Majestic Milan - Milan 4 Liverpool 1

It had been previewed as the family reunion, the Soprano’s, the day Gordon came home to see his family… but the reality was very different as Gino Kinnearo reports…


The greatest Italian journalist in the history of all history, Gino Kinnearo, who is ironically the cousin of Liverpool new manager Gordon Kinnear was full of superlatives in his post-match report of the Milan - Liverpool match and he stopped short of any family loyalties, criticising Kinnear and Liverpool for not only their lacklustre approach to the game of football, but also his cousin’s unprofessional approach to football management and in particular his lack of sincerity in defeat against the Better Beddows…

Earlier this weekend, Beddows had officially confirmed that Mario Balotelli would become both the club captain but also an ambassador of the club (with the title Supreme Superstar), who will during his free time, travel the globe on Milan Peace Missions, seeking to bring world peace with trips to Damascus, Baghdad, Pyongyang and Mexico City all planned in the coming weeks. This decision was praised by Kinnearo… “I am very happy for Mario, he has worked very hard to deserve this accolade… Diego Lopez was never good enough and I am over the moon that he has lost this honour."

Kinnearo explained that he had expected with his cousin in the city to have been invited out by his Gordon for a Brazilian, for which the City is famous, yet no invitation emerged. Kinnearo continued, “Gordon whenever he comes to see me and my Mamma, he always brings wine… today nothing… not even a phone call… he has no etiquette this man… no I will not even give him the credit of calling him a man!"

Gino then went on to describe his evening at the San Siro as Milan (struggling in the league due to a combination of incredible schedule where they had played 8 games in 9 days AND due to poor referring decisions that had been clearly influenced by such SM corrupt managers like Hirst and Keane)…

He was at first delighted to announce the Milan side:


He got particularly excited, as excited as lion in a zoo when a goat is put in its pen, to see Balotelli named as captain, and his second favourite player, Bonaventura playing in centre-midfield alongside De Jong, with Witsel behind them… Kinnearo praised Beddows' daring in chaging his approach… “This is a great selection, I am very excited to see this team…"

Milan naturally started strongly, showing  their superior quality as Beddows looked on from his technical area, with his notepad and pencil at the ready… Gordon meanwhile, Gino’s cousin lets not forgot, was animated, on the touchline and constantly barking instructions in his broad Scottish accent and it was clear to many, including Gino that players such as Sturridge and Lallana had no idea what the Scot was going on about.

Then the moment of the evening. PENALTY to AC Milan. A clear foul by Martin Skrtel who took a swipe at Balotelli whose superior pace and ability Skrtel could not handle and penalty. BALOTELLI STRUCK IT 1-0 TO MILAN… the San Siro erupted….

After the break it was attack after attack, with the San Siro resembling more the Battle of Little Bighorn than a football match as Milan kept coming and coming (Milan being the Indians of course) and little General Gordon (Custer) could not muster a response from the touchline and then ironically a player who only two weeks ago had been very close to a move back to Liverpool… Mr Torres… makes it 2-0. Milan’s newest acquisition Danny Rose providing the assist.

What followed was a third goal of such sublime superior ability that it had the San Siro crowd on their feet in utter shock and adminration and a certain Gordon Kinnear sinking to his knees on the sidelines in shock. It was a pass from substitute Bacca to De Sciglio who proceeded to nutmeg Markovic, go past Bender (who incidentally slipped over in the process) nutmeg Skrtel and to blast the ball from 45 yards beyond the keeper to make it Milan 3-0
 
Liverpool then scored a goal which was clearly offside.

To cap off the evening it was Danny Rose again from the left to cross to his captain and hero Mario Balotelli who smashed home the 4th to make it Milan 4 Liverpool 1.

See below the celebrations of Gino Kinnearo in the studio during the match.

[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch

Sorry an Unexpected Error Has Occurred, Please Try Again Later

Earlier in January I wrote a blog piece giving an outline of my experience of SM and how coming to be in Top100 has stopped me throwing the towel in on the game completely. I alluded in that piece that I would write again giving my two pennies worth on the on going SM PR disaster surrounding the introduction of the new interface and my thoughts on how I think the SM experience could be improved.

Whilst initially I had intended to write it all as one post I have found that it would result in a very lengthy piece and as such have decided to separate the two and will post my thoughts on game improvements at a later date.

Before moving on any further I would like to make one thing clear, whilst at times it may come across as such this is not intended to be a rant, I am not hating on SM or grinding an axe against any individuals at SM, indeed until recently I had no idea who the people behind SM are, this is solely intended to be a thought out and reasoned expression of my personal views with the hope that others will feel free to add their thoughts on any issues raised.

Another thing I should state is that I have no inside knowledge of SM’s business model or strategy, any assumptions I make that allude to these are based upon interpretation of my observations and my personal experience of business and customer service.

Why bother may be your first thought, SM has a forum where ideas and suggestions can be aired. This of course is quite correct, though one is tempted to think that the SM Forum is something to be kept secret judging by the total lack of promotion there is to its existence and purpose. On the new interface it took me going on for 5 minutes to find the link to it, in fact I had given up looking and wrote how there wasn’t a link to it at all before subsequently finding it and editing my what I had written.

The forum at present is in fact a prime example of a fundamental failing that SM has in communicating with its customers. Other than an initial email confirming my registration I have never received any form of communication informing me of anything relating to my custom at SM Worlds, whether this be to inform me of any planned or implementation of changes, asking for my opinion on any such changes or any other matter that may effect me as a customer. 

Note that I use the word customer for that is what we are, whether we pay by way of Gold membership or not, we are customers of the service.

As with any business communication is a key and fundamental tool in keeping your customers informed and engaged. Using the existence of a forum as an excuse for not communicating with your customers is as flawed as your bank expecting you to ring them up every week to find out if there have been any changes to the terms of your bank account.

This is emphasised by the fact that you have to register separately to be a member of the forum, this in itself makes it stand individually and exclusive to being a member of SM and as such the two are distinct and not naturally related.

Taking that aside and accepting if we must the premise that the forum is THE only medium by which customers may receive information shouldn’t we expect that this fact in itself be communicated to customers and that access to the forum be more readily available and front and centre on the interface.

It struck me from the days of joining SM that there appeared to be a concerted effort by SM to avoid any form of direct communication with its customers, whether it be the fact there was and never has been to my knowledge a general “Contact Us” option anywhere on the interface to the fact that support is a Q&A system, if the system has no A then tough. Even in the days when I used to think reporting cheats was worth the time and effort it was a remote system with no option for following up my submission or questioning a decision to take no action.

To this day the only direct communication I have ever received from a human at SM was a PM at the beginning of December from someone called Kym asking if I could assist with translating some text from English into German.

How strange that a game that’s’ success depends upon its participants interacting is administered in a manner that appears to avoid interaction at all costs.

I personally found the forum by accident not long after joining SM via Google whilst trying to resolve an issue that the remote Q&A couldn’t answer, whilst the forum didn’t provide the answer either, I did at least became aware of its existence.

That was the last time I visited it until December 2015 and the introduction of the new interface and game engine in an attempt to try to find out what had just happened as I had received no direct communication informing me of any changes.

It was evident that a similar air of confusion was prevailing amongst the “informed” within the forum.

It can be put down to oversight for customers not to be consulted on proposed changes or for them not being informed of the planned implementation of changes, but to have those changes imposed without, as is evident, them having been thoroughly Beta tested is a failure of customers of the highest order.

The fact that we are now entering February, some 2 months after the “big switch” and there are still major bugs with the new interface only exemplifies the lack of rigorous testing that went on before its introduction.


Again what direct communication has there been from SM with its customers regarding the on going problems relating to the on going problems surrounding the introduction of the new interface?

The ensuing clamour that I observed in the forum did appear to lead to the virtual immediate introduction of the option to use the old interface, which like myself I believe a lot of members of Top100 are using, I personally am dreading its final demise when SM deem to remove it.

With very few exceptions I have read only non-complimentary opinions on the new interface and it continues to be a source of annoyance and ridicule, so why have SM persisted with its implementation in the face of its lack of popularity and the evident shortcomings in its fitness for purpose?

