Once in a while a new manager enters the top100 gameworld, and brings with him a freshness, a can do attitude and usually gets tasked with the job no-body wants. In Hasan Lika, we have a manager who ticks all of those boxes.

Hasan has been in charge at Malaga for 50 games and already has pulled off the most unlikely promotion, after his side finished 3rd in Division 5 to earn the right to play in division 4.

We only have to turn our attention to season 16 where Malaga finished rock bottom. Its fair to say not many can say they have had a worse starting block.

Its been said many times, if you have no assets you are on a hiding for nothing. However Hasan has shown by embracing the situation and smart recruitment, even the unlikeliest success stories can be born.

No fewer than 23 players have recieved database updates since Hasan arrived, with many of these signed by the astute manager. This has in turn changed the fortunes of a club in rapid decline.

A promotion in your first season, you would of thought Hasan would of been rewarded with a bigger club with greater riches, however he has stuck with Malaga for an even greater challenge of keeping them up in division 4 and if possible an even greater reward.

Over the close season Ilicic has been brought in to score goals, whilst Allan, Orban, Dia, Guaita and Walker-Peters have also joined the ranks, all in their own right impressive captures. Although they started off with an opening day defeat to a good inter side going down 3-2, they backed that up last night with an excellent draw against title favourites Sao Paulo.

Season 18s Malaga is already stronger than season 17s, and are going to cause some teams problems this season. You wouldnt back against successive promotions as it feels something special is happening there.

The big question is when and not if, Hasan gets snapped up by a bigger club.

What does it take to become the best? There has been lots of opinions thrown in the direction of Bayern over the last few seasons, some derogatory in terms of Bojan not addressing an ageing squad, and not utilising squad talent to bring in serious players. Tonight we pull the bones out of Bojan's work to date.

Bojan has now been in charge for 293 games, and he came in on the back of Bayern finishing 3rd in season 11. Its always a tough task to better the achievements of previous managers when you take over one of the top clubs. In fact when he took the hotseat Bayern could boast they where 3 times Top 100 champions and were consistently fighting at the top end of the league season upon season. As we enter his 7th season in charge Bojan to date has not been able to replicate the success of the past.

He started life off pretty well bagging the Top100 cup in his first full season, Whilst finishing 4th in the league. However after 5 seasons of stagnating, and the fans being starved of success on the pitch Bojan delivered another cup in season 17. Bayern have won a staggering 21 trophies in 17 seasons, however of that haul only 3 have occurred during Bojans reign with the 3rd of them being added at the start of season 18, which was the charity shield, although the result was against very much a second string Chelsea.

When we look at Bayerns squad its looking very tasty. They have been very active lately adding the quality of Fernandes, Pogba, Immobile. There is a very different feel about Bayerns ambitions, with Immobiles capture the most significant capture Bojan has made, as Bayern have been crying out for a striker to replace Cavani for a long time. At 32 he is entering those twighlight years, but you would think if he stays fit, turning draws into wins and losses into draws, gives Bayern a real chance to claw their way back into a top 4 finish.

Bojan has also got some young gems like Pino, but with one of the smallest squads with just 41 players, is he really adding enough to the youth department to allow him to churn talent in exchange for success?

Bojan is happy to loan good players out, and drives a very hard bargain when trying to do internal deals. He very rarely ends up on the losing side when he does these deals, but maybe his unwillingness to give more for less, where the less has the scope to become more, and is potentially worth a 2 or 3 places in the table is why in some quarters criticism has been thrown?

Bayern have certainly been more active later in the market, and are looking very strong, however if they can recapture the glory years the jury is very much out there?

Bayern now need to take advantage of the transition other top clubs are now going through, for example Barcelona. With nearly 300 games under his belt there can be no more excuses why Bayern flatter to deceive. Last season's 7th place finish is not good enough given whats come before. The fans and board grow restless and there will come a time when enough is enough unless Bayern can start competing for the top dog status once more in Top100.

Bojan is a very active member of the top100 community, but only better league finishes and trophies will shut the doubters up.

Season 18, is probably the most important during Bojan's reign. There is an expectation that Bayern can finish at least 3rd, anything less and it will be deemed another underwhelming season"

84 Games into his Managerial stint at Valencia and Ash has already delivered a surprise promotion to Division 1. There was a lot of good teams in Division 2 last season, but good managers achieve good things and Ash certainly falls in that category. In his first season at Valencia the club just missed out on the play-offs, which gave them a sprinboard to try and surpas that in season 17.

