It's The Saints! 20/21 End Of Season Awards

 It's The Saints! 20/21 End Of Season Awards

Highest league finish in Scottish football (7th) since 1989; first time in almost 40 years we managed to reach the semi finals of both national cup competitions; the only Scottish team to defeat Rangers over 90 minutes this term; most points (45) in the top flight this century... It has been an impressive campaign, albeit tinged with lingering regret for what might have been - a trophy, chiefly, although our first top 6 finish since the introduction of the split was agonisingly out of reach too.

Nevertheless, the curtain call signals the time for prizes to be given out, so let's tell the story of the season through some awards:

Golden Boot

Winner: Jamie McGrath (17)

The Simeon Jackson Award For Best Penalty Taker

Winner: Jamie McGrath (10/11)

A stellar showing from the Irishman, who didn't quite hit the ground running pre-pandemic in the same manner as compatriot and fellow January recruit Conor McCarthy but has more than made up for it since. He was voted St Mirren Player of the Season, and the decision to stop playing him out wide, instead appearing through the middle as either an advanced central midfielder or as our #10, was an absolute masterstroke. McGrath was ranked 7th on The Terrace's list of best attacking midfielders in the Scottish Premiership and no player outside the Old Firm was ahead of him (so that's Jamie ahead of David Wotherspoon, Chris Burke, Ryan Hedges, Matty Kennedy... Not bad going).

Did you know?: Jamie McGrath outperformed his expected goals (xG) in the SPFL top flight, scoring 10 from an xG of 8.4, but recorded fewer assists than would be expected (xA), with a solitary assist from an xA of 6.31. Our profligacy in front of goal cost the Irishman some even more impressive numbers (xA ranked 7th in the division but not in the top 30 for assists; 13th for xG and tied 8th for goals scored).

Player of the Season

Winner: Jak Alnwick

Signing of the Season

Winner: Jak Alnwick

Most Clean Sheets

Winner: Jak Alnwick (13)

Vaclav Hladky has gone on to prove he is a very talented goalkeeper since leaving St Mirren. We knew that he would, but his appearance in the English League Two Best XI confirmed he could have set his sights higher than Salford should he have wanted to. The departure of the Czech goalie was dreaded, yet one of the most special feats by the Buddies this campaign was replacing Hladky with someone every bit his equal. You only need to look at the trouble Kilmarnock are in now to appreciate the value of a reliable, consistent keeper between the sticks.

It was a close run battle for best St Mirren player of the season: Marcus Fraser has been sorely underappreciated, a virtually ever present that is solid defensively and not as error prone as some of his colleagues, while also being important tactically by allowing the switch to 3 at the back; Richard Tait has been immense at times, the ambidextrous fullback making a mockery of Motherwell for releasing him; the aforementioned Jamie McGrath has been brilliant; and while he's dipped in 2021, the impact of Jake Doyle-Hayes back in the October-December run which saved and transformed this campaign cannot be understated. He was fantastic in that stretch of games and a key part of us becoming a proper team again.

Yet Jak Alnwick stands out. Despite having dropped off a touch lately, his 2020 form was spellbinding and ensured we avoided any drubbings. The statistics below underline that he is one of the best keepers in the Scottish top flight but the eye test alone proves this - when watching our team play, it is evident we have confidence in him, something which cannot be said for the 11 other sides.

Did you know?: Jak Alnwick ranks 4th in the division for total saves, 6th for saves per 90 minutes, 5th for clean sheets, and outperformed his expected goals conceded by 3.16 - conceding 36 goals in the league with an xCG of 39.16. 

The Nicolai Brock-Madsen Award For Most Ignominious Loan Spell

Winner: Isak Thorvaldsson

We have a few nominations for this category: Bobby Zlamal was fine in the Celtic and Dundee United games but a complete calamity on his debut against Hibs; Brandon Mason started off well before spending 2021 as our hide-and-seek champion - seemingly back with Coventry, only to be photographed at training a fortnight later; Nathan Sheron was dreadful - not quite Kyle Hutton levels of atrocious but Jake Doyle-Hayes strolled in and looked like prime Xabi Alonso by comparison.

Isak Thorvaldsson has to be the winner, however. As forgettable as his name is spectacular, he didn't offer much in the limited minutes he appeared. An apparent bust-up in the warmdown after a match with Jim Goodwin was all it took for the young midfielder to be sent back down to Norwich. The worst Icelandic product since the volcanic ash from the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull.

Young Player of the Season

Winner: Ethan Erhahon

There wasn't a lot of choice in this category, as I felt Jake Doyle-Hayes and Cammy MacPherson were too old to be considered - 22 isn't that young in footballing terms - and Jay Henderson hasn't played enough to merit consideration. This meant it was a shootout between the academy products of Kyle McAllister and Ethan Erhahon and Erhahon shades it for me. Both are inconsistent, which is to be expected, but Erhahon at his best this campaign was sparkling, he has a higher talent ceiling than McAllister, plus he won the official goal of the season.

Goal of the Season

Winner: Cammy MacPherson (vs Kilmarnock)

Going to differentiate myself from the club awards here and recognise the brilliance of the MacPherson strike to equalise at Rugby Park earlier this month. The added significance of the game, compared to the Aberdeen fixture Erhahon scored in, reveals itself in the intensity of the goal. It's a superb MacPherson pass from deep to send Dennis scampering, and the English striker does well to take the ball and find Henderson back down the line. Young Jay shows a lot of poise and patience to send the pass exactly where MacPherson is going run onto hit it. The action he puts on the ball is stunning, cutting across to ensure it goes top right, leaving ex-Saint Danny Rogers no chance.

Shots from >25 yards out are inefficient but I also feel a lot of the data analysts that point this out miss some things:

1. Goals are fun; goals from distance especially.
2. If you never shoot from distance, teams will defend with this knowledge. This makes scoring from closer in more difficult.
3. Sometimes, the ball is begging to be struck and it makes more sense in the passage of play to shoot. This goal is exhibit A.

I linked the Ethan Erhahon goal from Pittodrie in October above, via the official club Twitter account tweet, and my other goal to complete the podium was Kristian Dennis' opener against Celtic at Parkhead. A beautiful team goal... So much so, in fact, I felt moved enough to dedicate an entire blog to it where you can watch and bask in all its glory.

Moment of the Season

Winner: Conor McCarthy's last minute winner vs Rangers, Scottish League Cup QF

There's a tendency for historical revisionism when looking at moments in football - adding or detracting from the significance depending on what follows. While the calamitous display against Livingston in the semi final ensures this goal might not be reserved in the top rank of St Mirren folklore, it was a very special moment and certainly the one most likely to be remembered long after the year and the pandemic are over.

To take the lead against Rangers and throw it away was typical Saints. The Davis equaliser on the 88th minute was the stereotypical sucker punch from the Old Firm, we've seen this script before. As it turns out, Jim Goodwin instilled an attitude into this team - his team - to ensure that despite the game falling into added time, despite Rangers record this season, their advantages in players, resources, and so forth, we could score a winner. Back post, Conor McCarthy, 3-2. 

The only regret is not being there to celebrate in person. Indeed, that's been a regret throughout 2020/21 but every day is a day closer to returning to the ground. St Mirren will be back with us and the games will be better than ever when they are.

Thanks very much for reading this blog. If you have checked out my work previously, thank you also for doing so. I am very grateful for the wonderful feedback and the fact you would take a few minutes out of your day to read what I've written.

Best wishes,

Lewis.