Don't apolagise about putting threads up, it's what ratings are for to make things better.
The text is bad, I understand thats the program but it is going to continually bring down the quality of the banner. If you can't do anything fancy do a simple bold white text with a black border. (try
www.dafont.com).
In ym opinion the pics in the bg just don't stand out enough, try different looks with different parts of Bg's covering different things to achieve different effects.
Keep trying, you'll get better. (get photoshop too

)

.
The main cut is bad, the left side of his face looks cut off