SunSport writers reveal their Player, Young Player and Manager of Year selections for season 2024-25

Scottish Sun

08-05-2025

Read on to find out our reporters' top picks for the season - from surprise standouts to solid contributors
THE VOTES ARE IN SunSport writers reveal their Player, Young Player and Manager of Year selections for season 2024-25
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
AWARDS season is in full swing and our writers have revealed their selections for the Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Manager of the Year.
The 2024-25 campaign has seen Celtic clinch another Premiership title and Falkirk win promotion from the Championship - and key men at both clubs feature in their picks.
7
Falkirk boss John McGlynn already has one award - will he claim another?
Credit: PA
7
Daizen Maeda also took home a prize from the PFA Scotland awards
Credit: Kenny Ramsay
7
Lennon Miller has been one of the outstanding young players this season
Credit: Kenny Ramsay
Daizen Maeda has already scooped one prize so far, the PFA Scotland Player of the Year award. He is also on the shortlist in the same category for the Scottish Football Writers' Association gong.
The Celtic forward is nominated alongside team mate Callum McGregor, Dundee striker Simon Murray and Hibs star Nectar Triantis for that award.
The young player shortlist consists of starlets from three different clubs.
Lennon Miller of Motherwell (who won the PFA Scotland equivalent), Bobby Wales and David Watson of Kilmarnock and recent Scotland cap James Wilson from Hearts are the four men up for the award.
In the Manager of the Year race there is Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers, Falkirk manager John McGlynn, Aberdeen's Jimmy Thelin and David Gray of Hibs.
But who have our reporters gone for with their votes?
Robert Grieve
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - DAIZEN MAEDA
No one runs faster, harder or more often. Celtic's Japanese forward is an example to every kid in the country what real graft and fitness can get you.
Maeda's willingness to press from the front has always been sensational but has gone up a notch this season.
Then there are his 34 goals.
David Friel explains why Sean Dyche has what it takes to be the next Rangers manager
Since switching from left flank to out-and-out frontman, Maeda has shown he's also improved significantly when it's come to sticking the ball in the back of the net.
Celtic took a massive risk in allowing Kyogo to leave for Rennes in January.
But Maeda proved it was a gamble worth taking.
Callum McGregor is my second choice given his influence and level of consistency but Maeda's form has been sensational.
YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR - LENNON MILLER
The boy backs himself and little wonder.
Those who ridiculed his target of being the best player in the Scotland squad should hang their heads in shame.
That includes you, John Carver.
The fact is the teenager is destined for the very top and his eagerness to get there should be applauded.
Motherwell will cash in this summer with Celtic keen on adding him to their squad but Miller is more likely to become the next Scot to take his talent abroad which will only enhance his development.
Hearts kid James Wilson has also been superb this season and has already been capped by Steve Clarke.
But Miller's influence at Motherwell has been more impressive.
MANAGER OF THE YEAR - BRENDAN RODGERS
Huge kudos to David Gray at Hibs given the way he turned things around at Easter Road.
But, for me, Brendan Rodgers' accomplishment cannot be ignored with another Treble just 90 minutes away.
Celtic have been by far the best coached team in the country and, while Rodgers' budget far outweighs any of the other managers in Scotland, he has to be applauded for the job he's done this season.
Some of the goals they have scored domestically have been breathtaking.
Celtic also held their own in the Champions League and gave Bayern Munich a genuine run for they money in the Allianz Arena which has to be taken into consideration.
Bill Leckie
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - DAIZEN MAEDA
Nothing much to add on this guy's season, so let's just say: Wow.
7
Maeda has been electric this season, particularly since Kyogo left Celtic
Credit: PA
Team-mate Alistair Johnston calls him 'a footballing unicorn' because of his unique mix of power, pace, workrate, wing wizardry and penalty box finishing - and it's as good a description as I've heard.
It's not often any player is so much better than the rest over such a long period, but without doubt Maeda has been that and more.
YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR - KEELAN ADAMS
Watch out for this former university boy in the Premiership next season - unless a big gun from down south nabs him first.
Falkirk manager John McGlynn spotted the politics and history graduate playing for Cumbernauld Colts in the Lowland League and had no hesitation in putting him in at right-back at the start of this season.
His performances since have been a revelation, reminding me of a young David Weir, long legs carrying him forward to create a heap of goals for the Championship kings.
MANAGER OF THE YEAR - DAVID GRAY
Whether his team finish third or not, Easter Road's rookie boss has played an absolute blinder.
It's not just the way he conducted himself while the world was waiting for him to be sacked back in the autumn.
Nor is it just the way he's refusing to rub anyone's nose in it since the Hibees have gone on a record-breaking run from bottom to the European places.
No, for me, what makes Gray a genuinely top manager in the true definition of the word is the way he's made so many players so much better than most believed they were capable of becoming.
Derek McGregor
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - DAIZEN MAEDA
It's impossible to look beyond Celtic's Daizen Maeda.
Over 30 goals and he wasn't even the main striker at the start of the season.
But the moment compatriot Kyogo Furuhashi was sold, the lightning-quick attacker really stepped up.
Maeda's level of finishing has seriously gone up a level and he fully deserves the top man accolade.
YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR - JAMES WILSON
