Gordon Smith: Alan Power is my Player of the Year and Shelley Kerr is the boss

The Scottish Football Writers’ awards dinner, which I was fortunate enough to attend last weekend, left me wondering where I would hand out my own prizes for the 2018-19 season.

That’s not a quibble with the writers’ selections, not in the slightest.

The winners on the night – Steve Clarke, James Forrest and David Turnbull in the Manager, Player and Young Player categories respectively – all held extremely strong claims.

Steve’s efforts in leading Kilmarnock to a top-three place and a Europa League qualifying spot helped land him the Scotland job.

Neil Lennon hailed James Forrest a “Celtic great” for his club showings and he was also named Scotland Player of the Year by the writers.

Turnbull’s 16 goals from midfield for Motherwell have suitors on both sides of the border eyeing him as a potential summer signing.

The trio have all enjoyed terrific campaigns.

No, I was thinking more about alternative awards for people whose achievements have been slightly less obvious.

That is very much the case with my pick for Player of the Year.

Unlike the writers’ selections, Kilmarnock midfielder Alan Power is not a Scot.

He is a 31-year-old Dubliner, who has spent his fair share of time playing in English non-league football.

However, after helping Lincoln City win their way out of the Conference into the leagues proper, he was given the chance to show what he could do in Scotland’s top flight.

To say he has grabbed it is an understatement.

His partnership with Gary Dicker is the heartbeat of the Killie team, and a big reason why the club have done so well.

Neither are flashy players. What they are is tremendously effective, individually and as a unit.

Yet, for all Power is about hard work and closing the time and space available to the opposition, he is also a gifted footballer.

In a side where players are encouraged to concentrate on doing what they are good at, he has flourished.

Killie have shown their appreciation by giving him a new contract which runs until 2022 and that is only fair reward for his efforts.

Power’s 21-year-old team-mate, Greg Taylor, would be a decent choice for my Young Player of the Year.

Instead, the nod goes to someone who is two years younger and still has less than 50 top-team appearances to his name.

Those facts bear repeating, because when you watched Lewis Ferguson play in Aberdeen’s midfield this season, you would swear they applied to a different person.

At 19 years old, and with fewer than half-a-century of top-level games behind him, he stands out as a kid more than holding his own in a man’s game.

In time, he will become a regular in the Scotland side. By that point, comparisons to his father, Derek, and uncle, Barry, will start to fade away.

The departure of Graeme Shinnie to Derby County will see more responsibility placed on his shoulders, but I expect him to thrive because he is that type.

It is why Derek McInnes signed him from Hamilton Accies. With his drive and his natural ability, he is quite a talent.

My final choice, as Manager of the Year, goes not to a young man, or an old man even, but to a woman.

Had Alex McLeish or Gordon Strachan led Scotland to a World Cup or Euros, there would have been absolutely no question about their position as Manager of the Year.

The result of the vote would have been a landslide.

Therefore, for me, Shelley Kerr, manager of Scotland’s women, is the one who deserves the plaudits for having done exactly that.

She is an impressive coach who speaks well, and the whole squad deserve the country’s support in France this summer.