The only conceivable answer I can conclude is to attract a new generation of membership. A new “jazzy” interface and the fact that it transfers more readily as a mobile phone application is surely targeted to appeal to a more youthful demographic. 

Logically increased membership equates to increased web or application traffic thus increasing potential advertising revenue. I would argue that this logic has potential flaws.

Primarily a great risk of losing or alienating a large proportion of the existing customer base has been taken in implementing the changes, will the potential number trade off of new members for old warrant such a gamble?

The observable increase in managers resigning immediately after the changes would indicate that there has indeed been “collateral damage” as a result of the changes.  Also I have noted a not inconsiderable number of managers voicing that they will not be renewing Gold Membership, will advertising income replace this loss of revenue?

I would argue that the SM format is not one that actually appeals to a young demographic, not enough action and immediate gratification as opposed to playing FIFA or the like. I for one have tried to get my three sons to join, all football nuts, none have been attracted despite my best efforts.

It can also be said that the continuing glitch filled and painfully slow nature of the new interface is not ideal in encouraging any new managers attracted to actually stay with the game.

We all know that the mobile phone is a primary tool for the youth of today and making the SM APP more functional is logical, however did this necessarily mean sacrificing the user friendliness of the old internet interface for the clunky and illogical new one?

I have been trialling the new mobile app and whilst I do find it far better than the old one, which admittedly I used rarely, it is as glitch filled as its internet based counterpart. Having to re-boot your phone on nearly every occasion you want to use the APP is not my idea of user friendly.

No matter how functional the APP is developed I would wager that the primary access for the vast majority of managers will be via the internet platform. I for one can never see myself spending the hours I currently dedicate to SM management on a mobile phone rather than on my PC.

It is apparent by the fact that I can use the old interface for my internet based management whilst also trialling the new APP that the two can be exclusive and mutually co-exist and as such the introduction of the new interface could be abandoned if desired.

I am under no illusion that there is not even the slightest likelihood of this happening, it may be that new developments such as the 2D match visualisation require the platform of the new interface to be able to function.

This leads me into questions as to what benefit or real improvement to the game is the introduction of 2D match visualisation or the like? Mere bows and ribbons rather than substantive changes that actually improve the game itself?


Those questions however can wait for another day.

THE THURSDAY BLOG Vol 2 No 3

Good afternoon gentlemen and welcome to another Thursday blog. As most of you reading this will probably know, this has become a fortnightly blog as I have to share Thursday’s with that tart Fannie Licker. Did you see her picture by the way? I would certainly spend some time licking her …., well you know where I’m coming from, damn, I don’t mean that literally. Anyway, I am sure you know what I’m saying here. Anyway, I have to share with her and I believe she is working on next week’s interview and is just waiting on confirmation from the victim although it is already 60% certain it is a go-er.

On to this week in the Kinnear household and, as always, Thursday is my rest day from work. This isn’t forced upon me but is actually my own choice as I think it breaks up the week perfectly for me. t used to be random days each week but I thought I would chance my arm and go ask the boss if I could just have every Thursday. He was only to happy to grant my wish, stating that it actually made it easier to do, what is called, the duty sheet, where each bus driver is given his duties for the following week. I won’t go into that as it would be a bit boring. Anyway, my reason for mentioning my rest day is because I have decided to have the ultimate day of rest. I am still lying in my bed at one in the afternoon with Sky Sports News on the TV. I have turned the telly down though and I am listening to the music on my phone through my thing that I can never remember the name of lol. It charges my phone as I listen and it also has a radio etc. Docking Station!!!!!!! That’s it. Just remembered. Music has always been a big part of my life. My parents always told me that all I wanted to do when I was a kid was listen to music and that has never changed. One of my childhood memories was when, during the school holidays, myself and my mate decided to hold a disco out in the back garden for all our pals and other kids around where we lived. We had plenty records and a good stereo, as they were called they days. The younger among you may have to ask a grown-up if you don’t know what I am talking about lol. We cut up sheets of paper and wrote on each one, saying it was a disco afternoon and what time it started and finished. It obviously had to finish before my mum and dad got home from work. We had the audacity to charge 2p a ticket. Young entrepreneurs here I guess haha. I think we had sold about four before we were rumbled by my parents. We got caught because when I was out playing, someone came to our back door and asked to buy a ticket. DOH!!! Why hadn’t we thought of that problem. Alan Sugar appeared and said to both of us, You’re Fired!!! So that was the end of that plan as we were barred from holding the disco. Music continued to play a big part in my life and I never missed Top of the Pops on a Thursday and used to listen intently to Radio 1 every Tuesday lunchtime as the new charts were revealed. As I reached my mid-teens, buying my own records was the next step and I used to buy one every Saturday along with my mate who also bought one. We never bought the same one so we could borrow each others if we wanted to. The next step became obvious to us both and we saved up any spare money we had and eventually bought some disco equipment in the early 80’s. We started up our own mobile disco and called it the Climax Disco Roadshow. I took to DJ’ing more than my mate and we were soon getting known around East Kilbride with a good reputation. We managed to get a weekly gig for the local CB club on a Monday night which was always busy and once a month they held a Saturday night disco and we packed them out. I very rarely blow my own trumpet, and in fact I am my own biggest critic, but I was one hell of a DJ and at home when everyone was out would teach myself how to mix records which I put into practice at our gigs. Now, I was nowhere near as good at mixing as they are nowadays, but the music nowadays is easier to mix because a lot of dance tunes are done with parts in them that are aimed towards mixing in another tune. I was still pretty decent though. When that kind of started to fall away, we sold up and I got a residency in a Hamilton pub where I played on a Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tuesday was quite quiet but I again packed them out at the weekends. Love soon took over though and after I got married to my first wife, my performance dropped and I lost a bit of interest and eventually came to an agreement with the pub owner that a change was needed. My final night was the last time I ever DJ’d.
Because of this, my favourite music is late 70’s, early 80’s dance with my favourite groups being Chic and Earth, Wind & Fire. Chic are good but I was actually more into anything Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards produced. The list of artists they worked with is the length of my arm but they include Diana Ross, David Bowie and more up to date, Daft Punk. Alas, Bernard died a good while back now but Nile Rogers is still working hard. I, also, loved the Bee Gees. I thought their songs were fantastic and anything they touched in producing turned to gold but, really, anything from that era is what I like. My phone is filled with that stuff plus stuff from every other decade. I still like some artists of the present day and the kids are sometimes stunned at how I know some of the things they listen to. As an example, I once got up for work and when I went downstairs, Stuart was already up and watching one of these morning programmes and they were interviewing two guys. I looked and said ‘What’s this?’ but before Stuart could answer, I said ‘Oh, it’s Rizzle Kicks’ . The look on his face was priceless as he stuttered out ‘How the fuck?’
Anyway, as I was saying, I am just lying in bed chillin' like a villain along with the dogs, who only seem too happy to share the bed. We have six dogs, yep, six. We have five poodles and a pug and I named them all. This was because I came up with the best names that suited them so we have, from oldest to youngest, Tyra, Poppi, Angel, Penne, Roxy and Candi. Roxy is the pug while Candi is Angel’s daughter. Every one of them is female and we breed the poodles. This pays for our holiday every year unless there is something high on our agenda that we want. Three years ago we gave up our holiday and got new windows and French doors installed instead. We also added a patio and got a new 7ft fence for the back garden so this breeding stuff works well for us. Each pup sells for £750 and they go fast. Of the five poodles, Tyra is a standard while the other four are toy. Tyra done us the biggest favour when she produced 8 pups. At that time it was £700 per pup and we raked in a nice £5600 for her trouble.

