As expected, Tottenham's Gareth Bale picked up the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year award on Sunday, while Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere was named Young Player of the Year.

Both were deserving winners, according to former Manchester United and England defender Gary Pallister, who was PFA Player of the Year himself in 1992.

But the timing of the awards, voted for by players in March, has brought some debate as to whether they are truly reflective of the whole season.

"It's player of the year not player of the season, so that's where the difficulty lies," Pallister told BBC Sport. "For me, it should be PFA player of the season. The way it is now sometimes makes the voting a bit unbalanced.

"It's a great award to be given whether it's for a year's work or a season's work. It's just that when it comes close to the vote, whoever is having a great time will be very prominent in people's minds."

That issue seems particularly relevant to Bale, who lit up the autumn with two superb displays for Tottenham against reigning Champions League holders Inter Milan.

Since Christmas, he has struggled to hit the same heights, largely through injury, prompting some fans to wonder whether the voting results would have been different had the ballot taken place later in the season.

Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic, Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez and West Ham's Scott Parker, who were all among the seven Player of the Year nominees, have been consistent performers.

Then there are the likes of Blackpool's Charlie Adam, who has been a talisman during his team's first season in the Premier League, and Manchester United winger Nani, who was only named in the young player category despite, according to Pallister, enjoying "his best season in a United shirt".

Casting individual opinions aside, there are several other anomalies in the voting.

How is it that a player, such as Parker, can be nominated for player of the year but not make it into the Premier League team of the year?







PFA team of the year did not include main nominees Parker, Van der Vaart or Adam

And if Bale is player of the year, how can he not be young player of the year, too, given he was also nominated in that category?

We will come onto these points later but first the question of why the ballot forms are handed out in March rather than towards the end of the season.

"I understand that concern but it's not a team competition," PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor explained to BBC Sport. "It's nothing to do with who has won the Premier League, the FA Cup or the Champions League.

"It's simply the view of the fellow professionals on which player has had an outstanding season.

"Also, before our awards began, the main prize was always the Football Writers' award, so we didn't want to clash and that's why we have it earlier.

"It was done out of respect for an award that has been running for a lot longer."

Taylor says there are no plans to change the voting schedule and points out that the PFA and Writers' awards often go to the same player anyway.

But Pallister believes that having both awards at the end of the season would not be a problem for players or fans and it would give the PFA award greater impact.

"The end of the season is when trophies and awards are given out, and ultimately it's all about what you can do in one season," he adds.

"I'm sure it would be nice to get the writers' award as well but it means more to a player to get an award from his peers. It's the ultimate honour for a footballer."

So what about those other discrepancies?

Taylor explains that the likes of Parker, Adam and Tottenham's Rafael van der Vaart all made it into the Player of the Year nominations because those are voted by players across the 92 Premier League and Football League clubs, whereas the team of the year for each tier, is voted by players from that division only.

So you might have players voting for Parker, Van der Vaart and Adam even though they have never played against them. That also explains why there are some players in the Premier League team of the year who are not among the seven main nominees.

The issue of Bale being nominated for both Player and Young Player of the Year is entirely down to the players' voting patterns.

"The majority of people thought that Gareth Bale had particularly distinguished himself at top senior level," said Taylor.

"I'm surprised that anybody would raise any doubts about that, but everyone has their own opinions, that's what makes the world go around.

"In fairness to Jack Wilshere he's only just come through. He was on loan at Bolton last season and he's an outstanding youngster who has blossomed not only for Arsenal but for England.

"It's really impressive for him that he's got the young player - Gareth could have won them both but clearly the players felt he had performed at the top level.

"With regards to Jack, I think it's a case of Gareth has been around a lot longer, whereas Jack has burst onto the scene this season."

Do you agree with the winners and would you like to see a change in the voting process?

Additonal reporting by Jamie Gavin.

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