Today we travel to Goodson Park to take on Everton in this division 2 game

They have a stronger team than us and home advantage so this should be a convincing win for them

Everton finished 8th in this division last season so this will be a good marker for us

BESIKTAS JK

SEASON 13 - (Promoted to division 4)

On 20 August 2020, I was kindly offered the managers job at Besiktas JK in division 5, and took them over from Dr Martinez.

The team were in a play off spot in 7th, and had W7-D6-L6 and had £2.7M. I decided that I would play the existing squad and see what I could get out of the players, although I did delve into the transfer market, I only made minor changes. The team dropped down the league as it took time for me to get the players and formation/tactics sorted. We slowly climbed back up the league and were fortunate enough to finish in 7th position with W16-D10-L12 and 58 points. We won the play off final and were promoted to division 4. Also in this season the club reached the “World Club Final”

SEASON 14 (Play offs)

The current team had performed well enough in season 13, so they were given the opportunity to continue with the club in season 14. Again, minimal activity was made in the transfer market with only minor changes taking place.

Another tough season gave us the opportunity to see how well we could perform at a higher level, and to see if any changes were needed. We managed to end up in 4th with W18-D9-L11 and 63 points. Unfortunately we were unable to reach the play off final and so were not promoted. Again we reached the “World Club Final”

Around 6/7 games before the end of the season I made a successful application to manage Manchester United. I was left to see out the remainder of the season with Besiktas and to take over the role at Manchester at the start of season 15. 

How did I do - twice in the play offs in divisions 4 & 5 and a promotion to division 4 seems a fair result in a short time. A points ratio of 2.11 is the best of any manager since the creation of TOP100 for Besiktas.

MANCHESTER UNITED

WHY DID I APPLY FOR MANCHESTER UNITED

I need to like the name of a club I manage, and Besiktas just didn’t do it for me. I had almost 2 seasons with them and managed to get into the play offs both seasons and promoted once. I also reached the “World Club Cup” in both seasons. I had left Besiktas in a higher division than I found them and with around £50M more.

I believed that I had cut my teeth in TOP100 and proved that I could get more out of a club, with the existing set of players.

SEASON 15 (Promoted to division 2)

There was a reasonable team at United, but the bench was weak and they only had 34 players. My initial purchase for the bench was Lindoso(86)DM,M(C) and at 30yo looked stable. I also purchased some youth players hoping that 1/2 might eventually make the first team. We were now in a better position and hopefully also for the future.

The team had a first 11 average rating of 89, and with this, should have finished in the top 7. Over the season I obtained two players to strengthen the bench, Antalyali(85)DM,M,AM(C) 26yo who’s rating increased by 6 in 2021 and Rioja(86)M,AM(RL) 27yo who rose by 3 in 2021 (both increased their ratings prior to my signing them). I also lost Edouard who became unhappy and I exchanged him for Nketiah(85) 22yo and Colassin(76)20yo ( I took some stick for this)

It took a while to find the right players/formations/tactics and after mixed fortunes, we eventually finished 5th with W17-D9-L12 and 60 points. We managed to win the play off final and were therefore promoted to division 2. 

SEASON 16

On paper, we have a first 11 average of 89 still and should finish mid table of 8th - 13th. 

It is my intention to stay at United and get them back into the first division where they belong. This season I will aim to be mid table and assess what we need for a push for promotion in season 17. It will be interesting to see what rises the players will get and whether we can push for the play offs this season.

How am I doing - Promotion in my first season is not a bad start and reminds me of my start at Besiktas

So the 12th August 2021 will be a day to forever remember , my first Top 100 trophy win and the evening I signed a three season contract with Valencia. A dream move for me... a club that has just suffered relegation but that boasts a squad build with many admirers in such a competive game world. On analysing the squad it was clear that a few additions would be needed to be able to setup in my preferred 4-2-3-1 formation and to have some higher ratings in some key positions based on the tactics and attacking patterns I like to play. As a whole the squad on taking over was pretty strong with a nice U25 style first team build but there were and are still weaknesses. First team depth is an issue with Iheanacho 88 the highest rated substitute (A very handy though backup striker with progression to come). After him the ratings of substitutes range from 82-86.