Poppi after she has been clipped

Family-wise at the moment we have a bit of concern for Janene. She has been having anxiety problems that we can’t get to the bottom of. We have had her at the doctor, who was absolutely hopeless, just dismissing it as nothing and telling her not to worry when worrying is probably part of the problem. We have private health insurance o we got her an appointment at The Priory in Glasgow and they have been much better. Hopefully she gets sorted out but Alison and myself had a private talk with her each. I spoke to her and I got the feeling that self-esteem was a particular problem for her. I am no doctor or psychiatrist or whoever deals with stuff like that but when I asked her about what she thought of herself she was quite negative about her looks and things. She is very slim and could do with a little more weight on her but, in true daddy style, I said to her how beautiful she actually is and if I was a boy at her age then I would certainly want to ask her out. This brought a smile and seemed to cheer her up a little. I also asked if the way I look upon her boyfriend was a problem. She said no but she did worry that I thought she was, how can I say without being offensive, easy. I was a bit taken aback by that. Why would I think she was an easy lay? I told her no way and that I thought the exact opposite. I know she won’t sleep with anyone until she is ready and I know she is not ready now. That seemed to reassure her and I must admit, she has seemed a bit better the last couple of days.
I couldn’t leave my real life section without mentioning an incident that took place last night. My wife and I were lying in bed and I had put her phone on to charge on my docking station (woo hoo, didn’t even have to think for the name of it). So, tonight we are having chicken for dinner but had forgot to take the chickens out of the freezer. Stuart was downstairs so Alison asked for my phone to give him a quick call and ask him to take the chickens out the freezer. Now, for some reason, mainly I have never got round to it, I don’t have Stuart’s number listed under his name so I said to Alison to have a look at recent calls since I thought he had phoned me not long ago. There was only one number that was obviously a mobile and didn’t have a name so said try that as I don’t know who it is. She phoned but it rang out. She kept waiting and it went on to voice mail and it was actually ‘some guy called Stephen’ as she said. I was relieved it was a male as I was always very careful with phone numbers as such. I said I didn’t know who that was but a couple of minutes later my phone rang and it was this number phoning back. Alison answered it and explained to this Stephen guy that she had phoned the number in error. She told me it was an English voice and I assumed it had been one of these marketing calls or something. Another couple of minutes later and I get a message on MSN messenger from Mr Beddows saying some bird with a Scottish accent had phoned him. Haha it was Stephen Beddows number she had been calling and I had forgot all about him phoning me last week. I had to pmsl. However, respect to Stephen as he told me that he thought he should tell me in case my wife had been snooping through my numbers to see who they were. Stephen told me he knew my track record from reading this blog and he was just letting me know, so thanks for good thinking Stephen.
Well that’s it for real life and now onto the latest Top 100 escapades. Since my last Thursday blog, major changes have taken place. I have left Club Brugge and taken up the manager’s post at Liverpool. Club Brugge was a great club and we had some great times that will always be remembered. The players were a fantastic bunch and worked really hard. The play off final defeat hit everyone at the club hard and probably contributed to our slow start this season. When Liverpool came in for me, the Brugge board told me they wouldn’t stand in my way of the chance to manage a huge club such as Liverpool and I made the decision that it was time to move on. After taking Brugge to the play off final last season, anything less than a play off place would be deemed a failure so it was time to give someone else the chance to take the club forward.

Anfield

Arriving at Liverpool was a humbling experience. I could feel the history of the club as I entered through the front doors but I was here to do a job, not for a stadium tour. After doing the usual stuff, meeting the board etc it was time to meet the players, except they were in France for the game against Lyon that night. With things moving so fast, after the press conference, I was whisked to the airport and was flown over to France for the game. I managed a brief meeting with the players before taking a seat in the stand to watch them draw 0-0 with the French outfit. How did I feel about what I had witnessed? Well, the team looked a bit disjointed and I could see why they hadn’t managed a win in, what was now, the opening five games.
The next day, back in Liverpool, it was time to start the hard work. I gathered the players together and told them what I expected from them. Then I gave them the afternoon off as I went back to my office to decide how to put my own stamp on the team. Players would be leaving and players would be coming in. It wasn’t long until my phone was ringing and it seemed to be ringing all afternoon into the early evening. I started getting some deals moving and the first one seen Roberto Firmino leave the club for the Etihad while Mattia Destro and Moritz Leitner arrived at Anfield. I was happy with this. Destro had scored plenty of goals for me with another club and Leitner would provide some much needed depth.

Destro already has 2 goals in a Liverpool shirt

Things were starting to move now and John Flanagan moved to Genoa while Emre Can headed home to play for Borussia Dortmund with Sven Bender arriving to strengthen the defence. I needed a keeper as Ulreich didn’t impress me and I finally managed to bring in Szczesny with Alberto Moreno going to Arsenal. Among other deals Nat Clyne, James Milner, Jason Henderson and Jason Ibe all left the club while Oscar, Rafael and Dede were among those who will now wear a Liverpool shirt. I am quite sure I have now made this team my own and we can see how it progresses.

Emboaba Oscar signed for Liverpool

It’s been a good week as I try to get the players settled into my way of playing and after a home defeat to an impressive Atletico Madrid side, we notched up a couple of victories, winning 5-1 in Seville and then a cup win at Porto. The new boys have settled in well and I have been impressed with Mattia Destro, Joe Allen and Daniel Sturridge. Their work rate has been phenomenal and things are looking up at Anfield. In my first season here I am looking to have a top half finish in the league which I believe gets us into Europe next season and I think we have some good depth that could see us go on a good run in either the Cup or the Shield.
I also brought in some kids to try and develop them into players capable of challenging for a place in the first team or the cup team and they will get some good experience in Stephen Beddow’s Youth Cup. They played their first game last Saturday and although they went down 2-1 to Sassuolo, they showed me enough to suggest they can do well in the tournament. Some dodgy decisions from the officials certainly wound me up and we had two goals called for offside even though one of them was clearly onside. If we had they officials every week then we would be in trouble but fortunately it will be someone else that has to suffer them. This week’s Youth Cup game will be a special occasion for me as we travel to Club Brugge. It will be strange playing against them but it is a game that I will enjoy. Meeting some old friends will be fun and I am sure more than a couple of bottles of wine will be consumed. I have also taken a risk and told the boys if they perform well then they can have a night out in Brugge and they will return to Liverpool on the Sunday while I fly on to Italy for the Top 100 league match against AC Milan.
Tonight we will be able to see how much we have advanced in the short period of time since I have taken over. Juventus, managed by DP91, provide the opposition at Anfield and they are a bloody good side. Health wise, we are not in the best condition after a flu bug swept the dressing room and I have already ruled out Vital Dede, Mattia Destro and Manolo Gabbiadini while Markovic, Oscar, Rafael and Sakho are touch and go and will be a last minute decision. This was the last thing we needed with such a big game in front of us and, to be honest, if we manage a draw then I will be a happy manager. I am not too sure about my history of games against DP but I think it is one of mixed results. He is a good manager and will provide very tough opposition tonight as he tries to improve on his 4th position in the table. Hopefully, the Champions Cup game in Belgium that they won 1-0 will take it’s toll on their performance but that could be clutching at straws.
Anyway, that is it for this week and I hope you enjoyed a rather long blog this time. It will be Fannie Licker’s turn next Thursday when she interviews another unfortunate soul. Meanwhile it is thanks for taking the time to read this and I wish you all luck for tonight’s games whoever you may be playing against.

Ciao

Who is Nuno?

Nuno Bento joined the Top100 as an unknown to most of us, but he is since hardened his reputation as a lover of young boys. The latest instance was earlier today when he described his latest 17 year old acquisition as "another baby boy" :O



So this begs the question...who is Nuno? Is he the living, breathing, 'Nuno Savile' himself? Or another of the Yewtree hitlist? Whoever he is, he's probably well protected by coppers, judges, politicians and the like who all enjoy these games, so let's not suggest too much...

Nuno Savile?


*The article above is completely satirical and is meant as no offence, more just as means for a little light hearted humour, if you don't take it that way then i apologise.

THE MAN BEHIND THE NAME...AND HIS HOPES IN THE TOP 100

Hi all,

Just a quick welcome post if you like from me as manager of Fenerbche and a little background from me as a person so here goes.


