The PFA awards dinner is nearly upon us, and the nominees for all categories have been announced.
But one Celtic star has been absolutely robbed with the announcements. That star’s name is Kristoffer Ajer.
You can perhaps understand why he hasn’t been named in the Player of the Year category. After all, Callum McGregor, James Forrest, Ryan Kent, and Alfredo Morelos have all done extremely well for their clubs this season. They deserve to have their names in the mix for the award.
But the fact he’s been overlooked for the Young Player of the Year gong is an absolute disgrace.
The four chosen are Kent, David Turnbull, Jake Hastie, and Lewis Ferguson. There’s not a lot wrong with three of them. Kent, Turnbull, and Ferguson have had good campaigns. But have all three truly had a better year than Ajer?
The Norwegian international has become an important player for club and country. He’s featured in 44 matches in all competitions this season. Throughout that run, he’s played with four different centre-back partners. He’s also managed a terrific 28 clean sheets for both Celtic and Norway this season.
Compare that with Motherwell man Hastie. He actually spent the first half of the season on-loan at Alloa Athletic. He only managed three goals in 23 appearances before returning to Fir Park.
Hastie not in Ajer’s class
Credit where credit is due, he’s had a great second half of the season. Hastie has managed seven goals in 14 appearances, but that’s all he’s made. 14 appearances. Compare that with Ajer’s 25 Premiership outings and there’s quite a difference.
If Hastie had been producing all season, then you could say fair enough. But watching Ajer’s development first-hand throughout the season, only for him to be denied even a nomination, is poor.
The Norwegian actually won the award for Celtic’s Young Player of the Year at the annual end of the season club awards. That was fully deserved, as there’s not been a more deserving youngster at the club.
But, in terms of his domestic rivals, he also deserves the same recognition. He’s only been sent off on one occasion too, and picked up just seven yellow cards this season. He’s been a leader from the back for Celtic, and that’s without a constant pairing at the back.
His omission from the awards is pretty poor, but hardly surprising.
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