JOHN Kennedy is glad that the responsibility of choosing the 2019/20 Celtic Player of the Year does not rest on his shoulders, given the number of worthy candidates in the running for the award.

The club this week launched their annual awards, with fans able to vote in three categories – Player of the Year (sponsored by Dafabet), Goal of the Season (sponsored by Magners) and Young Player of the Year (sponsored by sponsored by Scottish Centre for Excellence in Dentistry & PWR Pack Ltd).

In the Player of the Year category, sponsored by Dafabet, there are 10 nominees - Fraser Forster, Christopher Jullien, Scott Brown, Ryan Christie, Odsonne Edouard, Kristopher Ajer, Callum McGregor, James Forrest, Olivier Ntcham, Jeremie Frimpong – and each of them has a strong case for picking up the award.

For the Celtic assistant manager, the strength of the field this year is an indication of the overall team contribution which has seen the Hoops win the League Cup for the fourth season in a row, establish a commanding 13-point lead at the top of the Premiership, reach the semi-final of the Scottish Cup and enjoy a very impressive UEFA Europa League group-stage campaign.

Speaking to the Celtic View podcast, John Kennedy said: “It’s a positive in itself, because we’ve had a number of players who been very consistent throughout the season and also players who’ve made a big impact at various times, so it’s a difficult one.

“From the fans’ perspective, a lot of them will look at French Eddy and the goals he’s scored and the quality he’s brought at times. Then you’ve got the likes of James Forrest, who has produced high numbers of goals and assists again, and who keeps getting better every season. Callum McGregor, who just gives you everything he’s got, and the quality and the goals he’s produced this year, and you’ve got Scott Brown and a few others.

“So it’s a tough one to call, but from our perspective it’s always a positive because it means there have been several players in the team who’ve produced throughout a long period of time to be in that position.”

And the Celtic assistant manager has been delighted with the way the players have performed throughout the campaign, both domestically and in Europe, displaying a relentless desire to win and keep improving. That has been evident in the team’s 2020 form, with 12 domestic wins out of 13 and just one draw.

“We’ve got a way of playing that the players know well,” he said, “but it’s trying to make little changes that might change the outcome of things in terms of how can we score more goals, how can we concede fewer goals, how can we create more chances.

“So we always look at that and tweak things here or there. Sometimes it’s personnel, sometimes it’s a positional thing, or the system, or whatever it might be.

“But from the get-go this season, it’s been very much about going out and attacking in every game with purpose and intent, and when the opportunities come along, we’re going to be ruthless.

“We’ve got forward-thinking players, and we ask them to be aggressive with the ball and also without it, so in terms of that final third, we let them take a bit of risk as long as the positioning behind that is good and we don’t get counter-attacked.

“We give them enough freedom which gets the best out of the individuals who can go and create but at the same time, making sure we’ve got a good structure which hopefully keeps us in control of the game.”

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John Kennedy: Player of the Year will be tough choice for fans