sport news Clement and Rodgers can't get a look in for manager of the year ... but ... trends now
PICKING a shortlist for manager of the year at the end of April is a risky business.
Traditionally, PFA Scotland go early with their selections. Earlier, certainly, than the football writers.
On Sunday night, the great and the good of Scottish football convene at a Glasgow hotel for the annual dinner to honour those voted as the best of the best by the players and the Managers and Coaches Association.
The trouble with that is that they’re voting with a blindfold on. Most of the key issues have yet to be decided.
It’s conceivable that Philippe Clement could still end of his first season with Rangers as a Treble-winning boss.
Clement and Rodgers have been excluded from the manager of the year shortlist
Rodgers' Celtic team are favourite to win the Scottish Premiership title
Clement has won the League Cup and is still in the running for the title and Scottish Cup
When Brendan Rodgers faced sceptical supporters on his return to Celtic, he replied with a ‘see you in May’. And he could easily add another league and cup double to the trophies racked up during his first spell.
It’s rare for a shortlist to feature no Celtic or Rangers boss. In each of the last three seasons, Steven Gerrard or Ange Postecoglou have been recognised after securing the Premiership crown comfortably. That won’t be the case this year. As things stand, Rangers women’s coach Jo Potter is the only representative of either Glasgow club on the shortlist.
A proper Premiership complicates things, of course. Plumping for Clement over Rodgers or Rodgers over Clement right now is like tip-toeing through a field of landmines.
Yet, to suggest that’s the only reason Derek McInnes of Kilmarnock, Dundee’s Tony Docherty and Falkirk’s John McGlynn make up a three man shortlist would do all three a disservice. Far from being named by default, they’re there because they deserve to be.
McInnes has steered Killie back to the top flight and delivered sustained, consistent improvement on a budget. His side have humbled both
