Pickford and Allardyce nominated for Premier League monthly awards

Everton came on strong in April, stringing together one of their best runs of form - results-wise - of the season. The Blues were unbeaten last month, allowing only one goal, away to Swansea City:

Everton 0-0 Liverpool (H)
Everton 1-1 Swansea (A)
Everton 1-0 Newcastle (H)
Everton 2-0 Huddersfield (A)

As such, the Premier League has shortlisted Sam Allardyce for Manager of the Month and Jordan Pickford for Player of the Month.

Pickford and his three clean sheets are more deserving than Allardyce, whose nomination doesn’t really pass the smell test. Everton only scored four times all month, and one marker was a Kyle Naughton own goal.

An injury to Mason Holgate and suspension for Ashley Williams finally forced Allardyce into playing what are clearly his four best defenders, while Gylfi Sigurdsson’s knee problem meant that Morgan Schneiderlin and Idrissa Gueye were reunited in midfield to predictably great effect.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Allardyce is up against Pep Guardiola, Roy Hodgson, Jose Mourinho, and Darren Moore (West Brom’s interim manager). Given that Sam’s April successes largely laid on the back of extenuating circumstances, it would seem disingenuous to give him the award, but at this point Everton fans will take the points from the month no matter how they come.

Pickford, meanwhile, faces competition from Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Christian Eriksen, Jake Livermore, Paul Pogba, Raheem Sterling, and Wilfried Zaha.