60 to One

[tomsmith1989]

That's just the season reset date.

Ah, yes. Of course.

[Neji]

From Stable to Very Secure

[ssestig]

Only Stable /o\ KUTGW though Canvey!!

[spartans5]

Still very secure at Valencia

[hamilton162]

Stable to Very Secure It may just be the season reset date, but i don't care as it bumps me right up the table!

KUTGW canvey Fantastic updates as usual

[canvey!!]

Writer's Notes: In accordance with a sub-forum wide attempt to get ratings on threads, can I please ask you to check out this post and then act accordingly? Cheers.

Manager of the Update - Previous Winners

Update Winner, Club                
Jul 08 James Salter, Reggina
Aug 08 Lawrence Lazewski, Valencia
Sep 08 Clark Aitken, Roma
Oct 08 Clark Aitken, Roma 
Nov 08 Leo Dodge, Tottenham 
Dec 08 Maurice Jobson, Man United
Jan 09 Bryan McGuinness, Everton
Feb 09 Robert Boyle, Blackburn
Mar 09 Brucie Bonus, West Brom
Apr 09 Neji Hyuuga, Deportivo
May 09 Lucas Volman, Real Madrid
Jun 09 Jonte Rhodes, Lazio

Top Ten - Reputation

Pos Username          Manager           Club         Reputation
1st Waghlon           Lars Tommersen    Villarreal  Continental
  - Greasy Chip Butty Andy Morton       Sporting    Continental
  - Martin_           Martin Bojangles  Hull        Continental
  - ian_1982          Maurice Jobson    Man United  Continental
  - Romanista1994     Lucas Volman      Real Madrid Continental
  - tomsmith1989      Tom Smith         Arsenal     Continental
  - spartans5         Lawrence Lazewski Valencia    Continental
  - clrkaitken        Clark Aitken      Roma        Continental
  - Haowan            Haowan Madridstas Barcelona   Continental
  - BenArsenal        Ben Cee           Inter       Continental

[PluckaDuck]

Already rated it

Hopefully this MOTM award will be mine in the not to near future!

[BenArsenal]

Rated.

[DiscoStu94]

Down to stable

[Walcott\'s Wonderkids]

Apologies, haven't posted in this thread for a while.

West Brom finished their season in a very respectable position of 10th, much better than what I was thinking would happen!!!

Shame that my end of season status of 'very secure' has fallen back down to stable during the offseason.... have to start all over the again!

The board are so fickle!!

KUTGW

[canvey!!]

Okay, these next few weeks are going to be pretty busy for me. I'll be trying to make updates pretty regularly but you should understand if I don't. I'll aim to get one out every weekend: I should have a good amount of spare time on Saturday mornings.

[Jack Rudd]

Stable? Not too bad, I suppose.

[dovEs]

Only just stumbled on this thread now, far too late to join in but damnit I wish I had, seems like good fun, will really hot up the fewer managers there are left, imagine the sniping going on amongst the last few haha. Kudos to whoever came up with the idea and well done Canvey on your reports really well written and entertaining much like Kips Bandits thread. I'll be following this from now on

[canvey!!]

Thanks dovEs.

Update 13
Years: 1, Months: 13, Days: 389

The remaining forty-eight managers successfully reached that one-year milestone, while preparing for their second season in charge with transfers and friendly activity. The biggest transfer news of the summer is the one that will be covered first, and Will de Mote made a small fortune by sending Marek Hamsik to Lord Weeman’s Napoli for £37M. de Mote raisd a further £4.3M from selling Massimo Ambrosini to Sevilla, and loaning Philippe Senderos to Lars Tommersen’s Villarreal. Of course Senderos had just been secured from Arsenal, this for £7.25M, and de Mote also spent £23.5M on two Brazilians from two Ukrainian clubs. The pre-season had also kicked off well for the Dutchman, with his team winning three away games by a combined score of 10-0.

The earlier rounds of the UEFA Cup took place this month, July, with only one team of interest in it. Da Hoover Man’s Sampdoria secured an 8-0 aggregate victory of Vojvodina of Serbia, while Liverpool and Sevilla also won their ties. Gladbach of Germany were beaten 1-0 by Sampdoria in a friendly, and Da Hoover Man continued his tinkering into the new month, with the most notable transfer being the £22M one of Antonio Cassano to Ben Cee’s Inter. Man also brought in several players from Italian clubs, all for £4.2M or less. Cassano joins several other players in being a new face at Inter. He was the highest spend but Cee also brought in Hatem Ben Arfa from Marseille for £15.5M and Dynamo Kiev’s Taras Mykhalyk for £11M, as well as others. Patrick Vieira is possibly the highest-profile name to go, for £1.4M to Lyon, but of course there were more money-making transfers out, including Cristian Chivu to Lawrence Lazewski’s Valencia, and Nicolás Burdisso to Rafael Benítez’s Liverpool.

Andre da Conceiçao and Chelsea also brought in a player from the Milan-based club, Dejan Stankovic for £10.5M, but their highest spend was £14.25M for Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta. They raised £15.5M in outgoing transfers and also brought in Kevin Thomson from Championship Wigan for £10.5M. Funnily enough, Manchester City didn’t spend that much money, and their books were almost balanced. Demba Ba came from Hoffenheim and Ramires from Cruzeiro for a combined sum of £27M, but £22.5M was raised, the majority of it from that Zabaleta transfer. Liam Ferguson has only one more friendly to play, after scoring eleven and conceding none in five games so far, including a 2-0 win over James Ridley’s Siena.

Across the other side of town, Maurice Jobson and Manchester United have been busy on the transfer front, and have made oodles of money from wheeling and dealing. The Portuguese Nani went to Barcelona for £28.5M, which alone covered the cost of incoming transfers, of which there were three, the highest being Charles N’Zogbia from Wigan for £9.25M after Brettney Joven’s successor sought to have a clear-out, and a money-making clear-out at that! Ricky Nakano’s Middlesbrough are slightly down in terms of profits, but they made four solid acquisitions including Jonathan Spector from West Ham, while Jason Steele went to Hibernian for £230k. Elsewhere in the north, Shazad Ali’s Newcastle made a £28M loss as they sought to reinforce their squad. Again, Wigan were among the receivers as the Magpies swooped up Lee Cattermole for £8M. Liam Lawrence moved for £5.25M from Fréderico Canvey’s Stoke, who are in the Championship, and who made a profit of £1.75M, spending and earning in similar amounts. The Lawrence deal was their highest outwards, and their highest inwards was that of Tommy Smith, for £2.4M from Watford. The other Championship side, Arnold J. Rimmer’s Bolton, tallied up £18M selling many players, including Andy O’Brien to Atalanta for £1.7M.

bermybhoy's team made several transfers this month, including buying out the co-ownership deal of Davide Succi from Ravenna and Mikey Twigge’s Palermo, for £2.7M to each. They also started off their pre-season campaign well, with a 3-0 victory over Hannover. Their rivals Fiorentina made a nice income from transfers, and while James Salter’s Reggina bought two players, Inter were the biggest contributors, spending £9.5M on Zdravko Kuzmanovic. Fiorentina did spend some money, but their loss in manpower could be a problem, as Ben Taylor’s team lost 1-3 to Schalke in a pre-season friendly. Cardio Vascular’s Genoa have had a good start to the pre-season with a 3-0 win in Düsseldorf, and the £6.5M sale of Pablo Osvaldo to Bologna helps with the finances, but wasn’t their only transfer.

In Spain, the big two did not do much, although there was the Nani transfer, and Lucas Volman raised £13M by selling Rafael van der Vaart to Liverpool. It was the smaller sides that had the more interesting month, and Wobill Luman’s Betis raised £17.25M and didn’t spend a penny. Villarreal bought two players, and Branko Ilic went to Andy Morton’s Sporting for £1.9M. Valencia and Lazio also took some of the Betis squad. Despite this, Luman started his pre-season with an impressive 6-0 win. Phill Ewles’s Valladolid raised £5.5M selling Pedro León to Atlético Madrid, while Tom Hamilton’s Mallorca have already completed 50% of their pre-season after just one game, wich they won 2-0. They also made a £3.5M profit from two outgoing transfers.

Back into England, and focusing on the three relevant sides (the other is West Ham) in the bottom four, being there for no reason other than their name. Leo Dodge is keeping a low profile at White Hart Lane, spending £2.6M on Matty Taylor from Bolton but not making any other transfers, and with an indifferent pre-season so far, including a 2-3 defeat by Racing. Scott Tysoe, whose Sunderland had a good season last year, has spent some big bucks, £11M, while selling Michael Chopra to Cardiff for £3M in one of two outgoing transfers. Finally, Brucie Bonus’s West Brom have had a fantastic start to the pre-season, with two 1- and two 2-0 wins, and made £900k by selling a player to Wolves.

With the season starting next month, the excitement is about to increase, and there will soon be four trophies to go for: with a Spanish battle in the European Super Cup, Barcelona and Valencia, and domestic Super Cups: Manchester United and Tom Smith’s Arsenal in the Community Shield, the Roma-Inter showdown in Italy and Villarreal facing Real Madrid in Spain. Stay tuned!

Manager of the Update
My manager of the update award goes to;

Wobill Luman, Betis

for making plenty of money and winning his first friendly in style! Brucie Bonus had a shout, as he also spun a profit and had four good opening games, and Liam Ferguson came close for almost balancing his books!

