Malik Tillman should be Rangers' Player of the Year

Aside from the 55 season, the Ibrox club are on course for their highest points tally since returning to the top flight but with Celtic on the cusp of another domestic treble it’s been a hugely disappointing campaign.

And with that, this year’s awards ceremony will be far from the jubilant celebration the club would’ve hoped for.

However, the three shortlisted nominees are probably the trio who deserve to be in the running.

Eyebrows were raised when Barisic was shortlisted for the award but, in truth, the Croatian’s consistency has earned him the recognition. It would, however, be a surprise, to say the least, should he be crowned the top performer of the season this weekend.

A special mention must be afforded to January signing Todd Cantwell too. The 25-year-old has excelled since arriving from Norwich City and if we were naming the best player of the second half of the season then he would undoubtedly be the unanimous choice.

A spate of Man of the Match performances has enthralled the Rangers support and there is genuine excitement at what he could potentially produce next season with better quality around him.

The winner will likely come from either Tavernier or Tillman and the 20-year-old just shades it for this writer.

The skipper has displayed flashes of quality at various points of the season and his header against Celtic at Parkhead saw him hit a century of goals for the club - an incredible feat for a right-back.

However, as much as he leads the scoring charts with 16, the right-back would likely admit he hasn’t hit the high standards he demands of himself on a consistent basis. If we cast our minds back to the first half of the season, it looked glaringly obvious he was carrying an injury.

Tavernier’s form, like much of the underperforming squad, dipped and it would prove costly in the end as Celtic built up a lead that Rangers were unable to claw back.

All things considered, Tillman deserves to be named Player of the Year for providing moments of sheer brilliance and dazzlement in an otherwise bland campaign. 

It remains to be seen whether the American international will return to Ibrox on a permanent basis but given this has been his first season playing consecutive football, he is someone that looks destined for the top.

We have to remember, coming to play in Scotland as a 20-year-old from Bayern Munich is far from easy. You have to negotiate plastic pitches, the climate and playing teams four times a season, not to mention the often industrial nature of the game itself.

Tillman has performed exceptionally well, in the main, for a player with so little experience. Yes, there are understandably some who question whether he can perform in the big matches given his Old Firm showings but Saturday aside, there are very few who delivered against the team from across the city this term.

He was instrumental in the comeback over Union Saint Gilloise and played a pivotal role against PSV. These are high-pressure matches that Tillman excelled in - the argument he is incapable of performing in big games doesn’t quite ring true.

The arrival of Michael Beale as manager certainly seemed to reinvigorate Tillman and we have seen the best of him during the second half of the campaign. It’s just a pity his hamstring injury that saw him hobble off in the early stages of the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic put an end to his season.

It wasn’t a surprise to see him named as the PFA Young Player of the Year at their recent awards ceremony and that tells you just how highly regarded he is amongst his fellow professionals.

He will undoubtedly be named as Rangers Young Player of the Year with Adam Devine and Leon King completing the shortlist and he should clean up, with his strike against Motherwell also in the running for Goal of the Season.

It won’t be a season Rangers fans look back fondly on in years to come, but Malik Tillman isn't a name most will forget in a hurry.