The Celtic Boss Won Manager Of The Year, So Of Course The Record Found A Dissenting Voice.

You have to hand it to The Record; even when the manager of the year award has been made, even when the debate is over, even when the Celtic boss has won a deserved and hard earned triumph, they still try to find a way to cast doubt on his victory.

It is never less than astounding when The Record pulls one of these little strokes. They can’t just allow the man to have his moment in the sun. They have to go and dig up someone – anyone – who can pour some cold water on the win.

Enter the St Mirren player Ryan Strain, who may not even have known how his words were going to be interpreted by that rag. Even if he did know, who is Ryan Strain that his words should be blasted all over the back pages like this?

I’m not denigrating him as a player, I’m saying he’s one player amongst hundreds in Scotland, so what is this?

His position on the issue, that because Robinson was the only domestic manager to beat Ange until this weekend, makes him the manager of the year is plainly ridiculous.

Does The Mooch’s victory at the weekend mean we should have given it to him?

Doubtless there are sportswriters out there who wish they could have.

One win against one club doesn’t make you the manager of the year.

St Mirren overachieved, we’re being told, by getting into the top six, but let’s take a second here to scrutinise what it actually means when we break it all down and crunch the numbers.

St Mirren are sixth and a mind-warping 50 points off Celtic’s tally. 50 points, okay?

We’re on 95 and they are on 45. They have accumulated in 35 games what it would have taken Celtic 15 to do.

They have won 12 games. They’ve lost 14.

It’s the very idea that a record that lousy should put you in the running for a gong that makes our game a laughing stock.

They might make Europe. Wow.

That speaks as much to the shameful “form” of some of the teams above them more than it does anything else.

Three out of five of the clubs in front of them have sacked managers this season. Ange and Lee Johnson are the only ones who remain from those who started the campaign, and most reckon Johnson has been fortunate.

Still, Ryan Strain thinks his boss is the manager of the year for masterminding a victory at home against our team. And The Record thinks this is just credible enough to give the full-scale treatment to.

It’s a weak effort. It is the kind of thing they excel at.