Job Securities

  Rank Username             Manager             Club        Security      Days
   1st ian_1982             Maurice Jobson      Man United  Secure         389
   2nd IlikeJellybeans      Jellybean Man       Numancia    Stable         389
     - Greasy Chip Butty    Andy Morton         Sporting    Stable         389
     - Blanco               Cristobal Blanco    Recreativo  Stable         389
     - spartans5            Lawrence Lazewski   Valencia    Stable         389
     - Romanista1994        Lucas Volman        Real Madrid Stable         389
     - el sid               Cool Manager        At. Madrid  Stable         389
     - Chimpos              Phill Ewles         Valladolid  Stable         389
     - Neji                 Neji Hyuuga         Deportivo   Stable         389
     - JoeLatics            Joe Gleeson         Espanyol    Stable         389
     - hamilton162          Tom Hamilton        Mallorca    Stable         389
     - clrkaitken           Clark Aitken        Roma        Stable         389
     - ScottT!              Scott Tysoe         Sunderland  Stable         389
     - Walcott’s Wonderkids Brucie Bonus        West Brom   Stable         389
     - super_lampard        Super Lampard       Lecce       Stable         389
     - JSalter              James Salter        Reggina     Stable         389
     - Martin_              Martin Bojangles    Hull        Stable         389
     - kashmirshazad        Shazad Ali          Newcastle   Stable         389
     - tomsmith1989         Tom Smith           Arsenal     Stable         389
     - AtilasMiserly        Will de Mote        A.C. Milan  Stable         389
     - ~Ian~                Bryan McGuinness    Everton     Stable         389
     - SCIAG                Leo Dodge           Tottenham   Stable         389
     - rancer890            Ricky Nakano        Middlesbro  Stable         389
     - ssestig              Theo Stigarakis     Catania     Stable         389
     - DiscoStu94           Da Hoover Man       Sampdoria   Stable         389
     - MikaelS              Mikael Schøler      Bologna     Stable         389
     - hasdgfas             Tim Aubel           Fulham      Stable         389
     - PluckaDuck           Tyler Burrows       Udinese     Stable         389
     - Waghlon              Lars Tommersen      Villarreal  Stable         389
     - canvey!!             Fréderico Canvey    Stoke       Stable         389
     - Haowan               Haowan Madridstas   Barcelona   Stable         389
     - conners              Sirus Lannock       Málaga      Stable         389
     - weeeman27bob         Lord Weeman         Napoli      Stable         389
     - Cardiovascular       Cardio Vascular     Genoa       Stable         389
     - fergysafc            Liam Ferguson       Man City    Stable         389
     - Lower Leagues Rule   Jonte Rhodes        Lazio       Stable         389
     - TaylorB              Ben Taylor          Fiorentina  Stable         389
     - bermybhoy            bermybhoy           Atalanta    Stable         389
     - Ben Arsenal          Ben Cee             Inter       Stable         389
     - mikeytwigge          Mikey Twigge        Palermo     Stable         389
     - Almondo              Arnold J. Rimmer    Bolton      Stable         389
     - Jack Rudd            Lisa Jeffries       Juventus    Stable         389
     - Ridleys              James Ridley        Siena       Stable         389
     - tadr                 Andre da Conceiçao  Chelsea     Stable         389
     - markcator3006        Mark Cator          Aston Villa Stable         389
     - pnefc22              Wobill Luman        Betis       Stable         389
     - m1234566778          Maz Armley          Racing      Stable         389
     - Swafe                Saul Goode          Osasuna     Stable         389

[el sid]

Top half, as always

[Greasy Chip Butty]

Why does job security always reset at the end of the season? It's like the achievements of last season don't matter no more! I noticed this on Dafuges challenge - I took my Heybridge Swifts team up to League 2 (highest ever position and all that) and then following a dodgy start, I was under pressure. Err, hello? I got us this far with sod all money and sod all players in four seasons, give me a chance ...

It's like saying that Sir Alex Ferguson is stable every August. Would Man United sack him if they found themselves in mid-table in October? Course not!

Anyway, onto Season 2, excellent updates Canvey!! as usual. Hope I don't miss a week and find myself out like I did in The Apprentice -- am still not happy!

[PluckaDuck]

Not much to report on from me, hopefully this season at Udinese can be as good as the last!!

[fergysafc]

nearly manager of update 5 win out 5 and not let any goals in


KUTWG

[super_lampard]

No mention in the update, but this happened all last season and Leece finished twelve

[canvey!!]

No mention in the update, but this happened all last season and Leece finished twelve

Sorry, super_lampard, I noticed you hadn't been mentioned in two updates but you did absolutely nothing this month so I really couldn't include you. The same goes for Blanco and JoeLatics.

[hamilton162]

Stable, and in 2nd place

[DiscoStu94]

Will we get to see all the transfers we have made at the end of August?

[canvey!!]

No........

[hasdgfas]

I'm not doing much, but I'd rather be not talked about and keep chugging along than be mentioned for bad things

[super_lampard]

Sorry, super_lampard, I noticed you hadn't been mentioned in two updates but you did absolutely nothing this month so I really couldn't include you.

No worries I understand Leece are not the most exciting club

[rancer890]

Noooo, I'm last.

Nowhere to go but up.

KUTGW

[canvey!!]

Manager of the Update – Previous Winners

  Update Winner, Club                
  Jul 08 James Salter, Reggina
  Aug 08 Lawrence Lazewski, Valencia
  Sep 08 Clark Aitken, Roma
  Oct 08 Clark Aitken, Roma 
  Nov 08 Leo Dodge, Tottenham 
  Dec 08 Maurice Jobson, Man United
  Jan 09 Bryan McGuinness, Everton
  Feb 09 Robert Boyle, Blackburn
  Mar 09 Brucie Bonus, West Brom
  Apr 09 Neji Hyuuga, Deportivo
  May 09 Lucas Volman, Real Madrid
  Jun 09 Jonte Rhodes, Lazio
  Jul 09 Wobill Luman, Betis

Top Ten – Highest Fee Spent

   Pos Username       Manager            Club        Player                Fee
   1st Haowan         Haowan Madridstas  Barcelona   Nani              £28.5 M
   2nd fergysafc      Liam Ferguson      Man City    Mikel Arteta      £25.5 M
   3rd BenArsenal     Ben Cee            Inter       Antonio Cassano   £22   M
   4th tomsmith1989   Tom Smith          Arsenal     Jérémy Toulalan   £19.5 M
   5th tadr           Andre da Conceiçao Chelsea     Amauri            £16   M
   6th Romanista1994  Lucas Volman       Real Madrid Yury Zhirkov      £15   M
   7th Atilas Miserly Will de Mote       A.C. Milan  Guilherme         £13.25M
   8th spartans5      Lawrence Lazewski  Valencia    Cristian Chivu    £13   M
   9th markcator3006  Mark Cator         Aston Villa Elano             £10.75M
  10th clrkaitken     Clark Aitken       Roma        Khalid Boulahrouz £10.25M
     - Jack Rudd      Lisa Jeffries      Juventus    Alex              £10.25M

Lifespan – Less than 1 Year

  Pos  Username             Manager             Club      Days
  49th corinthiano          Mathias Brunckhorst Chievo     327
     - Neilio               Neilio              Almería    327
  51st Robert_296           Robert Boyle        Blackburn  326
  52nd brettney1980         Brettney Joven      Wigan      320
  53rd TigerJoe             Joe Seddon          Getafe     271
  54th jack.browne          Jack Browne         Sevilla    250
  55th NepentheZ            Neppo Monster       Cagliari   236
     - dafuge               dafuge              Torino     236
  57th KiddingChoc          Zach Machios        Portsmouth 235
     - Whoopy D             Whoopy D            West Ham   235
  59th d-machine            David Machine       Athletic   229
  60th PaulHartman71        Jeremy English      Liverpool  204

[TaylorB]

Losing to Schalke . Hopefully not a sign of things too come. Don't think I'll budge from stable for a while though..

Nani deal is a shock tbh.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Happy to still be stable, no mention for Lazio means we are doing what we need to, hopefully we decide to spend some of our big money from June.

[ScottT!]

Looking good Hope I spent that 11M at Sunderland on quality goods!

[PluckaDuck]

Nani worth €28.5 million???

I'd sack Haowan on the spot if I was on the Barca board!!

[bermybhoy]

Good stuff as ever Canvey. Hung on by the skin of my teeth at the end of last season, hopefully these new signings keep us further clear of relegation this time.

[fergysafc]

Mikel Arteta £25.5 M that is to much for him
unless hes playing good

[canvey!!]

Mikel Arteta £25.5 M that is to much for him
unless hes playing good

Those figures are for the whole gamespan by the way - so Arteta was bought in January 2009.

[canvey!!]

Update 14
Years: 1, Months: 14, Days: 420

The season has begun and already clubs are excelling towards the top of the table. Life is good for Maurice Jobson and Lucas Volman, with the Rwandan second in the Premier League and August’s EPL Manager of the Month. He also found success in the Community Shield, a 2-0 win over Arsenal, and finished the transfer window with an £18M profit, bolstered of course by the sale of Nani. As a result of this, Jobson’s Job Status is Secure. Volman is also Secure at Real Madrid, despite an opening draw against Tom Hamilton’s Mallorca, but a 3-0 aggregate win over Villarreal in the Supercopa de España keeps his position very safe, that is even with a late transfer of £13.25M, making him a small loss for the window. Seeing as it is 650 times smaller than Real’s loss for the same window in real life, it’s possible to see why he is Secure! On the other hand, Osasuna’s Saul Goode is already beginning to feel the pressure of a new season, as he started his campaign in the Liga adelante with a 1-1 draw at home to Gimnàstic. His healthy transfer window profit should mean little in his ability to cope and keep his job in Spain’s second division.

There has been further action in the UEFA Cup, where teams from smaller natiosn such as Montenegro, Lithuania and Bosnia-Herzegovina find their season shaped as early as July or August. As we know, Sampdoria progressed to the Fourth Qualifying Round in the last update, where they have been drawn against Loko (Sofia). They were joined in this round by several other clubs of interest to us. Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid managed a 7-2 thrashing of Finns HJK, and they started off their league campaign with a 2-2 draw. Another Scandinavian side was dismissed in the form of Elfsborg, who couldn’t reply to any of the six goals knocked past them by Ben Taylor’s Fiorentina. Neji Hyuuga’s Deportivo beat ZTE of Hungary 8-0 but perhaps the most impressive tie was the 10-1 thrashing of Xanthi by Lisa Jeffries’s Juventus. There was also success for the English sides, with Leo Dodge’s Tottenham and Shazad Ali’s Newcastle beating Slaven Belupo and AaB respectively. The teams await the group stage draw.

There has been minimal activity in Italy, with just one game played, and it’s little surprise that Ben Cee’s Inter are top, after having beaten Mikey Twigge’s Palermo 3-1. Juventus and Roma are not far behind, having achieved the same scoreline, but Inter won the battle between them and Roma in the Italian Super Cup, with a 2-0 victory. At the bottom of the pile is James Ridley, whose Siena team lost 0-2 to Fiorentina, although they beat Grosseto 3-1 in the First Leg of the Italian Cup Third Qualifying Round, and made a £4M profit in the transfer window. One place above them are Palermo, Genoa and bermybhoy’s Atalanta, who were the three sides losing 1-3 to the top three. Super Lampard’s Lecce are definitely consistent, hanging about in mid-table after a 1-1 draw with Theo Stigarakis’s Catania in the opening game. They (Lecce) also won their first cup match of the season and made a £1.1M window profit including the sale this month of Edinho to Sporting CP for £4.9M.

