Dr Fishy's Player Of The Year: Week One

By: Dr Fishy
Date: 04/05/2002

THERE'S no real substitute for a football match involving Grimsby Town on a Saturday, but my report each week will at least give fans of the Mariners something to reflect on over the summer.

As I mentioned last week, over the next eleven weeks I will be giving you players' overall grade for the season. This week features all those who failed to play more than eight times for Town.

Starting from the worst to the best, here are those nine players who didn't quite make it:

Willie Falconer: 6.5 (C)

Played just twice for Grimsby and was graded C and C- on those occasions (only the decimal place saved him from C-). Now the club has released him, we'll start forgetting all about why we got him in the first place.

Alan Neilson: 6.9 (C)

The former Fulham defender/midfielder was graded seven times by myself. I was quite surprised to see his final grade as a C, because to be honest I can't remember him having a good game. That might be the amnesia setting in.

Chris Thompson: 7.4 (C)

Here we have another C but right at the top end of the grade. Perhaps a little unfortunate being just 0.1 off a C+ but that's the cruel world of Dr Fishy and his grading system. He was marked five times during his spell over Christmas and New Year.

Robert Taylor: 8.3 (C+)

Here we move into the C+ category. He was graded four times during his loan spell. His best mark was a B-, which he managed to get twice. somehow.

Paul Robinson: 8.7 (B-)

The lad can be proud of this overall grade. from two matches. Doubt we'll be seeing him again but for some reason he didn't seem to be such a waste of time like it felt with Falconer.

David Smith: 9.0 (B-)

Alphabetical order keeps Smudger in fourth place. A surprisingly high overall grade for Wavy-Dave - then again, he did play in just two matches and I think it was the goal against Palace that went a long way to securing a rare B-.

Martin Pringle: 9.0 (B-)

I'm not sure if he should even be included at all because technically he shouldn't. But he was such a talent I felt he needed to be involved, somewhere along the line.

Terry Cooke: 9.0 (B-)

The former Man Utd winger makes it into second place only on games played. Unlike Pringle and Smith, Cooke was graded three times instead of just two. His best mark was the B he earned at Norwich.

Paul Raven: 9.0 (B-)

And at Number 1 it's that 'forgotten man' Raven. It's surprising what an effect a dull debut can have on you. All his grades were C+ and higher, and he tops the chart in the 'oh so nearly' rankings for some formidable displays in defence before Andy Todd arrived.

Next week we will begin the real countdown, revealing to you a pair of players who have been officially the worst according to Dr Fishy. I would like to point out that although in my grading system they ARE the worst, it doesn't mean to say they REALLY were. It's just that in my eyes they may have looked a bit turd.

For those of you who liked to be teased, I'll give you a clue. One of them won't be a surprise, the other might be in some respects - depending whether you were a patient fan or not.

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