TSA Season Review : The (Long Awaited) End Of Season TSA Awards
Due to unforeseen delays, this awards show was postponed by a week.
However, we are now proud to bring you the first ever TSA end of season awards. So, without further ado, lets get on with the show.
Our first category is an reasonably obvious one. It's the
Best Player Of The Season Who Isn't Steven Gerrard Award
Lets be honest. If this was a boring old Best Player Of The Season Award then Stevie would walk this. So, as the title suggests, I decided to make things slightly interesting. Kind of. There were only going to be 2 nominees for this award and they are Jamie Carragher and Xavi Alonso and in my opinion Xavi has been the better player, though the argument about which player has been the best over the last 10 months is a bit like arguing which is worse; Herpes or Crabs. Either way, Xavi wins this years Best Player Of The Season Who Isn't Steven Gerrard Award.
Next award this evening is the Best Game Of The Season Award.
As steady as our league form has been, there really hasn't been a match that stuck out as being "thrilling". We've played well in the league, no question and we were two minutes away from claiming 2nd place in the table before Rio Ferdinand scored that last minute goal at Old Trafford but there isn't really one game that sticks out as summing up our season. No, this season we've played our best football in the FA Cup and it's no surprise that all four of the nominations in this category are from our cup run.
As good as it was to beat Man Ure in the cup for the first time in 85 years, our performance in that game wasn't great. Still, Man Ure's was fucking shocking, so it did help to disguise our below par performance. but it certainly wasn't THE game of the season.
The game at St. Andrews in late March wont be forgotten in a hurry. Winning away from home 7-0 doesn't come around very often and it's very rarely that you can say that a team deserved to win by that kind of margin either. But Birmingham were absolutely shocking that night and got everything they deserved, both then and at the end of the season. But I can't give this the award either. The Blues were there for the taking that night and we took them and then some. And in that respect, you can't seriously call this a match. It wasn't a game of football, it was a turkey shoot. Any match that gets this award has to involve a team that gave us a match and in that respect, our next nomination certainly fulfills that.
Another cup game that wont be forgotten in a hurry is the Cup Final itself. West Ham had us on the rack for long periods of the game and it's unfair to describe them as losers, even though that is what they ended up as. It was also the game that Steven Gerrard redeemed himself, at least in terms of Cup Finals. Anonymous in the Cup Final of 2001 when we was marshalled off the pitch by Vieira and then there was THAT own goal against The Chavs last year. His performance was, and will become, legendary and also gave me good reason to come up with our first award of the evening. But despite all this, I wouldn't describe this game as the best game of the season. In some respects it was our worst and isn't one I enjoyed watching. So, were left with on game left. And in case some of you are still clueless, here's a visual clue.
If this was the Best Second Half performance Of The Season award then I think the match at Luton would win hands down. But the whole game was pulsating and the fact that we went from 3-1 down to 4-3 up in 12 minutes was arguably the second greatest comeback ever seen. Before the match I said we should have scored 5 against Luton. In many respects, I got my wish.
Anyway, the Luton Town (A) 07/01/06 match wins the Best Game Of The Season Award.
Next up this evening is the Transfer Of The Season Award.
For those of you who read my write up of the transfers last week should have a good idea of who I'm going to give this award to. He was an unknown quantity to most LFC fans when he signed and when it emerged that he was talking to Everton about joining them, one had to question just how good he was. However, in terms of value and quality, Momo Sissoko is quite clearly THE transfer of the season. When Biscan left last season, I asked myself whether we'd get someone as good as him as a replacement. How wrong I was. Momo has managed to give Xavi the time and space to play the killer balls he can more often but has also managed to free Stevie G to be even more menacing than we was the previous season. No question really, Momo is the Transfer of the season
From here we go off at a bit of a tangent. This next award is for Biggest Disappointment of the Season. And the nominations are....
Fernando Morientes ... For failing to live up to expectations in his first full season. and then some.
Going out of the European Cup at the first knockout round ... to a side that only went one round further.
