the side rock bottom of L1 conceding 57 goals in 27 games' goalie considered in "other candidates" :lol:

Edited by C. Muir
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7 minutes ago, C. Muir said:

There must be some terrible goalkeepers in league 1 and 2. 9th in League 1's goalie is in team of the year, with the side rock bottom of L1 conceding 57 goals in 27 games' goalie considered in "other candidates" :lol:

You tend to notice the busier keepers I guess. Still though, always been impressed with McCallum.

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Just now, C. Muir said:

There must be some terrible goalkeepers in league 1 and 2. 9th in League 1's goalie is in team of the year, with the side rock bottom of L1 conceding 57 goals in 27 games' goalie was considered in "other candidates" :lol:

FWIW, I think McCallum is the stand out goalkeeper at this level and it's not particularly close. I'd not disagree with the majority of the other picks either.

My team would be:

McCallum

Ballantyne Fordyce Higgins MacDonald

McKee Hendry Agnew

Lyons Goodwillie McManus

Smith of AIrdrie unlucky to miss out; he's caused us huge problems this season.

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8 minutes ago, renton said:

You tend to notice the busier keepers I guess. Still though, always been impressed with McCallum.

 

5 minutes ago, David W said:

FWIW, I think McCallum is the stand out goalkeeper at this level and it's not particularly close. I'd not disagree with the majority of the other picks either.

My team would be:

McCallum

Ballantyne Fordyce Higgins MacDonald

McKee Hendry Agnew

Lyons Goodwillie McManus

Smith of AIrdrie unlucky to miss out; he's caused us huge problems this season.

Other teams players is something I've paid less attention to over the years so while I'm ridiculing some selections I'm not really in a position to pick a team of my own. Only stand out performances against us this season that immediately springs to my mind is 20 stone Doris bossing it against us recently and the guy wearing 37 for Raith coming on and changing the game for them against us even more recently.

Edited by C. Muir
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McCallum should be first choice for any lower league club, even the championship for that matter. I wish we could sign him. The last few seasons we’ve had a torrid time with poor keepers. Thomson seems to be the better of a bad bunch. McGurn was great in his day. But he was pretty much finished when he came back in his second spell.

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Stand out player for me has been Blair Lyons. Always caused us problems, and (unfortunately) will be a major asset for Thistle next season.

In fact I would also say Cammy Ballantyne at RB. I suppose Montrose as a team have impressed me, possibly more than any other.

 

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13 minutes ago, C. Muir said:

 

Other teams players is something I've paid less attention to over the years so while I'm ridiculing some selections I'm not really in a position to pick a team of my own. Only stand out performances against us this season that immediately springs to my mind is 20 stone Doris bossing it against us recently and the guy wearing 37 for Raith coming on and changing the game for them against us even more recently.

Dan Armstrong. Had been carrying various niggles and injuries so not seen the best of him in a lot games. Really came onto form in that last run of games including the Clyde one. Still, not enough over a season to get into team of the year in my opinion even as I'd be desperate to sign him for next year.

Edited by renton
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Guest The Phoenix
2 hours ago, David W said:

Doing a combined XI is a bit of a shambles. In fact, I can't ever remember seeing something like that before.

Not including Goodwillie is downright embarrassing.

 

It's a complete shambles! And completely meaningless given that I doubt the creators collectively saw every team/player in action at least several times. 

Not to include David Goodwillie actually comes across as arrogance IMO. 

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2 hours ago, C. Muir said:

I'm not too sure about that. He got sent off against us at Falkirk and can't remember him particularly standing out in our 2 wins at Broadwood.

A view from the terrace is shite anyway so no surprise their TOTY is the same

Same can be said for many players.

Goodwillie scored a blinder of a goal at Balmoor, then had an early bath. Second game has was anonymous. So for me, he wouldn't be in TOTY. Clyde supporters are the only ones who see him on a regular, or semi regular basis. It's natural they're going to pick him.

Same with the likes of McManus,  Lyons and players from other clubs.

This kind of TOTY is completely pointless. 

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Mutch

Ballantyne - Fordyce - Benedictus- McCann

Gomis- Hendry - Tait

Lyons - Goodwillie - McManus

Struggled big time for a centre half pairing and Clyde’s Grant was unlucky to miss out. Hard to see past a Clyde 11 given our games against them. 

Edited by wee_bairn
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41 minutes ago, As Easterly as it gets! said:

Same can be said for many players.

