As we are all probably aware our digital fingerprints and footsteps are tracked wherever we go across the internet and our activity monitored, similarly we must know that SM tracks our activity within the site.

A glitch in the “SM Matrix” after my last 2 transfer deals has revealed some of that information and how it is compiled, unfortunately it doesn’t reveal how it is used, which would be very interesting.

For those of you who swallowed the red pill here is the latest glitch.

Not that i'm counting but that’s me went two games in a row without losing! Happy days. Things are looking up… Well, until the next game as we were playing Real Madrid.
With Real Madrid, nobody was expecting a win, but we were optimistic after our two previous results and were optimistic about maybe sneaking a draw. In the end we put up a good fight but got beat 2-1. In all truth we deserved nothing, never mind a goal.

In the next two games we had two Italian teams to deal with and deal with them we did NOT. We had to play Lazio and Inter Milan Respectfully. The Lazio game could have went either way as you will see by looking at the stats below. Unfortunately we got beat 1-0.
Playing Inter Milan we edged possession & Shots, but just could not find the back of the net, or the target for that matter as we only managed two shots on target. I feel we should have won the game, but it was the same story as the Lazio Game pretty much; possibly played better but got beat 1-0.
Brown had enough of the SHITE performances from the majority of his players and it was not hard to see as he was an angry man. The club told brown, Fenerbahce were going to back him all the way as they were sick of player power. According to a close club source he completely lost the plot on the 20^th of April and wrote on the dressing room white board who was leaving whilst the players were in the room. First names on the board were as follows; Souza, Kane, Stoch, Fry, Martinez, Babic, Poulson, Potuk, Callejon, Allen, Ntep, Alvez, Maupay & Oshiman. Brown said “all you di*k heads are leaving. Now get the fu*k out this room”… Not 1 comment was made from the players as they all knew their performance were far from good enough. Following on from the player departures we had to fill the gaps with players who wanted to play for the shirt and be a FANNYBASHER. We started bringing in new faces until we got to where we are now with players such as; Taison, Honda, Cerci, Perrin, Ribery, Bernard, Chedjou, Elias, De Jong, Palacio, Yilmaz & Angel. Rumours are there will be more additions to the squad. 

With the new players coming in, they needed to hit the ground running and they did just that as we went on a 5 match unbeaten run As you will see in more detail below.

Our first game since a couple our new signings arrived, we were playing Man U. I think we got a bit lucky to get anything out of the match, as we were outplayed from start. But we held our own and the game finished 1-1

Our next game we then played Liverpool. Gino’s men had more possession but apart from that it was a fair result and ended 1-1.
Our next game was against struggling Lyon, who are relegated into Division two now. We were confident and cautious, but we won 3-1 and fully deserved the win.
Next was Atletico Madrid and we actually won 2-0, which we all thought was a brilliant result due to the strength of Atleti’s squad. The game could have went either way but Cerci came back to haunt his former club and new signing, Honda was also on the score sheet.

              
Welcome to the SC Internacional End of Season Review of Season 2 in Top100. A short run down of how the Brazilian outfit got to where they are now - newly promoted back to Division 3 after a 3rd place finish.




Manager Robérto Downinho was appointed midway through season 1 with Inter languishing at the bottom of Division 3, but despite a full makeover on the team they failed to survive, including the sale of such veterans as Joan Roman Riquelme and Lisandro Lopez, and the arrivals of Odion Ighalo and Duarte Bernard.

Downinho however saw positive signs as his new team clawed back points during his first half season, but ultimately it was not enough and the club were relegated. Nevertheless the Chairman was pleased to offer Downinho another year to prove himself, who decided to keep faith in his assembly for season 2 in Division 4, knowing that players like Ighalo and Bernard could spearhead the attack and hopefully prove a threat in Division 4.

One of the problems however lay in depth, one good striker would simply not do. Downinho made the shrewd purchase of Congolese striker Cedric Bakambu from Hellas Verona for £10m. What was considered to be a relatively ‘safe’ buy at the time seems to be turning out to be a fantastic one given the player’s great form for Inter in Top 100 and for Villareal in real life (sorry to combine both realities). The striker was signed to be a strike partner for Ighalo and instantly made Inter’s attack more dangerous.

