AS IT is that time of the year again, we are allowed to enjoy a little trivial pursuit. Here is mine for the day, picking the eleven SPL players who make up the team of the season to date.

At first, that seems a straightforward task, dividing it between the richest double act in the land, Celtic and Rangers. But it didn't turn out that way.

In fact, after examining the candidates it becomes clear that there is a fair spread of talent out there. Other than Hibs, they may not be able to mount a serious league challenge to the Old Firm but the teams in the top 12 are sprinkled with some fine players, which would suggest the standards are rising, albeit slowly.

There are plenty of genuine contenders for most positions. Take goalkeeper, for a start. It used to be the case that only two men would be considered in the running, Andy Goram and Jim Leighton. The Aberdeen man and the then Rangers goalie vied with each other for the Scotland post as well, and two marvellous goalies they were. Andy is still pretty hot, playing for Motherwell now, but he has had a tough time with injury this term, and some new names have come on the block.

Stefan Klos has established himself as a fine goalkeeper with Rangers, but he missed nine games in the middle of the opening stage because of injury. Celtic's Robert Douglas did well with Dundee, but is still finding his feet at Parkhead.

For me, the choice for No. 1 jersey was between Alan Main, who has been a major success with St Johnstone, Gordon Marshall, a fixture with Kilmarnock, Nick Colgan, consistently good with Hibs, and Antti Niemi, who has been a stalwart for Hearts.

Each of them has made mistakes, but it is rare to find a man in that position who is flawless.

Choosing one is difficult, but Niemi will do for me. He has shaken off the ex-Rangers tag to become a superb goalkeeper and the save he made from Johan Mjallby in the game against Celtic at Parkhead will stay with me for a long time.

Being one of these modern managers, I am opting for a three-at-the back formation, and two of the three will cause you no surprise. Joos Valgaeren of Celtic settled in quickly and in no time at all was a regular, whose consistency has been admirable. I also find it hard to omit Franck Sauzee, the Frenchman whose talents have gone a long way to inspiring the Hibs revival under Alex McLeish.

It was the third place that gave me serious headaches. Mjallby has been terrific for Celtic and claims could be made for others, but I have been very impressed by the skills of Andrius Skerla, the Lithuanian internationalist who has been such a success with Dunfermline. He just gets there in a photo-finish with Mjallby.

In this system we have two wing backs, which people say is a modern innovation, yet it seems to me that Celtic's 1967 champion team had much the same thing without that title, in Jim Craig and Tommy Gemmell.

Maybe they need to be more winger than full back these days, and in that context there are many candidates, like Celtic's Didier Agathe and Bobby Petta, Neil McCann, of Rangers, Mohammed Sylla of St Johnstone, and Andy McLaren of

Kilmarnock.

However, I would find it hard to leave out Claudio Reyna and Gio van Bronckhorst, both of Rangers, who when at their best can be devastating attackers

and energetic defenders.

That takes us into midfield, where the choice is wider than anywhere else. Colin Cameron of Hearts combines an attacking bent with what we managers like to call a superb engine, Ian Durrant, of Kilmarnock, is still a hugely talented player, Jorg Albertz has had a tough time with injury otherwise the Rangers man would be in the frame. John O'Neil is doing a marvellous job with Hibs and Dundee's Georgi Nemsadze would grace any team anywhere. And so to the three players selected. Barry Ferguson, the new captain of Rangers, has had very few poor matches this season and, when he is at his best, there is an awful lot to admire. Lubo Moravcik of Celtic remains one of the best midfield men I have seen and I cannot leave him out

The third is Russell Latapy, the man from Trinidad and Tobago who has defied the presumption that, clever and skilful though he is, he would not cope in the Scottish game.

Now to the front pairing. Henrik Larsson is automatic, even if his form has not been as scintillating this season to date. There are good candidates to go in alongside him. A fully fit Michael Mols would be impossible to omit but, as things are, the choice for me has to be Claudio Canniggia, of Dundee, a player still capable of high quality play.

That's it then. Argue if you will . . . and you will.

The team: Niemi, Reyna, Valgaeren, Sauzee, Skerla, van Bronckhorst; Ferguson, Latapy, Moravcik: Larsson, Canniggia.