Me, well I’m 33 and have 3 kids and work for Ladbrokes. For my sins I have supported Newcastle since I was young enough to care, seen some good times and plenty of bad times. Season ticket holder who hopes to see some silverware before I meet my maker. Don’t think that will happen under the current regime as its all about just being in the Premier League and not actually striving to be the best we can, for someone like Mike Ashley to be so successful in his other lines of business, to surround himself with so many yes men and incompetent fools it seems surreal. As for Steve McClaren the less said the better, the man is a fool who somehow, like Pardew before him was appointed in the Premier League after failing in the division’s below. Wouldn’t happen anywhere else.

Anyway on to Fenerbache in the Top 100..

I was briefly at West Ham at the very start of this game world but due to a few personal issues I left as I couldn’t give enough to a strong gameworld so firstly thanks to Frank for having me back.

At fenerbache I’ve inherited an ageing side, plenty of quality but many players the wrong side of 30 and one of the first deals I’ve done was to bring in Jose Callejon from Napoli in exchange for Robin Van Persie. Arouna Kone and Atsuto Uchida came in from Everton and Schalke 04 respectively to add some depth to the first team pool. Youngsters Neal Maupay, Dael Fry and Karlan Ahearne-Grant boosted the devolvement squad. Once a few players in the youth team are not transfer banned I’ll be looking to refresh the squad further.

Results wise it’s been a good start, 3 wins against Porto(1-0) Bayer Leverkusen(2-0) and Valencia(1-0), a couple of 1-1 draws to Fiorentina and Chelsea with the solitary defeat a comprehensive 3-0 away defeat to Arsenal.

The cup brought an early defeat to Dynamo Moscow 3-2, but the shield brought some comfort with a penalty shoot out victory against Manchester City after a 1-1 draw.

I make no secret that I would love a job back in England but until this time arises I will be looking to give my all for the Turkish Giants.

Like I said just a brief post and I’ll be looking to become a regular contributor to the blog.

Thanks for taking the time to read this

Beddows Defiant in the face of Pressure

Beddows has stated publicly that come what may his job is safe and he will remain at AC Milan for many many decades to come.

Beddows has blamed the clubs poor league form on Frank Hirst and the abysmal fixture list that he has concocted.

Last week for example saw AC Milan face 8 games in 9 games. “It is completely shocking”

Sun 24 Jan Division 1 [H] 0 - 1 Real Madrid Lost Game View Match View Match
Mon 25 Jan SMFA Shield Group F [H] 3 - 2 SC Bastia Won Game View Match View Match
Tue 26 Jan Top 100 Cup Round 1 [A] 2 - 2 Valencia CF Won Game View Match View Match
AC Milan win 5 - 4 on penalties.
Wed 27 Jan Friendly [H] 2 - 3 Juventus Lost Game View Match View Match
Thu 28 Jan Division 1 [A] 3 - 1 SS Lazio Won Game View Match View Match
Sat 30 Jan Friendly [A] 2 - 1 Olympiacos Won Game View Match View Match
Sun 31 Jan Division 1 [H] 1 - 2 Internazionale Lost Game View Match View Match
Mon 1 Feb SMFA Shield Group F [A] 4 - 1 Viktoria Plzeň Won Game View Match View Match

Shocking schedule of AC Milan last week

Beddows though explains while securcing Division One status is important it is not imperative to keeping his job.

"Our No 1 aim is the SMFA Shield and we are intent on winning this great competition. We have won 4 out of 4 so far against some very tough opposition." 

Beddows ended the press conference highly critical of the referees in Top 100 and when questioned if he believed that Roy Keane had influenced the referee selection committee,  Beddows answered. "No comment... I have already been quite vocal on Keane interference and have seen transcripts of his phone calls he makes whilst walking his dogs."

"I am 99.99% certain that Milan having a goal disallowed against Inter on Sunday was no conincidence and I prefer not to comment on those two offside goals that were scored by Fox's plucky players in a match which had I have picked the referee would not have finished like that!"


New faces at the Emirates


With the Emirates building up to a home game against German side Bayer Leverkusen, some may had thought Michael Bowes would be on the training ground training the first team squad, that was far from the truth. In fact the Arsenal manager was scouting for potential new players to booster the squad. While trying to stop Bowes as he rushed around , Reporters caught him wearing a Harry Redknapp face mask while speaking through his car window. The young manager was asked why he went about his day like this, "I feel this is the best way to get deals done, clubs know I mean business. I mean who could turn down a possible deal with King Arry?"





With that in mind, Arsenal secured no fewer than 5 new players. Fierce rivals Tottenham aloud Eric Dier and Erik Lamela to move across London, both will need to hit the ground running to win over the fans I'm sure. With Ross Barkley arriving it aloud Mesut Ozil to speak to other clubs, Tottenham was the club to show a huge interest and managed to persuade the German to cross alliances. Next in was French international and the young sensation Anthony Martial, a deal which would see Theo Walcott and Francis Coqulein move to French side Monaco while young Allan Saint-Maximin move country with Martial. The final bit of business for Bowes would see him scout the Brazlian Paulo Henrique Ganso, it is believed Bowes is a big fan of the Brazilian and has high hopes he can adapt quickly to the Arsenal style. Arsenal veteran Mathieu Flamini travelled to São Paulo as part of the deal, something Mathieu seemed delighted about. "I've swapped a cold, wet windy life in London for the life in sun in Brazil, how could I not be happy? The manager showed no faith in me from the day he stepped in to the job, I'm just glad to be on the other side of the world to him. Gareth Crisp has welcomed me into his club with both hand and legs open and I couldn't thank him enough". Michael Bowes refused to comment regarding Flamini's comments, it is also unclear to how Gareth persuaded Mathieu to join up with São Paulo but we're not taking anything from the defensive midfielders comments.

Goals Galore

Levante and Southampton met for the second time in the space of a week last night, with a league match at St Mary’s following on from last weeks cup encounter in Spain.




Levante steamed into the game, and looked to have gone ahead on 13mins. Jean Beausejour played in Argentine top scorer Alejandro Gomez, who slotted home. The linesman flagged though, and a magnificent piece of football went unrewarded.

The home side were ahead on 18mins however, Asamoah Gyan putting Gastin Ramirez through, and the Uruguyan finished, the ball going in off the post. It looked as though the Saints had doubled their lead on 37mins, but this time the flag was raised for Gaston Ramirez.

1-0 was how it stood at the break, so Parfitt made a change for Levante. Mate Simao went off, and the holding midfielder was replaced by the clubs yount player of the year and top scorer from last season, Clinton N’Jie. The change of personell also nessecitated in a change of formation. Going from a 4-2-3-1. to a 4-1-3-2. The extra man up top played swift dividends to. The visitors forced a free kick which N’Jie confodently swept home on 53mins. The game was level at 1 each.

That was the opening of the floodgates in terms of second half goals. On 61mins Juanmi finished off a Gaston Ramirez cross.

Clinton N’Jie was back in the goals again after 77 minutes. Robert Snodgrass fed the fleet footed striker, and he sent the ball home. 2-2, three second half goals, and still heartbreak to come for somebody.

That heartbreak came on 84 minutes, and the visitors were the victims. Juanmi laid it off for Tufan, who put his laces through the ball and thumped it home.

Southampton fans celebrate their sides late winner

Post match, the Levante boss was pragmatic. He said “Southampton are a good side, one that should be going up automatically. Anythingless will be seen as failure to everybody outside the club, and to ther fans. For us to come here and play that well, I am delighted with my lads. Clinton particularly was different class, but I also thought that at times John Ruddy kept us in it with some top drawer saves. That said, so did the Southampton keeper, and if we had taken a point at least, I dont think that Southampton could have complained."

“The stats show that Southampton had a bit more of the game, but that said, a side as good as Southampton at home would expect that. All in all, the only thing I am dissapointed about is that we didnt get a point."

The next league match see’s Montpellier come to Spain, but not before the reserves entertain Torino in the league shield. Parfitt expects a few of the youth team to feature again, as they did against Southampton in the shield match last week.