We identified three areas that needed improving which were centre back, wide attacking midfield and central / central attacking midfield. Due to a lack of first team depth it was decided that we would need to sacrifice some of the youth team talent to secure these signings. My view is that there isnt much point boasting a really talented youth team when you have gaps in the first team and also a lack of depth on the bench so I have rebalanced the squad by trading up youth for a few senior first team quality players.

With a gap in the right attacking midfielder position we decided to market Yeremi Pino 84 in the hope someone would be tempted to go big , (maybe even Dybala big !!😂) this didnt really materialise although we werent expecting Dybala and we had to proactively look for targets for this deal. The key moment was Alex's return to City and we felt Alex would be the sort of manager that would be interested in Pino and a deal was very swiftly negotitaed with Musa Barrow 88 joining Valencia and Frank Onyeka was packaged with Pino to seal the deal.

Young first team centre back star Ronald Araujo 87 and english prospect Marc Guehi 82 were traded for Alessio Romagnoli 91. This is the deal we are most pleased with so far with a big +4 rating increase to the left centre back position immediately achieved. At 26 Romagnoli is by no means a short term option so we feel we have managed to strengthen Valencia and give them a player with great longevity at the same time.

Finally we needed to sign a central midfielder so I could move Rebic to the left attacking midfield position where I feel he can do the most damage. We decided to market Kluivert 88 for a 90 rated CM and a few clubs were interested but Gregg at Chievo got in contact regarding Kerem Demirbay and we felt this was an excellent solution given Demirbay is left footed and my SM OCD loves a left footer in left CDM and a right foter at right CDM. The new partnership with De Roon looks very solid to me and well balanced. The deal came at further cost though with youths Dennis Borkowski and Lisandru Tramoni being packaged in the deal. We felt though this was a justifiable sacrifice given the solution it gave the team and also another +2 for the first team midfield.

So your Valencia first Xl eleven currently is looking like this and we feel our summer window business is probably done now. We took a very focused approach and only considered deals for the positions we needed and for the ratings we needed whilst also respecting the squad build age wise. Division 2 looks extremely competitive and I cant wait to get started on Sunday. Where will we end up , my feeling is probably mid table but who knows what we could achieve if we can gain that cherished and often hard to come by SM form.

Changing Times at International

Changing Times at International

The Top100 has been a excellent experience, and an intense journey, which started on April 23, 2020, and Twente was my first adventure(it will always be a special team for me...and one day I would like to return to...but for now it is well in the hands of its coach). After that, 3 seasons leading Partizan, starting training in the 5th division...and reaching 2 consecutive promotions up to the 3rd division, the coach travels to the sun and wonders of Brazil, finding a team that was relegated from the 1st division, but with a high-level squad(my thanks to the previous coach for the work done).
I chose to shake the whole structure, and that made us have an intense transfer market, and very busy(the objective was to get a strong starting 11...and good options to cover that 11)..but I think that from now on the market has closed for us.
One of the priorities was to keep Szoboszlai (which I think is the biggest diamond we have in the squad)..although at a certain point we considered exchanging him for another excellent player, to make a stronger starting eleven, but in the end we were very happy to continue to belong to the Colorado family. We also kept Ricardo Pereira, Dendoncker, Torreira, Bensebaini, Mac Allister, Wissa, Le Fée, Alzate, Cabango and Piccoli, and a few more.
We had to sacrifice some excellent players, such as, Insigne, Pulisic, Morata, Brozovic, Kovacic, and young promising Kumbulla , Adli and Schuurs, but we have achieved some targets that I think will help us in this Brazilian revolution (in the squad), in these new faces, Icardi, Nkunku, Gosens, Jorginho, Soyuncu, Politano and Rui Patrício will be the highest rate players, but Luis Diaz, Tomiyasu, Lucas Veríssimo, Koopmeiners, Claudinho, El Ghazi, Onuachu, in the end, give us more depth to the squad. Singo, Diogo Costa and Heitor, are the loudest signings for the young team.
When I was hired, was given a objective, which was to fight for the playoffs, and I believe it's possible to achieve , and it's with this idea that we're starting the next season, but knowing that the 2nd division has excellent coaches and squad, and that it will be a very interesting challenge.
Finally, I wish all Top100 coaches a successful time, and that they have fun, that in the end, I think it is the most important thing, that I will now enjoy the brazilian sun and caipirinhas, while we are still in the pre-season, because from next Sunday, rock and roll starts :)