                (Bakambu - major signing)

Another key addition at the beginning of the season was central midfielder Mirko Valdifiori for £5m + Nielton from external. Strengthening the backbone of the team was important to the Chairman and Downinho found the experienced Italian to fill the gap in the hope to create a more efficient midfield.
        (Valdifiori - a leader in the midfield)

THE SEASON…
On with the football and Internacional were touted as relegation candidates by pre-season bookmakers. But they started the season brightly in the league with a few mixed results followed by a 4 game winning streak, with new signing Bakambu getting on the scoresheet a few times, and Bernard providing most of the assists from the wing. Early form seemed to become less consistant as Cup and Shield matches added to the schedule caused patchy performances.

Inter were knocked out of the Top100 Cup by their close league rivals Genoa, losing 2-0.
The Shield run however was slightly more successful, with Inter keen to attempt to make it their tournament after Downinho took the team to the final in the first season, only to lose to Real Madrid. This time Inter cruised past Cruzeiro and Sampdoria only to run into giants Bayern Munich in round 4. They gave their all but were inevitably knocked out, giving Downinho and his boys sole concentration on the league from then on.
Then came an impressive 8 game unbeaten streak to propel Internacional towards the top 3 amongst the likes of Genoa, Malaga, Atalanta and Southampton (to name a few), who remained strong challengers for promotion throughout. Inter even flirted with 1st place for a few rounds, but couldn’t capitalise as form began to drop again, causing Downinho to try new formations and player rotation. Still, Inter were there or there abouts in the chase for playoffs/promotion, a feat that seemed too good to be true at the start of the season. The attacking trio were of Ighalo, Bakambu and Bernard were clocking up the goals with other chipping in along the way.
As the season drew in on the last 10 games with Inter still looking well placed for the playoffs despite being such a close league, with 10 or more teams all looking like they could challenge for it. Inter’s form picked up again, setting a new club record with a run of 9 games unbeaten.
Despite being such an important stage of the season, a business opportunity arose as interest in winger Duarte Bernard grew due to his sparkling form, with 8 goals and 15 assists for the season. With 3 games to go, the clubs’s chairman accepted an offer from Fenerbahce  for Bernard of 10m plus Paul-Georges Ntep and Bruno Alves.
(Star man Duarte, the offer too good to refuse)

Ntep, 23 year French winger, was seen as a great propect who would immediately fit in as Bernard’s replacement.
   (Ntep with an immediate impact)

Alves, we all know is a hugely experienced centre back who is still a good player, will further strengthen the defence and backbone of the team.
        (Alves, a great big brute of a CB)

Ntep scored and received man of the match on his debut with 3 games to go. A following draw in the penultimate game set up a grand finale against league leaders Southampton, who led 2nd placed Inter by a point, with Genoa and Malaga both close behind and gunning for automatic promotion. The winner of this game would be crowned Division 4 champions. Inter needed a bit of luck if not from their own game, then from the games of their close rivals.
But it was Mike Scalotti’s Southampton who easily beat Internacional on the final night 2-0, with Greg Billington’s Malaga being the unlucky team to drop points to secure Internacional a 3rd place finish for automatic promotion to Division 3! A huge achievement for Inter given the quality of teams in the Division, and their predicted mediocrity by the bookies.
Frank Hirst’s Genoa achieved 2nd place to go up. And just in… Udinese win the Division 4 playoffs to join the trio in promotion.

Here’s how our best performers did this season:
Bernard 8 goals 15 assists
Bakambu 9 goals 5 assists
Ighalo 10 goals 9 assists
Didavi 7 goals 2 assists

THE FUTURE?
And here are Downinho’s players to watch, who could play a starring role in the club’s future:    

Paul-Georges Ntep - 88 - age 23, a star player from Rennes and highly coveted amongst bigger clubs.      

