Bitter and Blue end of season awards

Ladies and gentleman, the results are in. Here is the second annual Bitter and Blue end of season awards....As a reminder, last seasons results can be found here.


Bitter and Blue player of the season:


Not too many candidates for this award in what was in truth a mediocre season for most players. Players such as Weaver, Distin and Mpenza played well in spells but the winner really came from one of two players.

It was close, but whilst Joey Barton may have played at a higher level at certain times of the season, overall Richard Dunne has been far and away the most consistent performer this campaign.


Winner : Richard Dunne (last year David James)


Bitter and Blue readers player of the season:


A couple of votes came in for Nicky Weaver and Emile Mpenza, but this was a fairly straightforward choice as by far and away the concensus pick from you guys was for Richard Dunne.

Winner : Richard Dunne (last year Richard Dunne/David James tie)


Breakthrough player of the season:

Without the Academy players coming through into the first team squad over the past couple seasons the club would be in even more of a depressing state than we see at the end of this season. There is genuine hope that a nucleus of a decent side could be built around the Academy graduates and this year saw another one come through in the form of Michael Johnson.

Winner : Michael Johnson (last year Micah Richards)

Overachiever of the season:


Emile Mpenza was a strong candidate here as his impact on a team desperately short of goals cannot be underestimated as he played a large part in helping us to safety, but having spent the best part of three seasons out injured perhaps just to get back playing was achievement enought but Nicky Weaver must have thought he was back when David James left - only to see Andreas Isaksson signed. He started the season between the sticks though and performed well enough to retain his place until the last part of the season - a feat not many expected him to do.


Winner : Nicky Weaver (last year Andrew Cole)


Underachiever of the season:

A rather large shortlist for this category (unfortunately) and indicative of the season we have had. Goalkeepers and defenders are probably expempt in this though as they generally been the reason we have avoided relegation.

The strongest contenders though must all come from the striking ranks and you could really stick a pin in and not argue with the outcome. However, due to the fact that for large parts of the season they were played out wide on the left and expected to do a job they are not comfortable with I'm going to pass on Vassell and Samaras and choose Bernardo Corradi, who could and should have provided so much more than he has done.

Winner : Bernardo Corradi (last year Danny Mills)

Performance of the season:


It's definitely not the most enjoyable thing looking back over this season that's for sure, and really strong performances were few and far between.

Rarely did we put a run together throughout the season where we built both confidence and momentum, and when we did what was surprising was that we managed to do this away from home - which was long a problem area for us.

Late in the season, when the threat of relegation was still very real, we put back to back wins away in the North-East to hoist ourselves away from the bottom three. Whilst the Newcastle win was an important one, the Middlesbrough win built on that (and laid the foundations for the win at Fulham) and I think the strongest one given our record against them.


Goal of the season:

Due to our lack of potency in front of goal, obvious candidates do not particularly jump out you here - in fact, the way we went at home we could barely muster a top ten. One player who did struggle for goals as much as anyone was Giorgios Samaras - but as frustrating as he can be he is perhaps the one player who is capable of scoring a goal worthy of a 'best of category'.

Winner : Giorgios Samaras West Ham home (last year Danny Mills Everton at home)

Incident of the season:

How do you pick one out of this? On the shortlist we have Thatchers challenge on Mendes, multiple entries from Joey Barton (Arse-gate, his post-match outburst and his assault on Ousmane Dabo), Richard Dunne's pre-Blackburn attack, takeover stories and the sacking of our manager.

As strong as Barton's entries have been - and really all could have been winners, the sacking of Stuart Pearce is certainly the biggest story of the season, containing plenty of stories, rumours and theories for all.

Winner : The Stuart Pearce sacking (last year Joey Barton transfer request)

2006/07 season review March-May

March

The month started with me musing over the potential number of points required for survival, something which became prevalent as defeat at home to Wigan pushed Pearce on the brink of the sack.

Kenny Jackett was brought in to the backroom staff, sparking rumours in some quarters that he was lined up to replace Pearce.

The Supporters Trust held their open meeting, and Wembley dreams were shattered as a spiritless display saw us crash at Blackburn. The performance at home to Chelsea was better, but still ended with no points and no goals.

Light at the end of the tunnel though as a rare win over Middlesbrough eased relegation fears.


April

Back to back wins in the North-East were completed at St.James Park to leave us fairly comfortable above relegation and this was reinforced with a point at home to Charlton but a win at Craven Cottage all-but ensured Premiership football next season.

Brian Horton and Paul Walsh were spotted out and about in Didsbury and Sylvain Distin announced he would stay at the club if they matched his ambition.

Another 0-0 was experienced at home to Liverpool and we were defeated on our first appearance at The Emirates.

