2016
A league round up of Top 100, 1 & 2
With season two coming to a end of Top 100 and with only 6 games remaining, Arsenals manager Michael Bowes runs through each division of the main talking point for what's still to play for in the league
Division 1.
With Barcelona look to have wrapped up the Divison 1 title being 11 points ahead with 18 still to play for its the relegation battle which looks to be taking centre stage. Sevilla sit rooted at the bottom of the table and 17 points behind which sadly means they will most likely be playing Divison 2 football next season. With 4 being relegated that leaves 3 places still up for grabs. Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen and Milan all currently hold them places all sitting on 28 points. Valencia, Lazio & Inter will all be looking over their shoulders. Lyon have to play 2 of the sides involved in the fight, Bayer Levekusen will battle against 3 including AC Milan last game at home which is Beddows only game against the bottom 7 which could be a huge game for both sides. David Seniors Valencia also have to play against 3 of the sides down there, Lazio have a tough run in and only play against 1 of the sides and Inter against 2.
Verdict
17. Valencia
18. Lyon
19. AC Milan
20. Sevilla
Division 2.
Dortmund and Schalke look to battle for the title but it's the play off places which is wide open in division 2. 8 teams could quite easily find them self in the 4 places come the end of the season. Roma, Spartak Moskva, Wolfsburg & PSG currently hold these spots but Everton, Newcastle, Monchenglabach & Tottenham will be pushing the to the wire. Roma will fancy their chances with their run in and look to be certainly 1 of the sides that will be in the play offs. Spartak Moskva have a tough run in with promotion hopefuls Napoli away and play offs chasing Monchenglabach and Wolfsburg. Wolfsburg also play the same oppositions. PSG still have to play top 2 Dortmund and Schalke but will have high hopes they can grab a play off spot with the quality the have. My old club Everton still have to travel to Monchenglabach and have home ties against Newcastle & Napoli and I expect them to grab the last spot again in the plays offs. Newcastle have some tough games away to Everton and Dortmund and would be tip to just miss out. Monchenglabach have the hardest run in by playing 4 of the sides fighting for the 4 spots, home games against Wolfsburg, Everton and Dortmund with a away game in Russia. Tottenham are the furthest away being 6 points behind but only have to play Dortmund at home.
Verdict
4. Roma
5. Wolfsburg
6. PSG
7. Everton
Arsenal Freshen Up In Numbers!
Arsenal have been rather busy in the market recently, revamping the squad. The likes of Gareth Bale, Medhi Benatia, Luke Shaw & Phil Jones have all made the trip to the red side of London. With Michael Bowes not stopping with negotiations, he continued to search for the quality in the areas of the squad he thought lacked stability. MB was very adamant atleast 1 world class central midfielder was needed, the Arsenal leader turn't to Bayerns very own 'Arry Redknapp himself, Gursimran Brar. A deal which was agreed all the way back on the 9th April and took days of negotiations was completed on 28th April that saw Douglas Costa move back to Germany. A familiar face of many English heads from his days at Liverpool would be part of the deal to take Costa away from the attacking hands of MB, that man was Xabi Alonso. The world class midfield Arsenal was craving all season! Time isnt something the Spainsh man holds with him being 34 years old but something he can bring is experience and quality. Young German prodigy Max Meyer also joins but it isn't understood wether or not he can displace the attacking trio of Willian, Barkley or Bale for a starting spot.
With one central midfielder in and with enough time to try and find someone to partner Alonso, Bowes went on the hunt for a second deal. Enzo Perez would be the man he decided on. The Argentine came at a price of Paulo Henrique Ganso along with Marco Van Ginkel & £9m exchanging hands. A cheap price for someone who's rated at 91. Arsenal started the MB reign with Wilshere & Fernando holding the midfield, with recent dealings the new pairing of Alonso and Perez plan to end the season with a few games under there belt.
With depth lowing and the age of the squad getting high, MB looked to move in the market to replace the higher rated players for younger, hungry squad team members. The likes of Per Mertesacker, Reges Fernando & Ezequiel Lavezzi who are all close or over the dreaded 30 age limit and wouldn't be guaranteed minutes due to the recent transfers were the men Bowes looked to ship out and bring in players who were more suitable for the roles of squad players and can mature into first team regulars. Marc Bartra of CSKA Moskva was the first man to be brought in, the ever reliable Reges Fernando would depart. With a CB being brought in Per Mertesacker was pushed even further down the pecking order with less minutes promised, talks with Gav Harmer's Sampdoria started and Italian Roberto Soriano was the man on his lips. £9m & Per Mertesacker would eventually move to Italy to seal the deal.
After looking at the transfer market for what deals wheeler and dealer Bowes could find, he spotted no other than Hamburg's RB Dennis Diekmeier, with a price tag of £8m Arsenal decided to match it and proceed to contract negotiations with the 26 year old German. All papers were signed and within hours was shipped out to Top 100 president Frank Hirst's Genoa. With the Divsion 4 title and automatic promotion still widely open, MB hopes the RB can be a big part in the last 6 games and prove his worth.
Can It Last?
Last night, for the first time this season, Espanyol moved out of the relegation zone. A string of strong form saw them leapfrog last nights opponents, West Brom, to gain a one point advantage over the drop zone. Since Earle has taken over the Spaniards have lost only 3 of their 17 league fixtures while recording 9 wins. On the 17th of April a tough defeat to Dynamo Moskva seemed to doom Earles side but a 3 game winning streak has seen hope reappear.
