After every match, what passes for Amber Nectar’s High Command – invariably, it must be said, under the influence – gathers to dispense summary justice on the Tigers via the medium of, err, marking them out of ten. Often quite harshly…

A minimum of twenty minutes must be played, there are no easy marks, and 6.5 is about average. To qualify for our Better than Waggy or As Bad as Bamber sections, a player must have received in a mark in at least one-quarter in all of City’s League and Cup games; twelve matches this season. It’s as simple as that. Twenty-one players qualified. Here’s how the class of 2008/9 fared:

Better than Waggy

The rest

As Bad as Bamber

Little surprise about the ultimate winner, as Michael Turner led for almost the entire season – though Anthony Gardner (7.38) actually scored a higher rating from his eight games, and could have stolen top spot had he stayed fit towards the end of the season.

The stark contrast in City’s fortunes before and after the New Year are highlighted by the presence of two players who left in the January transfer window, Marlon King and Paul McShane (2nd and 6th respectively). In the months that followed their departure, no players were able to advance their total above the loan duo’s tally.

Surprisingly, three of the top five are players who’ve been here since our 2004-2005 League One campaign: Ian Ashbee, Nick Barmby and Boaz Myhill. Of the players signed permanently during the summer of 2008, Daniel Cousin scored highest. Some brand him ‘lazy’, but the man who scored at The Emirates and Old Trafford achieved a higher rating than the other player who netted at those grounds, Geovanni. Though the Brazilian was influential in our iconic wins against Fulham, Arsenal and Tottenham, his inconsistency across the whole season was noted and he ranked 10th overall.

Bernard Mendy, a man for whom the term ‘mercurial’ was coined, proved even more erratic and though he sparkled in some games, his late season form was so poor he tumbled down the rankings and only narrowly avoided unfavourable comparisons with a lanky late 80s carthorse.

Kevin Kilbane struggled to find form following his transfer window move, but he wasn’t helped by being played in midfield in many games, looking much more assured when deployed as a full back. Two strikers occupy the bottom slots, both linked by crucial goals against Fulham. Caleb Folan grabbed the winner on that memorable opening day (though in fairness the hard work was done by Craig Fagan), while Manucho bundled the ball in at Craven Cottage to secure three vital late season points (continuing the fairness though, much of the credit belongs to Richard Garcia, who tenaciously bludgeoned his way past defenders before delivering a cross so precise that the Angolan forward need only let the ball hit him to score).

The man described by Alex Ferguson as one of the most gifted finishers he’s ever seen and by Paul Duffen as a better long term investment than Stoke’s James Beattie (a baffling statement given that Manucho was only on loan) did very little to justify such comments and as such occupies the penultimate spot on our rankings table.  As for bottom spot, poor Caleb Folan has suffered a precipitous fall from grace in the last year. He was a symbol of the club’s ambition in 2007-2008 when we paid a then record fee of £1m for the supposed Irishman, however a year later the permanently offside high socked striker typified out of our depth floundering as we plummeted down the Premier League table with a front line weaker than the tea made by throwing a Tetley’s pyramid into the Humber.