Manager of the season

This season saw many candidates of manager of the season; from Roberto Martinez's overly positive approach (often mocked by many) bearing fruit as his side survived relegation after an amazing turn of form at the end of the season, claiming scalps such as Man United, Arsenal and Liverpool, to Brendan Rodgers guiding his Swansea side to an 11th place finish in their first ever season in the top-flight and playing one of the most attractive brands of football in the league. These are my candidates and who I think should have been the eventual winner:

Paul Lambert's Norwich side have gone about their business in a no-frills fashion. With much of the praise and many of the headlines going to Swansea and their attractive passing game it was easy to forget about Norwich City but they only finished a place below Swansea on goal difference. Their steady run throughout the Premiership season and star man Grant Holt scoring 15 league goals this season (the second highest Englishman in the league behind Rooney). They're not a team of stand-out stars but they are all reliable, hard-working footballers who will give everything for the club and that is the kind of player which will thrive under Paul Lambert's guidance. With 12 wins, 11 draws and 15 losses in their first season back in the Premiership since 2005, all masterminded by Lambert meaning they have been the steady surprise package after the first months of the season, their best results both coming in North London with a thrilling 3 - 3 draw at the Emirates Stadium and a shock 2 - 1 win at White Hart Lane. Lambert's first taste of Premiership management ended well with a 12th place finish.

Brendan Rodgers' Swansea City side have been the best of the bunch out of the promoted teams this season (a season in which none of the promoted sides went straight back down for the first time since 2001-2002). Their attractive passing game being complimented by a hard-working defensive side of play, being helped by the Liberty Stadium becoming something of a fortress; grabbing 7 wins at home including victories over Man City and Arsenal. Rodger's also proved to be astute in the transfer market, grabbing 'keeper Michel Vorm for £1.5million who has proved to be one of the signings of the season and also signing loanee Gylfi Sigurdsson in January whose goals have helped ease the burden from top-scorer Danny Graham. Rodger's led Swansea to an 11th placed finish in their first-ever season in the top-flight which is an outstanding achievement.

Roberto Martinez's nomination by me would probably have been laughed off in February because in the previous months they won just one game from December 10th to February 11th (10 games), however in these games they did draw against Chelsea and Liverpool consecutively but at this time they were firmly in the relegation places. On March 24th however, Wigan's season, along with their fortunes changed. They went to Anfield with many expecting them to be heavily beaten but they managed to dig in and grab a vital, and shocking, 2 - 1 victory, this signaled a change in Wigan's season as they proceeded to win 6 of their last 8 games, including home wins against Man United and Newcastle and a vital 2 - 1 away win against Arsenal. Martinez's side also play an attractive brand of passing football without any real reward up until the last part of the season but Martinez's philosophy (as well as his unerring and unrelenting positivity) was partnered with a new self-belief among the players and a hard-working mentality. Wigan eventually pulled through after being considered down and out to finish in 15th place, 7 points above the relegation zone.

Alan Pardew's Newcastle side were the surprise package of the whole league this season. After being predicted another season of mediocrity and with troubles brewing at the beginning of the season including Joey Barton's dodgy departure and Mike Ashley once again troubling the on and off pitch goings on it was hard to predict Newcastle would do any better than a mid-table finish. With no real cash being spent in the transfer market with only £14million being spent on players such as Davide Santon, Yohann Cabaye and Gabriel Obertan and with free signings Demba Ba from relegated West Ham and Sylvain Marveaux from Rennes, it looked to be an unspectacular season for the Geordies. Fast-forward to May and a 5th-place finish, with them for much of the season battling for 3rd and them beating Manchester United 3 - 0 and Chelsea 2 - 0 to show just how much they improved this season. Their striking partnership of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse has netted 29 goals in the league between them and both highly regarded as signings of the season; not bad for getting Ba on a free and Cisse for just £10million in January. Their team has shown amazing spirit and a hard-working ethic which has been mastered by Pardew and the team he has built since taking over in December 2010. 

For me,  I have saved the best until last in Manager of the season and I was happy to hear that Alan Pardew has been awarded manager of the season and also LMA manager of the year. He has masterminded Newcastle's highest league finish since the days of the late great Bobby Robson and he also oversaw one of Newcastle's strongest openings to a season by going 11 games unbeaten before losing to Man City. Their signings have all integrated well into the squad and the return to form of Hatem Ben Arfa has been paramount in maintaining their form but Pardew has shown his managerial skills by giving them the man-management and managerial approach the Newcastle players have needed and so far, thrived under.