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| The keeper Espanyol deserves? J. Roberto |
Three days after their impressive victory the Spaniards traveled to face fellow relegation threatened Celta Vigo away. Confident from their previous result Espanyol got off to another strong start with an unexpected screamer from 37 year old center back Rafael Marquez in the 11th minute. However, the lead lasted only 7 minutes as Lewis Holtby leveled the score. With half time approaching it looked as though the teams would be going in at 1-1 but 3 minutes before half time the boot of Rafael Marquez found the ball again and sent it sailing into the top corner for the Mexicans second goal of the game and season. Coming into the second half it looked hard for Celta Vigo, this was made tougher when a rash challenge by Alessio Romagnoli resulted in a second yellow. Following the sending off Espanyol took control and Leonardo Pavolleti scored before Marko Vejinovic wrapped up a 4-1 victory for Espanyol. Jimenez Roberto was again voted man of the match with another strong performance in goal.
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| 4 goals in 3 games L. Pavolleti |
In an interview after the game the following was said.
So that's 3 wins in a row, what would you say has lead to this string of results?
Well we have a strong squad with some strong players and obviously most of them are new so I think they've just taken their time finding their feet. Now that some of the boys like Leonardo (Pavoletti) are finding their form I think these types of results should become a regular occurrence.
How important is Jimenez Roberto to the team at the moment and what are your plans for next season?
Yes he's very important, every keeper is to their team. But you look at the 3 games he's had for us and you can see how impressive he is. We've been in contact with Milan about possibly loaning him next season but we are unsure about that at the moment, if we can't get him then I'm sure Volkan (Demirel) can step up and Eloy (Room) will be eager to get on too. We are also bringing in Timo Plattel who has had a very impressive season at Twente and so he could be in with a shot too.
Some fans have said you aren't focusing enough on bringing in top players to help the first team and that some of the players brought in aren't what are needed, what would you say to them?
Well firstly not many of the fans can say much as hardly any of them turn up, we had just over 20,000 tonight and we have the lowest total attendance in the all 5 divisions this seasom which is disappointing and could have a pretty negative impact on the players. As for my transfers that's not accurate, Alvaro Arbeloa, Edin Visca, Jose Reyes, Jorge Rolando, Ragnar Klavan and Volkan Demirel have all joined this April, all are in or threatening for a first team spot.
What about the likes of Sandro Wagner, Muhammet Demir, Andre Claro, Federico Macuello and so on?
What about them? Why have I signed them? Because I think they are great assets for our team. If I don't think a player is good enough I wont sign them. People asked questions when I signed Sofiane (Hanni) because he wasn't "first team material". Well all I can say is since joining he's been our most consistent performer. He hasn't had a start but has come on eight times and each time has had a solid game, and so will all the players when they are called upon.
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| £5.5 million signing. A. Delort |
Would I pay a fee I didn't feel a player was worth? Not at all. We payed what we had to to get him as other teams were bidding. And yes I think he will. Maybe not this season as we have two top players playing up front and he's still settling in but soon enough he'll prove his worth.
Okay and just finally, survival, is it possible?
Of course we are out of the relegation zone and our key players are hitting top form. If we can replicate our recent form I think we can survive. We have some very tough games but the team is ready for anything and want to stay up.
Next up for Espanyol are SC Internacional away. The Brazilians have drawn their past 3 games and can either move to the top of the league or drop out of the top 7 depending on how the fixtures go.
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| T. Plattel (above) D. Gray (below) |
Copa Del Burro - The Final Analysis
The Copa Del Burro came to a conclusion last night, as Real Madrid of Division One, led by Roy Keane travelled to Bilbao and the second leg against Gareth Crisp’s Athletic Club.
Madrid could be forgiven if they had taken their eye off the ball in this competition, as they are currently equal on points with Bayern in Div 1, although they trail Spanish rivals and league leaders Barcelona by 11 points.
Crisp’s men however will have viewed their journey to the final as something of an enjoyable adventure. The North coast side are bottom of Div 2, 16 points from safety with only 21 points available. They could in fact be relegated this evening dependent on results.
Going in to last nights final, Keanes men held a 4 - 1 advantage following a comfortable win at the Bernebeau in leg 1.
Athletic Club (1) v (4) Real Madrid Att: 9,627
The match kicked off in front of just under 10,000 fans in the ground. It was the home side who had the first chance. DR Congo striker Mbokani beat Hart, but his effore dribbled wide of the post after 11 minutes.
Madrid soon got themselves into the running though. Hazard forced a good save from Claudio Bravo on 19 minutes, and then went better 2 minutes later. The Belgian was released by Busquets, and his shot arrowed into the centre of the goal. That left the tie at 5 - 1 on aggregate to Madrid, and essentially game over.
Fabregas almost scored 60 seconds after the goal, and in the final piece of first ha;f action, Sergio Ramos went into the referees notebook.
Crisp decided to ring the changes at the break in an attempt to shake things up and at least make a fight of things. Gentner, Gomez & Bueno were withdrawn, and Kostic, Bacca & Lennon were introduced.
Half time substitute Bacca
The changes almost paid dividends just 4 minutes into the second half. Balenziaga put Bacca through, but unfortunately the Wookie fired over the top.
With the tie being a dead rubber by this stage, the second half was a quiet affair. Madrid had a couple of opportunities around the hour mark, and Fabregas and Rodriguez managed to join Ramos in the referee’s notebook, but Ream Madrid really just saw the tie out.
Post match, Roy Keane said he was pleased to get his hands on the Del Buro trophy, and called Athletic Club the second best side in Spain, thouroughly congratulating Crisp on his efforts in getting Bilbao to the final. He also said that he and the Madrid side were looking forward to representing Spain in the World Club Cup.