The Carling Cup defeat to Crystal Palace ... which was certainly embarassing and no doubt confirmed in Palace chairman Simon Jordan's mind that Palace were the best team in Europe.
But the winner is ........
Our failures in the transfer market ... As well as we did in the market this season (see my earlier update for proof of this) there is still this sense of unfinished business (no pun intended). Not just with Simao but with the rest of our signings. The likes of Agger, Gonzalez, Kromkamp and Anderson all have quality but they haven't had the impact of Sissoko. This was never likely though (Rafa is still putting is imprint on the team) and I think the next few months will be when the key players are signed. but as for this season, the transfer market is the biggest disappointment of the past season.
Only three awards to go now. Think of this stage as being the musical numbers you see on the Oscars; If you've got this far, you may as well stick around till the end.
Moving on, we come to the Goal Of The Season Award. If there is one thing about this Goal Of The Season competition that is certain, it's that a Liverpool player is probably going to win. And without further ado the nominees are:
John Arne Riise's "Thunderbolt" against Birmingham in the 6th round of the FA Cup.
Luis Garcia's lob in the Anfield derby that made Richard Wright look like a right mug. Not that difficult given that he plays for Everton but hey, credit where credit is due.
Steven Gerrard's ICBM against Aston Villa on the 29th April.
and Steven Gerrard, again, for his second goal in the Cup Final against West Ham.
And the winner is.....
Phil Neville for this quite brilliant header. Shame it was at the wrong end but it was still brilliant. No single goal gave me greater satisfaction this season, so begrudingly, Phil Neville takes this season's Goal Of The Season Award.
And speaking of the Nevilles......
The second to last award of the evening is a special award. It is the Which Neville Brother Has Been The Bigger Twat? Award.
In case a few of you haven't quite got the idea yet, this is an award for the Neville brother who has "distinguished" himself the most over the past 10 months.
Gary certainly distinguished himself by running the whole length of the pitch to celebrate a goal that he played absolutely no part in (and then wondered why he got a fine as a result) but he also showed just how blinkered he was by instead of writing about the Cup Final on the monday proceeding it, instead wrote a truly fascinating piece about the players and their wives going off to the training camp in Portugal. (CLICKY HERE). Now Gary, could you spell for me SOUR GRAPES?
but frankly, he comes nowhere near distinguishing himself as much as his brother Phil "The Donkey" Neville has. Not only did he start the season by signing for Everton (never a good way for a player to start one), he then proceeds to get sent off in his first Merseyside Derby,
he also manages to score one of the greatest own goals ever scored in his SECOND merseyside derby.
While Gary may be a Twat, Phil backs up his Twatishness with actions and because of this he collects the coveted "Golden Twat" award for this season. Let's hope this next season proves to be another golden season for Neville Brother Twatishness.
And as the well known Frank Sinatra song goes, The end is here. The last award of the evening is the What do we have to look forward to most? award.
Frankly, there is no single winner here. There is a lot to look forward to. Mark Gonzalez is certainly going to be an exciting player for us next season, and judging by his performance in the game against EIRE last night, he has the potential to be a match winner on his day.
The signing of a proven, international quality striker to replace the very recently departed Fernando Morientes (more on this in a few posts time) is something that has got me quite excited. Certainly anyone we add to the squad now is going to improve it and I think that is very exciting.
but arguably the most exciting thing about next season is that for the first time in a dozen or so years, we now have the squad to make a serious title challenge. We may not prise the title from The Chavs hands next season but I think us and Man Ure will give them a very, very good battle. And if that isn't something worth looking forward to then nothing is.
And that's it. The Season 05/06, as far as this blog is concerned, is now over. To borrow a line from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels "It's Been Emotional" and when it comes to football, I'm very much running on empty. Unlike most summers I usually have I will be busy, so hopefully by the time August 19th comes round I, like every other fan, will be raring to go.
Still, from the TSA End Of Season Awards 05/06, it's goodbye and thanks for watching. And please, after watching these videos of Phil Neville, don't have nightmares.
