Three whose reputations were improved during Albion’s tricky season
AS WE continue to reflect on a disappointing Burton Albion season and speculate on what might come next, here is a question to ponder – which senior pros actually enhanced their reputations in the midst of all the difficulties the Brewers worked through on the pitch this season?
In coming up with answers, I have put aside any prejudices and criticisms we may have of the players in terms of how they conducted themselves away from the pitch and, indeed, whether or not they are still with the club.
They’re my opinions, feel free to disagree!
Max Crocombe
He is the obvious one and his humility and appreciation of what he has set out to achieve stood out in the interviews he gave after being named player of the season.
To Brewers fans, with the obvious exception of some of his kicking, he looked close to the finished article as a goalkeeper, a fine replacement for the departed Craig McGillivray and probably the best Burton keeper since Jon McLaughlin, who remains most people’s reference point when talking about the quality of players Albion have had in the position.
Even though he is 30 and has played more than 200 games in 13 years, Crocombe had flitted between clubs and the four games he played for Oxford United at the start of his career were in League Two (one against Burton).
He arrived at Grimsby Town via Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Vic and the Mariners were the first club where he settled and played a lot of football.
Therefore, he saw League One with Burton as a step up and ends the season as an established player at this level. That’s progress.
Ryan Sweeney
It is always a debate which level of Scottish football equates to which level of English football but for Sweeney to have captained Dundee to promotion from the Scottish Championship (the second tier) is an obvious career high for him.
He had played for Bristol Rovers in League One in two separate loans from Stoke City, too, so the third tier was not new to him when he
returned from Scotland.
But you would have to say that his wholehearted, man-mountain contributions with the Brewers last season enhanced an already solid reputation, once he got over a tricky start in a struggling side.
He is the sort of player you want on your side.
Mason Bennett
In one respect, Bennett ends the season with his reputation enhanced in my jaundiced eyes – but I am not the only one who needed convincing, nor has he convinced everyone.
Bennett’s loan spell with Burton early in his career was not memorable and his goals per game ratio and injury record throughout his career have not been great.
And sure, four goals this season in 41 appearances does not suggest he can be the whole of the answer to
Burton’s goalscoring woes.
However, where he enhanced his reputation for me was in the wholeheartedness of his contribution and a determination to bounce back from the injury setbacks which dogged him again.
At the end of the season, he was finishing games barely walking as an ankle problem would not go away but he repeatedly defied it and never shirked a challenge. It was a thunderous one he went into without hesitation against Reading which ended that game for him, a game in which he scored a vital early goal.
I came out of the season understanding what managers – Nigel Clough, Gary Rowett, Maamria and now Martin Paterson – saw in him.
You just wonder how good the guy’s career might be if he could stay fit.
Let’s hope he can next season.