Crisp on the other hand gave all the plaudits to the team in white, and magnaminously wished Keane and Madrid all the luck for the World finals.
Del Burro Final second Leg TOTW
| Bravo A. Club - 8 |
| Juanfran R. Madrid - 7 |
| Marcelo R. Madrid - 7 |
| Ramos R. Madrid - 8 |
| Godin R. Madrid 7 |
| Busquets R. Madrid - 8 |
| Fabregas R. Madrid - 7 |
| Rodriguez R. Madrid - 7 |
| Neymar R. Madrid - 8 |
| Lewandowski R. Madrid - 8 |
| Hazard R. Madrid 9 |
Del Burro Competition overview
Ten Spanish teams took part in the innaugural Copa Del Burro, along with two Portuguese sides. Split across 4 groups of 3 teams, the clubs that started the competition were Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid in Group A. Group B was Athletic Club, Barcelona and Levante. In group C we had Sevilla along with Portuguese sides Porto and Sporting, and finally Group D consisted of Malaga, Espanyol and Celta Vigo.
The competition saw 31 individual fixtures take place, and amazingly not one single game finished goal less.
Group Results and tables
| Group A | ||
| Date | Fixture | Result |
| Weds 24th Feb | A. Madrid v R. Madrid | 0 - 5 |
| Weds 2nd March | Villareal v A. Madrid | 0 - 1 |
| Weds 9th March | R. Madrid v Villareal | 5 - 0 |
| Weds 16th March | R. Madrid v A. Madrid | 1 - 1 |
| Weds 23rd March | A. Madrid v Villareal | 0 - 1 |
| Weds 30th March | Villareal v R. Madrid | 3 - 2 |
| Group A | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | G/F | G/A | G/D | Points |
| Real Madrid | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 7 |
| Villareal | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 6 |
| Atletico Madrid | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 4 |
| Group B | ||
| Date | Fixture | Result |
| Weds 24th Feb | A. Club v Barcelona | 3 - 2 |
| Weds 2nd March | Levante v A. Club | 1 - 1 |
| Weds 9th March | Barcelona v Levante | 3 - 0 |
| Weds 16th March | Barcelona v A. Club | 1 - 2 |
| Weds 23rd March | A. Club v Levante | 4 - 0 |
| Weds 30th March | Levante v Barcelona | 1 - 1 |
| Group B | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | G/F | G/A | G/D | Points |
| Athletic Club | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| Barcelona | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 |
| Levante | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | -7 | 2 |
| Group C | ||
| Date | Fixture | Result |
| Weds 24th Feb | Porto v Sporting | 2 - 1 |
| Weds 2nd March | Sporting v Sevilla | 0 - 1 |
| Weds 9th March | Sevilla v Porto | 0 - 1 |
| Weds 16th March | Sporting v Porto | 0 - 1 |
| Weds 23rd March | Sevilla v Sporting | 2 - 3 |
| Weds 30th March | Porto v Sevilla | 0 - 2 |
| Group C | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | G/F | G/A | G/D | Points |
| Porto | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| Sevilla | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| Sporting | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 3 |
| Group D | ||
| Date | Fixture | Result |
| Weds 24th Feb | Celta Vigo v Malaga | 1 - 2 |
| Weds 2nd March | Malaga v Espanyol | 3 - 2 |
| Weds 9th March | Espanyol v Celta Vigo | 0 - 2 |
| Weds 16th March | Malaga v Celta Vigo | 2 - 0 |
| Weds 23rd March | Espanyol v Malaga | 3 - 4 |
| Weds 30th March | Celta Vigo v Espanyol | 1 - 1 |
| Group D | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | G/F | G/A | G/D | Points |
| Malaga | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 12 |
| Celta Vigo | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 4 |
| Espanyol | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 10 | -4 | 1 |
A special mention should be given here to Malaga. Greg Billington's side were the only club to get out of the group stage without dropping a single point.
Knock Out Round's Fixtures and Results
| Weds 6th April | R. Madrid v Porto | 5 - 2 |
| Weds 6th April | A. Club v Malaga | 1 - 2 |
| Weds 13th April | Porto v R. Madrid | 0 - 3 |
| Weds 13th April | Malaga v A. Club | 1 - 2 |
| Weds 20th April | R. Madrid v A. Club | 4 - 1 |
| Weds 27th April | A. Club v R. Madrid | 0 - 1 |
Surprises and dissapointments
Not a huge number of shocks and surprises in the competition, but there are a couple of standouts that do fall into this category though. First off, Gareth Crisp getting his struggling second division side into the final. Another shock would also be Athletic Club beating division one leaders Barcelona 3 - 2 on opening night. This was backed up with a 2 - 1 win at the Nou Camp, so all in all the competition has been an outstanding one for the Bilbao side.
For Barcelona however, it was nothing short of an absolute shocker. In a group with two lower league sides, division 4 strugglers Levante joined Athletic Club and Barca, the Catalan side would have been expected to take maximum points. As it was, they only managed one victory, beating Levante 3 - 0 at home. The return leg though threw up what is arguably Levante's result of the season, a 1 - 1 draw.
Barcelona would have to be considered the biggest dissapointment of the competition, and an El Classico final was expected as the competition began. Barce have seemingly thrown their eggs into the division one basket however, dominating the league and should have that wrapped up with a few games to spare.
The other real surprise would be Villareal beating eventual winners Real Madrid in the final round of group fixtures. Andrew Kelly's division 5 outfit put in a sensational performance and came away with three well earned points.