The English Premier League is a bit further down the line, with three games played. As stated, Manchester United are second, but it is their rivals, Liam Ferguson’sManchester City, who sit in top spot after clean-sheet wins over Ipswich, West Ham and West Brom. They also managed to spin a profit by selling some fringe players in the window, including Valeri Bojinov to Tim Aubel’s Fulham, who ended up costing the team £250k per appearance. Arsenal are the third team on full points, although either they or Manchester City will have to drop some as they meet in the next game. Liverpool have had another bad start to the season, which I’m sure will secretly please Jeremy English, their former manager, as they lost to West Ham, West Brom and Arsenal. Newcastle and Mark Cator’s Aston Villa make up the rest of the bottom three, on one point. New boys Crystal Palace, Ipswich and Birmingham occupy 13th to 15th, while Bryan McGuinness’s Everton are in 5th, with two draws and a win.

Back over to Spain, where the biggest transfer of the month was made by Neji Hyuuga, whose Deportivo side tallied a nice sum of £22M for the sale of Andrés Guardado to Arsenal. Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid made a number of transfers inwards, including Felipe Melo from Juventus for £6M, and they made a £10.25M loss for the window. Ghanain Sadick Adams went to Fréderico Canvey’s Stoke for £65k, and the Potters have had a very bad start to their Championship campaign, sitting 22nd after four games, with a 3-2 win over Leicester their only league consolation. However, both Stockport and Derby were dispatched 3-0 in the League Cup First and Second Rounds respectively. Contrary to Stoke, Arnold J. Rimmer’s Bolton sit top of the Championship unbeaten, one of only three sides without a loss. Reading and Charlton were beaten 3-0 in the league, but the Wanderers suffered a reversal in the League Cup Second Round against Q.P.R. after a 5-0 win over Grimsby in the First.

In further League Cup news, Crystal Palace and Tim Aubel’s Fulham were the only Premier League sides to lose in the Second Round, the latter to Norwich. Ricky Nakano’s Middlesbrough beat Scunthorpe 2-0 away, while Mark Cator’s Aston Villa secured a convincing 4-0 win over Coventry, a scoreline matched by Blackburn who were under the new management of Harry Redknapp. Scott Tysoe and Sunderland beat MK Dons 3-0 while Martin Bojangles’s Hull beat Bristol Rovers 2-0. The Third Round ties won’t see any big guns meet, although there is the possibility of goals when Manchester United face Bristol City and there is a guarantee of Championship representation as Reading meet Sheffield United, and of League 1 representation as Norwich meet Southend. Plymouth and Oldham will also compete to join the Premier League sides in the Fourth Round.

The Champions League has finished Qualifying stages and the groups have been drawn. This month, Chelsea secured themselves a 7-0 aggregate win over Portugal’s Braga to reach the group stages, while Tyler Burrows’s Udinese beat Steaua 2-0 and Lars Tommersen beat Panathanaikos 5-1 to secure his Villarreal side progress. Once again, three of our managers are in the same group, them being Tommersen, Ben Cee and Inter and Liam Ferguson and Manchester City. Manchester United will have to face Real Madrid and Barcelona will have to face Udinese, while Arsenal and Lawrence Lazewski’s Valencia will also be meeting in the Group Stage. That all kicks of next month, as does the UEFA Cup Group Stage, the Carling Cup Third Round, the Copa del Ray Second Round, the Italian Cup Fourth Qualifying Round as well as twelve rounds of top level league matches in our three countries. On top of this, there’ll be international action, with the ambition of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Manager of the Update
This month the award goes reluctantly to;

Liam Ferguson, Manchester City.

Reluctantly because he had all the money to achieve his feats with. An immaculate league performance so far puts him top of the Premier League, and he made a profit for this month and overall! Arnold J. Rimmer’s good Championship start put him in the running, alongside the winners of the three super cups: Maurice Jobson, Lucas Volman or Ben Cee, or even Haowan Madridstas whose Barcelona side won the European Super Cup on penalties after a 0-0 draw with Valencia.

Job Securities

  Rank Username             Manager             Club        Security      Days
   1st ian_1982             Maurice Jobson      Man United  Secure         420
     - Romanista1994        Lucas Volman        Real Madrid Secure         420
   3rd IlikeJellybeans      Jellybean Man       Numancia    Stable         420
     - Greasy Chip Butty    Andy Morton         Sporting    Stable         420
     - Blanco               Cristobal Blanco    Recreativo  Stable         420
     - spartans5            Lawrence Lazewski   Valencia    Stable         420
     - el sid               Cool Manager        At. Madrid  Stable         420
     - Chimpos              Phill Ewles         Valladolid  Stable         420
     - Neji                 Neji Hyuuga         Deportivo   Stable         420
     - JoeLatics            Joe Gleeson         Espanyol    Stable         420
     - hamilton162          Tom Hamilton        Mallorca    Stable         420
     - clrkaitken           Clark Aitken        Roma        Stable         420
     - ScottT!              Scott Tysoe         Sunderland  Stable         420
     - Walcott’s Wonderkids Brucie Bonus        West Brom   Stable         420
     - super_lampard        Super Lampard       Lecce       Stable         420
     - JSalter              James Salter        Reggina     Stable         420
     - Martin_              Martin Bojangles    Hull        Stable         420
     - kashmirshazad        Shazad Ali          Newcastle   Stable         420
     - tomsmith1989         Tom Smith           Arsenal     Stable         420
     - AtilasMiserly        Will de Mote        A.C. Milan  Stable         420
     - ~Ian~                Bryan McGuinness    Everton     Stable         420
     - SCIAG                Leo Dodge           Tottenham   Stable         420
     - rancer890            Ricky Nakano        Middlesbro  Stable         420
     - ssestig              Theo Stigarakis     Catania     Stable         420
     - DiscoStu94           Da Hoover Man       Sampdoria   Stable         420
     - MikaelS              Mikael Schøler      Bologna     Stable         420
     - hasdgfas             Tim Aubel           Fulham      Stable         420
     - PluckaDuck           Tyler Burrows       Udinese     Stable         420
     - Waghlon              Lars Tommersen      Villarreal  Stable         420
     - canvey!!             Fréderico Canvey    Stoke       Stable         420
     - Haowan               Haowan Madridstas   Barcelona   Stable         420
     - conners              Sirus Lannock       Málaga      Stable         420
     - weeeman27bob         Lord Weeman         Napoli      Stable         420
     - Cardiovascular       Cardio Vascular     Genoa       Stable         420
     - fergysafc            Liam Ferguson       Man City    Stable         420
     - Lower Leagues Rule   Jonte Rhodes        Lazio       Stable         420
     - TaylorB              Ben Taylor          Fiorentina  Stable         420
     - bermybhoy            bermybhoy           Atalanta    Stable         420
     - Ben Arsenal          Ben Cee             Inter       Stable         420
     - mikeytwigge          Mikey Twigge        Palermo     Stable         420
     - Almondo              Arnold J. Rimmer    Bolton      Stable         420
     - Jack Rudd            Lisa Jeffries       Juventus    Stable         420
     - Ridleys              James Ridley        Siena       Stable         420
     - tadr                 Andre da Conceiçao  Chelsea     Stable         420
     - markcator3006        Mark Cator          Aston Villa Stable         420
     - pnefc22              Wobill Luman        Betis       Stable         420
     - m1234566778          Maz Armley          Racing      Stable         420
  48th Swafe                Saul Goode          Osasuna     Insecure       420

[hamilton162]

Another fantastic update canvey!! I love the reset date, it's given me more of a chance

[super_lampard]

Mid-table start, for a club like Leece I am pleased can't argue with a profit in the summer either

Brilliant stuff again canvey, especially as I got a mention

[ssestig]

Need to avoid any slumps during this season and will need to strengthen IMO. KUTGW Canvey!!

[Blanco]

Still no mention...

Midtable obscurity

[PluckaDuck]

Got a solid win over Steua, which will keep the bosses happy.

KUTGW Canvey!! Great job as always!!

[el sid]

7-2 aggregate win in Europe Bought in Felipe Melo too, very handy player to have. As long as we don't sell Aguero, we'll be fine
Fantastic updates canvey

[MikaelS]

Still no mention...

Midtable obscurity

ditto here. Looks like Bologna is cruising the quiet sea.

[canvey!!]

Manager of the Update – Previous Winners

  Update Winner, Club                
  Jul 08 James Salter, Reggina
  Aug 08 Lawrence Lazewski, Valencia
  Sep 08 Clark Aitken, Roma
  Oct 08 Clark Aitken, Roma 
  Nov 08 Leo Dodge, Tottenham 
  Dec 08 Maurice Jobson, Man United
  Jan 09 Bryan McGuinness, Everton
  Feb 09 Robert Boyle, Blackburn
  Mar 09 Brucie Bonus, West Brom
  Apr 09 Neji Hyuuga, Deportivo
  May 09 Lucas Volman, Real Madrid
  Jun 09 Jonte Rhodes, Lazio
  Jul 09 Wobill Luman, Betis
  Aug 09 Liam Ferguson, Man City

Top Ten – Highest Fee Received

   Pos Username      Manager           Club        Player                   Fee
   1st ian_1982      Maurice Jobson    Man United  Nani                 £28.5 M
   2nd ~Ian~         Bryan McGuinness  Everton     Mikel Arteta         £25.5 M
   3rd DiscoStu94    Da Hoover Man     Sampdoria   Antonio Cassano      £22   M
     - Neji          Neji Hyuuga       Deportivo   Andrés Guardado      £22   M
   5th BenArsenal    Ben Cee           Inter       Nicolás Burdisso     £17.75M
   6th PluckaDuck    Tyler Burrows     Udinese     Gökhan Inler         £16.5 M
   7th Jack Rudd     Lisa Jeffries     Juventus    Amauri               £16   M
   8th fergysafc     Liam Ferguson     Man City    Pablo Zabalate       £14.25M
   9th Romanista1994 Lucas Volman      Real Madrid Rafael van der Vaart £13   M
  10th mikeytwigge   Mikey Twigge      Palermo     Bosco Jankovic       £12.75M
     - spartans5     Lawrence Lazewski Valencia    Vicente              £12.75M

[BenArsenal]

Another Super Cup win.

