Results of Top 100 Squad Cap Rules and Sanctions Survey

The survey is still open if anyone hasn't yet voted, but the results are already pretty clear with 64 managers having already given their opinion. There's a huge discussion about the same on the newsfeed in-game, if you haven't yet seen it.

1. Squad Cap

It's over two years since managers voted on whether to change the squad cap or not. The result then was actually quite close - 50 votes to keep it at 50, 40 to reduce it.

Although fewer votes are in, the percentage of managers wanting to keep things as they are is greater.

I think this indicates clearly that there is no general will to change the squad cap currently.

Full results and comments are here [PDF].

2. Sanctions

Two years ago, managers also voted to increase the sanction faced by those who go over the 50 player squad cap.

58 managers voted for some kind of increased sanction, with the majority choosing what we have now - a one month transfer ban, plus having to sell the player that took them over.

This time, 51 managers voted to retain this sanction, with just 5 voting for a return to the original 'transfer ban only' punishment.

As with the squad cap, a consensus to keep things as they are.

Full results and comments [PDF].

Division 1 Season 15 Stats and Facts

Blue is the colour again?

Few reminders.

Gk, Att, Mid, Def is  the average rating as I see it.

Top 18 is the rating of the 18th player. This does not include 2nd or 3rd choice keepers and there is human input if this player is a lot lower than  the squad average.

Ave = Average of the above.

ETOT uses a secret formula to weight all the previous to come up with a team ranking , this was based on  the first 3 or 4 seasons looking at how much each position matched up with finishing positions.

Pre = Predicted position.

Chelsea are clear of the pack they have pretty much the best defence and midfield but can be challenged up top. Barcelona and Juve sit 2nd and 3rd.  Barca are stronger up top where as Juve go for  the more balanced approach.

Genoa now rank 4th and should maintain that position .

Espanyol did so well last year but maybe strength in depth will be an issue this season.  Hertha if they could find a better keeper could aim higher.

225.15 got relegated last year, 224.35 the previous and 222.26 the year before...  Life is getting tougher in D1 as the best improve at the expense of the rest.

Leverkeusen, AC Milan and Valencia are detached from the pack and look like clear relegation fodder. Roma look doomed already and would struggle in the division below.  Having said that Man City and PSG fall below the cut off meaning we could have 6 teams fighting it out for relegation.

GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre
Chelsea 95.0 93.3 94.5 96.0 85.0 92.8 234.20 1
Barcelona 92.0 93.3 92.5 97.5 84.0 91.9 233.10 2
Juventus 95.0 93.5 92.5 93.5 88.0 92.5 231.54 3
Genoa CFC 92.0 91.8 92.5 94.0 86.0 91.3 229.86 4
Arsenal 92.0 91.5 92.5 94.0 87.0 91.4 229.78 5
FC Porto 93.0 91.0 92.8 93.5 88.0 91.7 229.50 6
Bayern München 95.0 91.5 93.3 91.0 89.0 92.0 229.03 7
RCD Espanyol 92.0 91.5 91.8 91.0 85.0 90.3 226.99 8
Borussia Dortmund 90.0 91.3 90.5 92.5 87.0 90.3 226.77 9
Hertha BSC 88.0 89.3 92.0 93.5 86.0 89.8 226.66 10
Atlético Madrid 92.0 91.0 91.8 90.5 87.0 90.5 226.51 11
Real Madrid 91.0 91.3 91.0 90.5 88.0 90.4 226.11 12
RSC Anderlecht 91.0 91.0 91.3 90.0 87.0 90.1 225.66 13
SC Internacional 89.0 89.8 91.3 91.5 86.0 89.5 225.28 14
Manchester City 89.0 90.5 89.5 92.0 87.0 89.6 224.92 15
Paris Saint-Germain 95.0 89.3 90.3 91.0 88.0 90.7 224.71 16
Bayer Leverkusen 91.0 89.8 89.8 89.0 85.0 88.9 222.57 17
AC Milan 92.0 89.3 89.8 89.0 87.0 89.4 222.53 18
Valencia CF 89.0 89.3 89.5 90.0 83.0 88.2 222.14 19
AS Roma 90.0 85.8 89.5 90.5 83.0 87.8 219.79 20

Survey on Top 100 Squad Cap Rules and Sanctions

This isn't meant to be binding, rather a preliminary survey to guide any further binding vote and/or rule change.

[crowdsignal type=“iframe” survey=“CE3BC995200D52F5” height=“auto” domain=“hamburgerda” id=“top-100-rules-survey”]

Transfers for Transfers sake?

Sampdoria will go into Season 15 with an aim on improving and whilst doing deals might well improve the side - when is the right time to sell your players?

