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Rory on Jermain Defoe:
It's hard to feel a connection with a player in the modern day but you get that feeling with Defoe. Not just his goals, that's what strikers do, but his reaction to them - the way he worked desperately hard last season and dragged us out of the relegation zone. He's everything you want from a player, and thank god he's ours. This season alone will probably see him remembered more fondly on Wearside than at any of his other former clubs. That alone proves that he is our player of the year for 2015/16.
Read more of Rory's pledge for Jermain Defoe here.
Gav on Yann M'Vila:
He may not have scored the goals that Jermain Defoe has, but his quality has been there for all to see throughout the season and without him in the opening months of the season I feel we would most certainly have been relegated.
For me, this is why Yann M'Vila is our player of the year. The reason Sunderland survived isn't just down to Jermain Defoe's goals, or due to Vito Mannone's saves - it's because we are a very balanced and hard working team. At the hub of that has been M'Vila all season, through thick and thin.
If Lamine Kone is our strength, and if Jan Kirchhoff is our brain, then Yann M'Vila is our heart.
Read the rest of Gav's Yann M'Vila bit here.
Callum on Lamine Kone:
Koné’s importance to our survival is undeniable and cannot be understated. But it is where we can go next season now that we have him that excites me most. For the first time in years, we have watched at the heart of our defence, an organisational influence with pace, strength and power and time on his side.
How much more have you enjoyed watching us play since Koné came in? How much more confident do you feel watching our defence now Koné is in it? How long have we waited to have a player like this in our team? How can you ignore the clear difference in goals conceded since the moment he went into the team? And that defensive improvement is the reason we’re safe. It’s a no-brainer. Vote #TeamKoné.
The rest of Callum's plea to make Lamine Kone your player of the year can be read here.
Graeme on Jan Kirchhoff:
If we want to pick out specific highlights following Kirchhoff's capture then of course we should look no further than his man of the match performance against Manchester City in January. Allardyce rightly named it the best by any midfielder in the Premier League up until that point in the season. Just to put that into context his game prior was Tottenham. West Brom at home was another standout but if we are honest all of the matches he has played in, save for the debut, have shown he is head and shoulders above anyone else we have in that role.
If we want to talk plaudits, he won Roker Report's player of the month twice in a row and also PFA Fans' Player of the Month award for April too, beating the likes of Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen to the prestigious accolade.
In summary and simply put, other Sunderland players have more stardust but without everyone's favourite German they wouldn't have shined as bright. That is why Jan Kirchhoff is our player of the year 2015/16.
You can read the rest of Graeme's article here.
Voting closes at 12pm on Monday the 30th of May.