Top scorers
It's no coincidence that the top scorer list is dominated by Real Madrid. Lewandowski comfortably picking up the Golden Boot award. Outsie of the players listed, nobody else scored more than 1 goal in the competition There were however 50 other individual goal scorers, and a total of 92 goals scored throughout the competition. Across the 31 fixtures played, this averages out at a smidge under 3 goals per game, meaning that no matter if your side won or lost, the chances are you had an enjoyable evening watching the game.
| Player | Goals |
| Lewandowski R. Madrid | 9 |
| Neymar R. Madrid | 6 |
| Bale R. Madrid | 4 |
| Mbokani A. Club | 3 |
| Hemed Malaga | 3 |
| Bueno A. Club | 3 |
| Brahimi Porto | 2 |
| Bacca A. Club | 2 |
| Parejo Sevilla | 2 |
| Amrabat Malaga | 2 |
| Sandro Villarreal | 2 |
| Lukaku Porto | 2 |
| Hazard R. Madrid | 2 |
Golden Gloves
A grand total of 14 clean sheets were kept across the competition. Once again, Madrid had the man at the top of the list. Joe Hart's 4 clean sheets representing just about 28% of all the clean sheets kept.
| Player | Clean sheet |
| Joe Hart R. Madrid | 4 |
| Casillas Porto | 2 |
| Pimparel Beto Sevilla | 2 |
| Manuel Neuer Barca | 1 |
| Jan Oblak A. Madrid | 1 |
| Alvarez Celta Vigo | 1 |
| Ochoa Malaga | 1 |
| Bravo A. Club | 1 |
| S Asenjo Villarreal | 1 |
Team of the tournament
Once again, no surprises here. The team of the tournament is dominated by the champions. Seven of the eleven players turned out in the white.
| Joe Hart - R. Madrid |
| Juanfran - R. Madrid |
| Marcelo - R. Madrid |
| Rakitskiy - A. Club |
| Jucelie - A. Club |
| Koke - A. Madrid |
| Brahimi - Porto |
| Fabregas - R. Madrid |
| Lewandowski R. Madrid |
| Neymar R. Madrid |
| Bale R. Madrid |
Manager of the tournament
1. Gareth Crisp - A. Club: Voted into number one place despite missing out on lifting the pot. Sneaked the top spot purely because his side over achieved so much comparative to their league position.
2. Roy Keane - R. Madrid: Champions. Top scorer. Most clean sheets. Seven of the XI team of the tournament players. If a man has put together that kind of domination, he has to be on the list.
3. Greg Billington - Malaga: Unbeaten in the group stage. Not only unbeaten, but 4 wins from 4 games. Not only that, but they played Athletic Club in the semi final stage, and forced the game into a one off play off fixture before eventually going out 2 - 0 in the sudden death match.
All in all, the first ever Copa Del Burro has been a fabulous competition, and hopefully next season the likes of Benfica and Valencia will also take part, and we can get a full house with all of the Iberian clubs taking part in the competition.
Congratulations to Roy Keane and Real Madrid on picking up this hotly contested piece of silverware
Putin Cup - Match Day 10 Update
The concluding fixtures saw a dramatic end to the Putin Cup with Dynamo having completed their fixtures powerless to effect the outcome and only being able to hope that Spartak could do them a favour by taking at least a point from Lokomotiv.
CSKA Moscow 0 v 2 Zenit
CSKA who until their last two fixtures looked like contenders for the cup hosted a Zenit side still looking to get their first points on the board.
The visitors recent improvement continued as they got off to the perfect start on 9 minutes when Van Ginkel latched on to a ball from Danny hitting it first time to give Valdes no chance in the CSKA goal.
CSKA weren’t going to make it easy though with Lodygin being called into action to prevent efforts from Benteks and Djuricic from levelling things.
Zenit however sealed victory in the second half when on 67 minutes Danny again was the provider this time for Dzyuba whose first touch took him past his marker before rifling a shot past Valdes.
A late effort from Dos Santos nearly gave the hosts the goal that their play had deserved but again found Lodygin on form in the Zenit net.
CSKA Chief Smith will be glad to see the back of this tournament that for so long promised so much and can now concentrate fully on their Div 3 promotion push, for Hassan he will be pleased to have finally broken their duck in the tournament and will hope they can carry the form into their push to move safely away from the Div 2 drop zone.
Spartak Moscow 1 v 2 Lokomotiv Moscow
It was a must win game for Loko who were looking for 3 points to overhaul Dynamo and clinch the Putin Cup at the death.
It started well for the visitors when in the 9thminute Mamaev threaded a ball through to Vucinic who stoked a sweet shot into the top corner beyond the despairing dive of Alvarado.
But the hosts weren’t going to lie down and within 4 minutes had drawn level, Popov neatly played in Berg who from close range made no mistake giving Guilherme no chance in the Loko goal.
If the nerves were beginning to jangle in the Loko camp they were eased on the 24 minute mark when Zurutza squared a ball to Mamaev who’s dipping shot left Alvarado stranded.
Having made it to half time with their lead in tact Loko came out for the second half with slightly less attacking intent and happy to absorb Spartak pressure and had Guilherme to thank on 50 minutes when he saved from a great Popov effort.
Spartak were struggling to make inroads into Lokos defense and when they did they found Guilherme equal to the challenge notably saving from Shirokov in the 73rd minute which could have set up a grandstand finish.
But despite Spartaks efforts they could not find away through and as the referee blew the final whistle it signalled jubilant celebrations from the away supporters.