Who did I con for that much money for Burdisso?

[pnefc22]

Kutgw canvey, its a great sign up.

Good to see Wobill getting a manager of the month for making money and for winning a friendly in style (shame is wasn't a league game though). And, away from Very Insecure and back to Stable for Luman. Great news

[ScottT!]

Still looking good canvey!

[fergysafc]

woop manager of update

[SCIAG]

I'm still stable. This could go on for quite some time.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Stable is brillinat, lets go Lazio.

[canvey!!]

Update 15
Years: 1, Months: 15, Days: 450

September has rolled around and we will start in Italy, where the Old Lady has been navigated to the top of the Serie A table by the relatively young lady. Lisa Jeffries is 65 years younger than the club but the Canadian has sent them top with an unbeaten month, giving her an unbeaten season so far. Fiorentina, Livorno, Parma and Brescia were all beaten in the league, alongside a 0-0 draw with Palermo. A tie against Atlético Madrid in the Champions League group stages also saw a 0-0 draw. However, for the moment at least, her rivals cannot keep up, with Inter and Roma close behind, and Mikey Twigge’s Palermo, predicted 11th, sitting in 4th place. Aside from that draw against Juventus and a further one against James Ridley’s 6th-placed Siena; Super Lampard’s Lecce, Napoli and Reggina were all beaten, alongside Vicenza in the Italian Cup 4th Qualifying Round.

For some people, particularly those who aren’t fans of Juventus or Palermo, the World Cup Qualifying may have been of more interest. Two further European teams secured their places in South Africa 2010, that being England and Portugal. Brazil and Argentina also secured the first two South American qualifications. As for our other two countries, both are top of their groups with Italy looking certain to qualify and Spain having a little bit of work to scoot away from Belgium. The match of the round would have to be Liechtenstein’s 2-1 win over Finland.

There was further action in Europe on a more domestic front. Italian sides are doing well in the Champions League group stages, with A.C. Milan, Inter Milan and Roma top of their groups having a 100% record. However, Tyler Burrows’s Udinese are in third, albeit just one point behind both of the top two. Burrows had a poor month, although Theo Stigarakis’s Catania were beaten 2-1 at the start of the month and CSKA (Sofia) were beaten 3-0 in Europe to give the Andorran his only two wins of the month. Barcelona top his group, and their rivals Real Madrid sit atop Group D with Manchester United just behind them.

The League Cup Third Round was rather interesting. Roland Nilsson’s West Ham beat Preston 4-0 away, but two Premier League sides lost out to those from the Championship. Fréderico Canvey’s Stoke scalped Martin Bojangles’s Hull 3-2 after extra time at the Britannia, although Queen’s Park Rangers did the same over Mark Cator’s Aston Villa, but away. It was part of a poor month for Cator, who lost to both Blackburn and Liverpool. But a draw against Manchester City and a win against Fulham at the end of the month might give the Englishman some hope. Brucie Bonus’s West Brom are through to the next round after beating Swansea 3-0, but Ricky Nakano and Middlesbrough were knocked out at the Riverside 1-2 to Liverpool.

There was also cup action from Italy and Spain, and in the Italian Cup Fourth Qualifying Round, bermybhoy’s Atalanta lost on penalties to Pescara, while Serie B Torino, formerly managed by dafuge, beat James Ridley’s Siena 3-2. In the Spanish Cup Second Round, Sirus Lannock’s Málaga found themselves destroyed 0-4 by Cádiz, and Osasuna also lost, 1-2 to Real Unión. This puts both Lannock and Saul Goode as Insecure, particularly as Málaga are 13th in LIGA adelante and Osasuna are 5th. In La Liga, Barcelona are top of the pile although they are followed by Lars Tommersen’s Villarreal, who had an excellent month, losing only once, to Inter in the Champions League. Valladolid are third, under the wise control of Phill Ewles, and the Englishman guided the club to two wins, a draw and a loss this month. Murcia lie bottom but Betis are just three points above that, losing 0-6 combined to Barcelon and Real Madrid this month, although beating Andy Morton’s Sporting, the team directly above them making up the bottom three, 3-0.

In England, Tom Smith’s Arsenal have prised top spot away from Manchester City, although the Sky Blues remain the only side unbeaten, and were the only side to beat the Gunners this month, as the London-based club romped to five wins, including a 4-0 victory over Fulham and a 5-0 one over Rosenborg in the Champions League. Harry Redknapp’s Blackburn are in third place, with Manchester United in fourth. Shazad Ali had a good month at Newcastle, who are eighth, beating Hull and rivals Sunderland, and securing a 5-0 win over Russians Khimki in the Europa League. Their only loss was to Arsenal in the League Cup Third Round, although they also drew against Tottenham. Scott Tysoe’s Sunderland started the month badly, drawing against Crystal Palace and that loss to Newcastle, but a win over Wolves in the League Cup and one over Ipswich in the league puts them 15th, just above Bryan McGuinness’s Everton who failed to win this month.

Back over to Italy now, where Jonte Rhodes’s Lazio had a decent month, losing to Lord Weeman’s Napoli 1-2, but reversing the scoreline away to Inter, drawing against James Salter’s hapless Reggina side, defeating Rimini 3-0 in the cup, and beating Mikael Schøler’s Bologna 2-0. Bologna are currently 7th and had a tough month, with Roma, Inter, A.C. Milan and of course Lazio among their opponents. Despite 0-2 losses to Clark Aitken’s Roma and to Lazio, and a 1-5 defeat from Inter, A.C. Milan were beaten 2-0 at home, some consolation for those league results and a 1-2 loss to Cardio Vascular’s Genoa in the cup.

There has been one game played in the Europa League, which was won by Da Hoover Man’s Sampdoria over FC Timisoara; Fiorentina, Leo Dodge’s Tottenham and Deportivo. Atlético Madrid, Juventus and Newcastle were also in action and their results have been detailed elsewhere.

In Spain, Joe Gleeson’s Espanyol are in a safe mid-table position. They achieved ultimate mediocrity this month with three 2-2 draws, against Sevilla, Atlético Madrid and Jellybean Man’s Numancia, who also had three draws this month. But both sides got a 2-1 win, over Zaragoza for Man, and Deportivo for Gleeson. Cristobal Blanco’s Recreativo are in the healthy position of eighth, despite two losses this month to Athletic and Atlético Madrid. A win over Getafe and a draw against Valladolid made up their month. Maz Armley’s Racing had two draws, a win and a loss this month and the club are 17th, one place above the relegation zone.

October finishes the World Cup Qualifying Campaign in Europe, and there is the Third Round and First Leg of the Fourth Round in the Spanish Cup. Added to this, three lots of games in Europe and six Premier League, three Serie A and three La Liga games. However, right at the end of the month is Hallowe’en. Could it be a horror story for any of our managers?

Manager of the Update
After a strong month for the cream of the Italian crop, the award goes to;

Lisa Jeffries, Juventus

for steering her side to top spot in an unbeaten month. Her team showed some true grit and determination to edge out the wins but turned on the goal machine somewhat with a 3-0 win over Parma. Mikey Twigge’s unbeaten month, propelling his Palermo team above expected positions, and Clark Aitken’s Roma also came close, but Jeffries’s top spot is sign of a good season to follow.

Job Securities

  Rank Username             Manager             Club        Security      Days
   1st ian_1982             Maurice Jobson      Man United  Secure         450
     - Romanista1994        Lucas Volman        Real Madrid Secure         450
   3rd IlikeJellybeans      Jellybean Man       Numancia    Stable         450
     - Greasy Chip Butty    Andy Morton         Sporting    Stable         450
     - Blanco               Cristobal Blanco    Recreativo  Stable         450
     - spartans5            Lawrence Lazewski   Valencia    Stable         450
     - el sid               Cool Manager        At. Madrid  Stable         450
     - Chimpos              Phill Ewles         Valladolid  Stable         450
     - Neji                 Neji Hyuuga         Deportivo   Stable         450
     - JoeLatics            Joe Gleeson         Espanyol    Stable         450
     - hamilton162          Tom Hamilton        Mallorca    Stable         450
     - clrkaitken           Clark Aitken        Roma        Stable         450
     - ScottT!              Scott Tysoe         Sunderland  Stable         450
     - Walcott’s Wonderkids Brucie Bonus        West Brom   Stable         450
     - super_lampard        Super Lampard       Lecce       Stable         450
     - JSalter              James Salter        Reggina     Stable         450
     - Martin_              Martin Bojangles    Hull        Stable         450
     - kashmirshazad        Shazad Ali          Newcastle   Stable         450
     - tomsmith1989         Tom Smith           Arsenal     Stable         450
     - AtilasMiserly        Will de Mote        A.C. Milan  Stable         450
     - ~Ian~                Bryan McGuinness    Everton     Stable         450
     - SCIAG                Leo Dodge           Tottenham   Stable         450
     - rancer890            Ricky Nakano        Middlesbro  Stable         450
     - ssestig              Theo Stigarakis     Catania     Stable         450
     - DiscoStu94           Da Hoover Man       Sampdoria   Stable         450
     - MikaelS              Mikael Schøler      Bologna     Stable         450
     - hasdgfas             Tim Aubel           Fulham      Stable         450
     - PluckaDuck           Tyler Burrows       Udinese     Stable         450
     - Waghlon              Lars Tommersen      Villarreal  Stable         450
     - canvey!!             Fréderico Canvey    Stoke       Stable         450
     - Haowan               Haowan Madridstas   Barcelona   Stable         450
     - weeeman27bob         Lord Weeman         Napoli      Stable         450
     - Cardiovascular       Cardio Vascular     Genoa       Stable         450
     - fergysafc            Liam Ferguson       Man City    Stable         450
     - Lower Leagues Rule   Jonte Rhodes        Lazio       Stable         450
     - TaylorB              Ben Taylor          Fiorentina  Stable         450
     - bermybhoy            bermybhoy           Atalanta    Stable         450
     - BenArsenal           Ben Cee             Inter       Stable         450
     - mikeytwigge          Mikey Twigge        Palermo     Stable         450
     - Almondo              Arnold J. Rimmer    Bolton      Stable         450
     - Jack Rudd            Lisa Jeffries       Juventus    Stable         450
     - Ridleys              James Ridley        Siena       Stable         450
     - tadr                 Andre da Conceiçao  Chelsea     Stable         450
     - markcator3006        Mark Cator          Aston Villa Stable         450
     - pnefc22              Wobill Luman        Betis       Stable         450
     - m1234566778          Maz Armley          Racing      Stable         450
  47th conners              Sirus Lannock       Málaga      Insecure       450
     - Swafe                Saul Goode          Osasuna     Insecure       450

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Good victory over Inter for Lazio & we continue with stability, makes for good reading early in the new season. Kep it up boys, and great updates as always Canvey

[hamilton162]

No mention in the update, but lying 3rd and at stable makes this season seem promising so far

[tomsmith1989]

Top of the table, and a good month. It'd be nice to see my job security rise a little soon, but stable is good enough for now.