For example the two images has my first XI (potentially) and youth XI for next season with the circled players being the ones interesting potential suitors (triangles are players to watch - the Greek boy in particular has just broken into Greece first team despite being at an unfancied club) - We have had lots of interest and offers and some of them very good....

But I ask is it worth selling them now? Sure all of them could bring in a pair of good players - but is it not better to continue to sit on them till they reach their potential and then cash in with better players then being offered?

Lets just take 1 of them as an example - Bradaric? An outsider surely for the Croatia side at Euro 2021? First choice at Lille - chasing a title in Ligue 1 and still only 86? If I sold him at 86 then I'd be doing an injustice to the future of the team? Same for Maehle? Is it right to sell him so soon after his big chance at Atalanta? I think not.

Yes - DP is an advocate of the game needing/wanting transfers to boost form - but that can be achieved externally. I am happy with the make up of both first team and youth team

As for the last season - well disaster is one word to describe it! Our first in Division 5 as a club and despite starting positively it spiraled downwards!

À vaillant coeur rien d’impossible

We pick up our story following a band of merry Parisian footballers back in mid January 20 games into the season, the squad had just taken to the top of D2 for the first time after 20 games, but a 4 point reduction in the first 11 after reviews and sales to the first team meant that lead was precarious …

Post Xmas the boys had arrived back overweight and bloated by to many glasses of Chateux nef du pape, and our form was collapsing, the high of reach the league pinnacle was becoming a distant memory. A 1-0 home defeat thanks to Liverpool was the start of the 3 game blip including 2 defeats and a draw – that coincided with losing 2 youth cup fixtures, suddenly he lovely green run we were on was looking a very ominous red. The new signings weren’t gelling quickly and the rating drops began to play on my mind, maybe rather than sell him I should’ve personally flown to see Godin and asked if he would very much of minded not leaving Inter Milan IRL rather than playing for relegation threatened Cagliari who my own knowledge of was seeing them get tonked weekly on football italia on channel 4 in the 90s. Come to think of it maybe Godin was playing back then as well based on his age.

A turn in fortune was needed and of course I had full faith in the lads, I promised them all a lovely jambon joint if they pulled their collective fingers out and restarted the promotion chase. And I guess they all like ham as things began to click. We put our foot down stopped conceding and went on a lovely little run which saw us win 6 out of 6, concede just once and return to the top of the division.

Our nearest chasers were all beating each other and while it was nice being top we had to keep an eye on the run in which would see us play most of the top 6 in the final weeks.

Valentines day arrived and as everyone knows Paris is the city of love. This fact somewhat distracted the boys who found themselves caught up in a national scandal involving a 6 players, a brothel, a bathtub full of custard and a single cucumber.

The board were furious and demanded we rotate the squad. What followed was 3 straight draws the last of which was a dogged 0-0 vs Hamburg who left Paris with a well deserved point.

Fate however was on our side as while we picked up single match points the chasing pack also stumbled and slowly the lead at the top  became 6 points and dreams of sealing promotion at the first attempt started to look like a solid possibility.

March 7th will forever be the day etched into folklore for the club.

Mahrez still out injured long term with a strained buttock muscle (no relation to the brothel incident) was a big loss but the boys were now unbeaten in 11 league games. We were up against Liege away, a team themselves right in the playoff mix.

Suso was the man to make a hero of himself, goals after 18 and 36 minutes meant the away fans where in raptures, baguettes were flying high as the team strutted not just to guaranteed promotion but thanks to other results the title was clinched with 3 games to spare as we now had a 10 point cushion.

This meant the previous worries around our run in which disappeared as rhe next 2 games were vs 2nd at the time Milan and 3rd at the time Leverkusen.

The 3 game victory parade only yielded 4 more points. Which leads me back to a line from my last blog post

“a lovely article on the blog suggests around 76 points gives you a chance at the D2 title”

How many points did we finish with …. 76 

So there it is. 1 season in charge of PSG, 1 D2 title delivered. We were forecasted pre season to finish second so to have lost points to player reviews and actually improve on where we should have finished was a great result.

There are challenges ahead for PSG. Most immediately will be D1 and the level of teams we will face. But longer term is dealing with the age of the squad. A number of our top performers have now passed 30. While still many years younger than their gaffer the squad will need some updates.

Yesterday we waved good bye to top player Mahrez but welcomed Inaki Williams who rarely misses a game IRL and fives us cover for Vardy and Carrasco who now hes back at Atletico is playing regularly and should have a shout at regaining his 91 rating in the future.

Anyway that all from me as we bask short term in some glory.

I’m off for a glass of red and to read up on what this Moulin Rouge place is the players keep talking about.


Merci d'avoir lu.