Becker Alisson - 87 - age 23 - now undisputed number 1 for the Brazil National team and a move to Roma all but done.
     (Alisson, could one of the best GKs)

Cedric Bakambu - 87 - age 25 - a goal machine for Villarreal all season and is sure to get better. Clubs in Top100 are swarming for his signature, some even desperately making persistent enquiries for the club to sell. But Downinho insists he’s going nowhere, he’s tied to a contract to a club where he’s first choice. What more could he want? …

Odion Ighalo - a good season at Watford in the EPL, 16 goals.
(Ighalo, Downinho’s first great signing)

Gonzalo Escalante - 83 - age 23 - an ever present in the Eibar starting lineup in La Liga this season, gaining a great amount of experience.
(Escalante, almost unknown but one to watch)

Willi Orban - 83 - age 23 - a key figure at the monumental uprising of Germany’s RB Leipzig, gaining promotion to the Bundesliga. An important season ahead, could emerge as one of the Bundesliga’s consistant centre backs.

(Orban, next season could be the making of him)

Oliveira Andrigo - 75 - age 21 -just signed from Chievo, a great addition to the Inter youth team. Now a starter for Internacional in real life, will only get better.
          (Andrigo, star in the making?)

Daniel Didavi - 87 - age 26 - has moved from relegated Stuttgart to Wolfsburg after an impressive season.
(Didavi, Stuttgart’s best by far, great season)

WHAT NEXT?
So what now for Internacional? Well with a huge reward of £20m gaining promotion, plus £10m received from Fenerbahce from the Bernard deal, and ultimately the sale of veteran defender and captain Humberto Rever, Inter have never been in a better position financially. The plan is to invest in the future by building a youth team, and also trying to strengthen the existing lineup to allow for the best chance of survival next season in Division 3. It’ll be tough, and Downinho will still bear the scars from last season’s relegation, but it’s a full season ahead with a capable team who have potential to improve themselves. The whole Internacional family, from the board of directors to the coaching staff are immensely proud of these players’ achievement and will be supporting them all the way!

THANK YOU FOR READING!

After 3 open top bus parades, a few Mcdonalds in Piazza del Duomo Beddows has finally found some time to talk to the press about life in Milan particularly focusing on three things


Clough
Italian Team Awards
World Cup



On Clough:

In his pre-World Cup press conference the elite Italian manager, Stephen Beddows, has admitted that he has some sympathy with fellow Milan based manager Mr Clough.


“Mr Clough has been victimised due to his past misdemeanours, everyone knows his criminal record is longer than Adam Johnson’s, Joey Barton’s and Ched Evan’s put together, therefore you’d expect everyone to be suspicious and check on his squad size every time they see an Inter transfer go through, but I do have genuine sympathy for him."


Beddows continued to compare Clough’s former club of Sunderland as the bigger side and that Inter’s relegation went to prove that Clough was only good enough for BIG clubs and that he fully expects Clough to either succeed his brother Roy at Real Madrid in Season 4 or join Roy’s back room staff.


It is highly unfortunate as well that Mr Clough and Inter are now banned from the Youth Cup in Season 3 therefore ensuring that the two Milan sides cannot be drawn against one another in next Monday’s draw.


On The Awards:


Milan were belated awarded the prestigious award of “Most Entertaining Team” at last nights glitzy award ceremony for Italian football clubs. Beddows dismissed the fact that some of the other Italian teams refused to turn up as coincidence and denied that they only won the award due to the only other present managers being Brian Clough himself, Doug Earle (Obviously) and Marco De Angelis who presented the award to Beddows.


Milan’s credentials in this field were head and shoulders above the rest, “Scoring 52 goals, 7th highest scorer in the league and still getting relegated, that was pure entertainment. We play football to please ourselves and to please our fans…"


Beddows didn’t comment on the number of goals conceded but made mention of the growing anti-Milan feeling within the game world and announced that his side feared no one: especially the likes of Gordon, a man so out of touch that he makes the Queen look young or Broon, a Scotsman who has spent 6 months in Turkey now and still can’t speak a single bloody word apart from ordering a drink…


He also bemoaned and criticised Frank for organising the Milan fixtures to follow on from Juventus in Season 2. If Juventus played them on the Thursday, we played them on the Sunday, which would be enough to motivate any side…if you face the dull boring football of Juventus where you do nothing as he keeps the ball for 90 minutes passing sideways and backwards you will always be fresh for the next match! Horrendous planning by the fixture compilers, a sentiment echoed by Top impartial Italian journalist Gino Kinnearo.