Kutgw!!

[hasdgfas]

still stable, and no mention, which is probably good news for Fulham

[Jack Rudd]

*gazes serenely down from the top of the table*

*makes gratuitous misandristic comments about other Serie A managers*

[super_lampard]

Out of the cup but job is still stable

KUTGW

[el sid]

Not mentioned but stable

kutgw canvey

[canvey!!]

Manager of the Update – Previous Winners

  Update Winner, Club                
  Jul 08 James Salter, Reggina
  Aug 08 Lawrence Lazewski, Valencia
  Sep 08 Clark Aitken, Roma
  Oct 08 Clark Aitken, Roma 
  Nov 08 Leo Dodge, Tottenham 
  Dec 08 Maurice Jobson, Man United
  Jan 09 Bryan McGuinness, Everton
  Feb 09 Robert Boyle, Blackburn
  Mar 09 Brucie Bonus, West Brom
  Apr 09 Neji Hyuuga, Deportivo
  May 09 Lucas Volman, Real Madrid
  Jun 09 Jonte Rhodes, Lazio
  Jul 09 Wobill Luman, Betis
  Aug 09 Liam Ferguson, Man City
  Sep 09 Lisa Jeffries, Juventus

Top Ten – Players Bought (Number)

  Pos Username           Manager            Club           No
  1st Almondo            Arnold J. Rimmer   Bolton         15
  2nd fergysafc          Liam Ferguson      Man City       12
  3rd bermybhoy          bermybhoy          Atalanta       11
    - Martin_            Martin Bojangles   Hull           11
  5th ~Ian~              Bryan McGuinness   Everton        10
  6th el sid             Cool Manager       Atlético Madrid 9
    - Swafe              Saul Goode         Osasuna         9
  8th kashmirshazad      Shazad Ali         Newcastle       8
    - tadr               Andre da Conceiçao Chelsea         8
    - Lower Leagues Rule Jonte Rhodes       Lazio           8
    - PluckaDuck         Tyler Burrows      Udinese         8
    - canvey!!           Fréderico Canvey   Stoke           8
    - BenArsenal         Ben Cee            Inter           8

[mikeytwigge]

still going along steadily and keeping myself anonymous enough not to be poached by a larger team unless i keep up the unbeaten run for too long

[canvey!!]

Update 16
Years: 1, Months: 16, Days: 481

October has passed, and with it Hallow’een, and it was a horror story for one of our managers. Which manager it was will become clear in time, but the horror film most akin to the situation might be Texas Chainsaw Massacre: as this poor defenceless manager was shown the door by an evil and vindictive corporation.

We’ll start in Spain this time around, where Haowan Madridstas’s Barcelona top the table. Right down at the other end, however, are Wobill Luman’s Betis. The international break dictated that the sides could only play three league games this month, but Madridstas managed to convert seven on the nine possible points into those in his pocket, sharing the spoils against Zaragoza, and beating Andy Morton’s Sporting 3-1 away. Betis, on the other hand, gained just two points, including a 0-0 draw at home to Cristobal Blanco’s Recreativo. He then faced Blanco in the Spanish Cup 4th Round First Leg, and lost 0-2 away, while Madridstas’s Barcelona won 3-2 away to Terrassa.

Over to England where there is already a bit of a power fight at the top of the Premier League table, and it seems that the top four are already beginning to carve out a lead over fifth-placed Everton. Harry Redknapp’s Blackburn found themselves in the mix at the start of the month, but fell out after a tough set of fixtures and are now six points adrift of Tom Smith’s fourth-placed Arsenal. Arsenal drew three matches 1-1 this month, winning one and losing one also. Birmingham were seen off 4-2, but a trip to White Hart Lane in a fierce North London Derby saw Leo Dodge’s Tottenham trump 1-0 with a Darren Bent goal. Dodge is having a comfortable season so far, but lingers in 8th spot by virtue of two games in hand. Aside from Arsenal, West Brom and Aston Villa were also seen off this month, with Ipswich proving a challenge too far; Spurs lost at Portman Road.

Elsewhere in England, Arnold J. Rimmer is still keeping his head above water in the Championship, and his Bolton team remain a point clear of Bristol City in first place, with Wigan in third. Bolton’s month was improving throughout, beginning with a 1-1 draw against Q.P.R., followed by three wins and a draw in four games with a 10-1 total, but the Wanderers were brought down to earth by Coventry City, who downed them 2-0 at The Ricoh Arena. Towards the other end of the Championship, however, Fréderico Canvey’s Stoke found themselves in turmoil but could see the light at the end of the tunnel. A 3-3 draw with Preston was not good for Canvey’s Job Security, but three consecutive wins over Watford, Sheffield Wednesday and Millwall put him in a safer position. However, a 0-1 loss at home to Coventry saw Canvey shown the door in a selfish and heartless act by the chairman. Brutally sacked, the Spaniard went home to see his mother, who has been beaten by Stoke City as well. The club then set fire to Canvey’s home. The monsters. Canvey’s replacement, Alan Irvine, guided the club in the wrong direction by losing 1-2 to Cardiff.

The World Cup is ever looming, and the vast majority of qualification worldwide is complete. Aside from the host nation, South Africa, there are five other African nations qualified: Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal and Tunisia. From North America, they are joined by Honduras, Mexico and the United States, while Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay make up the South American contingent. Australia, Iran, Japan and Saudi Arabia represent Asia, while Europe sends the Czech Republic, England, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Spain and Switzerland. Six more qualification spots are available, with one going to South Korea or New Zealand, one going to Costa Rica or Chile, and one going to the eight European nations playing off for a place. Sweden meet France, Russia meet Greece, Bulgaria meet Slovakia and Belgium meet Ukraine in the final showdown.

That was not the only action that happened in Europe this month. The Champions League Group Stage has reached its halfway point, and four teams have a 100% record. Lyon and Benfica join the two Milan teams in having nine points from nine. Will de Mote’s A.C. Milan beat Nancy Lorraine 3-2 this month alongside 4-1 win-loss record in the league, with some matches against newly-promoted teams seen as an opportunity to amass points, although Parma were their undoing. Ben Cee’s Inter secured a 2-0 win at Ibrox this month but had a varied league month. Siena and Juventus were seen off to begin with, but the Singaporean’s team lost to Lord Weeman’s Napoli before beginning damage control with a 2-2 draw against Lecce. As for teams in trouble in the Champions League, Liam Ferguson’s Manchester City, who lead the Premier League, find themselves third in their group with Inter, losing 0-2 to Lars Tommersen’s Villarreal this month. The flip of the tie at the City of Manchester Stadium should be the key to who progresses in second.

Meanwhile, Tyler Burrows’s Udinese are adrift in third place in Group F, behind Barcelona and Bayern Munich. The Andorran’s team lost 0-2 to the Germans this month, but are in 8th place in Serie A. Lord Weeman’s Napoli leapt from 14th to 6th in Serie A this month with a very impressive 100% performance: a 5-0 win over Bologna, a 2-0 win over Bologna and of course that 2-0 win away to Inter.

There is only one relevant team outside the top spots in the Europa League group stages, with Da Hoover Man’s Sampdoria sitting in third place in their group, behind AZ Alkmaar and Dortmund. This month, Tottenham beat Rubin Kazan 4-0 while Lisa Jeffries’s Juventus and Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid both secured 2-0 away victories, over Maccabi Haifa and Vitesse respectively.

Back over to Spain now, where the Spanish Cup 4th Round First Leg has taken place. We have already seen how Barcelona and Betis got on, but Joe Gleeson’s Espanyol are in danger after losing the first leg 0-1 to Xerez. Phill Ewles and Valladolid should see themselves safely through, after a 3-1 away win over Real Sociedad, and the same can be said of Jellybean Man’s Numancia, who beat Celta 2-0 away in the first leg. Others are pretty safe in thinking ahead to Round Five, such as Lucas Volman’s Real Madrid, who beat Ponferradina 3-0 in the First Leg. Maz Armley also looks secure after a 3-0 win over Murcia at home puts him in a good position. Meanwhile, in the Liga adelante, Málaga, Osasuna and Almería make up a chain from 6th to 8th. Sirus Lannock’s Málaga had a decent if not spectacular month, claiming ten points from twelve after a defeat at the start of the month to Tenerife. It should be enough for the Málaga fans, who won’t be baying for blood just yet. Saul Goode’s future is still uncertain, and he won the first two games of the month before losing 0-3 to Lannock’s team, and then drawing against Albacete. He may still want to keep those old job sections from newspapers, unless his luck changes. Levante currently sit atop Liga adelante with Celta second.

Fortunately for English sides in the Premier League, Ipswich are looking likely to go down unless they see a change in fortunes, and Crystal Palace could be likely to drop, but they currently sit 16th. Strangeley, West Ham sit in the relegation zone, seemingly ending their rejuvenation under Roland Nilsson, but they are above Martin Bojangles’s Hull, everyone’s tip for the drop this season. Hull picked up one point this month at home to Arsenal but lost every other game, but Liverpool and Manchester City were two of their conquerors. The progress of Scott Tysoe’s Sunderland seems to have halted, as they sit 17th, and the Englishman picked them up four points this month, and one of theirs was also against Arsenal with a 1-1 draw at the Emirates. In fact, they played exactly the same games as Hull, except Hull played their West Ham game in September, and the home/away varied. Tim Aubel’s Fulham sit in 11th place, fresh off a 4-0 drubbing of Javier Aguirre’s Portmsouth, and two games before that a 3-0 one of Redknapp’s Blackburn. Ricky Nakano’s Middlesbrough, who are 15th, an improvement on the start of the month, sandwiched the two with a 1-1 draw.

