INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Player Of The Season
Sol Campbell and Lassana Diarra both got nominated for this award but ultimately it came down to the three players I expected it to be; Glen Johnson, Sylvain Distin and David James. Johnson has improved his defensive work threefold; Distin was a model of consistency throughout the entire campaign whilst James made many crucial saves that won us games.
And the winner is....
Winner: Sylvain Distin
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Regular readers of Fratton Faithful will know how much I rate Distin and the French must have some absolutely amazing defenders for not even being picked for the Euro 2008 squad. He's got everything: pace, heading ability, tackling ability and leadership qualities.
I love how he sets high standards for himself and the rest of the team, he never settles for second best as his remarks about how the season could have gone better just moments after winning the FA Cup! My only criticism is that he can be a bit clumsy occasionally and give away silly penalties but otherwise the Frenchman has been outstanding.
Worst Player Of The Season
I feel a bit cruel giving out this dubious award after possibly our best ever season and some of you agreed and decided not to vote for anyone which is fair. For those of you who did, you won't be surprised to see that David Nugent, Milan Baros and Lauren all received votes but the award was a close contest between John Utaka and Papa Bouba Diop. But who came out on top?
Winner: John Utaka
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I think that I should rename this award "Most Disappointing Player" as Utaka wasn't exactly awful last season. However, many frustrating performances from a man who allegedly cost £8.1 million and began his Pompey career on fire is very disappointing.
John says that we will see the best of him next season and I'm willing to see if he can back that up. After all it took Niko Kranjcar a year to settle in and he has really developed this year. Let's hope Utaka does the same.
Goal Of The Season
Despite Matthew Taylor's absence, there were still plenty of top quality goals to watch over and over again. Utaka's solo goal against Bolton, Defoe's chip against Villa and Kranjcar's wonderful free kick at Birmingham all got some votes but there were stronger contenders.
Kanu's FA Cup winner was a top candidate for this award simply because of the significance of it whilst Sulley Muntari's second goal at Villa Park oozed skill and also had the "wow" factor. However this season's winner comes from the most unlikely of sources.
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Winner: Noe Pamarot vs Newcastle (A)
A short corner at St. James' Park ends up in a messy clearance after Butt toe pokes the ball out of the box, out of nowhere Noe Pamarot steams in and belts the ball so hard it flies into the top corner of the net and bounces well out of the goal thanks to the sheer power of the strike. Get in there!
Miss Of The Season
There were a fair few nominees for this one including Milan Baros against West Brom at Wembley and the penalty misses from Benjani and Kanu against West Ham and Liverpool respectively.
Kanu's miss at Wembley probably would have won this award if we had lost the cup final whilst Utaka's failure to tap in a cross at Portman Road was even more horrendous. There is one shocker that beats them all though....
Winner: Papa Bouba Diop vs Aston Villa (A)
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As Aston Villa were trying to pile on the pressure, Pompey break away in a swift counter-attacking move and Niko Kranjcar plays in Diop who is unmarked four yards from goal to tap in an easy fourth. Yet inexplicably he manages to poke the ball wide! My dog and my Nan could have scored that yet a professional footballer did not and it was completely baffling as to how he managed such a terrible cock up.
Save Of The Season
David James has been responsible for many outstanding saves this campaign and some of the best include his amazing afro stop against Michael Owen at Fratton Park, that wondersave from Tamir Cohen in the final seconds at Bolton and a great save from Antoine Sibierski at home.
It's not just Jamo who takes credit for saves as both Glen Johnson and Sylvain Distin produced outstanding blocks on the line at Old Trafford to keep us in the game. The winner of this award also came in that FA Cup tie but was ran very close by the penalty save from Simon Whaley at Preston which may have been the turning point of our FA Cup run.
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Winner: David James vs Patrice Evra
One of Manchester United's many chances at Old Trafford came when Evra was unmarked on the edge of the box and he unleashed a shot that looked unsaveable and destined for the top corner of the net. However, Jamo somehow managed to get his fingertips to the ball and push it onto the post and out of harms way.
Gaffe Of The Season
No, not gaffer of the season but gaffe of the season as in "cock up"! I'll have to rename this award next year but for this year the ones who didn't put "Harry Redknapp" nominated some rather embarrassing moments such as Redknapp's home tactics in 2007, selling Matt Taylor and Gary O'Neil, loaning Milan Baros amongst others.
