By theimps.tk
May 18 2006

It's that time of year again where we get to rate all the players who played for the Imps this season including the crap. It was an odd season where some of the so called "better players" were constantly costing the Imps points whereas the "awful" were winning the games

Jamie McCombe The new captain fantastic was just that this season and was often an unsung hero and his improvement over the last 2 years has been absolutly massive and he has turned into our best player. He was the only player at the club worthy of winning the Player of the Season and after cleaning up at the official awards, he looks set to get a fair few of this website's awards.

Dean Keates *now left the club* 12 months ago, I was the only person excited about the signing of Dean Keates and I guaranteed you he would be good but even I was surprised with just how good he was for us. It's unlikely you'll see a midfielder tackle so much in your life and he tried harder than any other member of squad. It's a pity he left because we might have gone on to win promotion with him in the squad.

Luke Foster An exciting young player who had a good first season at Sincil Bank, despite disappearing for weeks on end at times. Didn't put in a single poor performance and he was easily the most under-rated and under-used player at this club. However, he could be in for a big year next year and I'd be prepared to be that he won't be a League 2 player for much longer.

Jeff Hughes The young Northern-Irish defender didn't get off to a great start with the Imps and in his first few appearances, seriously failed to impress but after replacing Mayo against Wrexham, there was never going to be a debate as to who the first choice left back would be. A very good debut season for the young defender and another player who won't be in League 2 for much longer.

Lee Frecklington The surprise break through player of the year. He quite literally came out of no-where and quickly established himself as one of the most exciting young players in the division. His vision and passing are excellent and once this boy gets confident, he will be a great player.

Colin Cryan I'll admit that I didn't actually notice Cryan on the pitch for the majority of our early games and I didn't particulary rate him, however, he went on throughout the season and became a good part of the defence but tiredness caught up with him, however, he'll be very happy with his first year at Sincil Bank.

Lee Beevers I know some of you won't like this but the fact of the matter is, when he plays in his natural position of right back, he is a very good player and the only times he has put in a bad performance are when he's played out of position.

Jamie Forrester He's shown why he's one of the best strikers in the lower leagues and I'm delighted he's signing permanently. Hopefully next season his goals will effect more than just one game.

Scott Kerr I won't lie, I do like Scott but his vision and set pieces are awful. If you watch him, he's always looking at the ball when he's kicking it. However, there were few players who tried harder this year but it was obvious that he was exhausted by the end of the season.

Gareth McAuley I've seen people make comments like he's a great defender but if he's such a great defender, how come he never makes a tackle? If you look at a lot of the goals we conceed, he's within 5 yards of the scorer but he doesn't even try to make a tackle. He might well be playing in the championship next season but the chances of him holding down a first team place are slim.

Marvin Robinson How did he end up as top scorer? Seriously, he has a great finish but he spents 90% of his time moaning about decisions not going his way. I'm glad he's been offered a new contract but I highly doubt that he will hold down a first team place.

Simon Yeo Lol, messiah??? Yeo had a very short impact in January but overall, he has been pretty ineffectual since rejoining and it was no coincedence that once he got injured at Boston, we started scoring plenty of goals. A good finisher to have around but not nearly as good as everyone makes him out to be, 3 good months out of 3 and a half years at the club don't make him a legend.

Gary Birch I personally rate Birch (incase you hadn't guessed) and in a one on one situation, there are no better finishers at this club, however, I'll be prepared to admit that sometimes he is a bit guilty of not putting his heart into the game but he is a very dangerous threat in the area.

Francis Green *now left the club*Hardly played, moaned in the paper, sent out on loan, came back, played well before turning crap again. Green was a frustrating player but at the end of the day, you wouldn't put your house on him even getting a shot on target and I'm glad he's gone.

Nat Brown Not bad considering he's played out of position the vast majority of the season and he's scored some absolutly beautiful goals but at the end of the day, his overall play was quite sloppy and if he didn't have a contract until next season, I'd have been surprised if he'd stayed.

Derek Asamoah *now left the club*I don't even know where to begin with Asamoah, whereas Green was frustrating, Asamoah was just damn mind-numbingly inconsistant. One minute you'd be amazed at his trickery on the wing and the next you'd be calling for him to been taken off. He wasn't a bad player but his selfishness in the area, coupled with his lack of goals makes his realise come as no surprise.

Alan Marriott When City played Northampton, Marriott acted like he hadn't got his head screwed in and he was the same pretty much all season long. He had a brilliant night at Fulham but other than that one night, he has had a very poor season by his standards. He stands directly behind the walls (that he sets up) at free kicks and then moans when the opposition score because he couldn't see the ball. Big improvement is needed next year if the Imps have a chance of going up.

Paul Morgan Is this seriously the same bloke who has been a great captain over the past few seasons? Granted he's been injured and suspended a bit but it says it all that the defence looked more comfortable without him this season. Still the best defender at the club "on his day" but he hasn't had a single one of those days this season.

Paul Mayo I was never convinced by Mayo, I thought he was rubbish before he went to Watford and he was pretty rubbish when he came back. How he is worth that amount of money is completely beyond me and if his contract was due to expire, I'd be surprised if he hadn't got released.

Martin Gritton You can see why he wasn't getting a starting place at Grimsby now. I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt for the first few matches due to lack of match fitness but he never improved and is a complete waste of the club's money.

Steve Robinson *now left the club*This guy played fantasticallly in his first few games for the club, however, as time progressed, he became more disappointing, he never looked up, not even when the ball was being passed to him and it's no surprise that he's been released.

Jude Stirling Enough said.

Ollie Ryan Whether is was a lack of look or confidence, to hit every single shot straight at the keeper isn't good enough and in the games against Cheltenham (home) and Wrexham (away), he could have scored, however, straight at the keeper and the other team went down the other end of the pitch and scored. Definatly not one for the future.

Simon Rayner Looked good in his 3 games this season and I thought it was a bit unfair that Marriott was able to just walk straight back into the side. A good shot stopper but whilst Marriott's at the club, he'll never be first choice.

Danny Bacon Hardly played before being sent out on loan but I'd be very surprised if he ever became a first team regular.

Matt Bloomer *now left the club* Hardly played for City but I'm pleased he's near enough got himself a guaranteed contract with Cambridge after spending a loan spell there this season.

Richard Logan *now left the club* Scored 2 goals on loan and everyone thought he was the answer, if he was the answer, what was the question?