Celtic midfielder Craig Burley has been named as the Scottish Football Writers' Player of the Year after an influential season in which he has led the Bhoys to within a whisker of the Championship.
Burley moved to Glasgow from Chelsea at the end of last season and has been instrumental in taking Celtic to the brink of their first Scottish League title in ten years, an achievement which will break Rangers' remarkable run of nine consecutive titles.
Burley polled 68 per cent of the votes to become the first Celtic player to win the award since Paul McStay in 1988, which was the last year the Celts took the title; a good omen for fans waiting anxiously for this weekend's results.
Surprisingly, no Rangers players figured in the leading nominations. Instead, Celtic claimed a clean sweep of the top four places.
Jackie McNamara, last month voted the players' Player of the Year, came in second while goalkeeper Jonathan Gould and Swede Henrik Larsson were third and fourth, respectively.

TIMES UP FOR DRINKS Kevin Drinkell's five-year reign as Stirling Albion's manager is over following the club's relegation to the Second Division. The news was released in a statement from chairman Peter McKenzie, who said the decision has been taken purely for financial reasons. The statement read: ''It is with much regret that Stirling Albion have had to dispense with the services of Kevin Drinkell. The reason is a purely financial one. With relegation to Division Two the club has to make stringent cutbacks. The club would like to thank Kevin for his commitment during the last five years.'' Stirling thumped Premier Division Kilmarnock in the Coca-Cola Cup in the highlight of their season, but their League form has been poor and attendances have slumped at Forthbank, leaving the club in financial dire straits.

SCOTLAND RECRUIT ROOKIE BOSS Preston boss David Moyes will join Scotland's party for the World Cup as special guest of manager Craig Brown, despite having only four months of managerial experience. The Second Division club's 35-year-old player-manager is off to France on a fact-finding mission and has been invited to stay with the Scots in Avignon as they prepare to kick off the tournament with a game against favourites Brazil. He may help Brown's back-up team with preparing training facilities and looking after the players' needs. I'm thrilled to bits, said Moyes, who began his career at Celtic and whose father is chief scout at Rangers. I've had a meeting with Craig and he has invited me to join the Scotland camp. I'm new to management and I'm eager to learn as much as I can about the game. I want to see how an international squad prepares for the World Cup, what they do in training, and how they plan their diet. I might not come back from France with any new players, but I hope to return with lots of ideas which could be beneficial at club level.

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