Buckley will always be a legend for those goals against Donny at The Amex. Not our greatest player (yet) but if he continues his current form then he will be right up there. He is now approaching that 'aura' that Wardy had where you felt he was going to beat a player or two and a goal would follow. The first chance he had for his hat-trick was entirely down to his own skill, didn't look like a scoring chance but faced by defenders instead of making a simple lay off close by the left touchline he darted between them, drifted past a third at speed and curled his shot toward the far corner only for a full length save to deny him in right front of the Albion fans. It was a very Ward-esque piece of individual skill, would have been a very classy way to get his hat-trick.
Sometimes he is a slow starter and sort of drifts into a game but today Buckley took only a minute or so after the kick off to size up his marker, lit the afterburners and he was gone. After that he had the beating of their defence and seemed to unleash his pace at 'will' (no pun intended). It was good to see him vary his approach work to keep defenders guessing.
I think our greatest player is the one who was most consistently top quality - for me that has to be Lawrenson. Yes there are several rivals to that title but none of them were as consistent, even Wardy or Zamora.
Bobby Smith was a 'great' but rather like Vicente he had brilliant cameos instead of a consistent run of performances over a few seasons.
Buckley rightly deserves the plaudits but I would also give a shout for Bridcutt on todays performance, he was immense. His contribution to the result was just as important.
Vicente must be considered as one of the greatest players to ever pull on an Albion shirt, but he is some way short of becoming an Albion legend. Will Buckley, on the other hand, is getting there.