Marco was proud as punch to award Mario Balotelli the “AC Milan Player of the Year Award” whilst the “Young Player of the Year” went to recently called up Italian star, Marco Benassi.


Beddows laughed out loud when it came to the “other” awards of the evening which were awarded as follows.


“Most Boring Side to Watch” Juventus and DP
“Dirtiest Side” Fiorentina and Mister Malcolm
“Funniest Fall from Grace” Inter and Clough
“Greatest Achievement” Udinese and Attila


Beddows post awards had this to say in particular on Malcom… “Malcolm pretty boy dinosaur, about as charming as a feather duster, and a management who imparts tactics that belong more at the Battle of the Somme than in SM… 13 red cards and 56 yellow cards in 38 league games, two players having 3 red cards a piece. He plays to injure players not win football matches. Don’t be fooled by his mock-up Italian awards… disgraceful."


On The World Cup:


Beddows has been criticised in some quarters for failing to pick certain people for his World Cup squad but as even the animated Englishman in his best Italian justified his decisions.


Donnarumma’s omission: “I had provisionally picked Donnarumma to come to the World Cup but when I learnt that Roy Keane had changed his D1POTY selection from Balotelli to Ramos I immediately sent him home, kicked out of the training camp here at Lake Como."


Fiorentina Ban: “I will not have players of Mister Malcolm’s anywhere near my squad, for him to have the audacity to call Milan cheats when you see Fiorentina’s disciplinary record is more of a disgrace than when they found Ryan Giggs guilty of cheating on his missus…” Beddows also confirmed that whilst Malcolm remains in charge in Florence no Viola players would get near an Italian shirt unless they left the club.


Balotelli Captaincy: “On the pitch he wont wear the armband but I have made it clear to everyone that Mario will lift the World Cup when we win it. He is our Club Captain and leader on the pitch without the armband."


Paloschi Inclusion: “Ryan asked me if I would be including any Celta Vigo players and I said yes why not… and we have also brought Ryan along for the ride, he will be my assistant as I attempt to impose my superior knowledge on him to help Celta come back to Div 4”


Claims of Money for Genoa Players Inclusion: “Presently there are 4 Genoa players in the squad but we may amend that in favour of more Milan youngsters. Of course it is completely preposterous to think Frank demanded their inclusion… as if he would!"


Darmian Inclusion: “Everyone knows myself and David have not always seen eye to eye recently and his criticism of my circumstances has been nothing short of harsh. I have called Darmian up but will not hesitate to withdraw him from the side should David continue along this anti-Milan path that he has begun to tread.


Beddows then finished his chat with the media and said that anything less than semi-final for Italy would be considered failure.

Nearly a week has past since a transfer ban was imposed on Earle his Espanyol side. In just seven days Earle has already seen at least four transfer targets move elsewhere. With the likes of Emiliano Viviano, Rafael Galhardo, Gabriel Torje and Bakary Sako all now off the cards many have questioned how Earle will look to strengthen the squad. Despite this situation, Earle has remained confident that the squad will be improved once their ban is up.

Marco Ruben

With the ban in place Earle has been working hard to arrange several deals for when transfers are available. Marko Vejinovic has had his future set for some time with a move to Sunderland planned. Azevedo Silvio and Duncan Watmore will both join the Spanish side in exchange. With Alvaro Arbeloa expected to leave, Azevedo Silvio could play a huge roll in the teams season. Another deal which has been planned is the exit of Leonardo Pavoletti. The Italian forward will join Hellas Verona in a deal which will see Christian Kabasele and Onyinye Ndidi join in exchange. 


Andraz Sporar will also join for an undisclosed cash sum. Although none of the three are expected to make an immediate impact all can offer good depth and provide future options for the Spaniards. With Pavoletti on his way out a replacement forward was needed. In response to this Earle turned his attention to Standard Liege and their Argentine forward Marco Ruben. The 29 year old will join Espanyol and is likely to partner up with veteran Claudio Pizarro. Standard Liege will recieve Muhammet Demir and Zinho Gano. This deal has several conditions which must remain stable up until the deal is complete.

