WCC R32 Results

Both legs of WCC R32 is completed successfully and now we have 16 winners ready to fight for the glory. Here the updated results :

WCC R32 Leg 1 result :

Match 1  São Paulo FC (0) vs  Bayer Leverkusen (1)
Match 2  Barcelona (4) vs  Valencia CF (0)
Match 3  Manchester United (0) vs  SC Internacional (2)
Match 4  Hertha BSC (1) vs  RSC Anderlecht (3)
Match 5  Torino (2) vs  Olympiacos (1)
Match 6  West Bromwich Albion (2) vs  West Ham United (0)
Match 7  FC Koln (0) vs  Atlético Madrid (3)
Match 8  SL Benfica (0) vs  Borussia Dortmund (0)
Match 9  Hamburger SV (0) vs  Swansea City (1)
Match 10  FC Basel (0) vs  Juventus (0)
Match 11  Málaga CF (2) vs  Dinamo Zagreb (1)
Match 12  Sporting CP (1) vs  Celta Vigo (1)
Match 13  AS Monaco (1) vs  Internazionale (4)
Match 14  Everton (1) vs  FC Porto (2)
Match 15  Chelsea (1) vs  Hellas Verona (1)
Match 16  Manchester City (2) vs  Arsenal (2)

WCC R32 Leg 2 result :

Match 1  Bayer Leverkusen (1) vs  São Paulo FC (0)
Match 2  Valencia CF (0) vs  Barcelona (4)
Match 3  SC Internacional (2) vs  Manchester United (1)
Match 4  RSC Anderlecht (2) vs  Hertha BSC (0)
Match 5  Olympiacos (1) vs  Torino (3)
Match 6  West Ham United (1) vs  West Bromwich Albion (2)
Match 7  Atlético Madrid (0) vs  FC Koln (1)
Match 8  Borussia Dortmund (2) vs  SL Benfica (0)
Match 9  Swansea City (2) vs  Hamburger SV (0)
Match 10  Juventus (1) vs  FC Basel (1)
Match 11  Dinamo Zagreb (1) vs  Málaga CF (2)
Match 12  Celta Vigo (1) vs  Sporting CP (2)
Match 13  Internazionale (2) vs  AS Monaco (1)
Match 14  FC Porto (0) vs  Everton (1)
Match 15  Hellas Verona (1) vs  Chelsea (2)
Match 16  Arsenal (3) vs  Manchester City (1)

Aggregate results and winners of R32 :

São Paulo FC (0) vs  Bayer Leverkusen (2)
 Barcelona (8) vs  Valencia CF (0)
 Manchester United (1) vs  SC Internacional (4)
 Hertha BSC (1) vs  RSC Anderlecht (5)
 Torino (5) vs  Olympiacos (2)
 West Bromwich Albion (4) vs  West Ham United (1)
 FC Koln (1) vs  Atlético Madrid (3)
 SL Benfica (0) vs  Borussia Dortmund (2)
 Hamburger SV (0) vs  Swansea City (3)
 FC Basel (1) vs  Juventus (1)
 Málaga CF (4) vs  Dinamo Zagreb (2)
 Sporting CP (3) vs  Celta Vigo (2)
 AS Monaco (2) vs  Internazionale (6)
 Everton (2) vs  FC Porto (2)
 Chelsea (3) vs  Hellas Verona (2)
 Manchester City (3) vs  Arsenal (5)

Koln vs Atletico Madrid is forfeited as Koln failed to organise the fixture. Atletico Madrid is declared winner of the game and winner of R32 and qualifies to next round.

Congratulations to winners and commiserations to the losers). The draw for next round will be conducted after WCS R32 games are done and fixtures will be updated soon after that. We thank all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful. Thank you and good luck.


MANCHESTER UNITED APPOINTS THARANIDHARAN AS MANAGER

The hot news around the corner is that Mr. Niall Taylor has left the Manchester United manager citing the pressure of the job and personal commitments as the reasons to call it an end. The huge speculations were spread about who will fill this hot spot. Some big names were linked but it was Mr. Tharanidharan, native of India but Mancunian by heart, given the nod to lead this great club.

