Football Season Review

Scunthorpe have managed to achieve the main goal that they set for themselves prior to the start of the season, as they have finished outside the bottom four and will therefore also play League One football next season. The early stages of the season saw the Iron display the type of naivety that is commonly seen in newly-promoted sides, as they made a real habit of playing good football without getting the results to match. They lost 8 out of their opening 11 games, and this run of results cost Russ Wilcox his job, with the board deciding to replace him with Mark Robins. Robins has done a splendid job of turning the Iron's fortunes around - he immediately switched to a counter-attacking approach that made the Iron a formidable away side, while the home results also started to pick up over time. It seemed that the Iron could even push for a play-off place under Robins, but a nine-match winless run that they had in February and March even got them fearing relegation. However, they eventually managed to steady the ship and secure their survival in the league with two games to spare. Their season would have likely been better had it not been for the constant injury problems that they have had, with last season's Player of the Year Sam Slocombe and midfielder Dave Syers being among those who have missed the majority of the campaign. Robins will feel that he has the foundation set to aim higher next season, but whether or not the Iron will be able to push for a top six place next time around depends on the business that they will do during the summer.

Player of the Season: Gary McSheffrey