Man Utd's Giggs named PFA Player of the Year
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Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs has been named Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year - the first time he has won the award in his glittering career.
The 35-year-old had picked up the young player's award twice and has now been voted for the top accolade by his fellow professionals following his exemplary season, which looks likely to end with his 11th Premier League title.
"It's right up there, with personal accolades it's the best to have as it's voted by your fellow players,'' Giggs said.
"I've been fortunate to win a lot of trophies, I won the young player award twice, but this is the big one.''
Giggs has only started 12 league games this season but has been a regular in the squad for all competitions, with the award acknowledging the respect he has from opponents.
If he plays against Arsenal in the Champions League semi-final first leg this week, it will be his 800th appearance for United, although the landmark is not as important to him as adding to his trophy haul.
"It's an exciting season,'' he said. "I think it is going to go right to the wire, there's big game after big game now. That is what you want and need at a club like Manchester United.''
Giggs paid tribute to his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, and also suggested he may play on beyond his current contract, which expires at the end of next season.
"The manager has been massive in my career from when I first met him when I was 13,'' Giggs said.
"That's over 20 years and he knows me better than anyone and our relationship has been brilliant and just gets better.
"I've been so fortunate to have such a great career in so many great teams, it's not even worth thinking about what it would have been like without the manager.''
The Welshman has started taking his coaching badges, which may be a hint at the future, but he added: "As long as I'm getting picked, enjoying it and injury-free, I'll carry on as long as I can. At 35 you can't look too far into the distance, you just can't.''
Ryan Giggs with his trophy for PFA Players Player of the Year (right) and Ashley Young with his trophy for Young Player of the Year
Aston Villa winger Ashley Young picked up the Young Player of the Year award and believes it is a sign of the progress his club have made this season.
"It's a massive achievement for the club and my team-mates around me,'' Young said. "It's a great honour and I'm delighted.''
John McDermott, the former Grimsby player who spent 20 years at the club, was given the Merit award for his services to the game.
"I thought it was one of the lads winding me up, a real shock,'' he said. "To still be recognised, I was flattered and honoured.''
The PFA divisional team of the year has six United players and also included Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka, who was in goalscoring form until the votes were cast but has not found the net since February. Portsmouth right-back Glen Johnson was also included.
Premier League team of the year: Van der Sar, G Johnson, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, A Young, Gerrard, Giggs, Ronaldo, Anelka, Torres
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congratz giggsy!
hahaha fuck ronaldo
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YEa.... .... Giggsy FTW!!!!
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applause
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giggs deserve it more than anyone else
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i disagree.
he is hardly the best player around.
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on account of this season alone, dun think giggs did much in relativity to other better players.
I would see this as recognition for all his years of contribution to united.
he's great at release passes and holding the ball now....but he shd improve his killer instinct in front of goal.
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I also think Giggs dont deserve the award. The award is for 2009 performance and not what he done in the past 20 years or so.
The more deserving winners (for me lah) should be Rio Ferdinand or Vidic.
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as an overall, i think he deserve it
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they should give him an outstanding contribution award instead.
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need taxpayers money to set up new award u knw....and the brits arent a quiet lot.
giggs deserve it la!!!
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sympathy votes.
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Well done Giggsy!
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over the years he has not won a single time.
now that he is near retirement they gave it to him.
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kudos to giggsy!
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if it's pfa player of the past 20 years, giggs would cream it.
but player of current year?
i can name many players that deserve it more.
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when he should hav won it he didn't, so now it's all fair and sq. anyway the voting system is flawed to begin with.. so woho~
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Originally posted by tripsky:
when he should hav won it he didn't, so now it's all fair and sq. anyway the voting system is flawed to begin with.. so woho~
please share how the current voting system is flawed??
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Originally posted by dragg:
over the years he has not won a single time.
now that he is near retirement they gave it to him.
who in your opinion is a more worthy winner? can share?
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Originally posted by SexyChin:
if it's pfa player of the past 20 years, giggs would cream it.
but player of current year?
i can name many players that deserve it more.
please share, who are the "many" players?
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My take is, everyone has their own choice for Player of the year... We can come up with another 5 or 6 names and it still won't make a difference... The thing here I guess is... This season, there isn't one player that stands out very obviously... Last season we had Ronaldo, easily it was a one man race... This year, we look around and we ask ourselves, who stands out? Lampard, Terry, Drogba all had poor starts to the season. Gerrard also wasn't very obvious in the first half of it... Torres was like playing on and off too... And I guess he is one of those whose 2nd season isn't as good as his first... Vidic and Rio were good but had poor moments with injuries and suspensions too.
So I guess Ryan Giggs stands out in the eyes of fellow professional players who were the ones voting. One thing we have to say is, Giggs whenever he plays this season, he seems to contribute despite his age of 35... Some fellow professionals may look at this and feel he deserve it above the rest who had a poor moment or two this season... And to still play so well at this age... is just amazing when you think of it... Some players like Kewell and Duff who are way younger than Giggs have already gone downhill and he is still at the top.
I don't think there will be another player to win this award at age 35 or above for a long time to come.
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Originally posted by iceFatboy:
please share how the current voting system is flawed??
season ends at end of may.
this is only the end of april.
Players to deserve the award?
We have at least the defensive trio of van der sar, vidic and rio in manchester united.
reason for winning?
the crazy amount of clean sheets they kept.
this is only for manchester united. i have not even started on other teams yet.
what has giggs done this season to win?
he didn't even play much for goodness sake. he won it due to past glories, not present form.
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As much as I like Giggs, this award is a bit kelong.
You are right, this is Player of The Year, not Player who contributed a lot for the past 20 years.
Should be judged on performances for this league year.
And he wasn't even playing that often - just over 10 starts as reported in the papers?
Other Man U players definitely deserved it better than him.
So next year will be Paul Scholes?
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Originally posted by iceFatboy:
please share how the current voting system is flawed??
please refer to above 2 posts
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Originally posted by tripsky:
please refer to above 2 posts
totally different. they are referring to the player, and the process.
U are referring to the system.. please share how the voting system is flawed.
Is Giggs given all the votings slips so he post himself as the winners? or did MUFC has double the voting slips as per any other teams?