Sunderland loanee in Hibs double award shout as Easter Road club earn TWO nominations for prestigious prizes

Hibs have been honoured with two nominations for major awards as their remarkable season continues to yield plaudits, with David Gray AND Nectar Triantis singled out for praise.

Gray’s remarkable first year as a head coach has been recognised by the Scottish Football Writers Association, who have named him on the short-list for the William Hill Manager of the Year award. And Sunderland loanee Triantis is among the four nominees for the prestigious SFWA Player of the Year title.

Easter Road club keen to sign Socceroos midfielder Triantis

Triantis, who has excelled in central midfield during his second loan stint at Easter Road, will go up against Celtic pair Daizen Maeda and Callum McGregor, as well as Dundee’s Simon Murray, for the top prize. Japanese star Maeda has just been named PFA Scotland Player of the Year.

Still just 21, Triantis has blossomed under the guidance of Gray, winning a first Socceroos call-up from new Australia boss Tony Popovic on the strength of his performances for Hibs. The former Central Coast Mariners prospect still has a year to run on his Sunderland contract – but Hibs are very keen to strike some sort of deal that keeps Triantis in Edinburgh for at least another season.

Gray, beaten to the PFA Scotland Manager of the Year award by Falkirk’s John McGlinn at Sunday’s glitzy dinner in Glasgow, will face familiar competition in the race to pick up the SFWA prize, with the Bairns boss – a back-to-back champion of League One and the Scottish Championship - also on this short-list. Treble-chasing Celtic boss Brendan Rodger and Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin round out the field.

Gray, who took over as interim boss when Nick Montgomery was sacked late last season, was only appointed on a permanent basis by the Hibs board in the summer. He inherited a squad overstuffed with bodies but short on quality – and immediately brought in a dozen new faces in a bid to stimulate a quick recovery.

But Hibs made a disastrous start to the Scottish Premiership campaign, winning just one of their first 14 league games. They were sitting bottom of the table as recently as early December following a 3-0 defeat to the reigning champions at Celtic Park.

Hearts kid rare bright spot in season of woe for city rivals

Under pressure to turn things around, but with a public vote of confidence from the board to ease the strain, Gray then turned the season around in dramatic fashion. Hibs put together an unbeaten run of 17 straight league games to sail into the top six at the split.

Although that undefeated sequence was burst by a 1-0 loss to Aberdeen at Pittodrie last week, Gray’s men bounced back with a 3-1 thumping of Dundee United on Saturday. With three rounds of fixtures remaining, they’re now sitting three points clear of Aberdeen – and six ahead of United – in third place.

European football is now all but guaranteed for the Hibees. And should they finish third and Celtic go on to win the Scottish Cup, they’ll jump straight into the Europa League play-offs, with guaranteed Europa Conference League group stage entry as a fallback.

Despite city Hearts struggling to gain any sort of momentum and failing to make the top six this season, meanwhile, they haven’t been entirely overlooked by the SFWA. Teenager forward James Wilson has been short-listed alongside Motherwell’s Lennon Miller and the Kilmarnock pair of Bobby Wales and David Watson for the DoubleTree by Hilton Young Player of the Year.

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