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FLW's Birmingham City fan pundit has given his verdict on Richard Kone winning the League One player of the year award

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Wycombe Wanderers forward Richard Kone won out against Birmingham City’s Tomoki Iwata to claim the League One player of the year award.

The EFL awards were held on Sunday evening to commemorate the campaign, with the Blues having already secured the title ahead of this weekend’s final round of games.

Kone is third in the list of top scorers in the division ahead of this weekend’s last round of fixtures, bagging 18 from 41 appearances, with Wanderers set to compete in the play-offs.

Meanwhile, Iwata has scored six times from midfield, and has generally been a standout performer in Chris Davies’ side since his summer move from Celtic.

Tomoki Iwata POTY claim

When asked whether Iwata was robbed of the player of the year award, FLW’s Birmingham fan pundit Mike Gibbs claimed the 28-year-old was the deserving winner.

He believes Iwata has been more consistent than Kone, who suffered a drop off in form in the second half of the campaign.

“I think Iwata has been outstanding, really,” Gibbs told Football League World.

“I’m not quite sure what more he could’ve done in terms of minutes played, goal contributions, just his all around game.

“I think Kone had a great first half of the season, but has been very, very quiet in the second half, whereas Iwata has carried on his form throughout.

“I think he’ll be disappointed not to win it.

“I think the Birmingham team was generally under-appreciated, to be brutally honest.

“If you look at that team of the year, so little representation for a team that’s broken the points record, and is likely to break the points record in the EFL.”

Birmingham have clinched the League One title already, and are now aiming to win their final two games to reach a record points tally of 111.

Birmingham deserved greater award recognition

David Ginola famously won the FWA football of the year award during the 1998/99 Premier League campaign, in which the Tottenham Hotspur player benefitted from many potential Manchester United nominees splitting the vote.

A similar situation may have happened with Birmingham this year, as the Blues really should have had someone win this award given their dominance.

Iwata would’ve been a worthy winner given the impact he’s had since joining the club last summer.