yeah there is a clear difference. a star player is the player who is always mentioned by people who never really watch the games and only know about the club through whats in the media. robinho is obviously our star player since he gets the most media attention and so people who know nothing much about city think of robinho first. you wouldnt get many non-city fans who would think of ireland or kompany as player of the season / best player simply because they aren't as high profile and so couldn't possibly be as important (or more important)
i hope that makes sense because i just read it back and it seems a bit muddled but i'll be buggered if im re-wording it!