RBM - Everton Player of the Year (Round One)

With the end of the 2013-14 season upon us, it's time to start handing out some Everton awards. The most prestigious of those of course is the Player of the Year honour, and this is sure to be a contentious one because so many players have stepped up and given excellent performances numerous times during the season.

To make things more fair, we here at Royal Blue Mersey have picked the top eight players we thought that were integral to the team's performances this season, and personified the Everton spirit best. We paired off these players in a Wimbledon style seeding off our votes and you will get to choose from these pairs, until we reach who should be our consensus Player of the Year.

So here we go, here's the top 8 players:

1. Seamus Coleman: Everton and Player's Player of the Year. Excellent season for the right back.
2. James McCarthy: Signing of the year for Everton, the human Swiss knife.
3. Romelu Lukaku: First Everton striker with 15 goals in a season in years.
4. Sylvain Distin: The elder statesman of the squad was a calming influence throughout.
5. Gareth Barry: Brought shape and poise to a midfield that allowed Martinez to play his game.
6. Ross Barkley: Absolutely flourished under Martinez's watchful eye.
7. Tim Howard: Best season in a while for the goalie, just when we thought he was over the hill.
8. John Stones: Just went from Barnsley to Brazil in fifteen months, nothing much.

Vote in each of the matchups presented, and the winner will move on to the next round. The polls will only be open for a few days, so don't forget to vote and spread the word as well!