Tharani, coming from a small town in India, didn’t have glittering career as professional footballer. Infact, college football was the best he did. He was not gifted with football skills to make it big. But his love for the game pushed him to continue doing something else in the most beloved sport and that’s how he took on managerial position 12 years ago. Fast forward, he is now the manager of Manchester United. It’ll befitting to say he has achieved his life’s purpose and destiny.

Journey in Top 100 started in 2022, when he joined Real Sociedad in Top 120. After proving his potential in non-league level, he was given a job at Athletic Bilbao in Div 5 in Top 100. After 1 and half seasons and over-achieving all the expectations in Div 5, he became the hot candidate for top jobs in the town. He could have joined any top club but he understood it’ll be too early and undeserving, so took on a challenge at then fellow Div 5 club Stuttgart – a club filled with potential but never able to break into top half of the table consistently.

Tharani, grateful to work done by Mark Scott, did some tweaks to ratings and tactics. Boom. He achieved two consecutive promotions and brought Stuttgart to Div 3. Currently they were expected to fight relegation battle instead they are in mid table spot. He publicly declared Stuttgart will be his last and only club he will manage at Top 100 unless Manchester United board comes knocking at his door. Out of nowhere, his dream came true and after learning the trade, he felt it’s the right time to jump ship and lead his dream club to top where it belongs and bring back the glory days to Old Trafford.

Tharani in his first interview as Man Utd manager :

I’ve spoken before about how I’ve prepared more or less my whole adult life, to be a manager somewhere and I have always been stupid enough or naive enough or daft enough to dream about this job.

I wouldn’t have said yes if I wasn’t looking forward to it and if I didn’t believe in the club and in the potential. I feel, and I hope, that I can do this job justice, that’s the first thing I asked myself when I got the call.

It’s truly an honour. I think everyone knows, and I’ve spoken about it in the last few months, that this is the dream job for any football-interested man, especially anyone who has been involved with Man United. Being given the opportunity now to move the club forward, with all the potential there is, it’s fantastic.

I understand the mood has been down as we are fighting relegation. This is not us. We don’t belong here. It can’t be done overnight. It’s a long tiring process and we have to roll-up the sleeves, do the dirty work and get the work done. But first thing we just want to get the players enjoying football. I’m looking forward to seeing the supporters and bring the happiness and cheer in their face.

 I’ve seen the last few games and I observed some players not performing up-to the expectations. But it’s alright. Everyone will get a chance. Everyone starts with a clean slate. You’ve got to start somewhere. We’re in a results business and we want to win games. That’s our main focus.

Squad depth and quality are also a concern, which will be attended on priority keeping Man Utd DNA philosophy in mind. That’s all for now. I’d like to be man of action rather than man of words.

We wish Tharanidharan a good luck in his new adventure and hope Manchester United reach greater heights.


WCS Round of 32

Hello everyone, welcome to first round (i.e. R32) of World Club Shield (WCS) tournament. Started with 100 teams, now we have second top 32 teams competing for WCS trophy. As mentioned already, from here on till semi final, these round of games will be 2-legged knock out games (1 home, 1 away) and the winners will be decided on aggregate score and FET (if needed). Qualified 32 teams list is available in our recent post WCC-WCS Qualifier 4 results.

Through random draw, we finalized the fixtures for WCS R32. First leg to be played on 13th March and second leg will be played on 27th March.

The fixture schedule for 1st leg (13th March) are :

Match 1  FC Augsburg vs  Galatasaray SK
Match 2  Standard Liège vs  Real Madrid
Match 3  Genoa CFC vs  Riverplate
Match 4  Lille OSC vs  Girondins Bordeaux
Match 5  Sunderland vs  Tottenham Hotspur
Match 6  AC Milan vs  Udinese Calcio
Match 7  Leicester City vs  FC Schalke 04
Match 8  Aston Villa vs  Liverpool
Match 9  Flamengo vs  Paris Saint-Germain
Match 10  Levante vs  Santos FC
Match 11  Bayern München vs  Crystal Palace
Match 12  Ajax vs  Celtic
Match 13  Southampton vs  Stoke City
Match 14  Fenerbahçe SK vs  Independiente
Match 15  Club Brugge KV vs  SS Lazio
Match 16  RCD Espanyol vs  Sampdoria

