Ricardo Fuller, The Maverick Genius

Ricardo Fuller has never been to everyone's taste, with his inconsistency, stroppiness, dodgy knees and moments of downright lunacy. But love him or loath him, there is no denying his talents.

Having had only one previous top flight attempt (with Portsmouth in 04/05), this season was Fuller's chance to shine and show the world what he could really do.

At first he didn't disappoint, far from it in fact, scoring Stoke's first ever Premier League goal in a 3-1 loss to Bolton, followed up by an incredible solo effort in a 3-2 victory over Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa. The latter was voted Goal Of The Month for August.

That goal against Aston Villa should have been Fuller's springboard to success, but despite scoring six goals in his 20 appearances this season, goals have now become hard to come by, and the contreversy keeps mounting on Ricardo Fuller making him seem more Pete Doherty than Bob Marley. 

The most famous incident is probably that slap on Stoke Captain Andy Griffin during his side's 2-1 loss at West Ham on the Dec. 28.

At halftime Stoke had a relatively surprising one goal lead, and although under pressure from West Ham, looked as though they could go on and grab their first three points on their travels.

This all changed when in the 51st minute Carlton Cole turned Andy Griffin a little too easily for Fuller's liking, before firing the ball past a helpless Sorensen.

The players returned to their positions for the kick off, with cautious optimism from the fans that they could still pick up a rare away point.

That belief soon turned sour, when, with tempers wearing thin, Ricardo Fuller strode over the pitch to his Captain, before giving him a quick clip across the cheek (hardly the vicious striking some had made it out to be), giving referee Mike Jones no choice but to send him off.

The remaining Stoke players rallied together brilliantly but eventually succumbed to a later winner from a seemingly offside Diego Tristan.

Moments such as this and the occasional strops have blighted what could have been a brilliant season for Ricardo Fuller who recently staggered out of Stoke's loss to Sunderland with a dislocated shoulder, an injury that could now keep City's Jamaican hero out for the rest of the season. 

Stoke's joint top goal scorer last season (15) could well have now played his last game in the red and white stripes of the Potteries.

This would be much to the disappointment of most Stoke fans who will miss moments such as his astonishing hat-trick against promotion rivals West Brom, their first Premier League goal and that phenomenal effort against Aston Villa.

On a bad day, Ricardo Fuller can be the most infuriating player on the pitch, from not tieing his laces to just seeming generally disinterested.

But when in the mood, he can dazzle the fans and scare any opposition defence silly, no matter how good, and is an integral member of Stoke's side.