Roger Higgins' "Manchester City" moment was nominated but despite David James' mistakes against Reading and at Man City it is Harry Redknapp and possibly the Pompey board who take the blame for the biggest gaffe of the season.
Winner: Selling Benjani
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Considering Benji wasn't cup-tied, fitted into our 4-5-1 system perfectly and was our top scorer at the time, many felt that he shouldn't have been sold to raise the money to bring Jermain Defoe to Pompey.
Not only that but selling a fan favourite to a team that were also challenging for Europe may not have been the smartest thing to do, especially in the manner it was done. That reasoning was justified when he scored against us for his new club in April although I still believe we got the better deal in the long term.
SEASON AWARDS
Moment Of The Season
OK so the winner of this award is blatantly obvious but there were other good occasions too. Such as the goal and the final whistle at Old Trafford, the FA Cup victory parade and not losing Harry Redknapp to Newcastle which would have probably made the rest of these moments impossible.
Winner: Winning The FA Cup
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Whether it be James taking that final cross at Wembley which made it sure we would win or actually lifting the trophy itself, winning the oldest cup competition in the world is something no Pompey fan will ever forget. Not only is this the moment of the season but it may well be the moment of our Pompey supporting lives too.
Worst Moment Of The Season
There were many moments in the season that Pompey fans would rather forget. Here is a list of the moments that got at least one vote.
Cardiff almost scoring in the final minutes of the final
Goalless run at home
Losing to Tottenham at home
Losing to Middlesbrough at home
Losing to Arsenal away
Drawing with Everton at home
Arsenal Boxing Day Kick-Off changed to evening
Last five games of the season
Derby draw on opening day
Selling Matt Taylor
Blackburn Carling Cup defeat
There are actually two winners for this award because they both received the same amount of results and no Pompey fan will want to be reminded of these too often.
Winners: Losing Benjani & Almost Losing Redknapp To Newcastle
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The loss of Benjani has already been discussed but if we had lost Harry to Newcastle I dread to think where we might be at the end of next season.
Thankfully Redknapp saw sense at the last minute and realised that going to Newcastle, where many of their fans demand instant success and put you under immediate pressure, would have been a mistake. I think it's safe to say that he made the right decision!
Performance Of The Season
There was one game that won this award by a significant majority but we shouldn't forget the outstanding displays at Villa and Newcastle where we won so handsomely whilst the FA Cup Final performance was also very professional. The home games against Reading (the first half especially) and Chelsea were also very good but there is a clear winner here.
Winner: Manchester United FA Cup Quarter-Final
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What more can I say about this match? Sure we rode our luck a little but you're always going to need some good fortune to win at Old Trafford. That should not discredit how well we defended against United with some amazing goal line clearances, saves and crucial blocks not to mention the one counter-attack that mattered finished by Muntari coolly burying the penalty past Rio Ferdinand.
Worst Performance Of The Season
Whilst there were plenty of good performances this season there were more than a couple of bad showings too. I never saw the Blackburn Carling Cup defeat but that got a good portion of votes whilst defeats away to Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Arsenal got more than one vote.
The last day performance against Fulham also got a few votes but this award was a straight shootout between that woeful game at Sunderland when we were missing half of our team and were recovering from the Redknapp speculation and the eventual winner.
Winner: Middlesbrough (H)
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Not only was this the worst performance of the season but it also ranks up there as one of the most diabolical displays since we were promoted to the Premier League. After Tuncay gave Boro the lead we showed absolutely nothing to get back into the game.
There was no creativity as Woodgate and Pogatetz easily dealt with all the hoof balls we lumped forward and the team were booed off at home for the first time in a long time.
Comedy Moment Of The Season
It seems like there was a lot to make Pompey fans laugh this season as many different things were nominated for this award. Here's a list before the joint winners are announced.
Ashley Cole abuse at Fratton Park
Scott Carson abuse at Fratton Park
Reo-Coker's own goal
Newcastle claiming they never wanted Redknapp anyway
Southampton's season
Ronaldo sent off at Fratton Park
David Nugent's "embarrassing" photos
Solano missing twice at Fratton Park
Milan Baros' "performances"
Lee Dixon tipping Boro to win the cup after we knocked United out
Redknapp's "look where we were..." speech
Hermann's celebrating at the parade
Sean Davis' "worm" celebration at Wembley
David James miskicking the ball then heading it against Everton
David James' mistake against Reading
Winners: Pompey 7 Reading 4 & Ferguson's Rant
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The 7-4 game will live long in the memory of any Pompey fan who was at Fratton Park that day. Goals galore, bad defending, bad goalkeeping, a penalty saved and a bad referee meant top quality entertainment.