On the subject of the youth side, they opened up their youth cup competition against German side Bayer Leverkusen. There was a huge number of scouts at the game to watch centre half Matt Miazga, although the American’s performance was a little dissapointing following the hype. To be fair to the player though, it was the first time he had played competitively for the club, and will surely only improve as time goes by.


Stephen Beddows, DP91, Lee Reynolds, Brian Clough & Roy Keane all checked on Levente’s youth side

The youth game finished 2-1 to Leverkusen, Tin Jedvaj scoring the winner twominutes from time. The star performer on the night for Levante was German goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos. The young keeper made several tremendous saves, and will have John Ruddy keeping an eye on him for a first team position.



Arsenal have a new man in the helm



After no little than just over 12 months, Arsenal were on the look out for a new manager. With Arsene Wengers long and unsuccessful reign coming to an end and a attractive money proposal from China's ever growing presence in the game Arsenal looked to Englishman Neil Jones to try and carry on the philosophy left by Wenger. After finishing in a respectable 8th place and a top half finish in a challenging division in his first season managers in Top 100 were left puzzled as to why he left by Mutal consent 4 games into the new season. Arsenals board were then left to lock horns together to try and figure who was the right man to lead the charge for the biggest prizes in football, that man was no bigger than Evertons Michael Bowes.



With a solid season under his belt, it was believed his style of attractive football persuaded the board to go all out and get their man. A play off finish and some wheeling and dealing in the transfer market  turn't Everton into a youthful, attacking passing side something we're sure the Arsenal board will hope he can bring to Arsenal.

Bowes's first bit of business came in the form of his backroom staff. After deciding to leave behind his assistant and coaches at Everton he quickly moved for Arsenal legend Ian Wright to work along side him in the dugout. In no little than 24 hours later David Seaman, Tony Adams, Patrick Viera and Thierry Henry were all handed 5 year contracts to coach the first team players in their respected positions. All 5 former players were all said to be delighted to be invited back and work under new man Bowes. Ian Wright went on to add that he was looking forward to spending time with the man in charge and will watch closely as he looks to hopefully one day go into management. "To manager Arsenal one day would be something else. I'm taking each day as it comes, picking up everything I can to hopefully improve myself further into football, I've really enjoyed punditry and owe the BBC a lot for what they've done, but to have the chance to get back into football hands on is something I couldn't refuse".

It is believed Bowes has been backed heavily by owner Stan Kroenke in terms of available transfer funds but weather or not he decides to spend the money is yet to be clear. One man who has made the switch with Bowes from Everton is Ross Barkley. After long negotiations with the new Everton manager David Inglis it was believed he was given a blank cheque to try and bring the young talented Englishman to the Emirates. A message of content to the world and something Ross Barkley I'm sure will be delighted to hear that the manager pulled out all the stops to bring his one transfer target with him. Ross is believed to be excited to be working with Bowes again and to play for one of the biggest clubs in England. "When The gaffer left I was devastated, he improved me as a player in that one season and without him I truly believe I wouldn't had won the younger player of the year award. David came in and straight away handed me the captains armband, I'm gutted to be leaving Everton, I wish the fans all the success, they were amazing to me and something that will stick with me for the rest of my career.  But I couldn't turn down working with Bowes and one of the biggest clubs around". Santi Carzola and Nacho Monreal were the players who were sacrificed to bring Barkley in with Joel Campbell expected to be announced as an Everton player in the next couple of days also. Ross Barkley wasn't the only person who made the trip down south. Liverpool's young left back Alberto Moreno was brought in as Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny moved in the opposite direction.

City fans inClyned to support transfer policy

Man City have paid over the odds again for a first teamer. Nathaniel Clyne joins the revolution as the manager continues the policy of scrapping the deadwood in the team.

The boss was quoted a ssaying “Only Isla remains that I do not want in the team. Nothing personal, I just don’t think he is good enough. Showed that when he was at QPR. Very happy to get Clyney in, should give us some width and support on the overlap. Better at defending than fuzzy hair as well. Dede might aswell be dede given the amount of help he has been, so no loss there."


Benfica - New Faces


Benfica SAD is happy to welcome the new rising stars of Benfica! 
 

Leon Goretzka
Mohamed Salah
Andreas Christensen
Laszlo Benes
Dominic Solanke
Alex Grimaldo




 Benfica still on the run to recover ex Benfica players like Andre Gomes, João Cancelo, Bernardo Silva but the trade is being very difficult! Bento kindly ask Valencia and Monaco managers to be good to Benfica supporters and help us on that dream! ;)






Villa stumbling...

It has not been a very good week for us. We were dumped out of the Cup in the first round itself, losing to a Feyenoord side which was weaker than us. Very disappointing show, 13 shots on target and none on target is not very impressive. Eder, Wickham and Waris did nothing to show why they should be first-team starters, while Derlis did not have a great start, although he will be involved heavily in the next few weeks.

Our youth side then lost to Olympiakos away. This was more balanced, and we were unlucky to lose, as admitted by David Senior, the opposition manager. Derlis is still looking for his first goal. Maybe he can get it tomorrow.

To cap things off, we then drew to bottom side Hamburg in an exciting 2-2 draw that again we should have won. Very annoyed with this one. To be fair Hamburg are underperforming this season having a better starting XI than us but on form we should have thrashed them. 23 shots, 14 on target and 66% possession and yet we only drew. In fact, we came back from behind to make it 2-2 thanks to two late Djuricic goals. Adds to his good form this season. They only had 3 shots on target which they scored two out of. Shame, we do not want to drop points lest we are stuck in a play-off battle again.

The fixture list has not been very kind to us. This week, we have had to travel from France, to Netherlands and then back to Villa. The youth team also had a game in Greece before making it back to Villa yesterday night. Tonight, the youth team travel again to far-off Brazil which will be a tough game. Away at Flamengo will not be easy. You have to feel for Derlis though, who has travelled from Kyiv to Villa to Rotterdam to Athens to Villa to Rio de Janeiro to Bordeaux to Istanbul and finally to Villa in the space of 10 days. A lot of travel to do for the young lad.

Florin Tanase, our new signing
We also signed Florin Tanase from Viitorul Constanta for 800k and Luka Belic, who sadly isn't good enough for any manager. He joins up with Hodorogrea, who is happy to welcome his mate. The youth side is now complete for the test at the Maracana tomorrow, Whatever the result, it shall be a good learning curve for the team.

Bratveit
Hadergjonaj    Hodorogea   Turnbull           John
Forster-Caskey     Selnaes
Tansase          Grealish          Fraser
D. Gonzalez 

The likely line-up for tomorrow's game. Only one player is a Villa graduate, Grealish, who will wear the arm-band. Hopefully he inspires the team to victory.


What is striking about Flamego's youth team is the lack of quality and balance in the defensive third. I can see them playing a 4-1-3-2 formation that allows him to play all his three 80+ rated attacking mids, his two 80+ forwards and his sole 80 rated DM. It shall be a tight game and we are hoping to come away with all 3 points. Coincidentally Fannie's article on the Flamego manager gave me an insight into his project at Flamego. I'd like to applaud his only-Brazilian policy, may pay off one day.

Rahul W was also pressed on his interest in Matt Miazga of Levante. It was reported that Villa had lodged a Carl Robinson plus cash deal for the American, but was promptly rejected. Rahul W is quoted as saying that the bid was only made in jest to annoy the Levante manager. He recognises the Levante project, and given that Levante are in the same YC group, a sale could harm the side. We hope Miazga does well for the Spanish side.

Lastly, on the FrankGate incident, hopefully the SM staff listen to us and do what is necessary.

Good luck!



Fannie to Fannies: The Interviews, Number 1, MARK PHELPS (FLAMENGO)

FOREWORD:

Today sees the start of a new series where I have managed to tempt respected journalist Fannie Licker to come and do some work for the Top 100. She previously worked for Gold Championship 279 doing some press conferences and I do believe slept with Stephen Beddows and Frank Hirst in an interesting foursome. I am not at liberty to name the fourth participant due to legal reasons but do note that I didn’t say fourth person. The old parlour game Animal, vegetable or mineral comes to mind.

