As regular readers know, I wrote yesterday about how the team of the year was dominated by Celtic players and that the only surprise is that we didn’t get at least one more on the list.
Today the player of the year nominees – as decided by the PFA – came out and two Celtic players are in the final four, which to me is sort of outrageous for who isn’t there.
There is no place for Cameron Carter Vickers, which to me is astonishing.
But Callum and Tom Rogic do make the final four, along with Regan Charles Cook and, surprisingly, Craig Gordon. The Young Player award does, of course, feature Liel Abada who must be streets ahead and the overwhelming favourite to win that one by a mile.
There are no Ibrox players in the running for either award.
Morelos and Tavernier at least made the team of the year … but it is a poor return and they deserved no more than they got.
This, of course, is a disaster for the Ibrox club on so many levels.
They will deny it, their fans will squeal conspiracy, but the simple fact is that the failure on the part of any of their players to make the shortlist is damning but not unexpected.
The sports writers might still take a punt on one of their favourites, but the absence of an Aribo, Kent, Kamara, Goldson or otherwise as voted for by the players is telling. And sadly for Ibrox it is cataclysmic in terms of the coming summer.
They need to sell some of these guys before their contracts wind down. Morelos, at least, enters his final year in the team of the year, although I would strongly dispute that he deserves to be there for such a modest return of goals in the league … still, he’s made the cut even if he hasn’t been one of the top players on the awards shortlist.
But what of Kent? What of Aribo? What of Helander, or Ryan Jack? Along with Morelos, their contracts are up in 2023, and whilst Jack might pen a new deal none of the other four shows the slightest sign that they are going to.
Ibrox cannot let these players get to January without doing so … so all of them will be moved on in the summer, and none of them has remotely justified any club paying the sort of transfer fee which Ibrox has spent the last couple of years promoting and demanding.
It’s worse than that too. Tavernier is already 30.
There is no re-sale value there.
Barisic is 29 and he’s flattered to deceive but nobody realistically expects a big fee for him.
I read one lunatic on one of their forums saying they could, eventually, net a small fortune for Lundstram. Yeah? It’ll have to be soon because he’s 28 and has only given them a handful of performances.
Hagi is one they will point to, and use the excuse that he’s been out injured but that guy might just be the most over-rated footballer in the country and I say that in the same piece where I’m barely mentioning all the misplaced euphoria surrounding the likes of Aribo and Kent. Hagi performs once every half dozen games … they will be lucky to get back what they paid.
I think they’re in real trouble this summer.
We were able to build our squad because we had the sales of top players to fund it, and because Ange got every key decision absolutely right. They are the club that squandered resources on Sands, Diallo, Ramsey and Zukowski in January … so how good, how fool-proof, do you reckon their scouting system really is?
Remember all that talk about what a genius Ross Wilson is?
Ross Wilson worked at Southampton, who can afford to spend £15 million on a player without blinking.
It’s a slightly different experience shopping in the bargain bin.
Those shortlists are devastating for their club.
None of their high profile players made the grade, not one of those guys they are trying to punt in the summer was even near to getting on the list and although you can bet that the hacks will make sure somebody is represented when their own comes out, the professionals have spoken, the players have had their say and the scouting departments with money to spend know to look elsewhere.
It’s going to be a lot, frustrating summer over in La La Land.
“But but but how ur oor plerrz no’ oan thae lists? Simpleh ra best team in ra kuntreh handit ra leeg tae ra feeyinz!”
Every comment on Old Furm Eff See forums….
The absence of CCV is shocking but not unexpected as lots of those voting will have been humiliatingly clamped at some point by the big man. And lots of them are huns.