Eden Hazard snubbed for Premier League Player of the Month despite winning public vote

The Premier League introduced public voting into the Player of the Month selection process this season, but if the first month's results are an indication, this is largely a token move.  After finishing just third in the public polling, and by a fair distance, Manchester City's Raheem Sterling was named the league's Player of the Month on Friday.

Congratulations, @sterling7!@EASPORTS @premierleague Player of the Month for August! #mcfc pic.twitter.com/Bib22dF8xU

— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 9, 2016

Earlier in the week, Sterling gathered just 17% of votes in the official Twitter poll, putting him well behind Chelsea's Eden Hazard and Manchester United's Antonio Valencia.

Who gets your vote in the @EASPORTSFIFA August Player of the Month award?

— Premier League (@premierleague) September 2, 2016

But the public vote comprised just a part of the selection process, and the "experts" involved (plus the captains of all the Premier League clubs) made Sterling the award-winner.

Hmmm.

(Meanwhile, Conte lost the public vote to Mourinho, 40-33, in the Manager of the Month polling, but the "experts" made the correct choice in this case, and gave the award to Hull City's Mike Phelan.)