It’s award season, and the annual quest to deprive folks at Celtic of the prizes.

And so it begins. It is that time of the year again. That time of the year when the sports writers start allocating their prizes for the campaign. And, as per usual, they never falter and they never fail—the campaign is on to try to take deserved prizes away from people at Celtic Park.

There should be no question whatsoever as to where the three main awards go and who gets them. But just wait and see the clamour to send them elsewhere.

Yesterday, Radio Scotland had a debate about whether Simon Murray is Player of the Year. Today, The Village Idiot has suggested that the Manager of the Year could be Jim Goodwin. Goodwin’s name isn’t the only one I’ve heard thrown into the mix. David Gray has been mentioned as a candidate as well.

And if Aberdeen had maintained any sort of form, you’d be hearing Jimmy Thellin’s name too (in spite of their collapse today at home.)

We’re on the brink of a title, currently holding a 15-point advantage. We’ve secured the League Cup. We’re on the verge of the Scottish Cup final and a domestic treble. A manager who wins a domestic treble should always win Manager of the Year. But of course, we know there have been exceptions.

The media couldn’t wait to tell us how Rodgers, in his second campaign at Celtic first time around, shouldn’t be named Manager of the Year—because a treble-winning manager who then wins another treble is merely doing what was expected of him. That was the year we were told that “sometimes you have to look outside of the team that wins the league.”

Funny how they rejected their own theory and their own advice just a couple of years later when St Johnstone’s manager succeeded in winning both domestic cup competitions in the same campaign—which, by any logic, should have made him a shoo-in. But of course, that year they had to give it to Steven Gerrard. There was no universe in which they weren’t going to give it to Steven Gerrard. But Callum Davidson should have had that with a ribbon on it.

This year, the prizes are about as obvious as you’re ever going to get. Rodgers should be the Manager of the Year. There shouldn’t even be a debate. Nor should there be the slightest doubt about who the Player of the Year is—and if Daizen Maeda doesn’t end up covered in every medal going, it’ll be a travesty.

If you’re looking for second place, you can go with Kuhn; he was too good to ignore. You can go with Callum McGregor. You can go with Alistair Johnston. Take your pick, basically, of Celtic players who’ve been consistently excellent all season.

And then there’s the Young Player of the Year.

There will be a lot of debate over that one, but to me, there’s no debate at all. The youngest player in the Celtic side happens to be eligible for it—Arne Engels—and he should walk away with it. The media won’t acknowledge it in the way they should, but he’s had an excellent debut season in Scotland. If there’s a better young player out there, a more deserving candidate, I’ve yet to hear his name.

But already we’re hearing about all sorts of alternatives for the Manager and Player of the Year awards. Already we’re hearing that this guy deserves to win it or that guy does, when in fact all the winners should be playing at Celtic Park.

Now I know that the treble isn’t won yet. I know there’s an outside chance that Aberdeen, Hearts, or St Johnstone end up lifting the Scottish Cup. But are you seriously telling me that any of the managers of those three clubs deserves to finish ahead of Brendan Rodgers? Are you seriously saying they’ve been otherwise exceptional? Because they haven’t been. And we all know they haven’t been.

Neither Hearts nor St Johnstone will even finish in the top six. Aberdeen’s form has been up and down, and failing to close out a game where you were 2-0 up against ten men? That alone should disqualify you as a candidate.

At the end of the day, Celtic has been the dominant club.

Rodgers has been the dominant manager. There’s no getting away from that.

It all just feels like another case of denying reality.

It feels like the media is on its usual quest to take credit away from Celtic however they can. There are no obvious contenders elsewhere. Sure, some people have done well. A few have done better than expected. But Rodgers is about to walk away with all the silverware—and only bitterness would stop someone putting their cross beside his name.

Of course, we know there’s plenty of that bitterness out there. But unlike previous years, there’s no single figure they can coalesce around. If there were one obvious candidate to take a sizeable chunk of the vote, maybe Rodgers would be in danger.

But who’s it going to be? They can fumble about with each nominating his or her favourite, and Rodgers should still step through the thickets of nonsense to take the prize. Anything less will be a disgrace. Anything else and the award no longer has value. He’s the winner by the same margin as we’ll be champions … a country mile and more.