It was again a topsy-turvy season for Cologne, but at least they escaped relegation comfortably after a scare or two. More often than not, the Cologne side appears to consist of Podolski and Novakovic, and nine others. The two front men have certainly won games on their own during a torrid season which saw Cologne move up and down the bottom half of the league like a yoyo. Podolski or Prince Poldi as he is known locally, is an idol in Cologne, but nothing can be taken away from the razor-sharp Novakovic, who finished third top scorer in the Bundesliga with 17 goals behind Mario Gomez and Papiss Cisse. However, others have played their part too. Michael Rensing was out of favour in Munich and the best decision he ever made was to move to Cologne, where he not only enjoys first team football, but has also become one of the best goalies in the land. Cologne was a venue more than any other that visiting sides dreaded. That was mainly due to the solid home form of Podolski and company, who beat top teams such as Bayern and Hannover out of sight. Unfortunately, poor results away from Cologne was their undoing in the long run.
