The 11 Scottish Premiership Player of the Year hopefuls

With award season around the corner, Craig Fowler looks into his crystal ball and picks the four players most likely to receive SPFA Player of the Year award nominations for their play in the 2016/17 season, along with seven hopefuls who have an outsider's chance.

Almost half of them are in this photo. Picture: John Devlin

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THE FOUR LIKELY NOMINEES

Moussa Dembele (Celtic)

Almost half of them are in this photo. Picture: John Devlin

Unless voters rebel against the media attention Dembele has been receiving, he’s a stick-on for the Player of the Year award winner. Such a scenario may be possible, though. In Celtic’s last game against Dundee he was very poor and, as tremendous as he’s been overall, there’s been a few duff games in there. For an opponent well aware of his reputation, such performances will stick in the mind more than poor displays from other players.

However, this is merely an attempt to play Devil’s Advocate. Dembele is almost guaranteed to pick up the award.

Scott Sinclair (Celtic)

If Dembele doesn’t get the award it’ll definitely go to another Celtic star, with Sinclair arguably the most likely candidate to snatch it from his younger team-mate. Sinclair is right there with the Frenchman in terms of goals scored (15 to Dembele’s 17), a number which is arguably more impressive as he’s doing it from midfield.

Almost half of them are in this photo. Picture: John Devlin

Sinclair doesn’t have the sky-high reputation that Dembele possesses, which will hurt his chances. Players will be instructed to concentrate only on Scottish Premiership games when voting for the Scottish Premiership Player of the Year, but little things like Dembele scoring in every round of the League Cup and netting three times in the Champions League will naturally influence voters.

Scott Brown (Celtic)

The ‘Scott Brown renaissance’ story would have been enough in some years to get him the award, but he’s been overshadowed by his own team-mates this term. He’s only won the award once before (2009) and for him to win it again eight years later would be a great story. Unfortunately for the Hoops captain, it’s hard to garner much media attention when you play in the same side as a guy who routinely gets talked about in £40million transfer moves.

Stuart Armstrong (Celtic)

Though the midfielder has been incredible since November, he didn’t do much of note in the opening three months of the season, which should see him cast as an outsider. Although, Armstrong could cause an upset and take this award if voters suffer from recency bias. Football is very much a ‘what have you done for me lately?’ type of industry, and this fan-mentality also spreads to the players. He’s probably the most talked about player within Scottish football right now, and that could get him a number of votes.

THE OUTSIDERS

Kieran Tierney (Celtic)

Celtic’s dominance means there will be players who would have been worthy of winning the award in other years and won’t even get a nomination this time. Tierney will likely be one of them.

There are a few factors working against him: he missed significant time through injury, he’s a left back so doesn’t get as much attention as forward players, and he’s still very young. When other players think of Tierney in terms of Player of the Year voting, they’ll probably put him down for the Young Player award and forget about the main one.

Kenny McLean (Aberdeen)

Seeing as there are five Celtic players in serious contention, they may pinch votes from each, leaving the door open for a player from another club to earn a nomination. At present, the most likely candidate is Kenny McLean. He’s been Aberdeen’s best player over the past four months as the Dons have been in red hot form, moving themselves up to second place in the Premiership.

Jonny Hayes (Aberdeen)

Comparing the two Aberdeen players, Hayes has been more consistent over the course of the season while it took McLean a couple of months to find his rhythm. The Irishman might also benefit from the wow factor, seeing as he appears a complete nightmare to defend. He’s got terrific speed, is a strong runner, and deliveries an excellent cross. Opposing full-backs may unite to herald the man who destroyed them. He’s also having his most impressive scoring season with Aberdeen, tallying seven so far to go along with nine assists (per BBC Sport).

Jamie Walker (Hearts)

If raw statistics play a part in the final outcome, then Walker could find himself a surprise nomination. He’s netted 12 goals from midfield this season - more than Hayes and McLean combined and one more than Armstrong - as he’s been the most consistent threat on a very inconsistent Hearts team.

Liam Boyce (Ross County)

Now we’re getting into the real long-shots. Then again, you could have said the same about Greg Stewart last season. Boyce is the second highest goalscoring striker in the league behind Dembele, which would have been enough to earn him a nomination in most years.

Danny Swanson (St Johnstone)

If he’d maintained his early season form, where he scored 12 goals before 4 December, then he’d have a great chance. But his tail off in form (he hasn’t scored since) means he’s unlikely to creep into the minds of voters.

Kenny Miller (Rangers)

It’s between Miller and Clint Hill for the most likely Rangers candidate. Miller gets the nod because he’s had more press coverage and forwards tend to receive recognition over defenders if it’s a close call.