' THESE CARDIFF CITY PLAYERS ? '

Cardiff City 2016/17 Player of the Season: Who are the contenders for the award?

These are the men who are in the running for the prestigious award

BY IAN MITCHELMORE


Thursday 13th April 2017


SPORT

The contenders for Cardiff City's player of the season award


A 13-man shortlist for the award has been announced, with the club only considering players who have featured in at least 20 Championship matches during the course of the season.

Fans are already discussing who they believe should take home the top gong on awards night at Cardiff City Stadium's Ricoh Diamond Suite on April 30.

But we believe the list can be whittled down to just five contenders.

These are the men who are in the running for the award...







' Sol Bamba '

The towering centre-back has been a mainstay at the heart of the Bluebirds' defence since making the move to south Wales shortly after Neil Warnock's arrival at the club.

An implosion in the game against Ipswich Town aside , Bamba has been by far and away Warnock's best addition since he joined the club, even wearing the captain's armband in the game at Barnsley before being forced off through injury.


And the Ivorian will certainly have a huge part to say in Cardiff's bid for promotion having impressed in his debut campaign in the Welsh capital.






' Kenneth Zohore '

The young Dane has enjoyed a blistering run of form in the second half of the campaign having netted 10 goals in 11 matches, becoming the club's most prolific scorer for six seasons.

But it wasn't all rosy for the forward earlier on in the campaign, with Warnock revealing he gave his star striker an ultimatum after a poor start to the season.

"He was a disgrace. He was strutting about the place and he didn't push himself," said Warnock.

Strong words indeed, but they certainly did the trick.

So while many will fairly argue that he hasn't been consistent enough over the campaign as a whole, Zohore certainly deserves to be in the running having turned things around so impressively since feeling the wrath of Cardiff's veteran boss.






' Aron Gunnarsson '

The midfield warrior has been typically impressive for the Bluebirds this season having starred for Iceland during their magnificent Euro 2016 campaign last summer.

But there's no doubt his game has suffered at times due to fatigue, with Warnock branding Gunnarsson's national boss a "disgrace" for making Cardiff's talisman play the full 90 minutes in a friendly just days before the Bluebirds' clash with Wolves at Molineux.

There were no complaints whatsoever from the midfielder who got on with the job as he always has done since joining the club almost six years ago.

And given that the 27-year-old is a firm favourite with the fans, you certainly wouldn't be afraid to put a few of your hard earned pounds on the midfielder being named as Cardiff's player of the season later this month.





' Sean Morrison '


He's a man who certainly divides opinion, but due to sheer consistency, Morrison thoroughly deserves to be in the running for the award.

The club captain has played 3,446 minutes of football in the Championship this season, the most of any Cardiff player.

And the fact he has scored as many goals as striker Rickie Lambert and winger Kadeem Harris, and more than the likes of Junior Hoilett and Craig Noone has certainly been a bonus for the Bluebirds.

Three of the last four winners of the award have been defenders, with David Marshall being the exception in the 2013/14 Premier League campaign.

And Morrison could well be the man to make it four in five years as he aims to follow in the footsteps of fellow defender Matthew Connolly in winning the award.



A club stalwart, an icon, a Bluebirds legend.

But also a man whose future remains uncertain.

It's been a real up and down season for Whittingham who scored in both of Warnock's first two games in charge of the Bluebirds but has found himself having to settle for a place on the bench for many games in the second half of the campaign.

But the 32-year-old gave everyone the perfect reminder as to why he's been such an important cog at the club with a majestic display and a wonderfully taken goal in Cardiff's 2-1 comeback win over Brentford last weekend.


"Here's to you Peter Whittingham, Cardiff loves you more than you will know" was chanted once again by the Cardiff faithful during the victory over the Bees, and the club's prize givers could well be saying the same to the midfielder in a few weeks time as he bids to land the award for the third time since joining the Bluebirds little more than a decade ago.



The full 13-man shortlist: Sol Bamba, Matthew Connolly, Aron Gunnarsson, Kadeem Harris, Junior Hoilett, Sean Morrison, Craig Noone, Lee Peltier, Anthony Pilkington, Joe Ralls, Jazz Richards, Peter Whittingham and Kenneth Zohore.

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Sol Bamba for me.

Aron Gunnarson or Sol Bamba for me

Gunners Gunners Gunnersson

Bamba for me and ken young player of year for sure

Bamba for me and ken young player of year for sure

Got to agree

Gunnar

You have to look at the season as a whole and Gunnarrson has been consistent all season.

People calling for Bamba he only came in with Warnock has been very good but let's not forget his self inflicted ban after the Ipswich game where he let himself and the team down

I wouldn't be surprised if Gunnarrson didn't make it a clean sweep and win all the senior awards.

Can't separate Gunner, Bamba and Zahore. For me they are level pegging. Morrison deserves his stick as captain but not as a player. Yes he makes the odd mistake but so does every player.

Gunnarson as he has been consistant.

Bamba is challenging and possible would overtake Gunnarson if he was with us at the start of the season.

I think Zohore would have walked it if we had Warnock instead of Trollope.