Ash is an active manager who has churned players consistently to build a promotion winning team. Never affraid to part with a young talent or a player with a decent rating, Ash has mastered making the right decisions at the right time, which has rewarded him with interest and automatic promotion to Division 1.

Although his point to game ratio only stands at 1.67, Ash certainly has the nous and ability to establish Valencia as a Division 1 side for many seasons to come.

With league updates in full swing, they have certainly been kind to Valencia with a number of players getting updates which will impact Valencia's first team.

Close season signing Estupinan (plus 2), Pedraza (plus 1) give the current crop a welcome boost, whilst the capture of veteran centre back Pique, Belgium playmaker Trossard and Austrian Sabitzer, gives Valencia a stronger looking side for season 18, than the one which finished season 17.

Ash has also during his time at Valencia addressed his youth set up and can sit proudly knowing he 25 players currently in his youth team, with Gourna-Douath and Calagari ones to watch.

The first team is not overly littered with veteran players and there is certainly a number of players Ash may look to trade to continue his build.

Valencia are a great example of where doing lots of internal transfers can pay off if you are doing your homework. During Valencia' promotion campaign, Ash made the decision to part with top scorer Suarez, many managers on a promotion push would never of entertained that idea. However Ash falls inti that pool of managers of "Looking at the bigger picture"

Looking at season 18 and Valencia's prospects, you wouldnt bet against Valencia staying up, which means other more established teams need to be looking over the shoulder that its not them falling through the trap door this time around.

Ash has shown he can build a winning team, his next step is to show he can keep them up. If he achieves that, then he certainly puts himself in the shop window of taking one of the bigger established clubs with a wealth of talent

Division 4

Gianmarco will feel the pressure with 10/1 odds -

LAST SEASON

After missing out on automatic promotion to the top flight on the final match day of the season, Real Sociedad saved the many heartbreaks as they took their opportunity and won the playoff games against Rangers in Semifinal and Leipzig in the final (both through penalty shoot-outs) and secured promotion to the Division 1 for the first time after being relegated into Division 2 couple of seasons ago.

TRANSFER WINDOW SO FAR

Although the team is all set with squad depth, the Spanish club is still trying to improve the quality and make them contenders against big names in Div 1. So far, we have seen two players Malcolm Ebiowei and Charles De Ketelaere joining the club while fine prospect Gianluca Scamacca is on his way out to make space for a Right Winger. The signing of Ebiowei shows the club’s emphasis on building for the future rather than for short-term success. In the coming days, we may see a few more incomings and outgoings, as they say, there’s always room for improvement no matter what.

MANAGER

Italian manager Attilio Bonnici has attracted interest from Top 100 clubs after his successful stint with the Sociedad and just like his former club, he too gained promotion from Top 120 to Top 100 which is considered a big achievement in SM worlds, so we wish him luck. The new face, Tharanidharan is set to take over the reins and has already marked his stamp by signing 2 young players within days after joining, which shows his involvement and preparedness. The Indian coach is an engaging fun-loving character who does not hesitate to take risks and bold decisions for the betterment of the team. His tactics are yet unknown but sure he’ll have ample time and friendlies to decide on a playing style suited to the current set of players. 

KEY PLAYERS

Football is a team game and everyone on the pitch has to perform to get the desired result. But in critical moments, individual brilliance wins the games more often than not. In terms of that, Tammy Abraham is one of those key players who will lead the team up-front and will play a major role in every goal they score. While Lovro Majer is expected to take up the creative role and will form the core of the team.

WHAT WOULD BE SUCCESS?

For Real Sociedad, success is not simply making it to this stage. They are an ambitious club and won’t be content with simply making up the numbers. For now, there can be no higher objective than securing another season in the top flight and as history speaks, greater rewards are there for teams who are bold enough to take risks and play the right way. RSO will back themselves to do just that.

PREDICTED FIRST XI LINE-UP

Throughout the season, i'm going to be looking at clubs across Top100. There will be critique, criticism, plaudits, it could be your club that gets the once over, this week a take a closer look at Stoke City.

Seb C has been in charge at Stoke for 228 games, and embarks on his 6th season in control on the back of a relegation from Division 1.

228 games is a decent stint for any manager, and last season avoiding relegation always seemed a tough task on paper. Could more have been done? Did Seb do enough in the transfer market to upset the odds?

In season 16 Stoke very much over achieved with a very respectable 12th place finish in their first season in Division 1, especially as they came up through the play-offs the season before. All four sides who were promoted from season 15 stayed up and all achieved credible mid-table finishes. Whilst the other sides who came up with Stoke have kicked on, Stoke have not had the same impact after that first season in division 1. Season 17 was simply not good enough, some key players were sold, with it being very debatable if their replacements were better either short or long term. Players like De Paul, Merino were sold, but their replacements have not hit the heights. The glaring need for a striker was not addressed and with it any hope of staying up was gone.

