Bale and Wilshere Scoop PFA Awards; but is the voting system flawed?

Last night's announcement that Gareth Bale has been named PFA Player of the Year was not a great surprise to many. Bale fought off competition from the likes of Charlie Adam, Rafael van der Vaart, Carlos Tevez and Nemanja Vidic to scoop the prestigious award, voted for the highest proportion of his fellow professionals. 

What has raised eyebrows amongst the media and fans alike however is the fact that voting for the award closes at the beginning of March! Surely we are in a position to question the nature by which a player is crowned PFA Player of the Year with a third of the season still remaining. Michael Owen eluded to the strange nature of the voting system on his Twitter account, tweeting that "Only half the season has gone when we post our vote." He did however pass on his congratulations to Gareth Bale and PFA Young Player of the Year Jack Wilshere. 

Gareth Bale was voted Player of the Year by his fellow professionals. Photo: caughtoffside.com.

Stan Collymore, now a leading pundit on TalkSport Radio also tweeted his feelings on the matter, suggesting that "PFA should now have player of season rather than player of year.We work in seasons from Aug-May,so only that period should count." Having experienced the voting system throughout his career, Collymore also stated that "Problem is,ballots are given out and done as a bit of a giggle in the dressing room." We as football fans know that this award may not be all that is seems. So have the right players won this 'Years' awards?

PFA Player of the Year

Gareth Bale is the fourth Welshman ever to have won the prestigious prize. Having had an excellent start to the season, Bale's form for Tottenham in the Premier League and Champions League was outstanding. Bale shows many of the characteristics of a young Ryan Giggs in the way that he moves with the ball and eases past opponents. His eye for goal has seen him score on 11 occasions this season (seven PL, 4 CL) and notch up three assists in the League. Bale's injury problems however have seen him miss nearly 800 minutes of Premier League football this season so far! Some would say that Blackpools' Charlie Adam is hard done by, having scored nine goals and achieved seven assists in the Premier League alone. He has also only missed three games (and these were due to suspension). Whilst I don't want to assess the credibility of all the PFA candidates, I consider it important to note a significant absence from the nominees. Everton's Leighton Baines has played 2970 minutes of Premier League football this season, meaning he has not missed a minute. During this time he has scored on four occasions and assisted 11 goals! His ability to defend as well as attack is comparable to Gareth Bale. The fact that Baines was 1. Not nominated for the Player of the Year award and 2. Not included in the PFA Team of the Year is simply a travesty. In typical form, seven of the 11 players selected in the Team of the Year came from Man Utd or Arsenal. 

PFA Young Player of the Year 

This award was far more accurate in terms of the credibility of the Winner. Arsenal's Jack Wilshere has broken into the first team and has shown maturity way beyond his years. Perhaps his most significant performance came over two legs when his Arsenal side met Barcelona in the Champions League. Despite eventually exiting the competition, Wilshere's indvidual performance was outstanding. Amongst the world's finest Midfielder's in Xavi, Iniesta and Messi; Wilshere looked calm in possession, creative and not in the slightest bit overawed. Wilshere has also broken into the England team this season and rightly so. Other nominees for the award such as Joe Hart (Man City), Luis Nani and Javier Hernandez (Man Utd) and Gareth Bale (Tottenham) were rightly beaten to the PFA Young Player Award by a player who will certainly captain England in years to come. 

So... the PFA awards go by for another year. Whilst I certainly do not begrudge the winners of each award, I maintain my argument that the voting system is flawed. Having to cast a vote for the season's outstanding players with 12 week's remaining of the season is ludicrous. One would hope that next year's awards may be entitled the 'PFA Player of the Season Awards', with the significant word being 'season' not 'year'! One would also hope that the Team of the Year showed a little more diversity by selecting outstanding players from teams outside the Premier League's top four.

You can join in the debate this evening on TalkSport Radio, where Mark Saggers and Stan Collymore are sure to tackle this debate head on during their live phone-in show. For now, we say Congratulations to Gareth Bale and Jack Wilshere on their respective awards. 

DH