Over to Italy to conclude, and Clark Aitken’s Roma once again have the upper hand as they lead the way in Serie A. They are one point clear of Inter, and the Canadian’s team put nine points on the board, although they lost to newly-promoted Livorno. Losing to newly-promoted teams seems to be the in thing in Italy, and Parma sit 10th, Brescia 11th and Livorno 16th. Roma also lost 0-1 to Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League but should not distress too much. Theo Stigarakis’s Catania should, however, as they sit bottom of the league with a measly five points. None of those were procured this month. James Salter’s Reggina sit in 18th and have picked up a bit this month, beating Siena 1-0 and Mikel Schøler’s Bologna 4-0. The 0-5 loss to Napoli at the start of the month may have been the catalyst.

Four of our managers are in danger but three are Very Secure. Jobs are starting to appear, meaning that perhaps some of the less loyal managers (Coffee Ice Cream lovers, for instance), might be jumping ship before they capsize. Almost one-and-a-half years in, the pool of managers created by the influx of sixty managers at the beginning is starting to empty, and maybe the services of those already fired, or those still in their posts, will be required.

Manager of the Update
There was little competition this month to tackle;

Lord Weeman, Napoli

for his 100% league campaign, which included nine unreturned goals and a 2-0 win over Inter away. Spain had a decent month this month, with Lucas Volman at Real Madrid a good candidate. Cool Manager and Haowan Madridstas also did well, while Will de Mote was the second best manager in Italy with a good performance this month.

Job Securities

  Rank Username             Manager             Club        Security      Days
   1st Walcott’s Wonderkids Brucie Bonus        West Brom   Very Secure    481
     - MikaelS              Mikael Schøler      Bologna     Very Secure    481
     - hasdgfas             Tim Aubel           Fulham      Very Secure    481
   4th ian_1982             Maurice Jobson      Man United  Secure         481
     - Romanista1994        Lucas Volman        Real Madrid Secure         481
     - clrkaitken           Clark Aitken        Roma        Secure         481
     - fergysafc            Liam Ferguson       Man City    Secure         481
   8th IlikeJellybeans      Jellybean Man       Numancia    Stable         481
     - Greasy Chip Butty    Andy Morton         Sporting    Stable         481
     - Blanco               Cristobal Blanco    Recreativo  Stable         481
     - spartans5            Lawrence Lazewski   Valencia    Stable         481
     - el sid               Cool Manager        At. Madrid  Stable         481
     - Chimpos              Phill Ewles         Valladolid  Stable         481
     - Neji                 Neji Hyuuga         Deportivo   Stable         481
     - JoeLatics            Joe Gleeson         Espanyol    Stable         481
     - hamilton162          Tom Hamilton        Mallorca    Stable         481
     - super_lampard        Super Lampard       Lecce       Stable         481
     - JSalter              James Salter        Reggina     Stable         481
     - Martin_              Martin Bojangles    Hull        Stable         481
     - tomsmith1989         Tom Smith           Arsenal     Stable         481
     - AtilasMiserly        Will de Mote        A.C. Milan  Stable         481
     - ~Ian~                Bryan McGuinness    Everton     Stable         481
     - SCIAG                Leo Dodge           Tottenham   Stable         481
     - rancer890            Ricky Nakano        Middlesbro  Stable         481
     - ssestig              Theo Stigarakis     Catania     Stable         481
     - DiscoStu94           Da Hoover Man       Sampdoria   Stable         481
     - PluckaDuck           Tyler Burrows       Udinese     Stable         481
     - Waghlon              Lars Tommersen      Villarreal  Stable         481
     - Haowan               Haowan Madridstas   Barcelona   Stable         481
     - weeeman27bob         Lord Weeman         Napoli      Stable         481
     - Cardiovascular       Cardio Vascular     Genoa       Stable         481
     - Lower Leagues Rule   Jonte Rhodes        Lazio       Stable         481
     - TaylorB              Ben Taylor          Fiorentina  Stable         481
     - bermybhoy            bermybhoy           Atalanta    Stable         481
     - BenArsenal           Ben Cee             Inter       Stable         481
     - Almondo              Arnold J. Rimmer    Bolton      Stable         481
     - Jack Rudd            Lisa Jeffries       Juventus    Stable         481
     - Ridleys              James Ridley        Siena       Stable         481
     - tadr                 Andre da Conceiçao  Chelsea     Stable         481
     - markcator3006        Mark Cator          Aston Villa Stable         481
     - pnefc22              Wobill Luman        Betis       Stable         481
     - m1234566778          Maz Armley          Racing      Stable         481
     - conners              Sirus Lannock       Málaga      Stable         481
  44th mikeytwigge          Mikey Twigge        Palermo     Insecure       481
     - kashmirshazad        Shazad Ali          Newcastle   Insecure       481
     - Swafe                Saul Goode          Osasuna     Insecure       481
  47th ScottT!              Scott Tysoe         Sunderland  Very Insecure  481
  48th canvey!!             Fréderico Canvey    Stoke                      476

[rancer890]

Tough luck there canvey. Sacked and homeless.

On the bright side, I'm still surviving in 15th in the EPL, still stable, and tied for 8th in job security.

KUTGW

[BenArsenal]

I must be the most boring manager. Aside from a period of insecurity at the end of last season, my status has hardly changed.

[Cardiomolester]

*waves to Fréderico Canvey*

[super_lampard]

Another average month as my status is still stable

[hasdgfas]

Very secure and 11th in the EPL

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Still sitting Stable, no mention which means I am solid if unspectacular.

[hamilton162]

Unlucky there canvey!! But no mention from me and still stable, good news

[conners]

plugging away quietly

[Neji]

I always did like Stoke

Happy with Stable. Flirted with the sack early on, so glad to still be in it. Good work canvey!!

[PluckaDuck]

Doing pretty fair at Udinese, looks like my job is pretty safe for now!

KUTGW Canvey!!!

[el sid]

Unlucky canvey
Happy with a Stable job status and oooh, a mention in this update
KUTGW mate

[canvey!!]

Manager of the Update – Previous Winners

  Update Winner, Club                
  Jul 08 James Salter, Reggina
  Aug 08 Lawrence Lazewski, Valencia
  Sep 08 Clark Aitken, Roma
  Oct 08 Clark Aitken, Roma 
  Nov 08 Leo Dodge, Tottenham 
  Dec 08 Maurice Jobson, Man United
  Jan 09 Bryan McGuinness, Everton
  Feb 09 Robert Boyle, Blackburn
  Mar 09 Brucie Bonus, West Brom
  Apr 09 Neji Hyuuga, Deportivo
  May 09 Lucas Volman, Real Madrid
  Jun 09 Jonte Rhodes, Lazio
  Jul 09 Wobill Luman, Betis
  Aug 09 Liam Ferguson, Man City
  Sep 09 Lisa Jeffries, Juventus
  Oct 09 Lord Weeman, Napoli

Top Ten – Players Bought (Value)

   Pos Username           Manager            Club             Value
   1st fergysafc          Liam Ferguson      Man City        £185  M
   2nd BenArsenal         Ben Cee            Inter           £ 89  M
   3rd AtilasMiserly      Will de Mote       A.C. Milan      £ 78  M
   4th tadr               Andre da Conceiçao Chelsea         £ 69  M
   5th tomsmith1989       Tom Smith          Arsenal         £ 63  M
   6th Haowan             Haowan Madridstas  Barcelona       £ 52  M
   7th spartans5          Lawrence Lazewski  Valencia        £ 50  M
   8th kashmirshazad      Shazad Ali         Newcastle       £ 48  M
   9th Jack Rudd          Lisa Jeffries      Juventus        £ 42  M
  10th el sid             Cool Manager       Atlético Madrid £ 41.5M

[ScottT!]

Oh dear gone from Very Secure to Very Insecure in the space of about four months! SORT IT OUT SUNDERLAND!

[canvey!!]

Update 17
Years: 1, Months: 17, Days: 511

Get those Advent calendars and Christmas decorations down from the loft, managers! Advent begins with the end of this update, as November rolled its way past us. For four of our managers, there will be even more time to celebrate Christmas as they now find themselves without a job.

We’ll start this month’s report off with the Champions League, where teams have begun securing their qualification from the group stage with just one game to play. From Italy, Inter and Will de Mote’s A.C. Milan have secured qualification. From England, Chelsea and Arsenal will definitely progress, and from Spain, Real Madrid, Valencia and Haowan Madridstas’s Barcelona have seen their way into the next round. They will be joined by Lyon, PSV Eindhoven and Schalke, with six spots still available. There were many high-scoring games this month, particularly for our teams over lower opposition.

Over to Italy now, where Lisa Jeffries’s Juventus are top again after rediscovering some form. This month Reggina, Napoli, Siena and Bologna were beaten without scoring a single goal, with the conquest of Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid in the Champions League an added bonus. Down the opposite end of the table there are two teams that aren’t doing quite as well as Juventus. Firstly, Theo Stigarakis’s Catania got two convincing 3-0 wins this month but are still bottom. Any potential gain in goal difference was also eradicated after a combined 0-6 defeat to Sampdoria and Mikey Twigge’s Palermo. Catania’s close neighbours table-wise, Sampdoria, are on the same number of points with a better goal difference. Their month was an average one but when you are struggling in the relegation zones you need better than average. Draws against Genoa then Roma were not bad results, neither was a 1-2 away loss to A.C. Milan. However, the Sampdoria board saw fit to dispose of the services of Da Hoover Man after his performances. His replacement was responsible for the win over Catania.

English people celebrated the Fourth Round of their League Cup, with a nice and decisive win being secured for Liam Ferguson’s Manchester City over Tom Smith’s Arsenal. Vagner Love bagged a hattrick and Arsenal’s Adebayor got one as City won 5-1. Combined with their league form which puts them top of the EPL, after a win and two draws this month, Ferguson is in a Secure position. Arsenal are second but are slowly closing the gap, as they got two wins and a draw this month, including a 3-1 triumph over Manchester United and a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge. Those two teams also find themselves in the Quarter Final, along with Liverpool and West Ham and Tottenham and Sunderland. Q.P.R.’s 1-0 extra-time win over Alan Irvine’s Stoke puts them through as the last remaining Championship team.