(I hope this publication is well done, as it is the first time I do it)

I joined T100 on the 25th October 2020, more or less one year ago. I inherited a decent D5 team, with some oldies (Buffon, Ibra, Fonte) and someone with still something to demonstrate (like Milner). 

I always appreciated young and talented players. Not having a too good first XI, my first idea was to create a good youth sector to make the youths grow and sell them in next years for a great price. Still didn’t really dip into the T100 mentality.

I have been forged by SM playing for years, discovering good leagues and meeting top managers. I built my own ideas of football management, I aspired to reach top leagues and so I did. I compared my ideas with different ones, I always have been better to learn and listen than to teach. Thought that building a good youth sector is always a winning decision, even if I had to sacrifice years before achieving important goals. Time has never been a problem for me, I’m a patient manager and I know that time rewards good intentions. 

But not in T100, not for a D5 team like Twente. 

Despite this, I started building my team based on my own ideas. So “out all the oldies, in the talented youths!”. I made some very good swaps (Spinazzola for Milner), other ones not at all (sold Ibra and Fonte for very low rated players). Anyway, I held on betting on youths and their talent, at the expense of the rating. Season 14 has been great for us, we have been 10th, 2 points away from the playoff zone. “Well achieved”.

So I was very confident for the next season, there may have not been problems continuing my project based on youths. We already had some very good youths (Velasco, Quaresma, Oosterwolde, De La Vega) but we wanted to improve the first team, fans deserved more. So we started dealing, first XI wasn’t too competitive, maybe last season we were lucky. We contacted more than half GW, but no one seemed interested in overpaying our youths. We were looking for 87+ rated players with still some future, we didn’t want to sell off them because we really believed in their potential. This clashed with my point of view, never had a similar situation. “So, no problem if we can’t get what we want, we had a decent season, this one will be similar”.

Season 15 ended with a 19th place. Complete disaster. We had plenty of unlucky matches, but this couldn’t be the only cause. During season 15 we came in contact with different and new mentalities, T100 attitude. Think we had it, but we were wrong. Season 15 demonstrated it! So in the last months we changed our way to see things, and we finally fitted with the GW. We sold our youths for the right price (Velasco, Quaresma, Oosterwolde & a not youth for Berghuis & Ferrari). 6 months ago this deal would have been out of our mind, now we are satisfied (and proud) for it.

I may thank T100 and his managers for this new experience, it’s always good to come in contact with new ideas and new point of views. I will keep my own ideas, that for sure, but I will guard this new T100 attitude for the GW of course, and never say never for other similar GWs. Today I’m a more experienced manager, today I will adapt my ideas in virtual, but not only, games.

FC Twente has only spent 2 seasons in D4, and has had an average place of 12.62 in 13 long D5 seasons, not enough. We can’t wait any more, time is of the essence at Twente. Now, time hasn’t (still) come, but I hope that our effort will be rewarded.

Twente, it’s time to grow up. Now, I think we are ready.

For Season 16 we have a new pre-season feature where TOP100 has teamed up with the renowned GinoBet to supply odds for the 5 Divisions. GinoBet has also outsourced the TOP120 divisions to present odds for that competition. GinoBet has previously supplied odds for some other game worlds.