Dynamo Boss Razzaque can have no complaints at the effort that Spartak put into this game and manager Houston will be looking for that effort to be carried on into their Div 2 promotion push. For Loko Gaffer Owen he can look forward to planning for the World Club Cup and also transferring the clubs cup performances into the league.
| Final Table | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 17 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 17 |
| Spartak Moscow | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 12 |
| CSKA Moscow | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 9 |
| Zenit St Petersburg | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | -7 | 3 |
OLYMPIAKOS vs FENERBAHCE - The Clan got Clunked in the Achillies cup Final
| OLYMPIAKOS 0 - 2 FENERBAHCE |
Fenerbahce beat Olympiakos in the Achillies Cup final tonight. The Scenes at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium are unbelieveable and the celebrations will carry on long into the night. Rumour has it that a large selection of the Fenerbahce fans (The longest serving season ticket holders) are invited to an after party at a secret location in Istanbul, (as long as they have no criminal record) which can hold over 3000 fans plus all the players and every member of the staff involved at the club. The President of The Yellow Canaries, Aziz Yıldırım says its the least him and his board of directors can do as the fans helped them win that game by singing their heart out... He went onto say "without fans, football is nothing, so its the least I can do. It will be an expensive night for the club to host, but I want to give something back to them who have turned out in their thousands to roar on there beloved club.
"Below are some of the fantastic scenes that took place tonight in Olympiakos's back yard".
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| CREATIVE CATS |
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| WE ARE NOT THUGS WE ARE FOOTBALL HOOLIGANS |
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| BALACLAVA BRUISERS |
There will be some sore heads in the morning for sure, but at least these guys in the above image will not be cold walking home after the party cold.
Hummels Arrives!
Juventus are delighted to announce the signing of German international centre back Mats Hummels this morning. The 27 year old will team up with fellow Germans; Christoph Kramer, Patrick Herrmann, Leroy Sane, Jonathan Tah, Davie Selke, Arianit Ferati & Lucas Boeder whom have all arrived since DP was appointed as Juve head coach during the creation of footballs elite Top 100 competition.
DP spoke briefly upon the transfer this morning "It was a great shame to see Giorgio move on to pastures new after an illustrious career in Turin & he will always be welcome here. William was here for a short time but proved he was of Juventus quality & it is also a shame to see him leave after his short stay but the arrival of Mats is huge for Juventus & further see's the future of Juve's defence placed well & truly in good hands. There were many clubs interested in Mats & it was a great transfer for the club to complete in regards to getting one over our rivals."
Hummels is likely to have an instant chance of silverware tonight as his new side play the 2nd leg of the Pavarotti Cup final against Napoli, a tie they go into with a 1-0 advantage.
Leverkusen board running out of patience with Noisy.
This morning's newspaper says it all for Noisy,
he is now in real danger of losing his job at the German club.
Rumours have been gathering pace all week since Noisy's famous outburst on SM Top 100 TV
where he spoke so upbeat about survival and that Leverkusen would survive without any problem.
Things wasn't to be as Leverkusen went down 3-2 in Italy to Dodger's Lazio and then followed it up with a tame 0-0 draw at home to Clough's Internazionale.
Leverkusen remaining fixtures
| [A] | - | Manchester United | ||
| [H] | - | Liverpool | ||
| [A] | - | Olympique Lyonnais | ||
| [H] | - | Atlético Madrid | ||
| [A] | - | Sevilla | ||
| [H] | - | Juventus | ||
| [A] | - | AC Milan |
Some tough games still lie in store for the Germans but we must look to the Lyon,Sevilla and Milan games as the real must win fixtures with all three clubs around us, getting something out of the other four will be a real bonus too.
If the worst thing was to happen and the club was relegated back to Division 2 you could guarantee these two vultures the Mckenzie bros would be at the front of the queue for the top talent.
McKenzie bros
The brothers both have an eye for talent and we would expect both Barcelona and Chelsea to come knocking for Brandt and Calhanoglu.
SM Top 100 TV (Episode Two)
Stephen Beddows & DP91 host the 2nd edition of SM Top 100 TV where they discussed amongst other things, the Cup final, the Shield final, real life football, Division 3 and many other aspects of daily life in SM’s Premier Game World!
CLICK READ MORE TO WATCH THE EPISODE
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch
Arsenal News Central!
In recent weeks Arsenal fans haven't had much to cheer about. There attractive style of play home and away has lead to being exploited at the back and results have shown. Since the 18th Feburary 2016, the gunners only managed 2 wins from 16 league games. Some may say Bowes was lucky to still be in the job but the board stood by the man they appointed 5 games into the season. Results have since improved. A 2-1 win away to Spanish strugglers Valencia was the start of the change of form. An away fixture to over achievers Porto was targeted to be a tough game, managed by the impressive Andre Guerra and high hopes of a top 4 finish in there first season in division one, a 1-1 draw would be the final result with Petr Cech in fine form to make sure the London outfit left with some points. Next that followed was the London derby, the last game before that 16 game streak kicked in which Arsenal won. Both teams lined up in strong fashion and what promised to be a cracker. With 1 place and 7 points separating the two sides it was a game of high importance. Arsenal ended up beating Chelsea 3-1 and completing the double over James McKenzie.
Michael Bowes has said all season he felt the side lacked a world beater after the sales of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. With wheeling and dealing being the main attribute of the English gaffer he went about his way trying to bring in players that fit that calibre. With messages and phone calls being floated about all the top mangers in Top 100, Bowes has to settle for the hardman himself Roy Keane. How MB got Roy's number remains to be seen but what we can confirm is talks went on for some days before a deal was agreed. The Welsh wizard, Gareth Bale was the man in question, the man MB wanted to return to London and be the star man at Arsenal. A big fee was agreed for the winger. Injury prone Jack Wilshere made the trip to Spain, Roy sent Arsenal a Crate filled with bubble wrap to export the centre midfielder across shores. Erik Lamela and Pierre Hojbjerg also made the trip.