Seats

Each club's manager history (end of Season 14)

Here's the tally of how many managers each club have had. Some criteria:

  • When managers have retained their job after sacking/relegation, I have counted it as 1 manager.
  • When managers have returned to an old job, I have counted it as 2 managers (info in brackets).
  • Caretakers who have managed games aren't counted - I've included them as an aside.
  • Obviously this is based on SM Club History so clubs who've had managers leave without a game aren't counted.

Division 1

  1. Chelsea - 1
  2. Barcelona - 2
  3. Genoa CFC - 1
  4. RCD Espanyol - 5
  5. Bayern Munchen - 5
  6. Arsenal - 4
  7. Real Madrid - 3 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint)
  8. FC Porto - 2
  9. Valencia CF - 7
  10. Juventus - 1
  11. Borussia Dortmund - 5
  12. Hertha BSC - 8
  13. SC Internacional - 3
  14. Manchester City - 7 (including two separate Alex McLean stints)
  15. Atletico Madrid - 3
  16. Hellas Verona - 6 (including two separate Andre Villas-Boas stints)
  17. AS Roma - 7
  18. Tottenham Hotspur - 4 (excluding 2 Caretaker stints)
  19. SL Benfica - 6
  20. Ajax - 4

Division 2

  1. Paris Saint-Germain - 4 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint)
  2. Bayer Leverkusen - 3
  3. RSC Anderlecht - 5
  4. Newcastle United - 5
  5. AC Milan - 5
  6. Southampton - 7
  7. Sassuolo - 2
  8. Standard Liege - 6 (including two separate Mike Scallotti stints)
  9. FC Schalke 04 - 5
  10. Sevilla - 9 (including two separate David Senior stints)
  11. Levante UD - 4
  12. Everton - 3
  13. Liverpool - 5 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint)
  14. AS Monaco - 6 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint)
  15. SS Lazio - 10 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint)
  16. Hamburger SV - 3
  17. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim - 4
  18. SSC Napoli - 5
  19. CSKA Moskva - 10
  20. FC Basel - 10 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint, including two separate Dr Martinez stints)

Division 3

  1. Dynamo Kyiv - 7
  2. Stoke City - 7
  3. Santos FC - 6
  4. Borussia Monchengladbach - 4
  5. Aston Villa - 4
  6. Udinese Calcio - 5
  7. Werder Bremen - 7 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint)
  8. Sporting CP - 5
  9. Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk - 7 (including two separate Son of Pluto stints)
  10. 1. FC Koln - 3
  11. Galatasaray SK - 11 (including two separate Jerod Ramnarine stints)
  12. Manchester United - 5 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint)
  13. Celtic - 7
  14. Chievo Verona - 7
  15. Zenit Saint Petersburg - 6
  16. Club Brugge KV - 2
  17. Shakhtar Donetsk - 13 (including two separate Hussain Saif stints)
  18. Celta Vigo - 8
  19. Lille OSC - 7
  20. VfL Wolfsburg - 11

Division 4

  1. Dinamo Zagreb - 5
  2. River Plate - 8 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint, including two separate Norman Little stints)
  3. Flamengo - 1
  4. Besiktas JK - 11
  5. Dynamo Moskva - 5
  6. Rubin Kazan - 5
  7. West Bromwich Albion - 8
  8. FC Augsburg - 6 (excluding 2 Caretaker stints)
  9. ACF Fiorentina - 8
  10. Swansea City - 9
  11. PSV - 9
  12. Atalanta BC - 9
  13. Fenerbahce SK - 12 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint)
  14. Olympique Marseille - 6
  15. Villarreal CF - 4
  16. Lokomotiv Moskva - 12
  17. Internazionale - 8
  18. Montpellier HSC - 9
  19. Leicester City - 10 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint)
  20. Malaga CF - 9

Division 5

  1. Feyenoord - 8 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint, including two Gerrit Vogeleer stints)
  2. Cruzeiro - 10
  3. FK Partizan - 5
  4. Sunderland - 8
  5. West Ham United - 10 (including 2 Norman Little stints)
  6. Crystal Palace - 6
  7. Athletic Club - 9
  8. VfB Stuttgart - 16 (including 2 Carlos Azevedo stints)
  9. AZ Alkmaar - 6
  10. FC Twente - 8 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint)
  11. Boca Juniors - 6
  12. Torino - 8
  13. Olympique Lyonnais - 12
  14. Sampdoria - 8 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint, including two separate Marco de Angelis stints)
  15. Olympiacos - 12 (including two separate Alex McLean stints)
  16. Spartak Moskva - 8 (excluding 1 Caretaker stint)
  17. Girondins Bordeaux - 7
  18. Sao Paulo FC - 6
  19. AS Saint-Etienne - 9
  20. Independiente - 5

All Teams Position History

All teams position history from Season 1 to Season 14 is here, sorted by team (in the first tab), and division/position (in the second tab). The third tab is the now updated How Many Points Do You Need?