Federico Mancuello

Following these announcements some fans have draw attention to the fact that a strong central midfielder, left back and goalkeeper are needed. In response Earle has assured that a new midfielder will be signed. With initial plans to sign Pape Diop thwarted by Cruzeiro, Earle has turned his attention to a far more unlikely option. The identity has not yet been disclosed but Earle expects a few fans to be surprised by the potential signing. He has also said that if they miss out on the desired player he is sure that Lukas Rupp or Federico Mancuello will be able to step up. When questioned about the left back position Earle suggested that Ragnar Klavan may be the man to fill the spot. Silvio or possibly Arbeloa could also threaten for the number 3 shirt. Rodriguez Jony is an outside chance to hold the position while reports of another anonymous signing are afloat. Finally, Earle has shed light on what fans can expect in terms of the goalkeeping situation next season. He indicated that he has faith in the current number 1, Volkan Demirel, and has suggested the 34 year old will hold the spot. He has also suggested that he expects Eloy Room to push Demirel for the starting spot. However, Earle has hinted that a replacement is on the cards. With interest in Onur Kivrak and Remy Riou reported, both Demirel and Room will know that the post and pre seasons will be key to their futures.

Live from Andalo at the finish of tomorrow's Giro stage the final stage of the Italian team of the year.

Presented by stars of Italian cycling.

Mario Cipollini

 Andrea Tafi

 Francesco Moser

 The events took an interesting turn as Lazio turned up to the event despite not being invited. Feeling generous to a turn the other managers allowed the Lazio delegation into the luxury ski resort.

 

Jealous of Juventus and their new mascot Bendtner, the other 4 teams demanded an animal of equal status.
Jealous of Venice , Fiorentina asked for a Doge to be appointed their pet 
 Naples claimed they already had a huge Python seen below. 







 Genoa 

Confused by their own clubs name the Genoa cricket and football club asked for a bat to play cricket with 




and Lazio asked if we knew of any Cheetahs, but none were available .

The voting was split into votes from the jury of other Italian managers and a popular telephone vote

At the end of round 1.
Genoa has 12pts
Juventus  10pts
Fiorentina 8pts
Naples     7pts
Lazio      6pts

When Mario called the name of the winner, everyone was shocked by the result , in reverse order

Naples has finished 5th gaining 13pts total.
Juventus had finished 4th gaining 17pts total
Fiorentina 3rd on 18pts total
Genoa 2nd on 20 pts total
but Lazio had won with 13.2 Million votes.

On checking the voting totals however it was noted that a certain Italian manager had fallen asleep with his hand on the redial button while watching sultry Italian starlet Sabrina


His long suffering wife handed out the usual punishment




 Lazio were immediately disqualified and given BFH, bus fare home. This left Genoa as the much deserved Italian team of the year.
They win a Speedboat , while the runners up get the much coverted Bendy Bully , darts and tankard. 


 

The 2nd Italian team of the year awards were announced earlier today live from the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

 The event took place earlier than expected as the official Italian manager and team association had wind of a rival event to take place in Milan.

The event was split into the best team in each division as nominated by the independent manager and team association , sponsored by Bunga - Bunga inc and a final award for the team of the season.

Division 5

There are no Italian teams in this division at the moment.

So the award was given the Hellas Verona the Italian team closest to Division 5 this season.

 Division 4

3rd Place Udinese Calcio for doing exactly what they should.

2nd  Torino for doing a little better than expected.

1st Genoa for a well deserved promotion.

 

Division 3

No prize awarded due to the poor performance of both teams

Division 2

Napoli get the award narrowly over Roma

Division 1

Both Milan teams were disqualified due to their relegation and attempted vote rigging.

 

This left only Juventus and Fiorentina to battle out the award.

Juventus were granted the Division 1 award due to their superior peformance in the league.

Juventus were given a free Zebra by the local mayor for their great performance.

Then the nominees for Italian team of the year were announced.

They are Genoa,  Napoli,  Juventus and Fiorentina.

The winner will be announced tomorrow , during the rest day of the Giro d'Italia by former sprinter Mario Cippolini