Welcome to the inaugural Trawler Awards, recognising the good, bad and bizarre of the last 12 months in the Championship, League One and League Two. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all who follow The Trawler. Here's to 2012 being every bit as eventful as 2011.
Team of the year - Southampton
The Saints go marching away with this one, having been led by Nigel Adkins from League One to the top of the Championship over the last 12 months. For Southampton fans, administration and relegation made 2009 their annus horribilis. If Adkins' team can maintain momentum this season, 2012 will culminate in a glorious return to the Premier League.
The goals of Rickie Lambert fired Saints out of League One, and the 29-year-old has kept them coming in the Championship. The team behind him have earned praise for their attacking adventure, and an average of two goals a game this season demonstrates their appeal to the neutrals. Adkins has them unbeaten at home, and on course for back-to-back promotions.
Tweet of the year - Prince Buaben
This one was claimed emphatically by Watford midfielder Prince Buaben.
The Ghana international was so incensed by the award of a late penalty to Leeds in their 1-1 Championship draw at Vicarage Road, that he took to Twitter and gave referee Eddie Ilderton both barrels.
"'Absolutely p***ed off. F***ing robbed us. OMG [Oh my God] nearly hit this f***er," he wrote.
Soon after the offending Tweet was removed and replaced with an apology. "'I apologise for my language earlier on, just very upset." One assumes the damage had already be done, but no punishment followed.
Name your price award - Jordan Rhodes
Jordan Rhodes was at it again on Boxing Day. The 21-year-old scored Huddersfield's winner against Chesterfield, a cheeky backheel no less, to take his tally to 20 for the season (plus five for Scotland Under-21s), and send his star still further into the stratosphere.
Rhodes is apparently nicknamed "the sponge" by his manager Lee Clark, on account of his thirst for learning, and despite the club's determination to hold onto him, you have to assume he'll be lining up for a Premier League club at the start of the 2012-13 season - if not before.
Paolo Di Canio rant of the year - Paolo Di Canio
"Maybe they would like a winter break, they're thinking about shopping, organising somewhere to go next weekend for two or three days. That is typical," Di Canio said of his Swindon team, after they drew 1-1 with Bristol Rovers in early December.
"Their brains are somewhere else. Maybe Rafa's [Raffaele De Vita] is already in Italy? He is one but there are others - Mehdi [Kerrouche], [Lukas] Magera, [Lander] Gabilondo. I attack Gabilondo because I know he is better than this, and I get angry as his brain is probably in Spain.
"From now on I will not treat them as men, because six or seven don't deserve to be treated as a man."
Saintly endeavour in the face of extreme adversity award - Peter Reid
As a player, Peter Reid was always up for a fight, so you could say it was typical of the man to take on the challenge of managing cash-strapped Plymouth in June 2010. Fifteen months later, Reid was sacked after eight straight defeats, but with reputation enhanced by his remarkable commitment to a lost cause.
The former Everton and England midfielder auctioned his 1986 FA Cup runners-up medal, paid a heating bill and went without pay, in his unselfish quest to keep the club afloat. The Plymouth Supporters'
Trust bemoaned his sacking and called him a "legend" on his departure.
"He stayed to fight on, without pay, when most managers would have walked away – and I think that's what people will remember him for most," said their chairman Chris Webb.
Different page award - Steve McClaren and the Nottingham Forest board
We all know Steve McClaren can speak Dutch and German, but it turns out his understanding of the language used in the Nottingham Forest boardroom wasn't up to scratch. Former Forest chairman Steve Doughty - the man who employed McClaren in June - clearly isn't fluent in McClarenese either.
McClaren arrived believing Forest were an ambitious, financially capable club he could piggyback into the Premier League. As it turns out they weren't too keen on spending money, and had a chairman he could barely hold a conversation with. Both men walked out in October, leaving Forest dangling near the bottom of the Championship.
Steve Cotterill has taken over, and things haven't got much better. One point from their last six games has consolidated Forest firmly in the category of relegation candidates.
Unlikeliest fixture of the year - Juventus v Notts County
Italian giants Juventus were opening their new stadium. They needed an opponent for a celebratory fixture to mark a new era in the club's history. AC Milan? Manchester United? Real Madrid maybe? Not a bit of it. They went with history and invited Notts County, who in 1903 sent the club a set of black and white shirts - thus defining their iconic appearance to this day.
The League Two side went behind to Italian international Luca Toni's goal, but summoned an equaliser late on through that most glamorous of players, Lee Hughes. Fancy that.
Precocious youth award - Jordan Ibe
Jordan Ibe signed for Liverpool earlier this month, completing a remarkable year for the teenage starlet who grabbed our attention in the colours of Wycombe Wanderers. Ibe broke into the Wycombe first team aged 15, and became the Football League's youngest scorer with an absolute beauty against Sheffield Wednesday in October.
Now 16, Ibe will complete his final year at secondary school before arriving at Anfield next summer. Liverpool are said to have beaten off Manchester United and Tottenham for his signature.