You can see Barcelona's wonderful record, and perhaps why Scott decided now was the right time to step down and seek a fresh challenge in Brazil.

The lowest points total since S1 for the champions followed inevitably from probably the most competitive and exciting title race since Manchester United were crowned.

Meanwhile, Scott's new team Sao Paulo had there worst ever season.

In comparison, you can also see Chelsea's sustained challenge and improvement to take over from Barca as the team to beat.

Also, Genoa's incredible journey hasn't been easy by any means, but their turnaround in fortunes over the last three seasons has been dramatic.

Espanyol had a followed a similar path to Genoa, and it will be interesting to see if they suffer similarly to how Genoa did after their great first season in the top flight.

In Division Three, Dynamo Kyiv had their best ever season!

And they had D3's best ever season, too!

A similar story in D4 for Dinamo Zagreb.

And D4's best ever team.

Lots of other managers and teams recorded personal bests and/or division records, so apologies if I haven't included all of you here.

How Many Points Do You Need...? Season 15

Latest update to the HMPDYN? series, now including data for Seasons 11 to 14.

[googleapps domain=“docs” dir=“spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSPQPfjrO2okStPiRHR_4xr89a3-axuBJgHeSSLPttSd6L3zBvYxuHN5DDnCT9bK9SUHqyGzcL-L1Gf/pubhtml” query=“gid=1017703542&single=true&widget=true&headers=false” /]

Compared to four seasons ago only a few small changes, of course - beating Barcelona Chelsea to the D1 title got a little bit harder (or winning the title got easier for them) is just as hard, while not as is not getting sacked in D1 got more difficult.

In the other divisions, Divisions Two and Three got harder to win, as did winning promotion in Divisions Four and Five.

Similarly, it got a bit harder to make the playoffs in Divisions Three and Five.

Avoiding the sack in Divisions Three and Four got easier, but harder in Division Five.

S11

[googleapps domain=“docs” dir=“spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSPQPfjrO2okStPiRHR_4xr89a3-axuBJgHeSSLPttSd6L3zBvYxuHN5DDnCT9bK9SUHqyGzcL-L1Gf/pubhtml” query=“gid=434771234&single=true&widget=true&headers=false” /]

SERGIO SERGIO SERGIO SERGIO

Yaaas! The great man, at the end of his career ( almost) chose to return home to the team that made him a

a Premier League LEGEND!

He's here. He's Back.

Welcome and I love you!

Division 5 Season 14 Stats and Facts review.

Dutch courage as Feyenoord lead the table and the stats.

Play offs always in sight , the Dutch team pushed higher than expected with automatic promotion. Cruziero in 2nd had the 3rd highest VA on +10 with the Hammers leading the VA on +11. Az a notable +9.

Olympiacos , Spartak and Boca , all should have been top 4 but all fell to lowest 4 in the stats. Partizan I suspect will take promotion but with a low stats position. 3 out of 4 of the lowest ranked finished there.

GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
Feyenoord 87.0 88.3 87.3 88.5 86.0 87.4 218.69 6 1 5 6.00
Cruzeiro 87.0 87.0 87.5 88.0 86.0 87.1 217.56 12 2 10 5.50
West Ham United 87.0 86.5 87.3 87.5 86.0 86.9 216.64 16 5 11 2.40
AZ Alkmaar 87.0 86.5 87.0 87.0 82.0 85.9 215.63 18 9 9 1.11
Sunderland 88.0 87.8 87.0 88.5 85.0 87.3 218.09 7 4 3 1.00
VfB Stuttgart 88.0 87.8 87.0 87.0 85.0 87.0 217.11 13 8 5 0.75
Athletic Club 87.0 87.3 88.0 87.5 85.0 87.0 217.72 10 7 3 0.57
FC Twente 87.0 87.8 87.0 87.0 85.0 86.8 216.99 14 10 4 0.50
Olympique Lyonnais 87.0 87.5 87.0 87.0 86.0 86.9 216.91 15 13 2 0.23
AS Saint-Etienne 86.0 86.0 87.0 86.0 85.0 86.0 214.82 19 19 0 0.05
Independiente 87.0 83.5 83.5 85.5 81.0 84.1 209.34 20 20 0 0.05
São Paulo FC 87.0 87.0 86.5 86.5 85.0 86.4 215.67 17 18 -1 0.00
Crystal Palace 89.0 87.8 88.3 88.0 86.0 87.8 219.00 5 6 -1 0.00
Torino 87.0 87.0 87.5 88.5 86.0 87.2 217.89 8 12 -4 -0.25
Sampdoria 87.0 87.3 87.5 88.0 86.0 87.2 217.76 9 14 -5 -0.29
Girondins Bordeaux 87.0 86.8 87.8 88.0 86.0 87.1 217.56 11 17 -6 -0.29
FK Partizan 87.0 88.8 89.8 88.5 86.0 88.0 221.09 1 3 -2 -0.33
Spartak Moskva 88.0 88.0 88.3 88.0 86.0 87.7 219.08 4 16 -12 -0.69
Boca Juniors 89.0 88.3 87.5 89.5 85.0 87.9 219.66 2 11 -9 -0.73
Olympiacos 89.0 88.5 88.5 88.0 84.0 87.6 219.56 3 15 -12 -0.73

