23/04 - 20:00
23/04 - 20:00
Football's a game of opinions, and everyone's entitled to theirs - but we're flummoxed as to how the next fantastic footballer to feature in our 'Playmaker 72' didn't make League One's 2021/22 Team of the Season.
Before we introduce our latest top performer, we'd like to quickly point out that 'Playmaker's 72' is not necessarily aimed at ID'ing the best footballers across the EFL - instead, it focuses on those who have enjoyed the best campaigns across the Championship, League One and League Two this season.
At Number 8, it's Morecambe's Cole 'The Goal' Stockton.
Context is vital in pretty much every walk of life, and the general rule holds true for football.
At Playmaker, we're aware that we occasionally 'play' with context, comparing players' achievements across the top four tiers of the English game and beyond. But, we are aware (at some level!) that Swansea are no Manchester City despite their possession stats, and that Scott Twine is no Lionel Messi, even though they both score tons of goals from outside the box.
We mention context in relation to Cole Stockton, who's charting at Number 8 in the 'Playmaker 72', as his achievements and statistics this season are fantastic however you look at them, but particularly when they're viewed with some perspective.
The kind of context we're talking about is that relating to the career of a 28-year-old striker who has hit 36 of his 57 career goals in the EFL over the past two seasons. It's also an appreciation of the cold realities and demands placed on a striker playing for Morecambe, a club who secured a fairytale promotion from League Two last season with the lowest budget in the division.
Further, it's an appreciation of the fact that, while other prolific forwards in League One this season have played for teams fighting for promotion with average possession stats of well over 50%, Stockton has been leading the line for a club fighting for their lives in the third tier with, on average, 43% of the ball per game.
Stockton scoring 23 goals and supplying four assists in League One this season would be seriously impressive under any circumstances...but in context, it is absolutely exceptional.
😂😂😂 must be the badge https://t.co/qZqmieUy0P
— Cole Stockton (@cstockton94) April 25, 2022
And, yet, Stockton wasn't named in League One's Team of the Season for 2021/22, as the EFL opted for a forward line consisting of MK Dons' Scott Twine (he's coming for you, Lionel!), Sunderland's Ross Stewart and Rotherham's Michael Smith.
The forward trio of Twine, Stewart and Smith is a worthy one and all three players have enjoyed excellent seasons...but for the rest of this article, we will put forward a strong case that Stockton should have displaced one of them and, actually, probably deserved to be one of the first names on League One's TOTS teamsheet.
Let's rewind to the start of the campaign and the opening day of the League One season to help us highlight the sheer quality of Stockton's goals in 2021/22.
If you freezeframe the action in the 22nd minute of Morecambe's visit to big spenders Ipswich Town, you'll see Stockton receive the ball midway in his opponent's half with a bank of four defenders in front of him. Undeterred, the former Carlisle and Tranmere forward drives at the Tractor Boys' backline, slaloms past Luke Woolfenden, Lee Evans and Matt Penney and fires home. They may be subtle, but there are definite hints of Zlatan!
It was a heck of a strike and it's by no means alone in Stockton's back catalogue this season - which also includes a 50-yard lob against Wimbledon, a 30-yard turn and strike against Lincoln, a rasping volley at Oxford, a Beckham-like ping from the halfway line versus Fleetwood and a Tony Yeboah-esque rocket against Cambridge. There's actually not a single deflected strike or borderline own goal among the lot.
Stockton, however, wasn't even among the nominations for the League One Goal of the Season award.
Didn’t even get nominated… 🙃#UTS 🦐pic.twitter.com/hYZlHPEB4e https://t.co/XmWAmMDW37
— Morecambe FC (@ShrimpsOfficial) April 24, 2022
A quick trawl of his stats shows that Stockton has had more shots on target (62) in League One this season than any player. To put that in, yes, context that's 38% of Morecambe's 165 shots on target in 2021/22.
It's also notable that Stockton has scored more goals from open play (18) than any player in the third tier this term and been less reliant than some (Ross Stewart, 4, for example) on penalties to boost his goal tally.
Another remarkable stat is that no player in the top four tiers - including Fulham goal machine Aleksandar Mitrovic - has hit more league goals with their right foot this season than Morecambe's number nine (21G).
When it comes to chance creation, Stockton has not been found wanting either: clocking up 39 key passes in League One during the campaign. Only Adam Phillips has more for the Shrimps.
It's all seriously impressive, and former Morecambe boss Stephen Robinson - who left for St Mirren in February and was replaced by the returning Derek Adams - made a comparison earlier in the season that could have come straight from a Playmaker stat.
“Cole would be delighted to be in any comparison with Harry Kane. At whatever level you are at, and we are at a lower level than Harry Kane, if you are in tight games and have a goalscorer who seems to land on things, that’s important," Robinson told the PA Agency ahead of the Shrimps 3-1 Third Round loss to Spurs in the FA Cup.
“He has done that throughout the season. He has scored two from the halfway line and volleys he has no right to score. To know you have got that and if you can hang in games you know you always have an opportunity.
“We have conceded way too many goals, that has been a real problem for us all season, but the consistency in our play has been from the goals Cole has scored.”
Anyway, the defence rests - we believe Stockton deserved his place in League One's Team of the Season (what makes his omission even more puzzling is that he actually won back-to-back Player of the Month awards in August and September).
With Morecambe's survival bid going to the final day of the season, Stockton and the Shrimps have bigger fish to fry, though - a huge clash with Sunderland in store on the final matchday of the season tomorrow.
Whatever the outcome of that clash, and its fascinating Stockton v Stewart sub-plot, Morecambe's hotshot has enjoyed a season that Roy of the Rovers would have been proud of - and proved that he more than belongs at League One level.
Check out the articles for all of those featured so far...
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