As I mentioned in my previous post, 2011 was a remarkable year for Wrexham FC. But who were the men who made it so?

As I mentioned, we’ve a rock solid defence to build on, and that’s reflected in a glance at the goalkeeper statistics.

The decision to give Joslain Mayebi a run in the team ahead of Chris Maxwell was a massively divisive one, of course, but the statistics suggest it’s a move which is paying dividends at the moment. As I’ve often tiresomely said, whenever I possibly can, in terms of goals conceded per game Maxwell is the most successful keeper in Wrexham’s history. However, his figures in that regard this year (fig. 1) are dwarved by Mayebi’s remarkable stats. Even mentioning that Maxwell’s figures are slightly skewed by the freak thrashing by Gateshead is irrelevant; Mayebi’s record is incredible, and if he can keep it up until his fiftieth appearance then he’ll be Wrexham’s best all-time keeper!

Another new face in our rearguard since the Summer has been Nat Knight-Percival, and using the same criteria of goals conceded while players were being used in a defensive position (fig. 2) makes him emphatically our most effective defender of 2011.

Mark Creighton’s figures are perhaps the most eyebrow-raising ones here. Astonishingly, when he has played at centre back with Knight-Percival Wrexham concede a goal every 302.1 minutes, but when NKP is not by his side he sees his back four beaten every 51.2 minutes.

Marvin Andrews looks rather unimpressive, but don’t forget that great statistical random factor, the Gateshead match, which saw his goals per minute ratio shot to pieces. Mind you, it’s probably a reasonable indication of how badly the second half of the 2010-11 season went for him after he suffered an injury; in 2010 goals were scored every 87.58 minutes when he was in the back four.

At the other end of the pitch, who were the most effective players when it came to putting the ball in the back of the net?

Gareth Taylor’s penalty against Bath City in our second game of the year got the ball rolling (our first match of 2011, at Altrincham, was a goalless draw) and the final goal came when Jake Speight headed home at Telford.

Inbetween there were some memorable strikes, not least Jamie Tolley’s thunderbolts at Brentford and Lincoln, spectacular strikes against Tamworth by Taylor and CIeslewicz, and solo efforts by Mathias Pogba at AFC Wimbledon and Glen Little against Hinckley.

The top scorer of 2011 was Andy Morrell though (fig. 3), just ahead of Pogba and Andy Mangan. There’s nothing like leading by example!