Division 4 Season 14 Stats and Facts review.

Run away leaders are not top of the stats.

You could argue that Zagreb were a cut above the rest and a mighty +3 PVA put them in 2nd spot behind River Plate

Atalanta a great performance in 12th place gave them +5 VA

Augsburg came last in the PVA, missing out on the play offs when they should have got there.  ( perhaps no fault of the highly talented manager LOL ) .  Villareal had the lowest VA on -7 VA . 3 of the lowest 5 ranked were relegated.

GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
River Plate 88.0 87.8 87.5 88.5 85.0 87.4 218.49 12 2 10 5.50
Dinamo Zagreb 89.0 88.5 89.3 89.5 86.0 88.5 221.38 3 1 2 3.00
Beşiktaş JK 88.0 88.5 88.3 89.0 86.0 88.0 220.13 6 4 2 0.75
Rubin Kazan 89.0 88.5 88.0 88.0 86.0 87.9 219.40 9 6 3 0.67
Atalanta BC 85.0 87.3 88.0 87.5 86.0 86.8 217.60 17 12 5 0.50
PSV 88.0 87.8 87.5 87.5 85.0 87.2 217.84 14 11 3 0.36
Fenerbahçe SK 87.0 87.3 87.8 88.0 83.0 86.6 217.60 16 13 3 0.31
ACF Fiorentina 88.0 88.0 88.0 88.0 86.0 87.6 218.88 10 9 1 0.22
Lokomotiv Moskva 88.0 87.0 87.3 87.5 86.0 87.2 217.16 18 16 2 0.19
Leicester City 87.0 87.0 87.0 87.0 86.0 86.8 216.51 19 19 0 0.05
Málaga CF 87.0 86.3 87.3 87.0 85.0 86.5 215.99 20 20 0 0.05
Dynamo Moskva 88.0 89.3 88.8 88.5 87.0 88.3 220.93 4 5 -1 0.00
Montpellier HSC 88.0 87.0 88.3 87.5 84.0 87.0 217.72 15 18 -3 -0.11
West Bromwich Albion 90.0 89.0 88.5 89.0 82.0 87.7 220.49 5 7 -2 -0.14
Olympique Marseille 87.0 87.3 88.5 88.0 86.0 87.4 218.56 11 14 -3 -0.14
Internazionale 89.0 87.0 88.3 88.3 85.0 87.5 218.44 13 17 -4 -0.18
Swansea City 89.0 87.8 88.8 89.0 86.0 88.1 220.05 7 10 -3 -0.20
Flamengo 89.0 89.3 89.0 90.5 86.0 88.8 222.43 1 3 -2 -0.33
Villarreal CF 88.0 88.0 88.3 89.0 87.0 88.1 219.85 8 15 -7 -0.40
FC AUGSBURG 88.0 88.5 88.8 90.5 86.0 88.4 221.51 2 8 -6 -0.63

Division 3 Season 14 Stats and Facts review.

+13 VA lucky for some especially Dynamo Kiev

A fantastic performance by the Ukranian side saw them advance from mid table prediction to the heights of D3.  Highest VA and PVA +12 /+13 respectively.

Stoke in 2nd were the 2nd in the stats as well as form was thrown away at the top end of the table.  Great performances from Dnipro on +8 VA in 9th and Sporting in 8th,

Worst  performing teams was Werder Bremen who still made the playoffs just but –0.71 VA and Man Utd who were well off pace.  Lille had the lowest VA –12 and were relegated to boot. Never the less 3 out of 4 teams predicted to be relegated were.

GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
Dynamo Kyiv 89.0 86.8 88.0 89.0 85.0 87.6 218.53 13 1 12 13.00
Stoke City 87.0 87.8 89.0 88.5 84.0 87.3 219.45 8 2 6 3.50
Sporting CP 88.0 88.0 87.3 88.0 85.0 87.3 218.16 16 8 8 1.13
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 88.0 87.8 87.5 88.0 85.0 87.3 218.16 17 9 8 1.00
Borussia Mönchengladbach 89.0 88.0 89.5 89.0 86.0 88.3 220.85 6 4 2 0.75
Galatasaray SK 88.0 87.5 87.8 88.0 86.0 87.5 218.28 15 11 4 0.45
Santos FC 88.0 89.0 88.8 91.0 87.0 88.8 222.35 3 3 0 0.33
1. FC Köln 88.0 87.3 89.0 87.5 85.0 87.4 218.64 12 10 2 0.30
Shakhtar Donetsk 86.0 86.3 87.5 87.5 85.0 86.5 216.40 19 17 2 0.18
Celtic 87.0 87.0 88.3 88.5 85.0 87.2 218.37 14 13 1 0.15
Celta Vigo 85.0 88.0 87.0 87.5 85.0 86.5 217.28 18 18 0 0.06
VfL Wolfsburg 88.0 85.0 87.8 88.0 84.0 86.6 216.04 20 20 0 0.05
Udinese Calcio 88.0 88.5 89.3 89.0 87.0 88.4 221.05 5 6 -1 0.00
Zenit Saint Petersburg 89.0 87.0 88.0 89.0 85.0 87.6 218.73 11 15 -4 -0.20
Chievo Verona 87.0 87.5 88.3 88.5 87.0 87.7 219.01 9 14 -5 -0.29
Club Brugge KV 88.0 87.3 88.5 88.5 85.0 87.5 218.89 10 16 -6 -0.31
Aston Villa 91.0 89.0 89.5 90.0 85.0 88.9 222.42 2 5 -3 -0.40
Lille OSC 88.0 87.8 88.8 89.5 86.0 88.0 220.26 7 19 -12 -0.58
Manchester United 88.0 88.8 90.0 89.0 82.0 87.6 221.25 4 12 -8 -0.58
Werder Bremen 88.0 89.5 90.3 92.0 86.0 89.2 224.48 1 7 -6 -0.71

Division 2 Season 14 Stats and Facts review.

Will play offs play fair with the stats leaders?

Newcastle are the run away stats leaders in D2 top VA +9 and PVA 2.50. PSG this seasons winners come second in the stats with Leverkeusen in 3rd.

Notable high VA Levante +9 and Sevilla +6.

Liverpool were the most disappointing team this season –10 VA and  -0.69 PVA with fellow team Everton not far behind.

3 out of 4 relegation predictions came true.

GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
Newcastle United 88.0 88.3 88.5 89.0 86.0 88.0 220.13 13 4 9 2.50
Paris Saint-Germain 94.0 90.3 91.0 90.5 86.0 90.4 225.43 2 1 1 2.00
Bayer Leverkusen 91.0 89.8 90.0 89.5 85.0 89.1 223.10 4 2 2 1.50
AC Milan 92.0 89.0 89.3 89.0 85.0 88.9 221.69 9 5 4 1.00
Levante UD 88.0 87.8 87.3 88.0 85.0 87.2 217.96 20 11 9 0.91
Sevilla 89.0 88.3 89.0 88.0 83.0 87.5 219.64 16 10 6 0.70
Standard Liège 88.0 89.0 89.5 89.0 87.0 88.5 221.65 10 8 2 0.38
FC Schalke 04 90.0 88.5 89.0 88.5 87.0 88.6 220.77 11 9 2 0.33
Southampton 88.0 89.8 89.5 89.5 87.0 88.8 222.58 6 6 0 0.17
Sassuolo 90.0 90.0 89.0 89.0 85.0 88.6 222.05 7 7 0 0.14
SSC Napoli 87.0 87.8 87.8 89.0 85.0 87.3 218.89 19 18 1 0.11
SS Lazio 88.0 87.5 89.3 88.5 86.0 87.9 219.81 15 15 0 0.07
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 88.0 87.8 88.8 88.5 86.0 87.8 219.61 17 17 0 0.06
FC Basel 87.0 88.5 88.0 88.0 85.0 87.3 219.04 18 20 -2 -0.05
Hamburger SV 90.0 87.3 89.3 89.5 83.0 87.8 220.14 12 16 -4 -0.19
CSKA Moskva 90.0 88.3 89.5 87.0 86.0 88.2 219.87 14 19 -5 -0.21
RSC Anderlecht 91.0 90.5 92.5 93.0 86.0 90.6 228.09 1 3 -2 -0.33
AS Monaco 88.0 89.0 89.3 90.0 86.0 88.5 221.98 8 14 -6 -0.36
Everton 88.0 89.0 90.3 90.0 85.0 88.5 222.66 5 12 -7 -0.50
Liverpool 90.0 89.8 89.8 91.0 85.0 89.1 223.75 3 13 -10 -0.69

Division 1 Season 14 Stats and Facts review.