However, we are now proud to bring you the first ever TSA end of season awards. So, without further ado, lets get on with the show.
Our first category is an reasonably obvious one. It's the
Best Player Of The Season Who Isn't Steven Gerrard Award
Lets be honest. If this was a boring old Best Player Of The Season Award then Stevie would walk this. So, as the title suggests, I decided to make things slightly interesting. Kind of. There were only going to be 2 nominees for this award and they are Jamie Carragher and Xavi Alonso and in my opinion Xavi has been the better player, though the argument about which player has been the best over the last 10 months is a bit like arguing which is worse; Herpes or Crabs. Either way, Xavi wins this years Best Player Of The Season Who Isn't Steven Gerrard Award.
Next award this evening is the Best Game Of The Season Award.
As steady as our league form has been, there really hasn't been a match that stuck out as being "thrilling". We've played well in the league, no question and we were two minutes away from claiming 2nd place in the table before Rio Ferdinand scored that last minute goal at Old Trafford but there isn't really one game that sticks out as summing up our season. No, this season we've played our best football in the FA Cup and it's no surprise that all four of the nominations in this category are from our cup run.
As good as it was to beat Man Ure in the cup for the first time in 85 years, our performance in that game wasn't great. Still, Man Ure's was fucking shocking, so it did help to disguise our below par performance. but it certainly wasn't THE game of the season.
The game at St. Andrews in late March wont be forgotten in a hurry. Winning away from home 7-0 doesn't come around very often and it's very rarely that you can say that a team deserved to win by that kind of margin either. But Birmingham were absolutely shocking that night and got everything they deserved, both then and at the end of the season. But I can't give this the award either. The Blues were there for the taking that night and we took them and then some. And in that respect, you can't seriously call this a match. It wasn't a game of football, it was a turkey shoot. Any match that gets this award has to involve a team that gave us a match and in that respect, our next nomination certainly fulfills that.
Another cup game that wont be forgotten in a hurry is the Cup Final itself. West Ham had us on the rack for long periods of the game and it's unfair to describe them as losers, even though that is what they ended up as. It was also the game that Steven Gerrard redeemed himself, at least in terms of Cup Finals. Anonymous in the Cup Final of 2001 when we was marshalled off the pitch by Vieira and then there was THAT own goal against The Chavs last year. His performance was, and will become, legendary and also gave me good reason to come up with our first award of the evening. But despite all this, I wouldn't describe this game as the best game of the season. In some respects it was our worst and isn't one I enjoyed watching. So, were left with on game left. And in case some of you are still clueless, here's a visual clue.
If this was the Best Second Half performance Of The Season award then I think the match at Luton would win hands down. But the whole game was pulsating and the fact that we went from 3-1 down to 4-3 up in 12 minutes was arguably the second greatest comeback ever seen. Before the match I said we should have scored 5 against Luton. In many respects, I got my wish.
Anyway, the Luton Town (A) 07/01/06 match wins the Best Game Of The Season Award.
Next up this evening is the Transfer Of The Season Award.
For those of you who read my write up of the transfers last week should have a good idea of who I'm going to give this award to. He was an unknown quantity to most LFC fans when he signed and when it emerged that he was talking to Everton about joining them, one had to question just how good he was. However, in terms of value and quality, Momo Sissoko is quite clearly THE transfer of the season. When Biscan left last season, I asked myself whether we'd get someone as good as him as a replacement. How wrong I was. Momo has managed to give Xavi the time and space to play the killer balls he can more often but has also managed to free Stevie G to be even more menacing than we was the previous season. No question really, Momo is the Transfer of the season
From here we go off at a bit of a tangent. This next award is for Biggest Disappointment of the Season. And the nominations are....
Fernando Morientes ... For failing to live up to expectations in his first full season. and then some.
Going out of the European Cup at the first knockout round ... to a side that only went one round further.
The Carling Cup defeat to Crystal Palace ... which was certainly embarassing and no doubt confirmed in Palace chairman Simon Jordan's mind that Palace were the best team in Europe.