The 1-1 draw at Watford was overshadowed by Joey Barton's outburst and the takeover talk heated up again.

Former manager Alan Ball passed away, and rumours abounded that Sam Allardyce was to be our next manager as he resigned from Bolton.


May

Joey Barton's City career was thrown in doubt after his training ground attack on Ousmane Dabo, occuring only days before the Derby - which saw a 1-0 defeat and a missed Darius Vassell penalty and Michael Ball banned for his stamp on Cristiano Ronaldo.


Trevor Sinclair and Stephen Jordan were released, and it looked like Thaksin Shinawatra was the man to take over the club. A defeat at Tottenham on the final day signalled the end of Stuart Pearce's reign and brought the curtain down on the 2006/07 season.....

2006/07 season review December-February

December

The month began with a 0-0 home draw against Watford on Sky - the only positive memory of that evening being the German market in town prior to the game.

Ahead of the AGM, the board announced that they were in talks with potential new investors. The first derby of the season saw us crash 3-1 at Old Trafford, followed by defeat on my birthday at home to Tottenham.

Bitter and Blue ran its 'half-term report', before City delivered a less than welcome Christmas present with a 2-0 home defeat by Bolton - with Nicolas Anelka delivering the blow.

The year ended more positively though with a Boxing Day victory at Bramhall Lane.


January

Back to back wins signalled the start of 2007 as we took maximum points against West Ham and Everton, before a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough forced a replay in which we triumphed.

A 0-0 draw at Bolton followed, and we took Francesco Coco on trial - which ended all too abruptly and subsequently saw us sign Michael Ball.

A woeful 3-0 home defeat by Blackburn then saw Stuart Pearce linked with the England under-21 job, but we rebounded by beating Southampton in round 4 of the FA Cup.


February

Another home defeat - this time to Reading then saw Pedro Mendes again in the wars against City.
To solve the goalscoring woes, Stuart Pearce turned to Emile Mpenza - the Belgian striker exiled out in Qatar.
A win at Deepdale saw the Wembley banners being dusted off, but there was a blow as Tim Flowers and Frankie Bunn joined Coventry as part of Ian Dowies regime, and the club announced a £7 million loss.

2006/07 season review August-November

I'm not sure whether raking over the season is going to do me, or any of you any good, but here is part 1 of a three part post this week with a run down at the games and events of the 2006/07 season - linking into some of the posts that featured on Bitter and Blue over the season.


August

Not a good start to the season as a 3-0 defeat away at champions Chelsea was followed by an uninspiring 0-0 home draw against Portsmouth, a game which was overshadowed by Ben Thatcher's challenge on Pedro Mendes which saw him banned by the club and charged by the FA.

The month ended with a fine 1-0 win over Arsenal, and the end of the transfer deadline saw DeMarcus Beasley arrive but Andrew Cole and Antoine Sibierski depart.


September

Andrew Cole and Stuart Pearce were less than complimentary to each other following his move to Portsmouth and a toothless attack saw us fall 1-0 at Reading.

Ben Thatcher saw his ban extended by the FA, whilst I mused over where the goals would come from this season.

A 4-2 defeat at Blackburn was followed by a Carling Cup exit at Chesterfield to put the pressure on Stuart Pearce - which was lifted a little following a 2-0 victory at home to West Ham.

Off the pitch, the end of September saw the MCFC Supporters Trust announce their mission statement.


October

A 1-1 draw at Everton was clouded by Joey Bartons 'bum rap', and the CoMS was awarded the 2008 UEFA Cup Final - sparking hopes that we would make an appearance.

A 0-0 home draw (another one?) against Sheffield United was a welcome point compared to the next inept performance - a 4-0 hammering at Wigan (which saw the debut of Michael Johnson). It was a game which sparked a debate on ticket pricing and led to John Wardle publicly commenting on the teams performance.

Injuries were beginning to tell on the side, but the month ended on a positive note as the pressure was eased with a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough.

October also saw Bitter and Blue nominated in the inaugral Manchester Blog Awards.


November

A game billed as a relegation battle saw us defeated at an Ian Dowie led Charlton, whilst Nicky Weaver's return to fitness and form saw his contract talks come under the spotlight.

Another 0-0 draw at home to Newcastle saw us bid for a new consecutive clean sheet record.

Micah Richards made his England debut and former-Blue Uwe Rosler was sacked by Lillestrom.

A pair of 3-1 victories (against Fulham and Villa) was sandwiched by a 1-0 defeat at Anfield against Liverpool, and Antoine Sibierski hit out at Stuart Pearce following his early success at Newcastle.

Rumours of a Shaun Wright-Phillips return started to surface as the January window began to appear on the horizon.