Scott Parker took all the plaudits at the end of the season, but some fans must have for-gotten that he was not greatly liked at the start of the campaign. He was too negative and stopped the flow of West Ham s attacking play too often, but as the season

Scott Parker took all the plaudits at the end of the season, but some fans must have for-gotten that he was not greatly liked at the start of the campaign.

He was too negative and stopped the flow of West Ham's attacking play too often, but as the season progressed his influence became more pronounced, he became more confident and he was the heart of Zola's Hammers.

Valon Behrami was another who took time to gel into the team. Nobody was quite sure what he did at the start of the season, but as he became used to the pace and style of English football, the Swiss international became the engine room of the midfield.

The best illustration of this was just how much he was missed by the team when his season was cut short by injury in March.

Mark Noble had a difficult campaign where he didn't look fit for much of it, but aside from successive penalty misses, he improved as the season went on, but will need to repeat that improvement again to keep his place.

Jack Collison came into the side in November and was a breath of fresh air - a midfielder who actually went into the opposition box to try and score! Luis Boa Morte was the victim of the boo boys for so much of the season, but never stopped giving 100 per cent and although he may never score another goal, by the end of the campaign he had won the fans round and even earned a place in the Portuguese squad.

Lee Bowyer had a chance to impress and then was shipped out to Birmingham, while Matty Etherington and Hayden Mull-ins, two stalwarts of the side, were allowed to go to Stoke and Portsmouth respectively.

Savio arrived amid hu-ge publicity, but looked too raw and out of his depth and in the end was completely overshadowed by the emergence of Junior Stanislas, who still has a lot to learn, but could be a real find.

The unlucky Kieron Dyer flirted with us by coming into the team and looking good and then dropping out again through injury.

Josh Payne showed promise, while Radoslav Kovac was not worth the air fare from Moscow.

Who else? Oh yes, Julien Faubert also played in midfield - he was absolutely terrible!