Fannie has agreed to do a series of one on one interviews with randomly selected managers of the Top 100. This is how it works. A RNG will select a manager from the list of Top 100 managers and they will be contacted asking if they wish to take part. There is no obligation to do so and if you decide not to participate then the next manager will be selected and there will be no issue of who didn’t want to take part. It will stay private. After the manager has agreed to take part, he will be sent a personal profile to fill in and while that is going on, questions will be constructed about his career in Top 100 and current situation. They will be no holds barred and nothing will be sacred. The manager can choose how to answer them. He may want to answer them seriously, comically or even eccentrically. Anyway he wishes. Once the answers are received then they will be published to the blog on a Thursday. These interviews will be published every fortnight with Gino’s Thursday blog on alternate Thursday’s. Ok? Now that it is clear we can move on to today’s first interview.

Fannie Licker loves football

THE INTERVIEW:

Good afternoon and welcome to the first in a series of interviews featuring managers of the Top 100. To start we have a quick word from the interviewer, Fannie Licker who will explain away her controversial series title.

Fannie Licker:  Hi guys and welcome to my cute little new series of interviews. I am delighted to be invited to such a successful gameworld filled with little fannies of it’s own. The title of the series is Fannie to Fannies but please don’t be offended as it is just my little joke. I am looking forward to meeting some of you and please do not flirt with me as I don’t like it. If I think you are worth a shag then I will let you know after the interview in private.

Anyway, let’s get started and I am delighted to have as my first manager, Mark Phelps who is manager of Flamengo in Division 5. Mark has been manager since the introduction of Top 100 and just on Tuesday there, the cup win over Athletic Club was his 50th competitive match in charge of the Brazilian outfit. He has decided to only have Brazilian players in his squad, hoping that the legendary skill of the country’s players can carry them to promotion in his second season.
To start things off, here is his personal profile where you can learn a bit more about his likes and stuff.

MARK PHELPS PERSONAL PROFILE

Full Name:  Mark Phelps
Born:  Northallerton 1968
Height:  5' 8''
Marital Status:  Single
Nickname:  None
Favourite Sports teams:  Darlington FC / Durham Cricket Club
Favourite food:  Indian
Favourite drink:  Tea, Guinness, Red wine
Favourite band/singer:  The Smiths
Favourite Colour:  Green
Favourite animal:  GSD/ Tropical Fish
Favourite film:  Jaws (plastic shark? I think not)
Your Car:  Alfa Mito
Best Friend:  Cousin David

What phone do you have:  It’s called a Doro 612. It is an old thing (looks like something the Roman’s left behind) but I like it.
Best sport to watch:  Football
What scares you most:  Finishing in the bottom two
Phone, iPad or laptop to play SM:  Laptop
Embarrassing moment:  Difficult to say there have been so many. I guess the most recent thing was the works Xmas party. A couple of drinks and I think I am John Travolta
Ever won anything on the lottery:  Played for about 20 years. Won peanuts.
If you could have any job in the world what would it be:  Director of Football. You get paid a fortune for doing nothing
Who would you most like to meet (dead or alive):  Two answers for this. Safe answer, Marilyn Monroe (lovely smile). Controversial answer (if you want one) - Robert Black (the child killer). Specifically I would have liked to meet him an hour after he was born. With a bucket of water.
If you could attend any sporting event in the world what would it be:  Monaco Grand Prix. Event I am most looked forward to attending? Whitby Town away. Will be a good day out.





Now for the interview. 8 questions for Mark so let’s see how he copes with them.

FL:  Flamengo have made a good start this season in the league. After finishing 13th last season, what would you say was the difference this season?

MP:  My starting squad wasn’t the strongest (Flamengo..are they even in the top 100 clubs anyway?). Last season I prioritised the cups and I may do so again but I have quite difficult draws.
I have some higher rated players now but Division 5 is something of a lottery. There wasn’t much between 3rd and 13th last season and I expect it will be a similar story this season.


FL:  Brazil is known for it’s silky soccer and it’s passionate fans. Is this the reason you decided to take on the job at Flamengo?

MP:  In a word, yes. It is my ambition to be the top Brazilian team one day but it will be difficult as the other managers are giving their all.

FL:  Do the fans seem happy at the direction you are taking the club? They couldn’t have been impressed with a below average first season in the Top 100. The 5-1 home defeat to Rubin Kazan must have had them calling for your head.

MP:  They may have also been pleased that I made the Shield semi final. The league is not a priority for me and I think people understand that. It is more important at this time to find good youngsters and undervalued players e.g. Dyanfres Douglas. I have 100m in players and nearly 50m cash and few clubs in Division 5 can boast that.

FL:  You have opted to make Flamengo an all-Brazilian club. What is the reason for this? Do you not think that foreign players settle well enough in Brazil. I mean, I have a Brazilian and I have had no problems getting used to that. Are you not worried that you will be looked upon as being prejudiced against foreigners?

MP:  I had a couple of higher rated foreign players here but I moved them on. They were on big wages and seemed to spend more time in the beach bar than on the training pitch. The Brazilians are progressing well and the squad is a good mixture of youth and experience. Prejudiced against foreigners? Mmmm…well… everybody gets a warm greeting in Rio.

FL:  Your best player Renato Augusto is out injured at the moment. How important is he to the club and will the injury mean you change your style of playing and your formation on the park?

MP:  Renato Augusto played two games - two wins. Next two games - no wins including a defeat by Brugge! Yes he is important to me. I am short in CM so went out and bought Mauricio.
I have a lot of AM / Wingers so I may have to switch to a more attacking formation in the next game or so.


FL:  Looking at the squad you have put together, it would be pretty obvious that Flamengo are a Division 5 club. Are the board not backing you with cash? Do you think they have full confidence in you to take the club up through the leagues or are they already searching for your successor?

MP:  I got 1.4m this season. Chairman says all his money goes to his ex-wife and he is broke hence my wheeling and dealing in the transfer market. Attendances are up this season so I think fans are happy enough. Can’t say I have seen too many people banging on the chairman’s door wanting the Flamengo job either.

FL:  Is there anyone in your youth squad that you think we should keep an eye on for the future?

MP:   I went over to Chile recently to watch the young Brazilians in the semi-final of the u17 World Cup. Evander was our best player so I was pleased to pick him up for a small fee. Leo Bonatini has been scoring more than Yolanda Squatpump recently so he may be the first to break into my starting XI.

FL:  Finally Mark, if you could manage any club in the Top 100, who would you choose and why?

MP:  There were plenty of bigger teams I could have managed. I wasn’t interested then and I am not interested now. I am patient and here for the duration.


FL:  Thanks Mark


So, that’s my first interview over and done with and Mark done quite well with his answers. I see Yolanda Squatpump got a mention. If she thinks she is going to be as famous as me then she can kiss my clit. Anyway, it’s a big thank you to Mark for taking part in the interview and I wish him and Flamengo good luck in their Division 5 campaign.
That’s it from me and the RNG will be selecting the next manager to be interviewed later tonight so watch for the message in your inbox. Thanks for taking the time to read this article and I will be back again in a fortnight’s time.

SLATERS

FANNIE LICKER.

Chelsea to Park the Bus !

Chelsea to Park the Bus !!


Chelsea Press Conference

James Mckenzie has openly claimed that Chelsea will be parking the bus against Bayern Munich in today's Division 1 clash.He was quoted saying in the press conference that, 'You can play with six,seven or eight defenders and still play attacking football'. 

Bayern Munich Press Conference

"We know Chelsea would be defending with nine and sometimes 10 men," Gursimran Brar said. "We know they'd get men behind the ball and try long hopeful balls up-front." I expect us to be too strong for Mckenzie and his boys.
Last week we beat Arsenal and the Manager resigned or was forced to quit, I just hope that today does not end up being Mckenzie's last game in charge.
Responding to questions on Transfers and Transfer Speculations

Asked about the Transfer situation he added we are looking to consolidate in the midfield and a solid centre back. We are very happy to have completed some transfer business by bringing in have Kalidou Koulibaly, in a like for like change with Ivanovich heading out of the door. Bebras Natcho has been brought in to provide cover till Joshua Kimmich is ready to take over that role. Lastly, we have brought in a few youngsters who shall hopefully grow with the club over the next few seasons.