Goodwillie scored a blinder of a goal at Balmoor, then had an early bath. Second game has was anonymous. So for me, he wouldn't be in TOTY. Clyde supporters are the only ones who see him on a regular, or semi regular basis. It's natural they're going to pick him.

Same with the likes of McManus,  Lyons and players from other clubs.

This kind of TOTY is completely pointless. 

Goodwillie scored 25 goals and got 6 assists in 32 games in all competitions for a team who finished 7th in the league.  You don’t need to see him every week to suggest he should be in a team of the year. 

I agree with the pointless of it all though. 

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I wrote something on this ages ago, then never got round to putting it up online. So I'll just put it here instead.  It's damn long though because I wrote it when I was on furlough, so I'll put it in a spoiler...

Spoiler

Goalkeeper - Max Currie (Stranraer)

I hear you.

Picking the goalkeeper from the team that is rooted to the bottom of the table having barely won a game all season.

Things would be an awful lot worse for the Blues if it wasn't for the excellent Max Currie however.

Since being chucked into the limelight in a Scottish Cup tie against Celtic a few seasons ago, Currie has been one of the most impressive young keepers in the lower leagues.

He's always had the ability to pull off sensational saves, but was maybe a wee bit of a rough diamond. 

This season however, perhaps spurred on by being dropped in favour of Dale Burgess earlier in the season, Currie has kicked up a gear - and really saved the Blues from some absolute hidings.

Currie has likely been one of the country’s busiest keepers and, having just turned 23 and with almost 100 games under his belt, he’s now ready to take a step up. 

Could he play full-time? Only time will tell - but he’s more than earned an opportunity.

RB - Aaron Dunsmore (East Fife)

Sometimes, as a fan, you look at a player and think that you really, really wouldn’t fancy being on the same pitch as him.

East Fife’s Aaron Dunsmore is such a man.

He’s quick, powerful, aggressive and looks like he’d have no issue at all with launching you directly into the stand.

That’s not to detract in any way from his footballing ability. 

Despite being predominantly a right-wing-back, Dunsmore has chipped in with six goals in an East Fife side who have really shared them about this season. His slightly unusual position makes him a constant threat whilst his physical side means he’s got absolutely no issue at all bombing up and down the flank all game.

I’ll be honest and say I’ve been a big fan of him for the past two seasons now and, again, if he fancied a crack at full-time football I really don’t see it being an issue for him at all.

The prospect of a fitter, sharper and stronger Aaron Dunsmore is slightly terrifying though. I won’t lie.

CB - Sean Dillon (Montrose)

Sean Dillon used to hate playing against Dumbarton.

Usually at the heart of the defence on United’s twice yearly defeats at the Rock, Dillon looked finished by the end of his time at Tannadice.

Fast-forward a few years and he’s strolling life in League One.

Maybe he just loves playing against Dumbarton these days, I’m not sure, but Dillon has been the very definition of a rock at the back for Montrose against the Sons.

He doesn’t take risks, he wins almost everything in the air, he knows when to concede a foul and - perhaps most infuriating - he knows how to win one. Anytime he’s caught out for pace he seems to find a way to let his opponent bump him and down he goes.

There can’t be many players as consistently grumpy or moany on the park, but it’s very obvious to see why he spent so many years playing at a higher level.

CB - Kieran MacDonald (Raith Rovers)

He played at centre-back a few times this season, so he counts…

You’d be hard pushed to find an Airdrie fan who was upset in the slightest to see Kieran MacDonald move on.

It wasn’t that the former Hamilton and Clyde left-back was a poor player, it was just that he’d never really convinced Diamonds fans he was worth getting upset over.

Pretty quickly however he settled into life at Raith Rovers, and started to produce the sort of showings that reminded everyone why Premiership Hamilton took him on from Clyde as a youngster.

Nine assists from left-back was a sensational return, whilst MacDonald matured into being a leader in Rovers’ backline.

If the PFA are doing a Team of the Season I suspect MacDonald will be in it - and I doubt anyone, even the most sceptical of Airdrie fans, could disagree with that decision.

LB - Andrew Steeves (Montrose)

One of the most consistently underrated players in the lower leagues. I can’t quite understand why Andrew Steeves, and Montrose in general to be fair, aren’t raved about more.

He’s got everything you want from a modern full-back. He’s defensively capable and disciplined, and he’s capable of rampaging forward and causing issues when Stewart Petrie’s men are on the attack.

Add in to that the fact he’ll be 26 in the summer and Montrose have one of the best full-backs in the lower leagues who is probably in the prime and form of his career.

Forfar must be constantly rueing the day that they let him escape across Angus. 