Genoa good team in Division 1 I do.

The old guard was nearly undone this season by 2 solid rivals of Genoa and Espanyol.

In the end 6 points was the difference but in terms of manager performance Genoa and Espanyol head the charts , they are just above victors Chelsea and the value added winners of Man City and Valencia

Most disappointing team this season was clearly Juventus lowest VA and PVA with relegated Benfica failing to perform. Hella and Atletico Madrid also had poor seasons and are low  in the stats table. 3 of the lowest 5 stats teams were relegated.

GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
Genoa CFC 91.0 91.8 90.0 94.0 87.0 90.8 227.86 8 3 5 2.00
RCD Espanyol 92.0 90.5 91.8 91.0 87.0 90.5 226.43 10 4 6 1.75
Chelsea 95.0 93.5 94.5 96.0 85.0 92.8 234.40 1 1 0 1.00
Valencia CF 89.0 89.0 90.5 93.0 83.0 88.9 224.69 16 9 7 0.89
Manchester City 89.0 89.5 89.5 89.5 86.0 88.7 222.38 20 14 6 0.50
Barcelona 92.0 93.8 93.8 97.0 85.0 92.3 234.29 2 2 0 0.50
SC Internacional 89.0 89.8 91.3 91.0 86.0 89.4 224.95 15 13 2 0.23
Bayern München 95.0 91.3 93.3 91.5 89.0 92.0 229.16 5 5 0 0.20
Real Madrid 91.0 91.5 92.5 91.5 88.0 90.9 228.16 7 7 0 0.14
AS Roma 89.0 90.0 91.0 91.5 81.0 88.5 224.68 17 16 1 0.13
Tottenham Hotspur 90.0 89.5 89.8 90.5 87.0 89.4 223.47 19 18 1 0.11
Hertha BSC 88.0 90.0 91.0 91.5 87.0 89.5 225.28 12 12 0 0.08
Ajax 89.0 89.5 90.8 90.0 87.0 89.3 223.82 18 20 -2 -0.05
Borussia Dortmund 90.0 90.8 90.8 93.0 88.0 90.5 227.01 9 11 -2 -0.09
FC Porto 93.0 91.5 92.3 93.0 87.0 91.4 229.05 6 8 -2 -0.13
Arsenal 92.0 92.0 91.0 94.5 87.0 91.3 229.31 4 6 -2 -0.17
Hellas Verona 89.0 90.0 91.3 91.0 86.0 89.5 225.15 13 17 -4 -0.18
Atlético Madrid 91.0 91.0 91.5 90.5 86.0 90.0 226.07 11 15 -4 -0.20
SL Benfica 93.0 90.8 90.8 89.5 88.0 90.4 225.10 14 19 -5 -0.21
Juventus 95.0 92.5 93.0 93.5 85.0 91.8 230.78 3 10 -7 -0.60

Manager of the Season Votes

Please take a minute to vote here for your manager of the season in each division, and then your overall Top 100 manager.

Where I have put 'best PVA' (basically means most improved and/or overachieving team), it's my personal guess based on Malcolm's Stats at the start of the season. Malcolm may say different when he publishes his end of season reviews.

Division Five

[poll.fm/10773600](https://poll.fm/10773600)

Division Four

[poll.fm/10774500](https://poll.fm/10774500)

Division Three

[poll.fm/10774581](https://poll.fm/10774581)

Division Two

[poll.fm/10774586](https://poll.fm/10774586)

Division One

[poll.fm/10775754](https://poll.fm/10775754)

Top 100 Manager of the Season

[poll.fm/10775757](https://poll.fm/10775757)

Sack Race Results

Following on from this explainer, here are the results of the twelve Top 100 panel members' votes on who gets re-appointed, and who stays sacked (although they can still apply for their old job, along with anyone else).

Division One

Apply here if you want the Ajax job.

Division Two

Division Three

Division Four

No decisions to make.

Division Five

As the vote is evenly split, we felt it is fair to open the job up for applications, as we did with Anderlecht last season when the same thing happened.

Apply here if you want the Sao Paulo job.

Youth Cup and Shield Winners and Prizes S14

Youth Cup Winners

Juventus beat Atletico Madrid over two legs (0-2 and 0-0) to become the first team to win a hattrick of Youth Cups. (4-0 wasn't the score, it just means they won all four of their knockout stage matches).

All the results can be found over at the Challonge tournament website.

Youth Shield Winners

Benfica beat D5 Olympiacos 5-2 over two legs (2-2 and 0-3) to become the first club to win the Shield twice, with manager ruts66 .. notching a record third triumph in the competition (once each with Bayern, Stoke and now Benfica).

