Bitter and Blue end of season awards

2008/09 is the fourth season I have covered City since setting up Bitter and Blue, and at each season end have been the annual awards (2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08).

A season in which we saw expectation, disappointment, frustration, and hope for next season (with my preview here) - largely like any other season then, but perhaps and a greater scale than we previously witnessed.

Without further ado then, here are the 2008/09 Bitter and Blue end of season awards:

Bitter and Blue player of the season

Given the inconsistent displays that typified his City career to date, I don't think expectations of Stephen Ireland were too high going into the season. So for him to play at such a high level for the whole season was a surprise, but the accolades and plaudits have been richly deserved. Amazing to look back and think he could have been headed out of the club at the start of the season. The best news? He can only go on to become even better.

Winner - Stephen Ireland.

2007/08 - Joe Hart.
2006/07 - Richard Dunne.
2005/06 - David James.

Bitter and Blue readers player of the season

Again, no surprise and Stephen Ireland absolutely destroyed the competition gaining 86% of your votes to easily take the award. As an aside, could there have been a worse defence of a title?

Winner - Stephen Ireland.

2007/08 - Darius Vassell.
2006/07 - Richard Dunne.
2005/06 - Richard Dunne/David James (tie).

Breakthrough player of the season

The much vaunted academy had another productive year, both in terms of results and the graduation of players into the senior set up. However, one player who was perhaps thought to be surplus to requirements at the outset, took the opportunities he got to very much put himself in the frame for next season. A return of eight goals from fourteen starts was a good one and Felipe Caicedo ended the season as the man in possession.

Winner - Felipe Caicedo.

2007/08 - Joe Hart.
2006/07 - Michael Johnson.
2005/06 - Micah Richards.

Overachiever of the season

There have been some real impressive performances this season. Players performing to a high level, on a consistent basis for the large part of the season. Stephen Ireland (obviously) the prime example, with Pablo Zabaleta and Shay Given earning deserved praise in what were their first seasons at the club. However, has any player had such an unexpected impact as Nedum Onouha? Injury plagued and down the pecking order heading into the season, he has made the centre-half spot his own and turned in his best season. Now, he is on the fringes of the international set-up and could be earmarked as a future captain.

Winner - Nedum Onouha.

2007/08 - Didi Hamman.
2006/07 - Nicky Weaver.
2005/06 - Andrew Cole.

Underachiever of the season

A couple of players have perhaps not been at the level you would have hoped over the course of the season - namely Richard Dunne and Elano, but has any players star fallen quite as much as Micah Richards? From England regular, he is now a million miles from an international call up. His form in the middle of defence suffered, so much so that he was moved back out to right back. Arguably at a cross roads now, he needs to rebound with a huge season to get back on track.

Winner - Micah Richards.

2007/08 - Sun Jihai.
2006/07 - Bernardo Corradi.
2005/06 - Danny Mills.

Performance of the season

It may be strange to pick a defeat as performance of the season, but it despite crashing out to Hamburg, we were literally inches from overturning a disastrous first leg. From the very first minute, the spirit, passion, commitment and quality was there as we completely over ran Hamburg. The evening brought an end to our UEFA Cup season, but perhaps signified a glimpse of what maybe to come in the future.

Winner - Hamburg (home).

2007/08 - United (away).
2006/07 - Middlesbrough (away).
2005/06 - United (home).

Goal of the season

Often maligned at times this season, particular for his displays away from home, Robinho will always be labelled with the £32 million tag. I think he has come in for some unjust criticism and some of his displays have been outstanding. His goal in the 3-0 victory over Arsenal was superb, and an embodiment of the talent he possesses.

Winner - Robinho v Arsenal (h).

2007/08 - Elano v Newcastle (h).
2006/07 - Giorgios Samaras v West Ham (h).
2005/06 - Danny Mills v Everton (h).

Incident of the season

Not so much off the field drama has occurred during the course of the season (thankfully) in comparison to previous season. For once, we kept a manager, no real player huffs, and no sign of another takeover in sight. Whilst the money we have put us at the head of the queue for all and sundry back in August, no-one I'm sure expected the August transfer window to close with us having signed Robinho. A definite day of drama.

Winner - The Robinho signing.

2008/09 - The sacking of Sven.
2007/08 - The sacking of Stuart Pearce.
2006/07 - Joey Barton's transfe request

So there you have it. Season 2008/09 in the bag and for once, it appears as though it will be a summer of relative stability in comparison to recent summers.

Don't expect it to be a quite one though.

Player of the year vote

With only one game remaining it is time to cast your vote for the player of the year award (which will be part of the Bitter and Blue end of season awards).

The previous awards are as follows - 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08.

I've included all players who have made at least 15 league and cup starts and feel free to vote either below, in the comments section or email me at bitterandblue@hotmail.co.uk.

Bitter and Blue end of season awards

Well, thankfully in some respects the season has now drawn to a close, but far from being a quiet off season, expect plenty of rumours, speculation and outright lies regarding our managerial position and player departures and arrivals.

