Just a quick post to give the results of the latest poll and to inform you of the new one. Asked "Who is Barça's biggest rival in La Liga this season?" there was no surprise that the majority of you voted for Real Madrid. What was perhaps  a little surprising was that only 60% voted for Madrid while 21% voted for Sevilla. The other votes went to "other" with 10%, while 9% of you voted for "none". The next poll in the sidebar is for who will qualify from our Champions League group. Remember it's all very close at the moment with Inter on 6 points, Rubin and Barça on 5 points and Dynamo Kiev on 4. So get voting, and please feel free to use the comments section to discuss any of the internationals today. I just...

It seems as if the majority of readers agree with me that Leo Messi was our best player in the 2008/2009 season. Messi polled 333 votes giving him 56% of the vote. In second place with 109 votes (18%) was Andres Iniesta, followed by Xavi Hernandez with 57 votes (10%), Thierry Henry 33 votes (6%), Samuel Eto'o 25 votes (4%), Toure Yaya 12 votes (2%), Dani Alves 12 votes (2%) and Gerard Piqué 5 votes (1%). The new poll continues the Eto'o or Villa theme: who do you want to see as our first choice striker next season?

Apologies for the lack of posting over the last week or so, I really have been very busy. Besides, to write every day about the latest transfer rumour quite frankly becomes a bit boring. For today you have the chance to vote for the player you think was the best for Barça over the last season. I´ve already voted for Leo Messi, but there is certainly a case for other players. So, who is it for you?

I have to say I am a bit disappointed with the results of the latest poll on this blog. Asked whether you wanted to see Victor Valdés as Barça goalkeeper next season, 61% have replied "no". I know the poll gave no options for ifs or maybes but the result is surprising especially considering that Valdés has not conceded a league goal in 542 minutes, a run stretching back to March 1 when Atletico Madrid's Agüero scored near the end of the 4-3 defeat.

Of course the defence has a lot to do with the fact that we have now kept 14 clean sheets and only conceded 24 goals in 31 league matches this season, but I believe Valdés has played his part in our success. He can definitely be credited for the saves that helped us to...

The latest poll on Fcbnews asked who was Barça's next best player after Leo Messi. I have to admit I think this was one of the most enjoyable polls on this blog with Xavi and Iniesta battling it out for the honour. Both players held the lead at times but at the moment Iniesta just wins with 31% of the vote compared to Xavi's 29%. It's an interesting one: I think Xavi probably wins on consistency and efficiency, he scores more goals and also creates more; however, if I have to chose which of the two I would rather watch it would have to be Iniesta, he combines great passing with excellent close control and he is certainly better than Xavi when it comes to dribbling past defenders and he is also more versatile. At the end of the day we should just be grateful to have two such...

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There may be a touch of bias here of course but readers of this blog clearly believe that Leo Messi deserved to win this year's Ballon d'Or. With 256 votes (62%) the little Argentinian blew away his rivals. Xavi Hernandez was second with 39 votes pipping Cristiano Ronaldo into third place (37 votes) and Samuel Eto'o was fourth with 34 votes. Apart from the players listed on the poll there were also three votes each for Steven Gerrard and Ronaldinho, and there was also a vote each for "my girlfriend for her ball skills" and for "Nic for his hard work on this blog". Cheers!

I've stuck up another poll now to see who you think is most likely to stop Barça in this season's Champions...

The next vote is for who deserves this year's Ballon d'Or. The big...

It's hardly surprising given our current form that he vast majority of readers have voted in favour of Pep Guardiola. At the time of writing 28% believe he has done an "excellent" job, 38% rate his work as "very good", while 24% voted for "good". The 3% who voted for "poor" must either be Real Madrid fans or not know anything at all about football (which is the same thing really).

The next poll asks you who is the world's best goalscorer. Please send in your votes.

Yes, I know it's been a while, but finally we have things sorted to begin putting regular polls on the blog again. The first poll is on how well you think Pep Guardiola has done as coach so far this season. Please don't rate him just on yesterday's performance or on his dress sense. Has he the tactical nous we need, the motivational skills or the ability to read a game and make the right substitutions? You be the judge, click on one of the answers in the sidebar and then click the button in the bottom right hand corner to cast your vote.