Over to the Spanish LIGA adelante now, where our three relegated teams are finding it difficult to stay within touching distance of the leading pack. They sit in a block of teams on 24 points, with league leaders Levante and second-placed Celta having 31. In fact, Levante were beaten 1-3 by Sirus Lannock’s Málaga, although Celta handed Lannock a 0-1 defeat this month. Málaga had a poor month, also losing to Almería and Las Palmas. Saul Goode’s Osasuna are in 10th, two places behind Málaga, and they also had a poor month, winning only one game and drawing many.

Wobill Luman and his faithful Betis are still deep in trouble at the bottom of La Liga. They lost two out of four games this month but there are some positives as a 3-1 win over Athletic at the end of the month keeps the packs of wolves from Luman’s front door, for now at least. Meanwhile, Neji Hyuuga’s Deportivo have a sneaky scheme going on, and sit in 6th place, posing a minimal but sinister threat to the teams at the top. Hyuuga actually won every single game this month, gaining him nine league points, Spanish Cup progression and top spot in his Europa League group. Real Madrid are adrift in 5th place in the league, and Lawrence Lazewski’s Valencia occupy second place. Three 3-0 wins were his this month, including one over Cristobal Blanco’s Recreativo. A fourth was added in the Spanish Cup and Lazewski trumped this with a 4-0 win over Rosenborg in the Champions League to secure his knockout round qualification. However, low points were a 0-3 loss to Arsenal in the same competition and a 1-1 draw with Jellybean Man’s Numancia at the end of the month.

In the Europa League, only a handful of teams have secured qualification to the next round. Celtic, AEK Athens, Shakhtar, HSV, Newcastle, Liverpool and sc Heerenveen claim their places, while only the place of recently-fired Da Hoover Man and Sampdoria is a relevant one in jeapordy. With one game left, many of our teams look set to qualify for continuation. In other European competition, France, Greece, Slovakia and Belgium secured World Cup qualification over Sweden, Russia, Bulgaria and Ukraine respectively. Chile overcame Costa Rica and South Korea also packed their bags for South Africa after winning over New Zealand in the Asia-Oceania playoff.

It is back to Italy for the second half of the update, where Ben Taylor’s Fiorentina are in pursuit of a Champions League spot. This month, they won all three games, as well as defeating Rubin Kazan in the Europa League. Livorno and Parma were beaten 2-0 while Palermo left their own home ground on the back of a 1-2 defeat. bermybhoy's Atalanta are in a comfortable 8th place and enjoyed an unbeaten month, while Jonte Rhodes’s Lazio were the giant-killers of the month as they beat both Roma and A.C. Milan, as well as drawing 0-0 with Cardio Vascular’s Genoa. All in all, it was a profitable month at the top end of the Italian table.

Over in England, Sunderland still find themselves sandwiched in the relegation zone between two newly-promoted teams. Losses to Manchester City, Tim Aubel’s Fulham and to Middlesbrough this month surrounded a win over Southend in the League Cup. However, after a visit from the Teeside club to the Stadium of Light resulting in a 2-1 win for Ricky Nakano’s side, the Sunderland board could take it no longer and sacked Scott Tysoe. He had overperformed last season and underperformance this season left his position untenable. In fact, Nakano himself is one of a dying breed as the North-East managers pop their clogs. Shazad Ali also found himself out of a job this month after a 1-2 loss to West Brom. This followed on from losses to Ipswich and Bryan McGuinness’s Everton. And there is still one more sacked manager for me to reveal.

At the top of the Premier League table, Manchester City reign supreme but their rivals, Maurice Jobson’s Manchester United, are three points behind in third place. They lost to Arsenal this month, also drawing against Liverpool and scraping a win against Mark Cator’s Aston Villa. Andre da Conceiçao’s Chelsea are just behind United in 4th, having lost to Cator’s side and drawn against Arsenal and West Brom.

Over to Spain finally for some bad news. With the team 15th in La Liga, five places below their predicted position, after a 1-3 loss to Atlético Madrid, Mallorca decided to part company with Tom Hamilton. Despite a win over Maz Armley’s Racing earlier in the month, results such as the Atlético Madrid one and a 0-2 away defeat to Joe Gleeson’s Espanyol meant the end of the line for Hamilton.

Manager of the Update
There were a few good managers this month, so I agonisingly give this award to;

Lisa Jeffries, Juventus

for her unbeaten performance without a goal conceded. This helped her climb to the pinnacle of Italian football. Ben Taylor at Fiorentina did well with an unbeaten month, as did Jonte Rhodes whose Lazio team beat two big guns domestically. Also, Neji Hyuuga missed out despite a very good month with Deportivo.

Job Securities

  Rank Username             Manager             Club        Security      Days
   1st hasdgfas             Tim Aubel           Fulham      Very Secure    511
     - IlikeJellybeans      Jellybean Man       Numancia    Very Secure    511
     - Chimpos              Phill Ewles         Valladolid  Very Secure    511
     - Ridleys              James Ridley        Siena       Very Secure    511
   5th MikaelS              Mikael Schøler      Bologna     Secure         511
     - ian_1982             Maurice Jobson      Man United  Secure         511
     - Romanista1994        Lucas Volman        Real Madrid Secure         511
     - clrkaitken           Clark Aitken        Roma        Secure         511
     - fergysafc            Liam Ferguson       Man City    Secure         511
     - Greasy Chip Butty    Andy Morton         Sporting    Secure         511
     - spartans5            Lawrence Lazewski   Valencia    Secure         511
     - Martin_              Martin Bojangles    Hull        Secure         511
     - Waghlon              Lars Tommersen      Villarreal  Secure         511
     - Haowan               Haowan Madridstas   Barcelona   Secure         511
     - bermybhoy            bermybhoy           Atalanta    Secure         511
     - Jack Rudd            Lisa Jeffries       Juventus    Secure         511
  17th Walcott’s Wonderkids Brucie Bonus        West Brom   Stable         511
     - Blanco               Cristobal Blanco    Recreativo  Stable         511
     - el sid               Cool Manager        At. Madrid  Stable         511
     - Neji                 Neji Hyuuga         Deportivo   Stable         511
     - JoeLatics            Joe Gleeson         Espanyol    Stable         511
     - super_lampard        Super Lampard       Lecce       Stable         511
     - JSalter              James Salter        Reggina     Stable         511
     - tomsmith1989         Tom Smith           Arsenal     Stable         511
     - AtilasMiserly        Will de Mote        A.C. Milan  Stable         511
     - ~Ian~                Bryan McGuinness    Everton     Stable         511
     - SCIAG                Leo Dodge           Tottenham   Stable         511
     - rancer890            Ricky Nakano        Middlesbro  Stable         511
     - ssestig              Theo Stigarakis     Catania     Stable         511
     - PluckaDuck           Tyler Burrows       Udinese     Stable         511
     - weeeman27bob         Lord Weeman         Napoli      Stable         511
     - Cardiovascular       Cardio Vascular     Genoa       Stable         511
     - Lower Leagues Rule   Jonte Rhodes        Lazio       Stable         511
     - TaylorB              Ben Taylor          Fiorentina  Stable         511
     - BenArsenal           Ben Cee             Inter       Stable         511
     - Almondo              Arnold J. Rimmer    Bolton      Stable         511
     - tadr                 Andre da Conceiçao  Chelsea     Stable         511
     - markcator3006        Mark Cator          Aston Villa Stable         511
     - pnefc22              Wobill Luman        Betis       Stable         511
     - m1234566778          Maz Armley          Racing      Stable         511
     - conners              Sirus Lannock       Málaga      Stable         511
     - mikeytwigge          Mikey Twigge        Palermo     Stable         511
  43rd Swafe                Saul Goode          Osasuna     Precarious     511
  44th hamilton162          Tom Hamilton        Mallorca                   509
  45th kashmirshazad        Shazad Ali          Newcastle                  508
  46th DiscoStu94           Da Hoover Man       Sampdoria                  501
     - ScottT!              Scott Tysoe         Sunderland                 501
  48th canvey!!             Fréderico Canvey    Stoke                      476

[BenArsenal]

No mention.

Still stable.

[Greasy Chip Butty]

Quietly doing a solid and steady job with Sporting in Spain. Should be Ok for a while yet.

[super_lampard]

No mention again, but I continue to have a stable job

[DiscoStu94]

Good bye Sampdoria

I'm out.

[hasdgfas]

still Very Secure

[hamilton162]

Bye Bye Hamilton

[BenArsenal]

New Zealand also packed their bags for South Africa after winning over New Zealand in the Asia-Oceania playoff.

Eh?

[canvey!!]

They are very talented, New Zealand . South Korea beat New Zealand in the playoff.

[el sid]

Out of the Champions League
Still stable though
KUTGW canvey

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Still Stable at Lazio this could go on forever haha...

[rancer890]

Sorry ScottT!, didn't mean it...

But I'm still stable. KUTGW canvey!!

[PluckaDuck]

Stable at Udinese, but we have lost our star player

KUTGW Canvey!!

[canvey!!]

el sid: I made a mistake on that bit - Atlético Madrid and Juventus are both in the Europa League. However, is the Group Stage so Juventus winning did not knock Atlético out.

Manager of the Update – Previous Winners

  Update Winner, Club                
  Jul 08 James Salter, Reggina
  Aug 08 Lawrence Lazewski, Valencia
  Sep 08 Clark Aitken, Roma
  Oct 08 Clark Aitken, Roma 
  Nov 08 Leo Dodge, Tottenham 
  Dec 08 Maurice Jobson, Man United
  Jan 09 Bryan McGuinness, Everton
  Feb 09 Robert Boyle, Blackburn
  Mar 09 Brucie Bonus, West Brom
  Apr 09 Neji Hyuuga, Deportivo
  May 09 Lucas Volman, Real Madrid
  Jun 09 Jonte Rhodes, Lazio
  Jul 09 Wobill Luman, Betis
  Aug 09 Liam Ferguson, Man City
  Sep 09 Lisa Jeffries, Juventus
  Oct 09 Lord Weeman, Napoli
  Nov 09 Lisa Jeffries, Juventus

Top Ten – Players Sold (Number)

  Pos Username   Manager            Club            No
  1st Almondo    Arnold J. Rimmer   Bolton          14
  2nd el sid     Cool Manager       Atlético Madrid 11
  3rd fergysafc  Liam Ferguson      Man City        10
    - PluckaDuck Tyler Burrows      Udinese         10
    - Haowan     Haowan Madridstas  Barcelona       10
    - Swafe      Saul Goode         Osasuna         10
  7th tadr       Andre da Conceiçao Chelsea          9
    - JSalter    James Salter       Reggina          9
    - Jack Rudd  Lisa Jeffries      Juventus         9
    - conners    Sirus Lannock      Málaga           9
    - BenArsenal Ben Cee            Inter            9

[ScottT!]

