Player of 2007

As you may have noticed near the bottom right corner of the page, the Aberdeen Vital Football Player of 2007 Awards are in their voting stages. Since it was 2007 I chose 7 nominations (cheesy, right?), all for different reasons.

Firstly, Jamie Langfield. Last season his average number of goals conceded a game was less than one. In the summer, he had that infamous feud that no one actually has any details about with Jimmy Calderwood and was consequentially dropped from the first team. However, after we all realised that, although Langfield may have done something stupid, he was just quite frankly, better than Derek Soutar. Since returning to the first team against Dnipro, in the league he has conceded 18 goals in 13 games, far better than Soutar’s 10 in the opening 6. Quality goalkeeper’s are scarce these days and therefore I’ve included him in my list.

Secondly, Zander Diamond. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen someone’s game improve so much over a single pre-season. His form this season has been incredible and is a strong shout for the captain’s armband should Severin ever be stripped off it. He’s also got his name on the back of my shirt this season so I’ve included him in my list.

Third, Michael Hart. Of all the games he’s been captain for the full 90 minutes, which is 8, he’s lead us to victory every time. He is someone who does not get the credit he deserves sometimes and gives his all week in week out. That’s why he’s in my list.

Fourth, Russell Anderson. It seemed at the start of the season that with the loss of Anderson came the loss of all passion in the team. Lack of effort, aggression and being lazy was due to not having a captain that lead by example. He may not have shouted much and been as fierce, if you like, as you’d normally expect a captain to be but the man never put a foot wrong and left for Sunderland after serving Aberdeen for a decade. Never a doubt about his appearance in my list.

Fifth, Barry Nicholson. You may hear people say about how Jamie Smith’s goal got us to the round of 32, or those that think further back and say but we wouldn’t have even been in the group stages had Darren Mackie scored one of the most spectacular diving headers ever seen by an Aberdeen shirt. But in my mind, people forget that had Nicholson not scored that goal at Tynecastle in the 90th minute, 2 weeks before the end of the SPL season, none of this would have happened at all. It still sends shiver down my spine watching the highlights on Red TV of Brewster playing the ball in, Kingston and Gordon leaving it for each other, Bazza poking the ball into the net and hundreds of Aberdeen fans falling through the barriers at the front of the old school end. He’s also been in magnificent form this season and like Hart, in my opinion doesn’t get some of the credit he deserves. That merits a place in my list.

And last but not least, Lee Miller. I’ve always been a fan of Miller and like thousands of Dons around the world was gutted when he signed for Dundee United in 2005. However we got him on a free 2 years later and last season I thought he was the most intelligent player in the team. But as we know, intelligence and football don’t go and him getting into good positions, laying it off and knocking it down, would always go to waste because the rest of our strike force all have the I.Q. of a small ant. But where would we be this season without his goals? The answer is ninth and with a goal difference of -10. That’s why he’s in my list.

That concludes who I chose and why and I hope you agree with me. Please, please only vote once so the results are not false. Thank you.