The fixture schedule for 2nd leg (27th March) are :

Match 1  Galatasaray SK vs  FC Augsburg
Match 2  Real Madrid vs  Standard Liège
Match 3  Riverplate vs  Genoa CFC
Match 4  Girondins Bordeaux vs  Lille OSC
Match 5  Tottenham Hotspur vs  Sunderland
Match 6  Udinese Calcio vs  AC Milan
Match 7  FC Schalke 04 vs  Leicester City
Match 8  Liverpool vs  Aston Villa
Match 9  Paris Saint-Germain vs  Flamengo
Match 10  Santos FC vs  Levante
Match 11  Crystal Palace vs  Bayern München
Match 12  Celtic vs  Ajax
Match 13  Stoke City vs  Southampton
Match 14  Independiente vs  Fenerbahçe SK
Match 15  SS Lazio vs  Club Brugge KV
Match 16  Sampdoria vs  RCD Espanyol

We thank in advance all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful. Thank you and good luck.


WCC Round of 32

Hello everyone, welcome to first round (i.e. R32) of World Club Cup (WCC) tournament. Started with 100 teams, now we have top 32 teams competing for WCC trophy. As mentioned already, from here on till semi final, these round of games will be 2-legged knock out games (1 home, 1 away) and the winners will be decided on aggregate score and FET (if needed). Qualified 32 teams list is available in our recent post WCC-WCS Qualifier 4 results.

Through random draw, we finalized the fixtures for WCC R32. First leg to be played on 6th March and second leg will be played on 20th March.

The fixture schedule for 1st leg (6th March) are :

Match 1  São Paulo FC vs  Bayer Leverkusen
Match 2  Barcelona vs  Valencia CF
Match 3  Manchester United vs  SC Internacional
Match 4  Hertha BSC vs  RSC Anderlecht
Match 5  Torino vs  Olympiaco
Match 6  West Bromwich Albion vs  West Ham United
Match 7  FC Koln vs  Atlético Madrid
Match 8  SL Benfica vs  Borussia Dortmund
Match 9  Hamburger SV vs  Swansea City
Match 10  FC Basel vs  Juventu
Match 11  Málaga CF vs  Dinamo Zagreb
Match 12  Sporting CP vs  Celta Vigo
Match 13  AS Monaco vs  Internazionale
Match 14  Everton vs  FC Porto
Match 15  Chelsea vs  Hellas Verona
Match 16  Manchester City vs  Arsenal

The fixture schedule for 2nd leg (20th March) are :

Match 1  Bayer Leverkusen vs  São Paulo FC
Match 2  Valencia CF vs  Barcelona
Match 3  SC Internacional vs  Manchester United
Match 4  RSC Anderlecht vs  Hertha BSC
Match 5  Olympiaco vs  Torino
Match 6  West Ham United vs  West Bromwich Albion
Match 7  Atlético Madrid vs  FC Koln
Match 8  Borussia Dortmund vs  SL Benfica
Match 9  Swansea City vs  Hamburger SV
Match 10  Juventu vs  FC Basel
Match 11  Dinamo Zagreb vs  Málaga CF
Match 12  Celta Vigo vs  Sporting CP
Match 13  Internazionale vs  AS Monaco
Match 14  FC Porto vs  Everton
Match 15  Hellas Verona vs  Chelsea
Match 16  Arsenal vs  Manchester City

We thank in advance all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful. Thank you and good luck.


WCC – WCS QUALIFIERS 4 RESULTS

WCC – WCS Qualifier 4 has been successfully completed and now we are ready for important part of the tournament. Winners of Qualifier 4 (32 teams) will advance to Club World Cup Round of 32 and Losers of Qualifier 4 (32 teams) will advance to Club World Shield Round of 32. From here on, all the rounds will be double legged knock out format and winners will be decided on aggregate score. In case of a draw, traditional FET rules come in to play.