All the results can be found over at the Challonge tournament website.

New Free Agent Prize Draw

All non-final winning managers who made it through all the group stage and knockout games without forfeiting any matches (for fielding overage players or failing to organise a fixture) are entered into a draw to select one manager as the winner of a 'wild card' prize to choose a new free agent during the month of April 2021 (see rules blow).

The draw will take place at 10am UK time on Thursday 18 March 2021.

And the winner is... Hertha Berlin manager Dan Wallace!

New Free Agent Prize Rules

For the month of April 2021, the managers of the Youth Cup and Shield winners, DP 91 and ruts66 .., plus the winners of the prize draw above Dan Wallace, can claim exclusive bidding rights on one new free agent – when they do so, anyone who has already bid must withdraw, and no one else must bid.

DP 91 and ruts66 ..,plus the winners of the prize draw Dan Wallace, will take responsibility for monitoring bids and messaging managers to withdraw, as much as possible, and anyone who fails to abide by this will incur a transfer ban.

Claimed players must be announced by DP 91 and ruts66 ..,plus the winners of the prize draw Dan Wallace, on the newsfeed by 10 am on the day that the player is added.

In the event that DP 91 and ruts66 ..,plus the winners of the prize draw Dan Wallace, claim the same player, DP 91 will get priority as Youth Cup Winner followed by ruts66 .. as Youth Shield Winner.

Any dispute will be settled by the game world owner (Beddows).

The Sack Race

Should he stay, or should he go?

The top secret mystery Top 100 Selection Panel has been carefully considering and voting on which of this season's sacked managers will be re-appointed, and which ones will stay sacked (although they may re-apply when the job is opened up for applications in the usual way).

It's a couple of years since we increased the number of managers who get sacked in each division from two to three (the maximum allowed in the game world admin settings).

New managers re-appointed

This season, as is usual, we come to the end of the season with several clubs who appointed new managers during the course of the season looking certain or likely to finish in the bottom three. These managers will all be re-appointed, as is the custom.

So that's Spurs, Wolfsburg, Shakhtar, Malaga, Montpellier and Bordeaux whose managers will be re-appointed (should they finish in the bottom three and be sacked - Spurs and Shakhtar could still avoid that scenario).

In addition, Leicester will re-appoint Doug Earle should he fail to avoid the bottom three. I agreed with Doug when he left Arsenal that he could rebuild and keep his job if relegated.

That's as many as seven of the fifteen who will end up in the bottom three who will be re-appointed.

Clubs definitely available

Manchester United, Basel and Lazio currently have caretaker managers, and Besiktas and Olympiacos will soon be available when Ken and Alex go to the two Manchester clubs (Mark is leaving City at the end of the season).

There may be other clubs that become available - there usually are, but the clubs currently definitely available at the end of the season for applications from managers already in Top 100 are:

So we will have at least twelve clubs whose managers quit at some point this season - D1 Man City and Spurs, D2 Lazio and Basel, D3 Man Utd, Wolfsburg and Shakhtar, D4 Besiktas, Malaga and Montpellier, and D5 Olympiacos and Bordeaux.

We have up to seven out of fifteen sacked managers who will be re-appointed as explained above.

Sackings to be decided...

That leaves us with twelve managers still sweating on the panel's decision and/or hoping to avoid the sack all together on the final match day on Thursday night:

  • D1 Ajax, Benfica, and possibly Hellas Verona
  • D2 CSKA Moskva and Napoli
  • D3 one or both of Lille and Celta Vigo
  • D4 possibly one of Internazionale or Lokomotiv Moskva
  • D5 Independiente, Saint-Etienne, and possibly Sao Paulo

By my reckoning that's a minimum of seven, and a maximum of eleven clubs, who could end up sacking their managers.

I posted on the newsfeed a couple of weeks ago (and bumped the post back to the top several times) asking managers to let me know what they wanted to happen if they got sacked, and I passed their messages on to the selection panel to help them decide. I added some of my own comments where I felt that was relevant.

Any sacked manager who isn't re-appointed by the panel can still re-apply via the usual application process when the job is advertised. We will try to ensure that any sacked manager who wants to stay in Top 100 gets another club, if they don't get re-appointed, but they may have to spend some time on our Waiting List, depending on which clubs are available and what they are willing to take.

Youth Cup and Youth Shield next round draws

Both 1 leg - both to be played on Saturday 13th January.

Youth Cup

Atletico Madrid v Bayern Munich

Man City v Hellas Verona

Juventus v Hertha Berlin

Arsenal v Levante

YOuth Shield

Youth Shield 1st Round Draw