I've posted up the end of season review I did for The Observer, in addition to the preview and also the preview I did here on Bitter and Blue.

As in the previous two seasons I've been doing this blog the end of season brings with it the Bitter and Blue end of season awards so without further ado here were go, with the 2005/06 and 2006/07 seasons linked up also.

Bitter and Blue player of the season

Plenty of players have had excellent spells throughout the season without managing to maintain a high level of consistency throughout the season - namely Elano, Martin Petrov, Micah Richards and Richard Dunne.

None though have managed to put in the performances week in week out that have seen beat out both Andreas Isaksson and Kasper Schmeichel, and force his way into the England squad, so the winner is Joe Hart.

2006/07 - Richard Dunne
2005/06 - David James

Bitter and Blue readers player of the season

I expected this to be a tight contest, with several players grouped together quite closely at the top, but in reality only two players ultimately contested this and whilst he led for most of the vote, Joe Hart was beaten to the trophy by Darius Vassell.

2006/07 - Richard Dunne
2005/06 - Richard Dunne/David James (tie)

Breakthrough player of the season

Once again, the Academy continued to develop players to, and on the fringe of the first team, and had the success of the FA Youth Cup to boot. The likes of Kasper Schmeichel, Sam Williamson, Shaleum Logan and Kelvin Etuhu have all crashed into the first team this season, but with a second victory Joe Hart also takes this award.

2006/07 - Michael Johnson
2005/06 - Micah Richards

Overachiever of the season

His career looked washed up at one point following a terrible debut season punctuated by injury and poor form. He has resurrected his career however to have been one of the key components of Sven's midfield this season, providing a vital link between defence and attack.

This year's winner therefore is Didi Hamman.

2006/07 - Nicky Weaver
2005/06 - Andrew Cole

Underachiever of the season

Unlike previous seasons, there hasn't been a raft of under achievers throughout the squad as most have turned in by and large good performances at some point or other.

One player though, although only playing little over a dozen games has been poor and has failed to justify and reason to suggest any future at the club - a surprise given he is in the last year of his current contract, and his return to the line-up has coincided with the poorest form of the season for the club.

Winner - Sun Jihai.

2006/07 - Bernardo Corradi
2005/06 - Danny Mills

Performance of the season

There have been some good wins, especially early on in the season when we put together a fantastic run of results, but for a day when the tactics were spot on, well executed on the pitch with a performance that wasn't expected to provide a result that no-one expected.

Winner - United 2-1 (a)

2006/07 - Middlesbrough (a)
2005/06 - United (h)

Goal of the season

We have scored a few decent goals this season, both individual efforts and some good all round team moves, but give a Brazilian a free-kick 25 yards from goal and good things happen - so Elano's free-kick at home to Newcastle would take some beating.

2006/07 - Giorgios Samaras v West Ham (h)
2005/06 - Danny Mills v Everton (h)

Incident of the season

A relatively incident free season in the life of Manchester City, charging out of the gate at a furious rate to reside in the Champions League positions. A team being built steadily under the tutelage of an experienced manager with access to the millions of a new owner.

All appeared well, until.....Sven-gate, which turned a season that was stuttering into one that imploded spectacularly to set up a summer of turmoil which could well set the club well back considering the progress made over the past year.

Winner - The Sven 'sacking'.

2006/07 - Stuart Pearce's sacking
2005/06 - Joey Barton's transfer request

So there you have it. Another season draws to a close and unfortunately it appears that this summer is as likely to be as incident and rumour packed as any we have experienced.

Interestingly, the ratings for this blog have tended to be at their highest during June and July, when people tend to be scrambling around for whatever news they can find before the media really kicks back into gear.

Given how the month of May has shaped up so far, I'm not expecting this summer to be any different.

Player of the year vote

With only one game remaining it is time to cast your vote for the player of the year award (which will be part of the Bitter and Blue end of season awards).

In previous seasons, it has been far more clear cut in terms of number of candidates, and it is arguable as to whether any one player has turned in a consistent performance over the entire season.

I've listed all players who have played 25+ games, but feel free to state any others you think deserving of the award.

You can click the relevant player or alternatively leave a comment or email bitterandblue@hotmail.co.uk.

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)

Bitter and Blue Player of The Year award

Just under a week to go now until the 2006/07 season draws to a (merciful?) close so I've reposted this to give anyone who may have missed it originally a chance to vote/comment on their own Player of The Year award which I'll be posting up around the middle of next week....

Last year saw the inaugral Bitter and Blue end of season awards, and I'll be running the awards once again at the end of the season.

One of the categories I put in last time round was a readers player of the year award which was quite interesting to gather the views of everyone who stops by the site.

Again, like last season there isn't perhaps a clear cut winner and I would say there are two or three candidates likely in the mix. As a reminder, this is how last seasons awards panned out

So, with just a couple of games to go here is your chance to get your choice across. Feel free to either email me or fill up the comments section.