Below are the 32 teams qualified for World Club Cup (WCC) :

Atlético Madrid  Manchester United  Chelsea  Dinamo Zagreb
 Swansea City  Celta Vigo  Olympiacos  São Paulo FC
 SL Benfica  Hamburger SV  Borussia Dortmund  Bayer Leverkusen
 Hellas Verona  Málaga CF  Barcelona  AS Monaco
 SC Internacional  Arsenal  Manchester City FC Koln
 Internazionale  RSC Anderlecht  Torino  Valencia CF
 West Bromwich Albion  FC Basel Juventus  Sporting CP
Everton  West Ham United  FC Porto Hertha BSC

Below are the 32 teams qualified for World Club Shield (WCS) :

FC Augsburg  Genoa CFC  Flamengo  Club Brugge KV
 RCD Espanyol  Sampdoria  Lille OSC  Stoke City
 Standard Liège  Crystal Palace  Ajax Bayern München
 Liverpool  FC Schalke 04  Girondins Bordeaux  AC Milan
 SS Lazio  Southampton  Udinese Calcio  Levante
 Galatasaray SK  Paris Saint-Germain  Real Madrid  Sunderland
 Fenerbahçe SK  Aston Villa Tottenham Hotspur  Leicester City
Santos FC  Celtic  Independiente Riverplate

We thank all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful so far and we expect the same in future as well. The fixture list and fixture date will be announced in subsequent posts. Thanks and good luck.


Defying the odds

Espanyol arrived back in Spain this morning after another memorable night in Turin, as they beat one of the title favourites Juventus 2-1. The Italian Giants were the second big scalp in 5 games, as Espanyol had previously beaten former Champions Verona.

Espanyol are the lowest ranked side in Division 1 by some margin, however their explosive start to the season sees them joint top scorers with 13 goals across the 5 divisions, though defensively they have let in 10.

"We are under no illusions how difficult it's going to be to finish anywhere better than bottom. We've got the promotion bounce right now, where we are putting away our chances and to have 11 points at this stage is minor miracle. What we lack in ratings we have tried to offset in depth and I really can't be any happier by the surprise start. We've 33 games to try and get another 30 points now to give us a chance of staying up. Division 1 is an unforgiving place, where you can easily go on a losing run of 7-8 games and get pulled into a rut. There is a number of 6 pointers to come this season against teams which are closer to our position. Wins against the likes of Juventus and Verona are bonus points which you don't expect , but they have certainly helped towards a solid start to the season. History has shown that winning 25% of your games in division 1 is not usually enough to keep you up. West Bromley last season took points in nearly 50% of their games but still went down with 42 points. This makes life extremely tough for us and we are not getting carried away with the start. Its take each game as it comes , pray that injuries and suspensions don't de-rail the team and see where we are after 10 games, 20 games , 30 games etc. "


WCC - WCS QUALIFIERS 4

WCC - WCS Qualifier 3 has been successfully completed and now we are ready for next and final round of qualifiers. Just like previous round, this round will also be 1-legged round and winners (32 teams) will advance to World Club Cup Round of 32 and losers (32 teams) will advance to World Club Shield Round of 32. Here are the 14 winners from Qualifier 3 : (Congratulations to winners and commiserations to the losers).

Ajax Málaga CF
FC Basel SS Lazio
Sampdoria AS Monaco
Club Brugge KV Torino
Girondins Bordeaux Tottenham Hotspur
Crystal Palace Santos FC
Southampton Olympiacos

And now we have 50 teams which got bye into the Qualifier 4 and 14 teams from previous 3 rounds which totals to 64 teams. Through random draw, we finalized the fixtures of Qualifier 4 and winners will qualify for World Club Cup and losers will play World Club Shield. This round of games will be played on 21st February. 32 games to be arranged in 1 week. It's a difficult task (but not impossible) and let's try to get it arranged all games. The fixture schedule are :

