The Behind The Goal Awards 2014

What a season it has been in the Barclays Premier League. One of the closest title races for years has gone all the way to the final week of the campaign, and while it should be won by Manchester City now following Liverpool's dramatic collapse at Crystal Palace, you cannot take it for granted the way it has gone in recent weeks. At the bottom, Cardiff City have been relegated after just a single season in the top flight, along with Fulham and almost certainly Norwich City. Sunderland's upturn in form has come at exactly the right time, and Gus Poyet has got the Black Cats over the line for another year in the Premier League.

Leicester City and Burnley will join the elite next season after romping to the automatic promotion positions in the Sky Bet Championship; the latter defying this blog's prediction of an 18th-place finish. Derby County and Queens Park Rangers' play-off positions were nailed on for most of the season, but Wigan Athletic and Brighton and Hove Albion were made to sweat for theirs; the Seagulls not securing a top-six finish until stoppage time at Nottingham Forest on the last day. We await the play-offs with excitement once again.

It's also been another enjoyable year on a personal level as I have continued Behind The Goal for a second season. Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my work and supporting the page.

Here are the 2nd annual Behind The Goal Awards. If you agree or disagree with any nominations or winners, let me know either on this page or on Twitter @adamgray50.

Player Of The Year:

Nominations: Wilfried Bony, Steven Gerrard, Eden Hazard, Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez, Yaya Toure.

He has won the PFA and the Football Writers' awards, and now he has the hat trick. To score 30 goals in a season is not to be sniffed at, and the way in which he has rebuilt his reputation a year after the incident with Branislav Ivanovic is commendable.

The winner is Luis Suarez.

Goal Of The Season:

Nominations:

Christian Benteke (Aston Villa v Norwich at Villa Park)

Graham Dorrans (WBA v Man City at the Etihad)
Pajtim Kasami (Fulham v Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park)
Pablo Osvaldo (Southampton v Man City at St Mary’s)
Wayne Rooney (Man Utd v West Ham at Upton Park)
Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal v Tottenham at White Hart Lane)
Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea v Aston Villa at the Liberty Stadium)
Luis Suarez (1st goal, Liverpool v Norwich at Anfield)
Alexander Tettey (Norwich v Sunderland at Carrow Road)
Jack Wilshere (Arsenal v Norwich at the Emirates)

All types of goals in this list, and any could have won, but the winner is this beauty from an early season London derby.

Best signing of the season:

Nominations: Wilfried Bony,Fernandinho, Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic, Jason Puncheon, Willian.

This award goes to a player whose team would have been in serious relegation trouble without his signing. To come into the Premier League and score 15 goals for a mediocre side is no mean feat, and Swansea must be praised for taking a punt on a striker from Dutch football.

The winner is Wilfried Bony.

Manager Of The Year:

Nominations: Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes, Roberto Martinez, Manuel Pellegrini, Gus Poyet, Tony Pulis, Brendan Rodgers.

It is difficult not to give the award to Brendan Rodgers, considering how close he has taken Liverpool to the title, but the winner has taken his Crystal Palace team to a scarcely believable 11th place at the time of writing. I think people forget how bad they were under their sacked former manager Ian Holloway. They looked embarrassingly out of their depth at this level, yet they now have the potential to establish themselves as a tough-to beat, mid-table outfit.

The winner is Tony Pulis.

Premier League Rookie Of The Year:

Presented to the player playing his debut season in the top flight.

Nominations: Wilfried Bony, Gerard Deulofeu, Christian Eriksen, Fernandinho, Adnan Januzaj, David Marshall.

Any player that can adapt to the speed of the English game and instantly fit in will impress me, and it is no surprise that the likes of Borussia Dortmund are reportedly interested in his services, so for the same reasons as Christian Benteke won it last year I shall award it to one of the best, if still slightly underrated strikers in the league.

The winner is Wilfried Bony.

The Jose Bosingwa Award for Flop Of The Year:

Named in honour of its first winner, whose season was so bad it deserves permanent recognition.

Nominations: Jozy Altidore, Andreas Cornelius, Marouane Fellaini, Erik Lamela, Roberto Soldado, Ricky van Wolfswinkel.

These players have either flattered to decieve (Altidore), failed to live up to a big price tag or reputation (Lamela, Soldado), sent back to their former club (Cornelius), or just been plain rubbish (van Wolfswinkel). But the winner sums up his team's dreadful season on and off the pitch. There's no way he's good enough to play for Manchester United.

The winner is Marouane Fellaini.

Boob of the Year:

Nominations:

Manchester United appointing David Moyes

Tottenham wasting the Gareth Bale money
Cardiff sacking Malky Mackay to appoint Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Arsenal signing an injured Kim Kallstrom and not a striker in January
Andre Marriner sending off Kieran Gibbs instead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain against Chelsea

The winner is Manchester United appointing David Moyes. Little explanation necessary.