In the first in a series of blogs about who should win the Fancast Player of the year, Craig Talbot argues why youngster Dominic Iorfa should win the must-acclaimed award.
At the beginning of the season no one would have foreseen that Dominic Iorfa would have been amongst the top performing players of the season and within a chance of winning the player of the year award.
That is no slight on Iorfa as a player; it just seemed highly unlikely that he would have received a starting call up within a league winning Wanderers defence.
However, since the England Under-20 starlet made a surprise start against a high flying Bournemouth side in December, he has thoroughly impressed and it would be a shame for him to be overlooked for the Fancast player of the year award.
His first start came at an incredibly turbulent time for the club, with Wolves conceding 14 goals in their previous four games; Iorfa was selected at full back in place of Scott Golbourne ahead of the visit of the Cherries.
Iorfa impressed immediately and picked up the man of the match award that day, despite Wolves losing the game 2-1.
With Wolves on such a poor run, some managers might have seen it as incredibly risky to put an unproven 19 year old up against one of the best sides in the league. But Kenny Jackett showed true faith in Iorfa, who showed no signs of pressure in his first Championship outing.
He continued to feature heavily in the Wolves back four and it was no coincidence his run inthe side coincided with Wolves turn in fortunes, with the side only conceding eight goals in Iorfa’s first ten championship starts.
Iorfa’s talent also saw him win the young player of the month award back in January, just a mere eight weeks after making his debut with the side.
Although yet to grab his first goal for the club, there is no doubting his confidence is growing with every appearance in the gold and black colours. He has a fantastic drive going forward both with and without the ball and has the ability to keep up with some of the league’s most feared wingers.
Iorfa himself epitomises the young and hungry attitude that Jackett has focused on throughout his time at the club.
Iorfa grew up in Southend before being spotted by Wolves at the age of 15 and relocating to Wolverhampton.
A loan spell with Shrewsbury followed at the tender age of just 18 and now just a mere 12 months later, he finds himself a key member of our Championship side.
With Danny Batth now out injured for the remainder of the season it would be
good to see how Iorfa would cope playing alongside Richard Stearman at centre back, a role in which he performed admirably at during his time with the academy.
There is no doubt Iorfa is showing real Premier League potential and no doubt many of the big clubs with be sniffing around him come the end of the season, especially due to Wolves playoff hopes seemingly looking next to over.
Too often Wolves fans have seen players who have been labelled ‘one for the future’ sit and stew in the academy, before being quietly let go and succeeding at another club.
We must commend Jackett for having the faith in him and also Iorfa himself for stepping up to the plate in such an exciting season.
You can vote for the Fancast Player of the Season Award here – http://t.co/ts9QuFPnSs
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