:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/53983791/656984512.0.jpg)
For the first time in a while the Bolton Wanderers Player of the Year is actually a difficult decision, given there's more than one worthy contender to the throne.
The likes of David Wheater, Josh Vela, Andrew Taylor and recent impact signing Filipe Morais all stake good claims but, for me, the crown has to go to the outstanding Mark Beevers.
The imperious centre-half arrived at Macron Stadium this season on a free transfer from League One rivals Millwall. He joined a side that hadn't won an away match for 16 months, which had conceded 81 goals, including six at Bristol City, and kept just seven clean sheets in the previous season - of which just two were away from home. That same diabolical side's joint top scorer - Zach Clough - notched just seven goals all season.
But what a difference Beevers has made. With him at the heart of the defence, Bolton boasted the ninth best defence in the whole of Europe come mid-December - conceding just 12 goals in 20 matches. By the end of October - just two months into the season - Bolton had already kept seven clean sheets, the same amount as the entire of the previous campaign. Three of those were away from home, already bettering the previous season's efforts.
As things stand - with at least seven games left, why am I writing this now? - Wanderers have 16 clean sheets to their name, of which six are away from home. This is probably in part down to new manager Phil Parkinson and the performances of Wheater, but for me the lynchpin in this defensive revolution has to be Beevers.
Whenever I've seen Beevers play he's dominated opposing forwards - I still don't think I've seen a single attacker go past him, or even threaten to make him look uncomfortable. When he plays, those moments hiding your eyes behind your hands whenever the opposition have a sniff of an attack are long gone - and I actually feel confident we might hold on to a slender lead.
Not content with being an absolute rock at the heart of our defence, Beevers has also made his presence count at the other end of the pitch. He's currently the club's fourth top scorer having already hit the back of the net six times, just one behind Clough's tally of last season with plenty of time left to surpass it.
Bolton's biggest problem for the last few years has been a pathetically porous defence, yet the arrival of Beevers has seen it totally eradicated. Coincidence? I think not. So get voting for the man Baevers as your Player of the Season please.