While football success and failure is usually measured season to season, from August to May, the end of an year gives an opportunity to look back on the calender twelve months and see who we think has been worthy of appearing in this column.

Here’s a look at the teams and people who deserve to be nominated as the best performers of 2008. See our list and then suggest your own ‘winners of 2008’ at the end.

CRISTIANO RONALDO

This man has to be the biggest winner of 2008. Nobody else comes close really. Let’s look at what he has won during the year.

Premier League winners medalChampions League winners medalFIFPro world player of the yearBallon d’OrEuropean golden shoeUEFA Club forward of the yearUEFA Club footballer of the yearPFA Players player of the yearPFA Fans player of the yearPFA Premier League team of the yearFootball writers footballer of the yearBarclays player of the seasonBarclays golden bootBarclays merit award

I don’t think I have to say anything else do I

BARCELONA

A third place finish some eighteen points behind Real Madrid, coupled with a disappointing Champions League exit at the hands of Manchester United added up to a hugely poor 2007-08 season for Barcelona. It meant the end of Frank Rijkaard’s reign and a new beginning for the Club with the likes of Ronaldinho moving on.

Many people were surprised by the appointment of Reserve team manager and former playing legend Pep Guardiola and early results and performances seemed to support that surprise. However six victories of five or more goals and some quite wonderful performances from the team seem to have established Guardiola as a managerial hero as well.

In Europe, the qualifying round proved a formality and the fact that they topped their qualifying group undefeated seemed to go unnoticed in England as we all talk about which one of our four teams is going to win the tournament this year!

The year has got a whole lot better at the Camp Nou and I have a feeling that 2009 might be even better.

LIONEL MESSI

If this little genius had been fit for the whole of the year there is no doubt that he would have gone toe-to-toe with Cristiano Ronaldo in the player of the season awards.

Not since the great Diego Maradona have I seen a player who glides with the ball so effortlessly and terrorises defenders quite so much. He might not have won quite as much as Ronaldo but to be runner up in the Ballon d’Or, picked in the FIFPro world XI and win an olympic goal medal isn’t bad!

All he achieved was despite picking up an injury ruling him out of some of the season at a crucial time.

Both Pele and Maradona himself have said that Messi may be the best in the world. Recommendations don’t come much more highly than that. If they think he’s good then that’ll do for me!

FABIO CAPELLO

Don Fabio has achieved what was believed to be the almost impossible. He has turned England’s band of overpaid no-hopers into a band of overpaid some-hopers!

The side that looked so disjointed and dispirited under that buffoon Steve McClaren suddenly look like a disciplined and reasonably talented football team.

The 4-1 win in Croatia together with comfortable wins over Belarus and Kazakhstan have made him a national hero already. OK, it isn’t quite the same as beating Italy, Brazil and Spain but it’s a start!

The fact that he calls the England players by their surnames and demands that mobile phones are not used and demands that the players eat together and, best of all, has put a ban on the WAGS, all go towards making Capello one of my favourite people.

Obviously, should we not win the World Cup I will join the English press in absolutely destroying the man and saying that I knew all along that he wasn’t the man for the job!