Arsenal managed to wrap up another deal in hours, this time it would be the defence Bowes would strengthen. Medhi Benatia made the short trip from rivals Chelsea. Kieran Gibbs and Gabriel Paulista with £5m exchanging hands.
Next to leave Arsenal was squad players Oscar Duarte and Sanmartin Joselu, both players were brought in by Bowes for a combined fee of £18m. Highly rated Saido Berahino joins up and gives Oliver Giroud competition for the striking role
The final bit of transfer business left Arsenal fans scratching their heads. Highly rated frontman Anthony Martial would be leaving! MB managed to aquire the sought after man from Monaco for Theo Walcott and Francis Coqulein and was looking forward to watching the man grow in to a world beater. With a lot of teams interested Arsenal were swamped with bids but it was Joe Jordans Manchester United who won the fight. Luke Shaw, Phil Jones & £20m would arrive down south. MB added "There was negotiations with quite a few managers regarding Martial but I was adamant to find the right deal for the club. To be able to bring Luke Shaw here is phenomenal! A man along with Ross Barkley is 2 players I wanted to bring here and to any club I'm at. Joe Jordan was a pleasure to deal with and even laughed off the claim to throw in Jesse Lingard. I hope to deal with Joe in the short term future and wish them the best of luck going forward"
A future transfer has been pre agreed for sometime now and sees a highly rated winger leave with a former premier league star return to play for an English side again, who may that player be? Find out later this week!
SM Top 100 TV - Breaking News
Two darlings of Top 100 converged this afternoon outside of a London train station to do their thing and entertain the fans.
Yes, DP and PMW.
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch
An embarassing and completely mirthless ode to SM Top 100
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| The boys readying themselves for a night out with 'Keano'. |
Olympiacos. The Legend. A team in a hurry. A team and a manager that just love to win....next Wednesday against Broon's Fenerbache would be nice!
Hi everyone, I'm Alex the new (ish) manager of Div 5 side Olympiacos.
I arrived at SM Top 100 in March through pure chance. I posted on SM's facebook page regarding an article in their blog. Beddows replied to my post in the most solicitous manner that had me instinctively checking my back pockets for my wallet. It was still there. My dignity not so much. Like a balding, middle-aged broker at a Vegas convention wearing one of those stupid stickys that you handwrite your name on, and approached by a bottle blonde wearing entirely too much make-up and little else, I was seduced. Easily.
I took one look at SM Top 100 and the blog and that was it. 'Count me in', I said, entirely too hastily. And in I was. To Olympiacos, a mid-table team in Div 5 that had previously been relegated. Wonderful.
The squad really wasn't that bad. But 'wasn't that bad' is a phrase often heard in pubs around Castleford when mates ask you 'how did it go with that bird with the muffin top last night?' So there were none of my favourites. No De Rossi, No Alonso, not a whiff of an Alves or a Marchisio. But then I knew that before I took on the job. What there was, was some talent and some scope for growth and rebuilding.
I've been playing SM for 6 years and I can honestly say that SM Top 100 is without question the best GW. It has completely rejuvenated my like of the game which was starting to wane from being under challenged. I've fallen in love with my team and this GW. I see Olympiacos as the best and most difficult challenge I have faced in SM and hope to enjoy taking them through the leagues over the next few years.
I've sold some players to make way for some higher rated donkeys and I've been busy scouting youth talent, such that my youth squad is full to the brim of kids listening to 'grime' whilst playing FIFA 16 in between actual games of real life football where they merrily give the ball away with the faux shock of being caught with their fingers in an TOWIE 'c' list sleb. The blighters. They'll go far!
My obsession is such that I've started my own blog :
So I'm very serious about completely destroying this fine squad of overpaid, ignorant, nancy boys that will readily cover their face when they've been elbowed in the stomach. Haha! Boys will be boys. Bless.
Thank you to Stephen Beddows and Frank Hirst, Scott 'Broon' and David Senior and Gursimran and everyone else, all of you that make this GW what it is - a cauldron of deceit, backbiting and 'mates' deals. (Chortle), Just kidding about the deceit, hehe. If you're one of those managers unfortunate enough to have lost 30 games in a row and your team was relegated after 20 games, please, don't worry - there's always the AC Milan job available.
Thank you, good day and good luck shaggers!
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| An overpaid, ignorant, nancy boy. |
Putin Cup - Match Day 9 Update
Match Day 9 in the Putin Cup was a night of Moscow derbies with top two Spartak and Dynamo going head to head in their final group games to try lay claim to the cup whilst Lokomotiv and CSKA locked horns battling to keep themselves in the hunt.
Lokomotiv Moscow 2 v 1 CSKA Moscow
A Loko side who’s recent form in the competition has been on the rise hosted a CSKA side who have in the past weeks seen theirs slipping and were hoping that their visit to the Lokomotiv Stadium would reverse that trend.
With honours even through the opening exchanges the deadlock was broken in the 36th minute Vucinic teed up Samedov who’s shot from the edge of the area beat the dive of the despairing Valdes to put Loko ahead.
It looked like they would carry that advantage into the interval until a teasing cross from Dos Santos was met on the full by Djuricic who’s header left Guilherme wrong footed and restored parity for CSKA on 42minutes.
