Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
I despair at the PFA Awards, I really do. If it's not bad enough that they demand that all the votes are counted months before the end of the season, they go and let the footballers decide who wins. Everyone knows that's asking for trouble. Most footballers hate watching football, as much as most accountants would hate to go home at the end of the day and watch a documentary on accounting. There are some, like Jamie Carragher for example, who are natural fans, but the majority would rather take their mind off it with something else. And who can blame them?
Ryan Giggs' victory on Sunday night made a mockery of the whole idea of annual awards. Make no mistake, Giggs has been one of the best players in the world for over fifteen years and he's been a superb role model throughout his career. He's one of the good guys and there won't be anyone in football who will resent him a bit of personal glory. But best player of the season? Do me a favour. Give him the lifetime achievement award, sing 'for he's a jolly good fellow', let it go. This season Giggs has started 12 of Manchester United's 33 games. He has scored a single goal. That's considerably less of a contribution than Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher but did anyone see their names on the list?
If you're going to have a Player of the Year, then the first thing to do is to count the votes at the end of the season, or at least within a few weeks of the end. With SMS and email as available mediums, does it really have to take so long? Giggs had a splendid purple patch over January and February when the slips went out. That is when he scored his only goal of the season, after all. Coincidence? Why not call it the PFA Player of the Winter and be done with it?
And then you have the bewildering concept of an electorate voting for things they have barely witnessed. Remember that it's not just the Premier League players who have their say. It's the entire football league. Southend United players, who play two games a week at the same time as the big teams, are just as enfranchised. Unless their TIVO is on overdrive, how do they know what's been going on in the EPL? When they're asked to pick their best player of the season, they pick the big names. They pick the ones their mates are choosing. A couple of years ago, Steven Gerrard made the shortlist in a season when he wasn't even in the top three performers at Anfield. Poor old Steve Finnan, who had the campaign of a lifetime, must have been devastated but then no-one notices the fullbacks on the highlights shows, do they?
Congratulations to Ryan Giggs. This award was quite clearly a sentimental vote to a magnificent professional and on those grounds, you can't argue that he deserves it. But can we have a proper vote for the actual Player of the Year now?
Ryan Giggs' victory on Sunday night made a mockery of the whole idea of annual awards. Make no mistake, Giggs has been one of the best players in the world for over fifteen years and he's been a superb role model throughout his career. He's one of the good guys and there won't be anyone in football who will resent him a bit of personal glory. But best player of the season? Do me a favour. Give him the lifetime achievement award, sing 'for he's a jolly good fellow', let it go. This season Giggs has started 12 of Manchester United's 33 games. He has scored a single goal. That's considerably less of a contribution than Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher but did anyone see their names on the list?
If you're going to have a Player of the Year, then the first thing to do is to count the votes at the end of the season, or at least within a few weeks of the end. With SMS and email as available mediums, does it really have to take so long? Giggs had a splendid purple patch over January and February when the slips went out. That is when he scored his only goal of the season, after all. Coincidence? Why not call it the PFA Player of the Winter and be done with it?
And then you have the bewildering concept of an electorate voting for things they have barely witnessed. Remember that it's not just the Premier League players who have their say. It's the entire football league. Southend United players, who play two games a week at the same time as the big teams, are just as enfranchised. Unless their TIVO is on overdrive, how do they know what's been going on in the EPL? When they're asked to pick their best player of the season, they pick the big names. They pick the ones their mates are choosing. A couple of years ago, Steven Gerrard made the shortlist in a season when he wasn't even in the top three performers at Anfield. Poor old Steve Finnan, who had the campaign of a lifetime, must have been devastated but then no-one notices the fullbacks on the highlights shows, do they?
Congratulations to Ryan Giggs. This award was quite clearly a sentimental vote to a magnificent professional and on those grounds, you can't argue that he deserves it. But can we have a proper vote for the actual Player of the Year now?
