11 Of The Best From The Second Tier

Yesterday i looked at the PFA Premiership Team of the Year, and today i want to look at the Championship one. I actually agree quite a few of the decisions, but i'll give my justifications for why i agree with them.

Lee Camp (PFA chose Paddy Kenny) - It's a close one and i have huge respect for Paddy Kenny, plus the championship seems to have quite a few extremely talented goalkeepers (Westwood at Coventry, Speroni at Palace and De Vries at Swansea are three good examples), but my choice in goal would have to be Lee Camp. Now i'm sure some people will accuse me of bias here, perhaps with some degree of accuracy, but Camp is one of the most consistent goal keepers i've ever watched and THE best shot stopper i've seen at Forest or anywhere in the Championship. I've lost count of the amount of times he's saved a shot i was certain was going in.

Kyle Naughton (Same) - He's been on loan at Leicester from Tottenham and in a lot of games that quality has shone through. He's a solid defender but it's what he offers going forward with his pace and quality that make him really stand out (5 goals from right back for a player who isn't a major aeriel threat is very impressive and a couple of those, especially the one against Coventry, were stunning goals.)

Luke Chambers (Wes Morgan) - Now i agree that one of Forest's centre back pairing should be in this team as, at least until the last month, our success in the league had been based upon just how tight our defence was and Morgan and Chambers are a major factor in that, along with Camp. The PFA picked Morgan and there's not much in it, but i would actually say Chambers has been marginally better this season; he has a very good habit of getting last ditch tackles and blocks in. He's had to wait for his chance this year, having often been played in his less favoured position of right back, but i think he's taken it well.

Ashley Williams (Same) - The Swansea defender has impressed me every time i've seen him play; big and strong but with a decent ability to distribute the ball once he's won it. The only black mark against his name for me is that when i think of him i can't help but think of the bad luck/mistakes that have led to him scoring as many own goals as he's scored goals for Swansea this year (3, with the own goal against Derby being particularly farcical.)

Ian Harte (Same) - The 33 year old Reading, and former Leeds, Left back has re-established himself as one of the most effective wing backs in the country. I always rated him while he was at Leeds during their successful period and he's definitely showing some of that form now he's at promotion chasing Reading. His biggest asset is his free kicks, they're devastating and remind me on occasion of another left back who chipped in with his fair share of goals, Stuart Pearce. 10 goals from left back is a very useful contribution.

Adel Taarabt (Same) - There's been plenty written about the Morrocan play maker, often gushing praise, often highly deserved. His temperament has been questioned before and i suspect will be again but in terms of pure footballing talent he has no equal in the Championship. A player i suspect only just missed out on the PFA team from Forest, Lewis Mcgugan (who for a while seemed to be attempting to have a two man goal of the season competition with Taarabt) is on his day arguably close, but he's been quieter in the second half of this season while the QPR man has continued to be crucial to their title challenge.

Scott Sinclair (Same) - I've watched Sinclair play a few times this season and one of the main thoughts that strikes me every time is that he is almost unfairly quick, especially when you consider that he can keep the ball under such tight control while running at full pace. He's another player whose form has dropped off in the past few weeks but for the large majority of the season he's been terrifying any defence he's played against and he's responsible for some of the goals of the season.

Andy King (Same) - The Leicester City central midfielder lacks some of the flair of the other men in this midfield but his comparative subtlety belies a real talent. He's the driving force in Leicester's midfield, leading the club's goal scoring chart with 14 in the league and it wouldn't surprise me if he is near the top in terms of assists as well.

Wes Hoolahan (Same) - Hoolahan has one of the sweetest left foots in England, let alone the Championship and so far as passing and build up play are concerned in my opinion there's few better.

Danny Graham (Same) - In a Watford team that's been hamstrung by it's own inconsistency Graham has scored impressively regularly, leading the Championship golden boot race and enjoying the best season of his career.

Grant Holt (Dave Nugent) - Nugent's selection baffled me a little here; he's undoubtedly a good striker but there are plenty i'd list above him in terms of both goal scoring exploits and team play (Becchio at Leeds, Bothroyd at Cardiff, Morrison at Milwall and especially Shane Long at Reading who's in the form of his life right now) but i think any team of the year has to include Grant Holt. His presence here annoys me a little, purely because he was at Forest for a while but used so poorly by Colin Calderwood that we never got to see just how good he can be; instead he dropped down a few leagues to Shrewsbury, then went to Norwich and has worked his way up scoring 64 goals in 120 performances for those two teams. He also works hard for the team and is involved in a lot of Norwich's best moves so how Nugent was picked ahead of him i don't know.

