It's not often Gary Madine gets credit for the shifts he puts in when playing as our lone striker, except for when I shout him out in my articles. Well, ladies and gents, today is another day he’s in the good books.
In a largely lacklustre Wanderers team, he was easily the best. He won nearly every ball that came his way, supported the three behind him well and worked his bollocks off from start to finish. I think I've said this before but he seems to be a changed man under Phil Parkinson. During the Neil Lennon era he’d lose possession or be muscled out of a challenge, flap his arms, shout and scream at the referee and generally be a bit of a balloon. Under Parky, however, he's much more like our club talisman Kevin Davies - no matter how many times he gets knocked down, he just gets back up again and carries on, keeping his mouth shut and his emotions in check in the process.
I feel as though the work Madine does goes largely unnoticed and what many fans don't realise is that we’d be pretty fucked without him. Almost every single one of our attacking moves revolves around him in some way, shape or form, and I think it's high time he reaped the rewards of his hard work.
Gary, I salute you. Congratulations on your LOV MOTM award. Have a Jägerbomb on me.