While the timing of the awards leaves alot to be desired, I thot it was always going to be between Giggs and Vidic.
Steven Gerard had a good season and would have been the obvious choice if Pool had won any of the trophies at stake including the Mickey Mouse Cup.
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Pools Pundits John Barnes & Tony Cascarino Decry PFA Award
New Football Pools pundits John Barnes and Tony Cascarino reflect with Goal.com on the PFA Awards - and neither is impressed with the voting system or the choice of winner...
John Barnes, the former Liverpool and England star, and Tony Cascarino, the ex-Republc of Ireland striker, are pundits for the New Football Pools - and independently they told Goal.com that the wrong person won the PFA Awards earlier this week...
John Barnes told us:
"The PFA Awards were handed out this week and I was surprised to see that Ryan Giggs had won the Player of the Year award. Now don’t get me wrong, Ryan is a great ambassador for the game, a great player and a nice guy too, and I think what he’s achieved deserves to be recognised. However, this is an award judged on the performance of this season and for me, Steven Gerrard should have won it.
"In reality Steven has been the best player in the Premier League this season and deserved the award. He continues to drive Liverpool forward year-on-year and while Giggs has performed well, he has only made 12 Premier League starts for United which suggests he is not even first choice at Old Trafford.
"I can’t say I agree with the decision but good luck to Ryan for winning the award. It’s just a shame after so many great seasons at Old Trafford that he’s won it in a year when he’s not played more of a key role for Manchester United."
Tony Cascarino was even more forthright on the same topic...
"The fact that Ryan Giggs has won the PFA Player of the Year award is absolute nonsense in my opinion. I’ve nothing against Ryan who has been a fantastic advocate for the game and his club but he has won purely on a sentiment vote.
"Giggs has made less Premier League starts than in any of his previous seasons barring his debut season and scored just once in the league yet wins the award. How does that make sense?
"Let’s be brutally honest, Steven Gerrard has been 10 times better than Giggs this season. Apart from one poor game against Chelsea in the Champions League he has been great this season.
"Steven has made 26 league starts and scored 13 goals in a great season for him personally. In fact, I’d put players who weren’t even in the nominations higher than Giggs this season. His team-mate Wayne Rooney has been good as has Frank Lampard who has continued to score from midfield. Therefore, this award must go down as a sentiment vote which totally devalues the award.
"Even in my playing days I always regarded these awards as a bit of nonsense, basically because players tend to vote stupidly. They go for names of players they rate rather than people that have played well over the course of the season. Just look at this year’s team of the year. Take into account the votes are made in January and that Fernando Torres is in the side. Now don’t get me wrong Torres is a top, top striker but he has missed a lot of the season and only scored seven league goals by the end of January. He has only been at his best in the last few months so you have to take these votes into context.
"Edwin van der Sar was a nominee for the overall award as well as named in the team of the year which I don’t agree with. For me, the Dutchman can’t kick a ball properly and tends to shank it all over the place. He is certainly not in the same class as the likes of Peter Schmeichel and David Seaman. If you had to pick a keeper I’d have gone for Aston Villa’s Brad Friedel or Liverpool’s Jose Reina who have both performed really well.
"Votes should be cast at the end of the season which would help improve the awards, but while players pick other players they like rather than those who deserve it, these strange decisions will continue."
John Barnes and Tony Cascarino for Goal.com