In a nervy second half neither side were willing to push forward and expose themselves to the counter and with little in the way of attacking intent it looked like the game was going to fizzle out into a draw until the 83rd minute when Samedov was on hand to turn a ball from Zurutuza passed Valdes for the winner.
Smith will be gutted as CSKA’s quest for the cup and World Club qualification ended tonight and will be looking to correct the dip in form which has also effected recent league results, Owen on the other hand knows that this result puts Loko’s cup destiny in their own hands going into their final fixture against Spartak.
Dynamo Moscow 2 v 1 Spartak Moscow
Spartak came to the Arena-Khimki hoping to find a Dynamo side still recovering from the hangover of their brave cup final defeat to Bayern whilst Dynamo were hoping to brush that set back aside in their quest for another chance of silverware.
There seemed to be no sign of mental or physical fatigue for the hosts who started strongly and took the lead in the 9th minute when Denisov curled a free kick around the wall that Alvarado could only admire as it sailed past him and into the net.
Spartak were level on 28 minutes however when Popov laid a ball to Munoz who from fully 30 yards unleashed a thunderbolt that caught Victor completely off guard and out of his ground as it rifled over him and under the bar.
10 minutes into the second half and Dynamo regained the lead, Damari threading a neat ball through to Davis who struck the ball in his stride giving Alvarado no time to react.
The visitors pushed forward and began to dominate the closing stages as Dynamo tired, sensing the need to freshen things up Razzaque used his allocation of substitutions on the hour which did enough to inject the necessary energy to see out the final 30 minutes unscathed.
In a finely balanced game Spartak boss Houston will be bitterly disappointed to have come away without a share of the spoils and having relinquished their chance of winning the cup, for Razzaque this will have been the perfect tonic but knows that cup glory could once again be snatched away from him at the death and will hope tonight's visitors will do them a favour next week against Loko.
| Match Day 9 Table | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| Dynamo Moscow | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 17 |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 14 |
| Spartak Moscow | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 12 |
| CSKA Moscow | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 9 |
| Zenit St Petersburg | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 14 | -9 | 0 |
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Copa Del Burro Final 1st Leg - They think it's all over
Real Madrid v Athletic Club Att: 15,952
The first leg of the Copa Del Burro took place last night, and evebn with another 90 minutes still to come, one side looks an absolute shoe in to move onto the World Club Cup.
Second division Atletic Club must have feared the worst as they travelled south from their coastal base in Bilbao, but they made a bright start. So bright in fact that they took the lead on 16 minutes to stun the Bernebeau.
Young Belgian starlet Ferreira Carasco played in Bueno who netted for the third time in this years competition.
The lead was to last for just 10 minutes though. On 26, Neymar slammed home Cesc Fabregas' through ball. he Bernebeau erupted and Keane's men were visibally liftedfollowing a slow start.
Another 7 minutes later, and Hazard scored. To give an idea of Madrid's superiority during this spell, Neymar's goal on 26, and Hazards on 33 sandwiched misses from both Fabregas & Busquets. Essentially if it wasnt for Bravo, there is every chance that Madrid would have turned a 1 - 0 deficit into a 4 - 1 lead in just 7 minutes. As it was though, the visitors kept the score at 2 - 1, and that is how it remained until the break.
Madrid were keen to avoid a slow start in the second half, and just 2 minutes in Hazard forced yet another save from Bravo.
60 seconds later though, Copa Del Burro top scorer Robert Lewandowski sent home a beautiful free kick to give Madrid some daylight, and grab his 9th Del Burro goal this season.
Just before the hour mark, Athletic Club were given a boost. Godin lunged wildly at Mbokani, and was given a straight red.
So with half hour to play, and a man advantage, could the north coast side get themselves back into the game?
No is the answer. Aaron Lennon had a chance, but that was about all. Being a man short wasnt a huge issue for Real, and on 83 Sergio Ramos made it 4 - 1, effectively sealing Madrid's progression into the next round.
Gareth Crispcan be proud of his sides efforts however. Better sides than his will put in much worse performances against Madrid. And although it looks comfortable right now, if Athletic Club can get themselves a couple of goals to the good at home, the pressure will be backon Madrid.
It's a big ask, but its a challenge that must at least be accepted.
The draw for the World Club Cup was also made last night. Steven Beddows hosting iton Top 100 TV.
For the winners of the Del Burro trophy, a trip to France or Holland lies ahead. Given the way results went last night though, it is unlikely to be anything other than Real v PSG in the first round.The French side comfortably saw off Feyenoord 6 - 1 at home.
Although PSG are currently in div 2, they have an extremely strong first XI, and a game against Real couldpotentially be one of the ties of the tournament.
We also know that the route for the Copa Del Burro winners would take them to either Italy or Russia should they see off Paris.
Juventus last night beat Napoli 1 - 0, and with it being tight they will know that next weeks journey south will be a tricky one.
In Russia, Dynamo beat Spartak 2 - 1 in the Moscow derby, but the expectation must be that whoever wins through in this encounter will be nothing more than cannon fodder should they face the likes of Real.
| TOTW Final Leg 1 |
| Bravo A. Club - 6 |
| Juanfran R. Madrid - 7 |
| Marcelo R. Madrid - 7 |
| Ramos R. Madrid - 9 |
| Jucilei A. Club - 6 |
| Busquets R. Madrid - 8 |
| Fabregas R. Madrid - 8 |
| Rodriguez R. Madrid - 8 |
| Neymar R. Madrid - 10 |
| Lewandowski R. Madrid - 8 |
| Hazard R. Madrid 9 |
SM Top 100 Youth Cup Semi-Final AND World Club Cup "DRAW"
Today the draws for the Youth Cup Semi-Finals took place followed by the draw for the Quarter-Finals of the World Club Cup.
