Rate our season.

Alan Pardew had a bit of a moan at the press earlier when they asked him for a mark out of ten with regard to rating our season.

Pards seemed unhappy with the media rating of seven out of ten and insisted that this season should be marked at around eight-and-a-half out of ten when you take the injuries and turmoil that the team has had to endure at times throughout the season into account. Fair or not? This is what I want you to decide.

Now I'm not saying that Pardew is right or wrong as that rating is his opinion. What I am looking for however is YOUR rating for the season, plus an explanation of why.

To keep this short and sweet, I'd give this season a rating of eight out of ten. Why? Well here goes.

I think we've done remarkably well when you consider our aim was merely to survive this year. We looked nailed on for 9th for a large bulk of the game yesterday, but it wasn't to be be and I don't feel too disheartened by finishing in 12th place instead. Losing a three goal lead is always gutting, but overall it's a mere blot on this season.

We've had key players out for the bulk of the campaign and had a change of manager halfway through the season which, fortunately, didn't destabilise us too much. We then had the sale of Andy Carroll to deal with, which looked to have tipped us over the egde towards a relegation battle. Luckily it never worked out like that.

I think eight is a fair rating as it also recognises that we could have done better during the campaign. From failing to invest in the January transfer window to losing at home to weaker teams to letting leads slip in injury-time we could have done better in any number of ways. For instance if we'd not conceded in injury time to Tottenham, Sunderland or West Brom we would sitting in 9th place. It wasn't just yesterday that cost us a top-half spot, it was various periods throughout the season that ultimately cost us. After all, the league table doesn't lie.

So my rating for this season is eight out of ten. Whether you agree or disagree is irrelevant as what I'm looking for is YOUR view and on something like this there will always be differing opinions.

Come on then, give us your marks out of ten.