Today's song is a random choice, but it's a song i ended up listening to for the first time in ages when it popped into my head quite randomly earlier on, it's 'Man of Constant Sorrow' by the 'Soggy Bottom Boys', the band from the Coen Brother's film, 'O Brother, Where Art Thou'.

A Premiership Dream Team

So the PFA have announced their teams of the year for all the major divisions in England, as well as awarding individual 'player of the year' and 'young player of the year' accolades. As always it's been met with the usual combination of outrage and over-zealous praise but all in all i reckon they've got it fairly right so far as the Premiership and Championship is concerned (i haven't seen enough football from Leagues 1 and 2 to be able to comment).

The premiership team is: Van Der Sar, Sagna, Vidic, Kompany, Cole, Nani, Wilshere (Young player of the year), Nasri, Bale (Player of the year), Tevez & Berbatov.

Now i'm going to give you my Premiership team of the year with brief justifications for each one. I'll precede it by saying that i don't enjoy putting this many Man U players in, but they've arguably deserved it. I consider the central requirement to this list to be the ability to be consistently good rather than occasionally incredible.

Edwin Van Der Sar (Same as PFA) - The 40 year old has proven himself yet again to be one of the most consistent goal keepers in the league; a great shot stopper who commands his area and his defence well. What more can you ask from a goal keeper.

Rafael (PFA chose Bacary Sagna) - The PFA went with Sagna but i can't say he's particularly stood out this season for me. Rafael however has looked like an incredibly promising right back who's been as consistent as any both when defending and going forward. Yes he needs to work on his temperament and he's far from the finished product, but in a position without any true stars this year he did well i thought.

Nemanja Vidic (Same)- Vidic has to be considered the most consistent and effective centre back in the country at the moment, he dominates defences and has looked solid despite rarely having a regular partner at the heart of Manchester United's defence.

Michael Dawson (Vincent Kompany)- I marginally prefer him to Kompany this season but i acknowledge an element of personal bias may have crept in (Dawson is a Forest academy product and has always come across as a model professional). He's been incredibly solid this season despite lacking a consistent partner and having Gomes' potential for mad moments playing on his mind constantly.

Ashley Cole (Same)- Cole just edges out Patrice Evra this season, but those two have dominated the left back position for the last few years; they both combine solid defending with effective attacking contributions and though i might argue neither has had their absolute best season, they've still been remarkably good. I've gone for Cole because he's managed to continue playing well and ignore the furore over his private life better than i'd have expected.

Nani (Same)- His histrionics and diving are beyond frustrating and he possibly believes he's better than he is, but despite that his failure to even make the short list for player of the year is baffling. He's been a bright spark in a solid but often uninspired Man U team this year; there's been a number of games where United seemed to be struggling to break down a determined defence only for Nani to provide a moment of real brilliance, either in the form of a shot, cross or pass and keep them on track for the title.

Scott Parker (Samir Nasri) - This man was nominated for player of the year and i'm tempted to say he should have won it. In a constantly struggling (and at times painfully poor) West Ham team he has been incredible. A perfect example of the centre midfield captain; tough tackling, accurate passing and able to chip in with the occasional goal he's been superb all year. Add to that the leadership and inspirational qualities he brings to the team and he has to be there.

Jack Wilshere (Same) - This has been his breakthrough season, emerging as a first choice midfielder in arguably the strongest midfield in the league. He's a very un-English centre midfielder; calm on the ball, self-assured and with an eye for the defence splitting pass that we rarely seem to produce.

Gareth Bale (Same) - Now he's been brilliant this year but it has to be said that he hasn't been hugely consistent. In spells he's been undoubtedly the best player in the league in terms of impact, but injuries and lapses in form have meant that others have been more consistent and i don't think i'd have given him the player of the year award on that basis.

Carlos Tevez (Same) - I'm a huge fan of Tevez; he combines skill and work rate like few others and would be a contender of my world wide team of the year, let alone simply the Premiership.

Dimitar Berbatov (Same) - This has been the first season he's looked anything like worthy of the £30.75m transfer fee Manchester United paid for him from Tottenham. He looks likely to be top scorer now that Tevez is out injured for most likely the remainder of the season and it has to be said he's earned it; he's managed to show consistently the seemingly casually applied innate talent everyone knows he does possess and now he looks like a star striker whereas previously he's looked like a distinctly average striker capable of flashes of brilliance.

Tomorrow i'll post my Championship team of the year.

Today's song is one i listened to while walking into town this afternoon. It's by Belle & Sebastian, off their album 'Tigermilk' and it's called 'We Rule the School'.