RM - Joe McKee (Dumbarton)

Joe McKee has been involved in comfortably more goals than anyone else this season. 15 in all competitions in total. In fact only Scotland and Celtic stars Ryan Christie and James Forrest have more assists this season - and they’re supplying Odsonne Edouard…

McKee was very much the marquee arrival in a summer of pretty questionable looking recruits for Jim Duffy’s side, and pretty quickly he looked a class above.

Classy in possession, always looking for the ball and with a killer eye for a pass, for me he played his best football as a wide midfielder rather than in a midfield two or three.

Renowned for his set-piece delivery, the highlight of McKee’s season was recording a hat-trick of assists in the first-half of a victory against Forfar Athletic in October. 

Incredibly it took Dumbarton until February 15 to score a league goal without him on the pitch, and deducting his contribution this season would almost certainly have the Sons staring relegation in the face.

He’s made no secret of a desire to return to full-time football and, at just 27, Duffy faces a huge task to keep ahold of him.

CM - Regan Hendry (Raith Rovers)

I think everyone knew at the start of the season that Regan Hendry would be one of the standout players in Scottish League One, and he certainly lived up to the hype as a key member of title winning Raith Rovers’ midfield.

The former Celtic kid looked a real coup for John McGlynn’s men, and League One defences just couldn’t live with his driving runs, power and ferocious left-foot. 

Add in the strong bond he’s built up with supporters at Stark’s Park and he looks set to be a big player on their return to the Championship next season.

CM - Scott Agnew (East Fife)

It feels like Aggy has been around forever - hell he was tearing up League One when it was called the Second Division and I was doing my Standard Grades.

Fast-forward almost a decade, and he’s still one of the standout talents in the lower leagues.

Since making himself a key player at Stranraer back in 2010 Agnew has excelled at every part-time club he’s been at. Like McKee he has a wicked dead ball delivery, however unlike him he’s also a consistent goal threat - with 11 to his name this season.

Combine his attacking prowess with leadership qualities and the fact he’s more than happy to get stuck in to the ugly side of the game, and you’ll struggle to find a more complete and consistent player anywhere in the bottom two divisions.

LM - Blair Lyons (Montrose)

The league’s surprise star, Blair Lyons stepped up to League One from the Lowland League with Stirling University and instantly looked more than comfortable in his new surroundings.

A pacy, direct attacker who is a box of tricks and has an eye for the spectacular, Lyons ticked every single cliche box I was looking for from an attacker, and it’s no surprise at all that his form had attracted the eye of full-time sides.

Partick Thistle snapped up Lyons in January, and immediately loaned him back to the Gable Endies given he wouldn’t have had a chance of making it into their star studded, free scoring attacking side…

FW - Declan McManus (Falkirk)

It’s funny how some strikers seem to be totally different players at close levels of the game.

In the Championship Declan McManus is a hardworking, industrious forward who’ll chip in with a solid haul of seven or eight goals a season.

In League One Declan McManus is an absolutely lethal goal machine.

The stats really do tell a story. In 133 Championship games McManus has found the net 19 times. In 53 League One games he’s scored 33 times. 

Falkirk might consider themselves unfortunate to have missed out on the title due to the Coronavirus, however it shouldn’t hide a season that - at times - was nothing short of farcical. Bairns fans will be sick of people telling them how strong a side they have on paper, however far too many players were clearly not up for the challenge of League One. Especially under Ray McKinnon’s stewardship.

McManus was a consistent exception, smashing home 24 goals in 34 games - including two hat-tricks against Dumbarton and Peterhead.

Whatever league the Bairns are in next season, tying the former Aberdeen forward down to a permanent deal would represent some outstanding business.

FW - David Goodwillie (Clyde)

It goes without saying that David Goodwillie is the best player in Scottish League One. If it wasn’t for external factors there isn’t a chance that the former Scotland cap would be plying his trade at Broadwood.

In a Clyde team who play some very easy on the eye football but struggle for a cutting edge, Goodwillie has been - at times - their only attacking threat.

With 25 goals to his name Goodwillie is a whopping 21 goals clear of his nearest rival in the quest for the Bully Wee’s golden boot and without those strikes Danny Lennon’s side would’ve been relegated. No question.

It isn’t just goals that he brings to the side either, Goodwillie is a leader on the park who is clearly keen to repay Clyde’s faith in him. He might take plenty of stick from fans of other clubs, but you’ll be hard pushed to find a fan in the home end at Broadwood with a bad word to say about him.
 

 

Edited by Jan Vojáček
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