Top100 has shown, if you are busy you can change the fortunes of your club, going into season 18 now as a division 2 team, that need for a striker has still not been addressed, transfer activity has again been minimal with only 88 rated Boga added to the squad.

Overachieved is a word banded about a lot, but there comes a time, when time progresses that suddenly becomes a tag rather than a reality. All managers have it in their power to address weaknesses in their team. Stoke is not a side who has been without assets, and still has some, but after studying the activity, the value recieved for those assets, then Stoke City's relegation could and should of been avoided.

Seb has been re-appointed for this season, and anything less than promotion will be failure, but failure which can be pointed at the manager. From the outside looking in you can see where improvement is needed, you can also see the tradeable players in the squad to adddress those areas. To date this close season its not happened, why? Only Seb can answer why that is?

Stoke are not littered with ageing players, but have quite a few now in the bracket of, is there enough improvement in them to be Division 1 players?

Contracts will no doubt come into play in the coming seasons, and all though 228 games counts for a lot, it cannot be time at the club that keeps you in a job. Seb has had some early success with Stoke, but the truth is, its stagnated over the last season or so, players are a little older, and stars have left to be replaced by inferior players.

Season 18 is a make or break season, and I will be watching with great interest in how serious Seb is, in making Stoke a top division 1 team, as will the board to determine if a new direction is needed.

Emotional scenes in Top 100 Memorial Square this evening as Beddows and Wallace unveiled the latest statue to honour one of the workhorses of the gameworld as he takes a back seat to concentrate on winning trophies with Juventus.

Beddows spoke momentarily: "It has been a great pleasure to serve with Payne, a manager who is astute, organised and knows what he wants. He is typified by his most admirable quality which in the game is his stubbornness. But having played the game alongside him since at least 2013 (easily) I feel that we have achieved a mutual understanding of each others qualities in managing gameworlds. Good luck next season!"

As they unveiled the 22 metre high statue that has been constructed between Hirst and Marsden there was naturally an outpouring of mass grief amongst the millions who'd gathered not seen since the days of Scott Mckenzie leaving Barcelona. It has been disclosed though that due to Dan Payne never having ever won the Division One title he will not get contract immunity like the forefathers and pioneers of Top 100 Mr Hirst and Mr Marsden.

It appears that the strength of division 2 will be similar to that of season 17, but at worst, no stronger.

Just before the end of season 17, I tried to make some changes to the team but found that I was being offered poor players in return for mine and can only assume that the players I was offering did not meet other managers expectations. I do not talk up my own players as I like to give other managers the credit of knowing their worth. I therefore start season 18 with pretty much the same team that finished season 17, so I expect the outcome and league position may be similar too.

We still have an average rating of 89.0 for the best starting 11,  and therefore my aim will be to avoid relegation and our Chairman states “this season he expects us to avoid relegation”. My contract requires me to finish 10th, but this is a bit unrealistic when you compare our squad against the others in this division, and the leagues stats suggest 14th. 

Looking back over the last few seasons, 44 points should see us safe.

GOOD LUCK ALL

BREAKING NEWS as Top100 two most longstanding bookmakers - FrankBet and GinoBet are to merge into one big super company and to celebrate they have released the SACK ODDS on Division One managers for this season - who do they think is most likely to lose their jobs first? Most likely to upset admin or throw their toys out of the pram due to the match engine? Lets take a look.

Highly likely to cause some controversy and discussion this!

8/15 RCD ESPANYOL - Glen Mullan

8/11 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR - Liam Pigott

4/5 ASTON VILLA - Adam

EVENS LEVANTE UD - Salvatore Zerbo

11/4 VALENCIA CF - Ash L

7/2 EVERTON - RJ Alston

6/1 SC INTERNACIONAL - Mike T

8/1 MANCHESTER CITY - Alex McLean

10/1 ATLETICO MADRID - Gav Harmer

14/1 STANDARD LIEGE - Lee Reynolds

22/1 REAL MADRID - Andrew Kelly

33/1 BAYERN MUNCHEN - Bojan H

40/1 ARSENAL - Heath Brown

66/1 BARCELONA - Dan Wallace

66/1 SL BENFICA - Ruts66

80/1 FC PORTO - André Guerra

80/1 CHELSEA - James McKenzie

100/1 HELLAS VERONA - André Libras-Boas

200/1 BORUSSIA DORTMUND - Dario Saviano

500/1 JUVENTUS - DP 91