GinoBet will not only supply the odds but will take limited fun bets using SM credits. These can be placed as single bets only and up to a maximum of 200 credits per bet.

Tonight we present the odds for Division 5 and will have another Division each night until Saturday night when the Division 1 odds will be published. If you wish to lay a bet for the season then you must, first of all, add GinoBet (Gino) as a friend and then send the credits along with a PM or What's App message stating your bet. In return you will receive a receipt stating your bet and how much it will pay in credits. After every six games, Gino will look at the bets and will possibly offer a 'cash out' sum in credits. Any questions can be PM'd or What's App'd.

Let's get started with Division 5. These are the odds for the Division 5 title:

DIVISION 5

7/2 SAO PAULO 3/1

7/2 SWANSEA CITY

8/1 RUBIN KAZAN

9/1 INTERNAZIONALE

9/1 SUNDERLAND

12/1 FC TWENTE

14/1 OLYMPIACOS

16/1 OLYMPIQUE LYON

18/1 TORINO

20/1 SPARTAK MOSKVA

25/1 CRUZEIRO

25/1 INDEPENDIENTE

33/1 SHAKHTAR DONETSK

40/1 ATHLETIC CLUB

40/1 MONTPELLIER HSC

50/1 BOCA JUNIORS

66/1 AZ ALKMAAR

80/1 MALAGA CF

80/1 VFB STUTTGART

100/1 AS SAINT-ETIENNE

Division 4 was very difficult to decide who were favourites, all the way down to the bottom club. The 20 clubs have very little between them so I had to add in another quality in each club. If you want to bet on an outsider or even just a longer odds bet then this is probably your division. Any one of the top ten, maybe even more, teams could probably state a case to be favourites but after adding in an extra requirement this is how it has come out:

DIVISION 4

5/1 LEICESTER CITY 9/2

11/2 LILLE OSC

7/1 CLUB BRUGGE KV

15/2 CELTIC

15/2 VFL WOLFSBURG

9/1 LOKOMOTIV MOSKVA

10/1 ATALANTA BC

12/1 SAMPDORIA

14/1 AFC FIORENTINA

14/1 1FC KOLN

16/1 DYNAMO MOSKVA

18/1 CELTA VIGO

18/1 WEST HAM UNITED

25/1 FENERBAHCE SK

28/1 OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE

33/1 PSV EINDHOVEN

40/1 CSKA MOSKVA

40/1 GIRONDINS BORDEAUX

50/1 BESIKTAS JK

66/1 VILLARREAL CF

Division 3 is another league that has closely matched teams with little between the 20 competing sides. Deciding on how it will go over the next season was again difficult and other things that can impact the season were taken into account. Again, any bet here would be in with a chance so, if you are betting on this division look at what stats you think are important and you might get a very good price on the team that you fancy.

DIVISON 3

7/2 FLAMENGO

6/1 DINAMO ZAGREB

8/1 FC AUGSBURG

10/1 CRYSTAL PALACE

10/1 WEST BROMWICH ALBION

12/1 FK PARTIZAN

12/1 SPORTING CP 11/1

14/1 UDINESE CALCIO

20/1 FEYENOORD

20/1 HAMBURGER SV

22/1 SASSUOLO 16/1

28/1 DNIPRO DNIPROPETROVSK

28/1 SSC NAPOLI

33/1 TSG 1899 HOFFENHEIM

40/1 ZENIT SAINT PETERSBURG

50/1 FC BASEL

66/1 DYNAMO KYIV

66/1 BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH

80/1 SS LAZIO

100/1 CHIEVO VERONA

Division 2 looks very competitive with the battle for promotion almost certain to go down to the last couple of games. I think any one of the top 8 could win the title but still can't rule out a surprise team to spring up from the bottom half. At the bottom, I am quite dismayed that my own team are favourites to finish bottom so work needs to be done. Santos look best value but winning the title will be beyond them.

