Why BOTH Hibs gaffers deserve top awards - even if Brendan Rodgers leads Celtic to Treble glory

Neither man would particularly enjoy the attention; in the event of both claiming top honours, there would be a dead heat in their dash to share credit with support staff and players. But the prospect of David Gray AND Grant Scott walking off with Manager of the Year trophies, for the SPFL and SWPL respectively, would represent more than just a quirky dream double for Hibs.

It would be a testament to football’s enduring ability to enthral with the unexpected. And a reminder that, just occasionally, a job well done is rewarded by the game’s fickle fates.

Scott and Gray both fully deserved to be named on the short-list for their respective awards this week. Regardless of how the season pans out over the closing weeks, with Gray’s men chasing third place in the Scottish Premiership and Scott’s women closing in on a first SWPL title since 2007, you could easily argue that at least one of them is a shoo-in for the big individual prize.

You want to make a case for someone else? Go ahead. See if it tops the work done by this pair in a completely compelling season 2024-25 to date …

SWPL title would be bona fide football miracle

Hibs are currently three points clear at the top of the Scottish Women’s Premier League. With four rounds of fixtures remaining, during which they face ALL of their nearest rivals in head-to-head competition, anything could happen.

But Scott’s efforts to date have already made him favourite to be named top gaffer at the PFA Scotland awards in Glasgow tomorrow night. Anyone with a working knowledge of Scottish women’s football – and the economics that underpin a changing model – will understand as much.

Operating on around half the budget of their most well-funded rivals, Hibs are technically a full-time professional squad. But plenty of their best players have to hold down second jobs just to make ends meet, working around a training schedule of afternoon sessions – itself a compromise enabling them to have free run, more or less, of HTC once the men’s team and development squads have finished their work for the day.

To put things in further perspective, the last time Hibs won the SWPL title was in 2007. Back when Scottish women’s football was effectively an amateur sport.

So choose your footballing analogy, then, when looking for similar upstart triumphs. Leicester City winning the Premier League? That wouldn’t be so far wide of the mark.

Scott’s team haven’t been perfect in a hugely competitive division, with some painful losses incurred along the way. But they’ve beaten everyone. And nobody could argue that they don’t deserve to be in pole position heading into the home straight.

What would being crowned champions do for Hibs Women? Well, it couldn’t hurt in generating revenue and attracting sponsors. All needed if the team are to build on the success.

With new building planned out at HTC and talk of ditching Meadowbank for a more user-friendly home venue still in the pipeline, there are opportunities for growth. All made more feasible by the efforts of a gaffer – and coaching staff – getting the very best out of their players. Isn’t that worth an award of some sort?

Celtic Trebles all round – or why Brendan Rodgers doing a clean sweep sets a high bar

The fact that these awards are handed out BEFORE the season is over always makes life a little tricky for voters. Which means David Gray hasn’t really achieved what he set out to do … just yet.

If – and it’s still an if – Hibs finish the job by securing third place in the Scottish Premiership, however, there could be no debate. Regardless of whether Celtic add the Scottish Cup to their League Cup and Scottish Premiership triumphs.

Can the Treble ever be anything other than a mark of supreme domination? Of course not. You can only beat the teams in front of you, etc.

But consider the history. Celtic have won a total of eight domestic Trebles. Five of those clean sweeps have come since 2017, including a ridiculous run of four in a row.

In other words, winning every competition they enter is now virtually EXPECTED of any Celtic team/manager combo. It’s the bare minimum, with Europe now seen as the ultimate test.

John McGlynn work at Falkirk deserves praise - but not top prize

Compare and contrast to the situation first-year head coach Gray inherited in the summer. A bloated squad overstuffed with bodies yet still short on quality. A broken relationship between club and supporters. No clear direction or vision after a string of managerial hirings and firings.

Then consider the start he endured as, with 12 new players on board, Hibs scuttled along at the bottom of the table for almost half a season; they were still in the automatic relegation spot as recently as early December. Credit the Easter Road board for not blinking. But the real kudos goes to Gray for turning the situation around.

Somehow maintaining his equilibrium when heads were being lost in all quarters, Gray managed to retain the confidence and faith of his players. And then turned results around with a run of 17 unbeaten games in the league.

Yes, John McGlynn has done very well at Falkirk. But the Championship is a wide open league most seasons and, without an obvious behemoth, even the Bairns getting over the line with one last lunge couldn’t really match up. Which is why Gray - who has claimed the scalps of both Rangers AND Celtic in recent months - might well walk off with top prize on Sunday night.

Both Hibs managers would, of course, gladly sacrifice personal honours in exchange for the major team prizes now within reach. Why not be greedy and go for it all?

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