But the winner is ........
Our failures in the transfer market ... As well as we did in the market this season (see my earlier update for proof of this) there is still this sense of unfinished business (no pun intended). Not just with Simao but with the rest of our signings. The likes of Agger, Gonzalez, Kromkamp and Anderson all have quality but they haven't had the impact of Sissoko. This was never likely though (Rafa is still putting is imprint on the team) and I think the next few months will be when the key players are signed. but as for this season, the transfer market is the biggest disappointment of the past season.
Only three awards to go now. Think of this stage as being the musical numbers you see on the Oscars; If you've got this far, you may as well stick around till the end.
Moving on, we come to the Goal Of The Season Award. If there is one thing about this Goal Of The Season competition that is certain, it's that a Liverpool player is probably going to win. And without further ado the nominees are:
John Arne Riise's "Thunderbolt" against Birmingham in the 6th round of the FA Cup.
Luis Garcia's lob in the Anfield derby that made Richard Wright look like a right mug. Not that difficult given that he plays for Everton but hey, credit where credit is due.
Steven Gerrard's ICBM against Aston Villa on the 29th April.
and Steven Gerrard, again, for his second goal in the Cup Final against West Ham.
And the winner is.....
Phil Neville for this quite brilliant header. Shame it was at the wrong end but it was still brilliant. No single goal gave me greater satisfaction this season, so begrudingly, Phil Neville takes this season's Goal Of The Season Award.
And speaking of the Nevilles......
The second to last award of the evening is a special award. It is the Which Neville Brother Has Been The Bigger Twat? Award.
In case a few of you haven't quite got the idea yet, this is an award for the Neville brother who has "distinguished" himself the most over the past 10 months.
Gary certainly distinguished himself by running the whole length of the pitch to celebrate a goal that he played absolutely no part in (and then wondered why he got a fine as a result) but he also showed just how blinkered he was by instead of writing about the Cup Final on the monday proceeding it, instead wrote a truly fascinating piece about the players and their wives going off to the training camp in Portugal. (CLICKY HERE). Now Gary, could you spell for me SOUR GRAPES?
but frankly, he comes nowhere near distinguishing himself as much as his brother Phil "The Donkey" Neville has. Not only did he start the season by signing for Everton (never a good way for a player to start one), he then proceeds to get sent off in his first Merseyside Derby,
he also manages to score one of the greatest own goals ever scored in his SECOND merseyside derby.
While Gary may be a Twat, Phil backs up his Twatishness with actions and because of this he collects the coveted "Golden Twat" award for this season. Let's hope this next season proves to be another golden season for Neville Brother Twatishness.
And as the well known Frank Sinatra song goes, The end is here. The last award of the evening is the What do we have to look forward to most? award.
Frankly, there is no single winner here. There is a lot to look forward to. Mark Gonzalez is certainly going to be an exciting player for us next season, and judging by his performance in the game against EIRE last night, he has the potential to be a match winner on his day.
The signing of a proven, international quality striker to replace the very recently departed Fernando Morientes (more on this in a few posts time) is something that has got me quite excited. Certainly anyone we add to the squad now is going to improve it and I think that is very exciting.
but arguably the most exciting thing about next season is that for the first time in a dozen or so years, we now have the squad to make a serious title challenge. We may not prise the title from The Chavs hands next season but I think us and Man Ure will give them a very, very good battle. And if that isn't something worth looking forward to then nothing is.
And that's it. The Season 05/06, as far as this blog is concerned, is now over. To borrow a line from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels "It's Been Emotional" and when it comes to football, I'm very much running on empty. Unlike most summers I usually have I will be busy, so hopefully by the time August 19th comes round I, like every other fan, will be raring to go.
Still, from the TSA End Of Season Awards 05/06, it's goodbye and thanks for watching. And please, after watching these videos of Phil Neville, don't have nightmares.
posted by The Smiling Assassin at
11:53 pm
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