DIVISION 2

5/1 EVERTON

6/1 ASTON VILLA

6/1 LEVANTE UD

8/1 SC INTERNACIONAL 7/1

14/1 SOUTHAMPTON

14/1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

16/1 MANCHESTER UNITED

18/1 RIVER PLATE

22/1 AC MILAN

25/1 WERDER BREMEN

25/1 GALATASARAY

28/1 AS MONACO

33/1 VALENCIA CF

33/1 FC SCHALKE

33/1 NEWCASTLE UNITED

33/1 LIVERPOOL

40/1 AJAX AMSTERDAM

40/1 SANTOS FC

50/1 AS ROMA

66/1 SEVILLA

Division 1 will be all about if anyone can wrestle the title from Barcelona. It will be a tough task for the challengers with only a couple, maybe three, teams looking capable. At the bottom, every point will be a prisoner but it looks like a long season for some

DIVISION 1

6/5 BARCELONA

9/2 CHELSEA

9/2 JUVENTUS

6/1 SL BENFICA

9/1 ARSENAL

9/1 FC PORTO

10/1 HELLAS VERONA

12/1 BORUSSIA DORTMUND

16/1 REAL MADRID

18/1 STANDARD LIEGE

20/1 BAYERN MUNICH

28/1 GENOA CFC

33/1 ATLETICO MADRID

40/1 RCD ESPANYOL

50/1 MANCHESTER CITY

50/1 RSC ANDERLECHT

66/1 HERTHA BERLIN SC

100/1 PARIS SAINT GERMAIN

200/1 BAYER LEVERKUSEN

200/1 STOKE CITY

TOP120

For the first time in the history of TOP100, there will be a feeder game world going by the name of TOP120 in which 20 teams will compete in two divisions. There is no promotion for the clubs to TOP100 but the managers of the 20 teams are all trying to impress enough to win a job in the main game world. GinoBet outsourced the betting for the two divisions of 10 in TOP120 to Paul Masters Fun Betting and he has produced these odds:

Division 1

Evens Young Boys of Berne

2/1 Brighton & Hove Albion, Stade Rennais

5/2 RB Salzburg, Union Berlin, Wolverhampton Wanderers, FC Midtjylland

4/1 Bologna

9/2 Real Sociedad

7/1 Sparta Praha

Division 2

Evens Crvena Zvezda, Real Betis

2/1 RB Leipzig

5/2 Leeds United, Palmerias, Nice

3/1 Fluminese

4/1 Eintracht Frankfurt

9/2 Rangers

10/1 Racing Club

In my view, considering the nature of TOP100 , these are very generous odds but it is only for fun. The odds are subject to change before the season starts on Sunday depending on moves in the transfer market. For instance, although it won't happen, if Ronaldo and Messi signed for Boca Juniors, you would no longer get 50/1.

I reiterate, it is single bets only for the title, however, if you see another single bet you would like e.g. Torino to reach the play offs, I will consider the bet and then, if acceptable, give you the odds for it to happen. You can then decide if you want to lay a bet.

Tomorrow night, the odds for Division 2 will be revealed as an edit to this post. Thanks for taking the time to read and show an interest.

Ciao.

I am pleased to announce that from season 16, Top 100 will host the first edition of the Trofeo Italia. It is a pre-season friendly trophy between the three traditionally major Italian clubs: Inter, Milan and Juventus. The idea of this tournament is based on the Trofeo TIM, a competition which took place between 2001 and 2016 and which was mockingly considered the August Scudetto in Italy.

As the level of the three participants in Top 100 is not quite the same, we decided to define a rating cap of eligible players for this competition. For the first edition, it will only be possible to field players up to a maximum rating of 89, with no age limit.

Good luck to Inter, Milan and Juventus for what we hope will become a recurring tournament. For some of these clubs, this could be the only way to win silverware, so it's an opportunity not to be missed!