With another term coming to end, and a summer holiday dominated by the World Cup fast approaching, it seems an appropriate time to deliver those all-important report cards for the Premier League elite.
So which players excelled themselves, and which were left fearing the hairdryer treatment on a weekly basis? RashyCruz.blogspot deliver their its out of ten.
Carlos Tevez - 9. Had a lot to live up to after a controversial cross-town move from Manchester United and that billboard, but you can't argue with a return of 29 goals. Led the line with his boundless enthusiasm and determination, and deserves to be playing in the Champions League next season. One of few players Sir Alex Ferguson will regret letting go.
Shay Given - 8.5. The Irishman's importance to City was probably best summed up by the farcical goalkeeping crisis that engulfed the club when he dislocated his shoulder with three games to go. Given was almost faultless behind a defence that was anything but, and has been arguably the best signing since the Abu Dhabi takeover.
Adam Johnson - 8. Like Shay Given, a bargain at £7 million and proof that City don't have to buy success. Few people expected Johnson to have such a big impact when he signed in the January window but his ability to excel on either flank has kept Shaun Wright-Phillips out of the team and negated the loss of Robinho. Deserves a shot at the World Cup for England.
Vincent Kompany - 7.5. Might have expected a return to midfield after City spent the best part of £40 million on Joleon Lescott and Kolo Toure in the summer, but Kompany has once again been the club's outstanding centre back despite missing the first two months of the season recovering from toe surgery.
Craig Bellamy - 7. One of the most electrifying wingers in the Premier League on his day, Bellamy is an asset to any team but he lacks consistency and the ability to get on with just about anybody except Mark Hughes. The fiery Welshman's fall-out with Roberto Mancini over training and how best to protect his suspect knees is likely to lead to his departure this summer, probably to Spurs.
Nigel De Jong - 7. Arguably City's most consistent central midfielder. A tough, no-frills character who helps provide a valuable anchor to a team over-laden with attacking talent.
Pablo Zabaleta - 7. Solid performer and a popular player with Roberto Mancini who has made full use of the Argentine's versatility. Mancini has often preferred him to Micah Richards at right back, but Zabaleta has also appeared on the left side of defence and across City's midfield. Never let his manager or teammates down.
Gareth Barry - 6.5. One of those industrious 'unsung heroes' but, even so, it is tempting to wonder what all the fuss was about when City gazumped Liverpool to sign him from Aston Villa. A solid midfield operator who may yet make the World Cup after injury, but are City any weaker with Nigel de Jong, Patrick Vieira or Pablo Zabaleta in his place?
Emmanuel Adebayor - 6. Started the season on fire after a £25 million move from Arsenal but it all began to awry when he came up against his old club, earning a ban for raking his studs down the face of Robin van Persie and widespread criticism for his goal celebration in front of the Gunners fans. His season was turned upside down after the Togo terrorist atrocity in January and, unsurprisingly, will view the season as a disappointment.
Patrick Vieira - 6. Slow start by a 33-year-old who has lost his pace and arrived from Italy in January with a calf injury, but Vieira began to show flashes of the form that made him a dominant midfield force at Arsenal and was imperious against Aston Villa towards the end of the season. Worth keeping around for another year. With a full pre-season under his belt, he could improve even more.
Joleon Lescott - 5.5. Took time to rediscover his form after a fractious £22 million move from Everton, and then suffered knee and hamstring injuries just when things seemed to be looking up. No guarantee Lescott would have gone to the World Cup even if he was fit.
Wayne Bridge - 5. He will be glad to see the back of a season in which he suffered a knee injury, a hernia and a broken heart. John Terry's affair with his ex-partner may have grabbed the headlines and led to the City defender's withdrawal from the World Cup, but Bridge also suffered on the pitch as two prolonged injury absences limited his contribution.
Micah Richards - 5. The youngest defender ever to be capped by England continues to see his stock fall, and it was no surprise to see Richards' name omitted from Fabio Capello's World Cup squad. One of several homegrown City players who may benefit from a fresh start elsewhere.
Shaun Wright-Phillips - 5. His call-up to England's extended World Cup squad should not mask what has been a frustrating season. Another product of City's academy who has struggled to find favour with Roberto Mancini despite a regular run in the side under Mark Hughes, Wright-Phillips admits his form and confidence have suffered. A dispute over his new contract terms has not helped either.
Sylvinho - 4.5. Arrived at Eastlands as a Champions League winner but his lack of pace was exposed, particularly in a 3-0 defeat at Tottenham in December when he was given a real chasing by Aaron Lennon. It wasn't all Sylvinho's fault, but that result signalled the end for manager Mark Hughes and was vital in the final reckoning for Champions League places.
Kolo Toure - 4.5. Signed from Arsenal as a leader who would bring experience and stability to City's defence, but has looked vulnerable on too many occasions. His partnership with Lescott did not live up to expectations, and no one can blame City fans for pining after Richard Dunne.
Stephen Ireland - 4. A key attacking midfielder and City's player of the season under Mark Hughes, Ireland's involvement has dipped alarmingly since Roberto Mancini took over in mid-season. The Italian says Ireland can get back to his best if his attitude changes, but he might well decide his future lies elsewhere.
Martin Petrov - 4. The Bulgarian winger missed the last three months of a frustrating season with the knee injury he aggravated in mid-February and is expected to leave at the end of his contract this summer.
Roque Santa Cruz - 4. Another forward with dodgy knees, Santa Cruz continues to live off that one good season at Blackburn. No other clubs were in the queue when Mark Hughes offered his old club £18 million for the Paraguayan and now we know why. In a season spent on the periphery, it was ironic that two of his three Premier League goals came in Hughes' last stand at home to Sunderland.
Robinho - 2. Well, what can you say? The £32.5 million Brazilian has replaced Juan Sebastian Veron as the most expensive South American flop in the history of the Premier League. Signed as a statement of intent by the new owners, he became a symbol of all that is wrong about the City 'project'. Shipped off to Santos on loan by Roberto Mancini, who made a statement of his own, it was perhaps appropriate that the disappointing Robinho soap opera ended at Scunthorpe in the FA Cup.
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