IT would have called for a Stewards' Enquiry, had Leigh Griffiths NOT won the PFA Scotland Player of the Year award last night. Our professional players might well wear their IQs on their backs - albeit in these days of squad numbers, one or two would clearly be over-quotiented - but, they are not entirely stupid. Wee Leigh has been the stand-out player in the SPFL Ladbrokes Premiership this season, any other winner would have been ridiculous.
Leigh Griffiths - Stewards' Enquiry had he not won
I am not so sure about Mark Warburton's right to be declared Manager of the Year, however. No harm to the excellent Mr W, he has led his side to a lower league double, which may well become a Treble before hostilities end. This will not be as good a Treble as those won in the past by the likes of Messrs Struth, Symon and Wallace, but, given the trials and tribulations Ra Peepul have endured these last few years, it will, should it transpire, be wildly celebrated.
However, winning the Championship and the Petrofac Training Cup was the least that was expected of Mark Warburton back in August, just as winning the Premiership was the least that was expected of Ronnie Deila at the same time. MW wins Manager of the Year, RD is going home to Norway: "a Failure". Cue Jimmy Greaves with an opinion.
I suppose, given the relative means at his disposal, Ross county's Jim McIntyre has produced the best managerial performance of the year. Also, for putting-up with wee Billy Dodds on a daily basis, he deserves some sort of recognition!! I cannot, in all honesty, think of another possible recipient.
Jim McIntyre, deserves an award for putting-up with Doddsie on a daily basis
We must now await the result of the deliberations of the Tartan Army's Intelligence Unit, aka the Scottish football Writers Association. I will be amazed if Leigh Griffiths does not make it a double here. However, even allowing for the Lap Top Loyal's bloc vote going to Mark Warburton, Jim McIntyre just might sneak this one.
Before moving on, Kieran Tierney's win in the Young Player of the Year vote was a no-brainer. The Celtic Wunderkindt simply had to get it, and rightly so.
I DO not, as a rule, watch Match of the Day, or indeed much of the English Premiership output. I will watch Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City, because I believe these three clubs do set-out to try to entertain. Otherwise, to be honest, I find a lot of the output over-hyped shite.
So, last night, I settled down to watch the highlights of the United v Leicester game. I enjoyed it too, but, one thing struck me quite heavily - the commentator, didn't catch his name, don't care, was, like so many today - a fan with a microphone.
I was never a great fan of "Motty"; I found David Coleman too-smug; OK, he was the prototype England cheer-leader, but, Ken Wolstenholme knew his stuff. For me, THE English commentators were Brian Moore and Barry Davies. Just an observation.
The late Brian Moore, a superb commentator
Any way, the BBC's man with the mike at Old Trafford nearly had kittens when big Fallaini lashed-out at the Leicester City defender. Nae wonder, I appreciate there are a lot of over-paid, over-rated big girls' blouses strutting their stuff in the English Premiership, but, hair-pulling has no place outside the girls' playground.
Marouane Fellaini - had his hair pulled, no wonder he lashed-out
Did our hero with the mike mention the hair-pull; heavens no, to him that wasn't a foul. How did that guy get anywhere near a mike? Also, another petulant display of dummy spitting from the lovely Wayne Rooney passed without comment.
This whole Leicester winning the league is the greatest story ever told business also sickens me. I realise, to today's so-called journalism, football history only goes back as far as the start of the Premier League in England and the Champions League in Europe, but, compared to what the likes of Alf Ramsey did with Ipswich Town in 1961-62, Brian Clough with Nottingham Forest - and with Derby before that, or Bob Jackson with Portsmouth between 1948 and 1950, the Foxes' win, when it arrives, will be nothing special.
The 1961-62 English League-winning Ipswich Town squad
Credit to Caludio Ranieri, he has turned around a team everyone expected to struggle, and turned them into Champions-elect. However, Matt Busby at Manchester United, Bill Shankly at Liverpool and Don Revie at Leeds took over giants who had (particularly in the cases of Shankly and Revie) fallen on hard times, rebuilt them and produced lasting success.
At the moment, Ranieri's Leicester are one-season wonders. The time to consider Ranieri's record will be five or ten years down the line - should Leicester still be up there at the top of the English tree.
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