He also mentioned how Eden Hazard and Xavi Alonso have been tracked furiously by some top clubs and it could be possible that they move in the next few days. He dropped a big hint that a deal with a manager for a top young talent was in place but now the Everton job situation had complicated that situation and finished off the press conference on that note.

Lastly, Luiz Danilo is expected to be in the stands today to watch Chelsea take on Bayern.The club would like to thank Gerard  Deulofeu for his services along with Alvaro Tejero who never quite made the cut and with Jordon Amavi in the ranks he was someone Bayern could afford to let go.

Players for P/E

Xavi Alonso
Arjen Robben
Andreas Iniesta
Seamus Coleman
Karim Benzema

Disclaimer:The below 2 would only move if a certain manager does get the Everton Job else a deal is in place for them.
Pierre Hojberg
Lucas Vazquez


Derlis Gonzalez signs!

Was not expecting to be posting again a day after my weekly report, but here I am. Rumours were linking us with young Derlis Gonzalez yesterday, and while Rahul W did not distance himself, he is now pleased to announce the signing. He is expected to be travelling today to Villa Park where he will visit the training grounds and the youth team, which he will fit into perfectly. He will be our striking head for the youth and a valuable rotation option for the main team. Unfortunately, we have to let one of our originals, Carles Gil, leave along with 3 mil to Kiev, a hefty price in terms of cash as we are not left with much money. We are still looking for another youth signing in order to bolster the attack of our team. As such, Luka Belic and Courtney Duffus will have to leave in order to let Derlis and another player in.

Derlis will take over the No. 22 currently held by Gil. We hope he will be an inspirational signing for our youth team, and fires us to success. Also like to thank Gil for his efforts and hopes he does well for his new team, as well as the Kiev manager for swift negotiations.

What a terrible dream.....

Levante managed to get their season up and running last night, and afterwards Parfitt said it was the first time this season he had managed to pick his own team and tactics. When asked exactly what he meant by this odd statement, Parfitt said that the night before the first four matches of the season so far, AC Milan boss Stephen Beddows had come to him in a dream and left explicit instruction regarding Levente’s set up.






Parfitt suggested that this dream occured on Saturday night as well, but on this occasion he chose to ignore it. The end result of ignoring Beddows being the Spanish side’s first point of the season. Not only did the club earn the point, but they also put in a much improved all round performance. The German side are quite a tricky prospect at this level, especially at home, but the stats show that Levante were good value for the point, and on another night may have even pinched all three.



The game started off with the home side flying out of the blocks however. Within 3 minutes, Fred had already put one effort wide and seen John Ruddy make a save from another effort. That earlypressure soon paid off, Juan Vargas scoring for the Germans on 7 minutes. Given that Koln took 6 points from these fixtures last season, Levante’s poor start looked all set to continue. 

Levante came into the game more as the first half came towards a close. Adriano and Gomez both missed decent chances. 

At the start of the second half, Mate Simao made way for Angel Romero as Levante went with 2 up top in an effort to get something out of the game. Six minutes later, the substitution proved to be a masterful one. Jean Beausejour was brought down, and Romero took the resultant free kick. He chipped the ball over towards the penalty spot, where Alejandro Gomez got a powerful head to the ball and beat the keeper magnifficently. 

In all fairness, a second goal either way wouldperhaps have been harshon whoever lost, but it was a good game of football, and one from which a beleagured Levante side will take some confidence.  

The Spaniards now have two home games in a row, with Southampton coming over for a cup mach tomorrow, before Italian club Atalanta arrive for Thursday nights league encounter.Parfitt expects the team tomorrow night to be vastly different, but is hopeful that the players who come in will see that they have an opportunity to stake a claim for a regular starting spot. Following his performance last night, Angel Romero has already been told he will start for the first time this season against Southampton, and given the clubs chronic lack of goals, the number 9 shirt is very much still available.   


There have been a number of transfers in and out of the club over the last 10 days or so. The biggest name being Correia Adriano, who joined from Barcelona for a fee of £9m. Levante have also asked Barcelona if the can be kept updated on the position of another of Barca's defenders, although a deal is unlikely at the moment with the side from the Nou Camp currently using theplayer in their own first team.

The other players to join Levante are......

  • Anthony Caceres - Central Coast Mariners £360k
  • Manuel Friedrich - Free agent £398k 
  • Sylvain Distin - Bournemouth £204k
  • Israel Jiminez - Tigres UANL £2.6m
  • Steve Mounie - Free Agent £150k
  • Dani Romero - Free agent £450k
  • Adil Nabi - Free agent £75k
  • Jean Thome - FC Vestsjaelland £80k plus Euan Spark
  • Bart Ramselaar - AZ £3m and Roberto Trashorras
Some of the players are hopes for the futurre, and others are old experienced heads at bargain prices. The club are not in a position to compete for top players at big money, but some of signings, especially Bart Ramselaar are very exciting, and the club are delighted to have got each and every one of them in.  


The Levante youth side were tuned to their television sets last night whilst the first team were away. They have been drawn in a very tough group and are rubbing their hands together at the prospect of trips to the Bernebau, Villa Park, Flamengo and Leverkusen. 

Whilst both the playing group, and all of the staff involved in the youth set up realise what a difficult group it is, they also understand that games against that calibre of opposition will be fantastic experience in their development towards what will hopefully become a successful career in the Levente first XI. As a show of confidence in the youth system, Parfitt is planning on handing several of the youngsters their first team debut's in the cup match against Southampton tomorrow night. Should they show well, there is the possibility that they could earn themselves a spot in the first team on a more regular basis. 

The youth sides group in full is as per the below, and the club will be looking to get the home fixtures penciled in ASAP.   


Group F:
1. Real Madrid (Keano)
2. Aston Villa (Rahul W)
3. Levante UD (Tom Parfitt)
4. Flamego (Mark Phelps)
5. Bayer Leverkusen (Noisy)

ASTON VILLA VS REAL MADRID! + other Villa news

A draw and 2 wins in the last 3 games has created a real buzz around the Villa training ground. A 2-2 draw away to Leicester was a decent result, with Veretout scoring a brace while playing as a No. 10. We went back to home on Thursday, where we faced another English side, this time Swansea, but we had a tight game, coming out victors 2-1. Ayew and Gueye were the scorers.


Our travels to France have been fruitful in the last season, and we beat Lille again, 1-0. Arguably a draw was the fairest result but Scocco scored his maiden goal for us in the 84th minute. Great vision shown by Ruben Garcia, it has to be said.

We are now 5th in the table with 10 points from 5 games. It's been a good start to the season, the momentum has to be maintained. We face Hamburger next who have lost all 5, so hopefully we can pick up 3 points there.

It must also be said that cups are also a priority of Rahul W, and we start off against Feyenoord who will be a tough side to play. Hopefully we can edge it.

Rumours were also abound that Rahul W may have opted to move to Liverpool, but he vehemently denied such reports and said he would never managed a club like Liverpool. He however congrats Gino on his appointment and hope he does well. Arsenal, on the other hand, were a more manageable side but with the news of the Youth Cup draw Rahul W has decided to continue at Villa Park to see what he will be able to do.

Speaking of the draw, Villa fans were besides themselves when they heard they were drawn with heavyweights Real Madrid. Beddows was right, Rahul W would definitely love this draw. Keano will be back at Villa, where he won't be welcomed too nicely. Shall be a fiery encounter for sure. Madrid have some top-quality youth players like John Stones, Baba, Werner, Asensio and Alli so they will be the favourites here. Sadly Ruben Garcia won't be able to play his former side Levante but he will still be able to meet his former players and manager. Tom Parfitt is a good manager but his youth side is nothing to write home about so we should be able to get points from those games. Flamengo are a side we don't know a lot about but they have Guilherme who could do well for them so we should be wary of them.  Finally, Leverkusen, the club Rahul W rejected in order to stay at Villa, complete the group. Managed by the experienced Noisy, they will be tough, as they have Hakan, Brandt and Jedvaj, good prospects. All in all, this is a tricky group but we should be favourites for 3rd. Whether we can make it 2nd will depend on how we do against the big teams. A group containing 5 good managers, this shall be fun to watch.