Match 1  FC Augsburg vs  Atlético Madrid
Match 2  RCD Espanyol vs  Swansea City
Match 3  Standard Liège vs  SL Benfica
Match 4  Hellas Verona vs  Liverpool
Match 5  SS Lazio vs  SC Internacional
Match 6  Galatasaray SK vs  Internazionale
Match 7  Fenerbahçe SK vs  West Bromwich Albion
Match 8 Everton vs Santos FC
Match 9  Manchester United vs  Genoa CFC
Match 10  Celta Vigo vs  Sampdoria
Match 11  Crystal Palace vs  Hamburger SV
Match 12  FC Schalke 04 vs  Málaga CF
Match 13  Arsenal vs  Southampton
Match 14  RSC Anderlecht vs  Paris Saint-Germain
Match 15  Aston Villa vs  FC Basel
Match 16  Celtic vs  West Ham United
Match 17  Flamengo vs  Chelsea
Match 18  Olympiacos vs  Lille OSC
Match 19  Ajax vs  Borussia Dortmund
Match 20  Girondins Bordeaux vs  Barcelona
Match 21  Manchester City vs  Udinese Calcio
Match 22  Real Madrid vs  Torino
Match 23 Juventus vs Tottenham Hotspur
Match 24  FC Porto vs  Independiente
Match 25  Dinamo Zagreb vs  Club Brugge KV
Match 26  Stoke City vs  São Paulo FC
Match 27  Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern München
Match 28  AS Monaco vs  AC Milan
Match 29  Levante vs FC Koln
Match 30  Valencia CF vs  Sunderland
Match 31  Leicester City vs  Sporting CP
Match 32 Riverplate vs Hertha BSC

We thank in advance all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful. Thank you and good luck.


WCC - WCS QUALIFIERS 3

WCC - WCS Qualifier 2 has been successfully completed and now we are ready for next round of fixtures. Just like previous round, this round will also be 1-leg knock out game and winners will advance to next round of qualifiers. Here are the winners from Qualifier 2 : (Congratulations to winners and commiserations to the losers)

Rubin Kazan AS Roma
SS Lazio Sampdoria
Athletic Club Olympique Marseille
Ajax VfL Wolfsburg
Sevilla Mönchengladbach
FC Basel Olympique Lyonnais

Here are the teams which got bye into Qualifier 3 :

Crystal Palace Santos FC
Southampton Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Málaga CF Olympiacos
Tottenham Hotspur AZ Alkmaar
Cruzeiro VfB Stuttgart
AS Monaco Club Brugge KV
Torino Girondins Bordeaux
Werder Bremen CSKA Moskva

Through random draw, we finalized the fixtures of Qualifier 3 and winners will qualify for next round. This round of games will be played on 14th February. The fixture schedule are :

Qualifier 3
Game 1 Ajax vs Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Game 2 Rubin Kazan vs FC Basel
Game 3 Sampdoria vs CSKA Moskva
Game 4 Olympique Marseille vs Club Brugge KV
Game 5 Mönchengladbach vs Girondins Bordeaux
Game 6 Crystal Palace vs AZ Alkmaar
Game 7 Olympique Lyonnais vs Southampton
Game 8 Málaga CF vs AS Roma
Game 9 Cruzeiro vs SS Lazio
Game 10 Athletic Club vs AS Monaco
Game 11 Torino vs Sevilla
Game 12 Werder Bremen vs Tottenham Hotspur
Game 13 Santos FC vs VfB Stuttgart
Game 14 Olympiacos vs VfL Wolfsburg

We thank in advance all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful. Thank you and good luck.


Samp report conspiracy - Admin against Super Samp!

Super Samp manager Beddows' side have started Season 22 like the Japanese bullet train - YET the authorities seem to be against them.,,,

PRIOR to game 1 - 1 player suspended from last season

GAME 1 - Nicolas Jackson sent off for two yellow cards - AWAY to Marsden? Which Samp win 2-1? Coincidence?

GAME 2 - Another red for two yellows - Admin trying to thwart little old Super Samp?

GAME 3 - Straight red for Nmecha - the destroyer of Marsden and two injuries picked up as Sunderland play dirty? Surely too much this?

BEDDOWS: "We will go to the authorities but expect very little - especially as we effectively relegated CSKA Texas and Chris Meida last season - we will fight on but it is clearly a battle that ultimately we will lose!" 


Youth Cup Groups

I did the draw live on Facebook, but I can't see a way to download the video to upload here. Sorry. Mind you, it's 30 minutes long, so maybe for the best.

This is how it all turned out. (Colours refer to the pots the teams were in - Pot 1 Orange, Pot 2 yellow, Pot 3 green, Pot 4 blue.)

All fixtures are on Challonge, and as you can see below, if it's easier.

Link to the old UI for arranging fixtures further ahead than the new UI allows.