It seems early – madly early – to be talking about a player of the year in Scottish football, but actually there are standout candidates already and I think it’s almost certain than one of them will win. The favourite amongst the fans of Celtic is Kyogo Furuhashi.
There is no way that he won’t be on the shortlist when the gongs are being given out.
But he won’t win folks; in fact, I don’t think he has a chance.
That the award will go to Celtic Park really doesn’t seem to be in the slightest doubt.
No player outside of Parkhead stands out the way our leading men do. But to me, for all Kyogo has been brilliant, two other Celtic players have a much better claim right now and if they continue to do what they are doing on the pitch they should be in front of him.
One of them is Anthony Ralston, for his improvement, for his comeback, for his general all round play.
He was immense again at the weekend and one of the reasons I’d vote for him first is that he has come out of nowhere to be a contender. He has not just impressed Celtic fans, he has amazed them and one of the truisms of our game is that guys in his position rarely get the gong.
The awards mostly go to the players in the sexy roles. Occasionally a footballer stands out in one of the less fancied positions – like Kieran Tierney – and makes it a no-brainer, but these mainly go to those players in the top half of the pitch who change results.
And so it will be here, of course, because the player of the year certainty isn’t Kyogo, it’s Jota.
Even more so than Ralston, he has astonished fans who didn’t quite know what to expect. His football has been sensational to watch already and I think he stands so far above every other player in the league that you could end the contest and give him the gong right now.
Don’t get me wrong, I will shed no tears if Kyogo or Ralston gets in.
But it just so happens that they have both burst onto the scene in a year when another of our players is just so obviously the best footballer in the country. It is a pleasure watching all three of them, but our boy out on the left is a true entertainer in a way we’ve not seen in a long time.
The battle between these three will be fierce, and only one of them will come out on top.
Kyogo has a very good chance of winning it, especially if he breaks through that psychologically important 30 goal mark, but to me Jota is the star man in this side and I suspect that when it comes time for the league’s players to cast their votes it will be his face that haunts their nightmares, and in particular those who have to go head to head with him out wide.
The thing is, of course, in just about any other year Kyogo would have won this by a country mile.
It is a measure of how well the rebuild has gone, and how well Ange has done, that this is a matter of debate and that the debate revolves around three of our own.
Way too early to be talking about POTY awards. Loss of form, injuries, the huns getting more debatable penalties for Tavarnier to slam home. You’re gonnae put a jinx on this.
It wasn’t that long ago you weren’t even confidently predicting the 10, you assured us 11, 12, 13 … was in the bag.
Fair enough you’re paid to give opinions. But I have to say this is not one of your better pieces.
Jota Kyogo and Ralston for me.Most improved Govan Sevco FC player must surely be Bobby Madden I mean C’mon what a Pler
McGregor is our most important player IMO. Most important players don’t necessarily win PotY right enough.
For me when Kyogo doesn’t play the team suffers most, particularly Jota. We’ve had the debate about Kyogo not starting and being replaced by big G. When he doesn’t though we not only miss out on Kyogo and his enthusiastic energy but we miss out on the telepathic connection with Jota. Atm there’s only on winner but hey it is way too early … HH
Charlie Adams maybe agrees with you about Ralston. He tried barging into him on Sunday and ended up bouncing off him like he’d hit a wall. Ralston didn’t even seem to notice and swung it across for Jota to score.
Those two lads are going through the gears, so you never know, but my money’s on our wee Japanese genius.
That was hilarious. But there was a previous incident that made it even funnier. Adam clashed with Ralston and was going off his nut, the camera focusing in on his rage. Then Tony R saunters into the shot laughing dismissively at him. It was like our man was the old hand and Charlie Adam was the young inexperienced clown who really ought to know better by now.
I have a feeling that Tony is going to be a star for Celtic. Which, makes it more difficult to fill the LB slot coz Juranovic is a good player and HAS to be our PK taker. Greg Taylor has just extended at Celtic till 2025. It’s good to have options but I am not sure about Juranovic being our regular LB. It has to be a left footed player in my honest opinion.
Far too early for this article. A lot of water will go under the bridge before this decision is anywhere near merit. Several players will,hopefully, be included in the list of potential players of the year, some of whom may still have to arrive!!
I couldn’t care less about the player of the year 2021/22…
All I want is to win the League and the likely £30 million jackpot that comes with it…
If we get that I’ll happily let the players choose any Sevco player they desire…
The Scottish media will do that anyway…