Group F:
1. Real Madrid (Keano)
2. Aston Villa (Rahul W)
3. Levante UD (Tom Parfitt)
4. Flamego (Mark Phelps)
5. Bayer Leverkusen (Noisy)

That is all for this week. Coming weeks should be fun as things heat up across 4 competitions.

Light blues hold off dark blues

Man City managed a courageous 2-1 victory over a much stronger Chelsea side on Sunday evening. A record 51,359 came to watch the victory, a clear sign of the fans pleasure with the goings on at the club.
Outmatched in all but three positions on the pitch the sky blues were quickly behind when Costa struck early on. It could have been 2, had Costa not been ruled offside. He was furious, despite being way off side.




Doumbia struck after excellent work from Gotze on the wing. This gave the whole team a lift, something that was evident as Doumbia doubled his goal tally for the day after heading home. The second half was a drab affair as City held on for an impressive win.

Somehow Costa was named MOTM. An outrageous gesture.

SM Top 100 Youth Cup Season Two - Group Stage Draw

Please read more to see live coverage of the draw for the Group Stage of the TOP 100 Youth Cup Season 2.

[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch

Please note that the final two teams ARE

Crystal Palace who will be in GROUP G
AND
Benfica who will be in GROUP H

Any questions please PM them to me or message me via facebook

Remember we do have a FACEBOOK group that will be used to send reminders etc RE: Fixtures.

Fixtures will be played as FRIENDLIES and the FIXTURES will be announced in due course.

LIVERPOOL REVEAL NEW BOSS

 
 
Liverpool have moved quickly to name a new boss after the resignation of Clive Short on Friday. After going through a very strong shortlist they finally decided to go for the experience of 53 year old Gordon 'Gino' Kinnear. Kinnear who had spent the first season of the Top 100 at Club Brugge, where, with a very average squad, he managed to get to the play off Final only to lose to River Plate in a game where many feel that the better team lost. Liverpool chairman, Tom Werner, was delighted to get his man and feels that this is the way ahead for the Merseyside club.

Kinnear arrived at the club early this morning and has already been around the ground along with a couple of selected pressmen. Next up is the press conference where Kinnear will be officially unveiled.


New boss Kinnear has had a look round the ground


LIVERPOOL PRESS CONFERENCE

Liverpool spokesman:  Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Anfield and I would like to introduce from left to right, Chief Executive Ian Ayre, Chairman Tom Werner and Director Mike Gordon. I will now pass on to Tom Werner who will introduce the new manager of Liverpool FC.

Tom Werner:  Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and we are here today to unveil the new manager of Liverpool. We had a very strong list of candidates and it was one of the hardest jobs we have had here at the club but finally we decided on a man that we feel can take this club forward and can bring trophies to Anfield. Without further ado, I would like to introduce to you, the new Liverpool manager, Gordon Kinnear.

Applause, with a few cheers mixed in and one decidedly loud boo. How did Roy Keane get in here?


Tom Werner


Tom Werner:  I will now hand over to Gordon and he will say a few words and then will take questions. Thank you. Gordon?


Gordon Kinnear:  Thank you Tom. First I would like to thank Tom, Ian, Mike and the rest of the board for giving me this fantastic opportunity to manage one of the biggest clubs in the world. It is an honour to take on this job and I will be giving it 100% from first minute to last. There were rumours that I was close to retiring from the Top 100 completely and I can tell you that it was a rumour that was true. While I enjoyed my time at Club Brugge, I felt that I had maybe taken them as far as I could and the loss in the play off Final last season hit me hard. I would say I was days from retiring but when the opportunity arose to manage a club of this stature, I couldn't refuse. It now means, of course, that I will not be retiring and will work on as manager of Liverpool no matter what the surrounding conditions are. I would also like to thank Club Brugge for their swift co-operation in allowing me to come to Anfield. I had a great time there and I have some good moments to remember. I will keep an eye on how they are progressing with whoever their new manager is. Ok, I will take some questions:

Fannie Licker (Freelance):  Gordon, this is obviously a big step up for you. Do you think you will be a success here and how long do you expect to be given to show you are indeed the man for the job?

GK:  Hah, Fannie by name, fanny by nature. You always try to trip me up with your questions but anyway, yes of course I think I will be a success. I thought that was quite obvious or I wouldn't take the job. You would have to ask Tom about how long I have to prove myself but, trust me, I will know when it's time to go. I always set myself a target in terms of achievement. My aim will always be to win more points than I did the previous season and to keep improving on it until I win the title so as long as I do that, I hope that the board will keep faith in me.


Judy Swallows (Free Dierdre): I think the fans will be completely underwhelmed by the appointment when there were other names out there such as John Vinnicombe, Frank Hirst and Roy Keane. How do you plan to win the fans over?

GK:  You don't think I am a big name? Well looking at your name I am glad to see that you are a good girl. The other names that you mention are great managers and are doing well at their clubs. It would have been easy for the board to play safe and go for someone like John or Frank. There was no chance in hell that they would have approached Roy Keane after his dodgy dealings of last season. It is clear that he didn't want to win the title last season so that his idols, Manchester United, would be champions. How he kept his job at Real is a disgrace after throwing the title. He has already said that he can't wait to face Looneypool, as he called the club, and I can say that the feeling is mutual. I can't wait to lock horns with him and his so called superstars in Madrid. When we beat them, I will make sure it makes headline news and I will make sure Roy's gutted face is on the back page of every newspaper in Europe even if I have to take the photo myself. If that doesn't win the fans over then nothing will. Don't you worry about the fans Judy. I am sure if I send them round to your house that you will live up to your name.


Mike Litoris (Liverpool Gossip): Hi Gordon and welcome to the club. As well as a journalist, I am a big fan of the club. Have you thought on what you are going to do with the squad? I know, first hand, that there were some players who were not happy at their treatment by the previous manager and they wanted to leave. What will your approach be to players that aren't happy at the club?

GK:  I want to wipe the sheet clean but that's another matter. I promised I wouldnt get her pregnant so what else was I supposed to do. Erm, sorry, that didnt actually happen. Yes, your question. Well, I will gather the squad together tomorrow morning and I will lay down the rules and anyone who doesnt like the rues or anyone that doesnt follow them will be free to find a another club. Well, not free as we will want a fee for them but you know what I mean. Everyone will get their chance to show what they can do. I am a fair manager, I don't have favourites and I only pick the players that are on form or the players I think are right to play against the opposition. I will also be looking to put my own stamp on the club and will want to bring players in that I think can do a job for us. I am happy to know you are also a supporter Mike and I will give you Judy's address later on.


Yolanda Squatpump (Health and Fitness):  Do you have any special training methods? If you are looking for something new then I can hep you. You could give me a job as fitness coach and I won't cost much cos I am a bit of a slut and I like football players especially.

GK:  Thanks for your interest Yolanda and we will get back to you on that. Mike, there's another for you. Ok one more question.


Yolanda Squatpump



Roy Keane (Real Madrid):  So you were retiring and changed your mind. You were the only manager on the shortlist that didn't win anything last season. You are the right man for Looneypool right enough. IT'S A KOP OUT!!

GK:  Sorry Roy, do you have a question or are you just here to run your mouth off. You have a lot to say and to me that sounds like you are a worried man. The only kop out was you meekly surrendering the title last season so your heroes could win. Be afraid Roy, be very afraid. I am here to take that runners-up spot from you. When we meet you better have a bottle of wine for after the game so you can drown your sorrows and also give me some. White preferably. I will bring some cheese.

Keane unhappy at the Liverpool appointment

Ok, that's enough for today. Thanks for coming and let's hope for a Liverpool win tonight to get my career off to a good start.

Ciao