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch
POST MATCH STATS
Brown was asked after the game tonight if he was happy with the performance. He replied by saying of course I was. I could not fault my players in ANY way. Alex is a tough manager to play against. Obviosly im biast but I really feel we deserved to get all three points judging by the stats, below. But you know what they say… Stats are like Bikini’s, they show you a lot but not everything. Id say its advantage Fenerbahce as we never conceded an away goal and we outplayed them mostly throughout the game but they did have more possession. Alex may have a different opinion as oppose to my own but this is how I see it.
WEST BROM- THE BEGINNING...
Little 'boings' his way in to the Baggies
Hi guys,
Been a while since I last posted (was that long ago I was still at Fenerbache!) but a serious case of being flat out busy moving house whilst doing the 50 hours a week to afford the move in the 1st place meant I wasn't able to spend as much time on SoccerManager or Top 100 as I would of liked.
The house moved went ok. We still have stuff packed in boxes but seeing as it's now 3 weeks since we moved in, I'm assuming those boxes are filled with crap that we don't need!! Anyway on to the real move FENERBACHE TO WEST BROM!!
After re joining Top100 with Fenerbache I made it clear to Frank that if an English club became available I'd like to be considered for it, The vacancy at Sunderland came before West brom but like that just wasn't going to happen!! I'd rather shit in my hands and clap than ever take over at that lot. However it wasn't that long after when West Brom came calling and although not the best side to work with I decided to go for it and leave the Turkish Giants and come back to manage in England.
Quickly I noticed I had an ageing 1st team and little youth to play around with, and just a few quid in the bank so it was going to be hard mixing it up with signings. Notable 1st team signings since I took over include
# Rob Elliot (free agent)
# Gueida Fofana (Lyon £6m)
# Karl Darlow (Charlton £1.8m)
# Alex Pritchard (Greuther Furth part-exchange)
# Ashley Westwood (Real Sociedad part-exchange)
# Jordan Mutch (Buraspor part-exchange)
# 11 players for the development squad
I also in the last 24 hours agreed a fee for Jonathan BIABIANY from Inter Milan who will be the biggest signing I've made at £11.5m, big fee but the 88 rated Frenchman can play both flanks which helps. I have tried to stay local(UK signings) but lately have come up short adding to my squad with talent, the 2 goalkeepers both could rise, Elliot has been player of the season for Newcastle before injury sadly ended his season and the Euro's for the Republic. Darlow is a good shot stopper who will play the part of back up to my 1st choice Ben Foster. The 3 English lads I signed in midfield were just squad signings, but I know more about these squad signings than the players they replaced. In terms of what is left at West Brom I will listen to offers for Beharino but will have to be a offer that suits me, 2 for 1 is a must to improve my team. Gomis can also leave maybe for a younger 87/88 rated striker.
On to results since I have arrived and I have been happy enough with the start, 10 games 3 wins, 5 draws and just the 2 defeats. Solid if not spectacular!!
17th March 1-1 Dynamo Dnipropetrovsk A
20th March 1-2 River Plate H
24th March 4-1 Celta Vigo H
27th March 2-2 SC Internacional A
31st March 3-2 AZ Alkmaar H
3rd April 0-1 Malaga A
7th April 2-1 FC Koln H
10th April 1-1 Atalanta A
14th April 0-0 Southampton H
17th April 3-3 Montpellier A
So as you can see a mixed bag, if you're a glass hall full guy its 1 defeat in 8 and that's me! I'll take the positives.
As with my other posts I will end with my thoughts on the messed up world of Newcastle United.
Since my last post the wally with the brolly was escorted off the premises with a nice pay off for failure, whatever possessed us to appoint another failed manager from the lower leagues (Pardew another) escapes me, it was only going to end one way. The biggest crime was it didn't end sooner, after Chelsea give us another hiding he should of went then, we had 18 days till the next game but he survived and by the time he finally got the bullet it was too late. Newcastle being Newcastle then pull off the coup of the season (biased yes I know but who cares) in getting Rafa Benitez in as manager. A proper manager, not some Ashley yes man, and he has had a reaction of sort, yes just 1 win in 6 but small steps have been made. We look more solid(couldn't of looked less solid if we tried tbf) and we seem to have a bit more fight in us, last night against City for example we produced our best performance of the season. A bit fight in the lads, A bit of passion sadly lacking this season and if it wasn't for the mong running the line who didn't flag the blatantly offside Aguero we may of sneaked back to back wins. As already said the damage was already done prior to Rafa's arrival and unless we pull 3 wins from last 4 games I feel we are down, we still have Palace at home and Villa away which both need 3 points. However we also have Liverpool away Saturday and finish with Spurs at home last game(hopefully title is done and dusted one way or another and they have buggar all to play for) and we need to win one of them to stand any chance of staying up. All we ask for is somehow to get Rafa to stay on at end of the season but championship won't appeal unfortunately.
Relegation will spark a messy few years I fear, We won't be back any time soon.
Till next time have fun
Fenerbahce vs Olympiakos
Fenerbahce host Olympiakos tonight in the 1ST knock out leg of the Achilles Cup. Brown is hoping he can execute a tactical masterclass over his Scottish rival by keeping a clean sheet at least. There has been a bit of dirty tactics before from Mr Mclean as in one of the games he did not remind brown that it was regional cup night, instead of the youth cup. Is revenge on the cards? Brown certainly has that in mind.