Alex Ferguson has never been known to be a good loser but some of his comments after our win at Old Trafford had Pompey fans in stitches. Quotes such as "The referee was clearly on their side" as well as being hypocritical
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The most baffling aspect of his rant is that he and his assistant managed to escape being charged by the FA despite their outlandish comments.
OPPOSITION AWARDS
Best Opposition Team
For once there is no mention of Chelsea for this award yet there are shouts for West Brom and Plymouth. Middlesbrough got a couple of votes for doing the double over us whilst Liverpool absolutely ripped us apart at Anfield.
At one stage it looked like Manchester United would run away with this vote but one team came out of nowhere to catch and overtake them. It's just a shame they blew it in the league.
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Winner: Arsenal
The Gunners tore into us at the Emirates Stadium and really should have scored more than the three goals that they did. They also put us under a lot of pressure and made us work extremely hard for our 0-0 draw at Fratton Park on Boxing Day.
Worst Opposition Team
Chelsea were surprisingly nominated for this award but more votes went to the likes of Aston Villa who were comfortably beaten both home and away, Fulham and Newcastle who were awful on their own turf and Reading who were just plain awful. There was only one team that could win this award and they really do redefine the word "terrible".
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Winner: Derby County
We should be ashamed that we never managed to beat these guys at Pride Park and then fell behind to them at home, having to rely on Benjani to dig us out of a very deep hole. The Rams earned a record low of 11 points all season and finished with a goal difference of -69 so please spare a thought for my poor mum that supports them!
Best Opposition Player
The following players received at least one vote:
Nemanja Vidic
Dimitar Berbatov
Kenwyne Jones
Peter Enckelman (Ha!)
Darren Carter (Haha!)
Cesc Fabregas
Joleon Lescott
Jonathan Woodgate
Benjani finished third in the vote after proving his point at Eastlands and Fernando Torres claims second place after tearing us apart at Anfield but there was a clear winner.
Winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
Like him or loathe him, you can't deny that Ronaldo is the greatest player
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After slotting in an early goal he scored a sublime free kick to finish us off and could have had more goals. If he goes to Real Madrid I think we would miss him not only for his talent but he is one less player we can abuse at Fratton next season!
Worst Opposition Player
Like the previous award there were many nominees so here is a list:
Darren Moore
Scott Carson
Emile Heskey
Laurent Robert
Marcus Hahnemann
Claudio Cacapa
Ryan Taylor
Robbie Savage
Cristiano Ronaldo
Michael Duberry
Mauro Zarate
Zat Knight
Steven Taylor
Stephen Pienaar
Emre
Jose Enrique
The Reading Defence
Winner: Derby County
That's right, the entire Derby team were voted as the "Worst Opposition Player" as well as the worst team. Cut them some slack, they did score against us three times!
Best Away Fans At Fratton Park
Despite their team being completely useless the Derby fans were excellent at Fratton Park. Fans of West Ham, Reading, Blackburn, Villa, Sunderland, Plymouth, Liverpool and Leeds also got votes but the winner goes to a set of fans who made themselves heard on the last day.
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Winners: Fulham Fans
It's to be expected really as their supporters saw their team complete their own version of the "Great Escape". It was still impressive to see a set of fans that are notoriously quiet to create an atmosphere and then be such good sports after the game too.
Worst Away Fans At Fratton Park
The winners of our final award saw off competition from the supporters of Middlesbrough, Chelsea, Man United, Everton, Blackburn, Arsenal, Fulham and Bolton fans. Reading fans somehow ran them close but the winners won't surprise you too much.
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Winners: Wigan Fans
Wiganers don't have a reputation for being loud and you could see why at Fratton Park as they didn't bring too many and we barely heard a peep from them all game. It's a shame really because I have a lot of time for Wigan fans but wish they would be more vocal.
So that wraps up the Fratton Faithful awards for the 2007/2008 season. Thanks to all that voted!