James Wilson has made a stunning breakthrough for Hearts this year.
His two goals against Ross County in Dingwall back in December were especially impressive, a superb header that Alan Shearer would've been proud of and a clinical shot.
7
James Wilson earned a Scotland call-up on the back of his Hearts breakthrough
Credit: Alamy
Each were executed after brilliant darting runs to meet perfect deliveries.
He's now also in the history books as Scotland's youngest ever cap.
The 18-year-old is a fantastic prospect.
MANAGER OF THE YEAR - BRENDAN RODGERS
Brendan Rodgers has enjoyed one of his most satisfying seasons over his two spells as Celtic boss, with the added distinction of making a real mark in the Champions League.
The big difference for him last pre-season was being able to spend serious transfer cash and it was splashed wisely.
David Gray, Stephen Robinson and John McGlynn deserve very honourable mentions for their outstanding efforts this season.
But it's Rodgers for me as he aims to become the first ever Celts boss to win three Trebles.
David Friel
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - DAIZEN MAEDA
Celtic attacker. Goals, assists, relentless pressing and big-game displays mean nobody else really came close in the final reckoning.
Nicolas Kuhn was excellent in the first part of the campaign but Maeda's levels have never dropped in the best season of his career.
YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR - ARNE ENGELS
Arne Engels has been a bigger contributor for Celtic than many seem willing to give him credit for.
He arrived late in the summer window as a 20-year-old kid with an £11million price tag around his neck and has been thrown into the toughest season of his career to date.
Ten goals and 12 assists so far is a terrific return for the midfielder and he will only get better.
MANAGER OF THE YEAR - JOHN McGLYNN
John McGlynn got the PFA vote and it's hard to look past the Falkirk manager for his near-miraculous work with the Bairns over the last two years.
Brendan Rodgers runs him very close after another season of dominance at Celtic but McGlynn defied the Championship odds, and budgets, to end Falkirk's 15-year top-flight exile and deserves all the plaudits going his way.
Gareth Law
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - DAIZEN MAEDA
Daizen Maeda stepped up to the plate just when Celtic needed him most.
The tireless Japanese international had already been performing well from out wide but when Kyogo Furuhashi left and no replacement was signed, Maeda's 33 goals and 12 assists have ultimately fired Brendan Rodgers' side to the brink of a historic treble.
Callum McGregor needs to be mentioned too, though. Celtic don't look the same side when he's missed the big games.
YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR - LENNON MILLER
Motherwell fans better enjoy Lennon Miller when they can.
Still only 18, he was pipped to the writers' award by Kilmarnock's David Watson last season. But it's Miller who has gone from strength to strength this season, capped with that first international call-up.
So mature for someone so young, he's been guided sensibly by the knowledge of former player Dad Lee.
It'll be a bigger surprise if he's still at Fir Park next season.
MANAGER OF THE YEAR - BRENDAN RODGERS
The toughest of all three awards to call.
7
Brendan Rodgers has Celtic on the brink of another treble
Credit: Kenny Ramsay
Whatever happens in the final three games of the league season, David Gray and Jim Goodwin have had seasons to remember at Hibs and Dundee United and deserve huge praise.
John McGlynn leading Falkirk back to the Premiership with a second successive title win can't be underestimated either.
But Brendan Rodgers just edges it.
With a record-breaking third treble on the horizon some have said it's been too easy.
But you can only beat what's in front of you and Rodgers' Celtic have done that more than most.
A burning desire to improve his team's Champions League record was also turned into reality.
Robert Martin
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - DAIZEN MAEDA
The fact that big English clubs are starting to show real interest in Daizen Maeda tells you all you need to know.
There was a stage not too long ago when the idea of Celtic being without Kyogo would have worried a lot of Hoops fans.
But Maeda has picked up the slack and then some. His workrate has always been phenomenal but this season his finishing has matched. He's the complete forward.
And in a season where a number of Brendan Rodgers' side have been models of consistency Maeda has been the standout performer.
YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR - LENNON MILLER
You can sum up Lennon Miller with one word: class. It's rare to see someone so young look so composed amid the hustle and bustle around him.
Over at Tynecastle the emergence of James Wilson has been fantastic to see and I expect him to kick on further at Hearts next season.
But as good as Wilson has been he's not as important to the Jambos as Miller is to the Steelmen, he's at the heart of everything good they do.
And it's great news for Scottish football that the pair are going to be around for a long, long time.
MANAGER OF THE YEAR - DAVID GRAY
Back in November I was waiting on the statement to come from Hibs that they'd reluctantly parted ways with club legend David Gray.
7
David Gray has led Hibs on an epic turnaround this season
Credit: Andrew Barr
That statement, of course, never came. They stuck to their guns, stuck with their man, and boy, what a good decision that looks now.
Brendan Rodgers has enjoyed a wonderful season at Celtic. Jim Goodwin deserves so much praise for the job he's done at Dundee United.
But for me the remarkable way Gray has transformed the Easter Road club beats both. For the first time in years they look like they have the right man to take them places.
WRITERS' PICKS: THE FINAL TALLY
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Daizen Maeda - 6 votes
YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Lennon Miller - 3 votes
Keelan Adams - 1 vote
Arne Engels - 1 vote
James Wilson - 1 vote
MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Brendan Rodgers - 3 votes
David Gray - 2 votes
John McGlynn - 1 vote
Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page