This was confirmed yesterday, making Thierry the first man to retain the award. He's also all but uncatchable for the Premiership's golden boot, as well as the European version.

In the PFA team of the year, Arsenal went one better than last year, with Lauren joining Henry, Campbell, Cole, Vieira, and Pires.

Personally I think Toure was unlucky to miss out, having been arguably the equal of Campbell, and possibly better than Lauren when deputising during the regular right-back's absence. But I guess there's no place in a team selection like this for a jack-of-all-trades. Perhaps they should name a couple of such players as subs. Scott Parker was the surprise winner of the young player of the year award, beating Toure and John Terry. Money talks, perhaps...?

The rest of the PFA team of the year is Howard (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Lampard (Chelsea), and van Nistelrooy (Man Utd).