Gutted!

[Jack Rudd]

Still in there, and up to Secure. Nice one.

[canvey!!]

Writer's Notes: Ignore all the bleedin' jolliness :). I was naïvely jolly when I wrote this update.

Update 18
Years: 1, Months: 18, Days: 542

Deck the halls with bows and holly! Tra la la la la, la la la la! ‘Tis the season to be jolly! Tra la la la la, la la la la! Unless you’re a Manchester United fan, in which case you might put this Christmas up there with the worst of them as the Red Devils had an absolutely dire month, by their standards at least. First of all, a trip to Craven Cottage resulted in a 1-2 loss to Tim Aubel’s Fulham. Next came draws against Saturn of Moscow in the Champions League and Liverpool of Liverpool in the Carling Cup Quarter Final, the latter one being lost on penalties. They then lost at Old Trafford, 2-3, to cross-town rivals Manchester City, and once again failed to claim any points at Old Trafford when Ricky Nakano’s Middlesbrough sneaked a 1-0 win. However, the recovery has been seen and Maurice Jobson, who is currently Stable, ended the month with a 3-0 win over Portsmouth, who then sacked their manager Javier Aguirre, a 2-2 away draw against Martin Bojangles’s Hull, and a 3-2 victory over Sunderland.

As stated, Rafa Benítez’s Liverpool made the Semi Finals of the Carling Cup, and they are joined by Leo Dodge’s Tottenham, who drew the short straw but won, beating Manchester City 2-1, by Frédéric Remola’s Sunderland who beat West Ham, and by Andre da Conceiçao’s Chelsea who had an easy time against Championship Q.P.R., winning 3-0. The Pensioners have had a good month all in all this month, despite a narrow away loss to a newly-invigorated Portsmouth team under Juande Ramos. A 5-1 win over Fulham was one of the best results, but a trip to Eastlands where Chelsea still managed to win 2-0 was also a great outcome. In another plus for Premier League teams, none of our managers occupy the relegation zone, and in fact the three teams in danger there are the three recently promoted from the Championship. Arnold J. Rimmer’s Bolton are top of the second tier of English football, having won all but two of their games this month: losses away to Reading and Charlton.

Over in Italy, Lisa Jeffries still maintains a tight grip on Serie A with her Juventus team top of the table by seven points. Udinese and Lecce were beaten this month, as were Maccabi Haifa in the Europa League, but two matches against Cardio Vascular’s Genoa saw a 0-0 draw in the league and a 1-2 home defeat in the Italian Cup First Round. Jeffries and the Old Lady leave Ben Cee and Inter flailing in second place, with the Singaporean’s team winning two and losing one this month, with the loss coming to fierce rivals A.C. Milan, who are third. Last year’s Serie A winners, Roma, are floundering in fourth place.

Recently-promoted Livorno sit bottom of the table in Italy, but two of our managers are just above Amaranto, with Super Lampard’s Lecce in meltdown in 19th and James Ridley’s Siena notably flailing one place above that. This month, Lecce failed to get a win, with a 1-1 draw at home to Mikael Schøler’s Bologna giving them their only point, sandwiched between losses to Juventus and Udinese. Siena managed to beat Genoa but shipped six goals without responding in matches against Udinese and Roma. Maybe those two points mark the difference between Stable and Insecure, as they have done here with Lampard in trouble but Ridley with a little more time on his side.

European football has concluded its Group Stages, with the most successful teams going onto the knockout rounds. In the Champions League, three of our teams failed to reach the next round, and perhaps the most embarrassing case of failing to finish second or better in the group was that of Clark Aitken’s Roma, who were pushed aside by Werder Bremen and Dynamo Kiev. Roma will be going into the Europa League, to be joined by Tyler Burrows’s Udinese who lost out on goal difference, and Lars Tommersen’s Villarreal who were one of three of our managers in Group A. The most interesting tie of the First Knockout Round is Maurice Jobson’s Manchester United clashing with the giants of Haowan Madridstas’s Barcelona, although there is another tie of extreme interest to us with Lawrence Lazewski’s Valencia meeting A.C. Milan. There is also hope of representation from someone outside of England, Italy or Spain in the Quarter Finals, with Benfica meeting Werder Bremen.

Now we travel over to Spain, where Haowan Madridstas’s Barcelona are topping the league with Lucas Volman’s Real Madrid six points back in third place. Real Madrid had a decent month but could have done more if they wished to close that gap. Sevilla and Athletic were beaten 3-2 and 3-0 respectively, but a trip to Joe Gleeson’s Espanyol resulted in a 1-1 draw for Real. Their cross-town rivals, Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid, had a better month, winning all three league games, including a 3-2 conquest of table-toppers themselves Barcelona. They also beat Vitesse 4-0 in the Europa League. Andy Morton’s Sporting are in 11th place and drew two of their games, losing their opener against Cristobal Blanco’s Recreativo. Finally, Phill Ewles is in a Very Secure position with his Valladolid team sitting eighth. They didn’t have an ideal December, winning once, drawing once and losing once.

Being top of the league is not the only thing Barcelona are good at. They also travelled to the United Arab Emirates to compete in the Club World Championship. First, Osaka AC were destroyed 9-0 in the Semi-Final, before New York Red Bulls were also dismissed in the Final, 4-0. A convincing win in a tournament halfway across the world.

Back to England now where Brucie Bonus’s West Bromwich Albion are sitting in the unlucky position of 13th. They had a very poor month this month, with successive losses to Ipswich, Blackburn, Arsenal and Aston Villa. These were bookended by an opening day win over West Ham and a final day draw against Liverpool, but so much more could have been earned in a six-game month than four points. At Villa Park, Mark Cator has had a yo-yo month, losing three and winning three. There was the triumph of the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace, but then the disappointment of a 0-2 turnover by Ipswich. Villa are struggling to find form and are currently in 10th, reflective of their win-half lose-half mentality.

The Europa League has concluded its Group Stage, and fortunately none of our teams were knocked out. There are two delectable ties in the First Knockout Round, as Leo Dodge’s Tottenham face Neji Hyuuga’s Deportivo, and Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid face Sampdoria, who recently sacked Da Hoover Man.Of those joining from the Champions League, Udinese face Sporting CP of Portugal, Roma face Standard Liege and Villarreal face Shakhtar. Italian Serie A leaders Juventus face Braga of Portugal.

Concluding with news from the Italian Cup First Round, the round of sixteen teams. Two legendary scalps came in the aforementioned one of Genoa over Juventus, and Clark Aitken’s Roma also lost at home, to Jonte Rhodes’s Lazio. The two remaining Serie B sides lost, with Pescara falling to Inter and Torino to Udinese. Palermo, A.C. Milan and Sampdoria are also through, as are Ben Taylor’s Fiorentina who beat James Salter’s Reggina 1-0. Udinese versus Inter is probably the most interesting of the Quarter Final line-up, and the winner of that will face A.C. Milan or Genoa. Do I detect a derby?

Manager of the Update
It’s a tough choice this month, and I give this award to;

Cool Manager, Atlético Madrid

for maximum points in the league and a 4-0 Europa League win. He may not have got it with the competitition out there, such as Haowan Madridstas who secured the Club World Championship, and Tyler Burrows and Andre da Conceiçao who also had great months, but the win over La Liga leaders Barcelona sealed the victory for the Anglo-Spaniard.

Job Securities

  Rank Username             Manager             Club        Security      Days
   1st hasdgfas             Tim Aubel           Fulham      Very Secure    542
     - Chimpos              Phill Ewles         Valladolid  Very Secure    542
     - Martin_              Martin Bojangles    Hull        Very Secure    542
     - bermybhoy            bermybhoy           Atalanta    Very Secure    542
   5th Romanista1994        Lucas Volman        Real Madrid Secure         542
     - fergysafc            Liam Ferguson       Man City    Secure         542
     - Greasy Chip Butty    Andy Morton         Sporting    Secure         542
     - spartans5            Lawrence Lazewski   Valencia    Secure         542
     - Haowan               Haowan Madridstas   Barcelona   Secure         542
     - Jack Rudd            Lisa Jeffries       Juventus    Secure         542
     - ssestig              Theo Stigarakis     Catania     Secure         542
     - tadr                 Andre da Conceiçao  Chelsea     Secure         542
     - m1234566778          Maz Armley          Racing      Secure         542
  14th IlikeJellybeans      Jellybean Man       Numancia    Stable         542
     - Ridleys              James Ridley        Siena       Stable         542
     - MikaelS              Mikael Schøler      Bologna     Stable         542
     - ian_1982             Maurice Jobson      Man United  Stable         542
     - clrkaitken           Clark Aitken        Roma        Stable         542
     - Waghlon              Lars Tommersen      Villarreal  Stable         542
     - Walcott’s Wonderkids Brucie Bonus        West Brom   Stable         542
     - Blanco               Cristobal Blanco    Recreativo  Stable         542
     - el sid               Cool Manager        At. Madrid  Stable         542
     - Neji                 Neji Hyuuga         Deportivo   Stable         542
     - JoeLatics            Joe Gleeson         Espanyol    Stable         542
     - JSalter              James Salter        Reggina     Stable         542
     - tomsmith1989         Tom Smith           Arsenal     Stable         542
     - AtilasMiserly        Will de Mote        A.C. Milan  Stable         542
     - ~Ian~                Bryan McGuinness    Everton     Stable         542
     - SCIAG                Leo Dodge           Tottenham   Stable         542
     - rancer890            Ricky Nakano        Middlesbro  Stable         542
     - PluckaDuck           Tyler Burrows       Udinese     Stable         542
     - weeeman27bob         Lord Weeman         Napoli      Stable         542
     - Cardiovascular       Cardio Vascular     Genoa       Stable         542
     - Lower Leagues Rule   Jonte Rhodes        Lazio       Stable         542
     - TaylorB              Ben Taylor          Fiorentina  Stable         542
     - BenArsenal           Ben Cee             Inter       Stable         542
     - Almondo              Arnold J. Rimmer    Bolton      Stable         542
     - markcator3006        Mark Cator          Aston Villa Stable         542
     - pnefc22              Wobill Luman        Betis       Stable         542
     - conners              Sirus Lannock       Málaga      Stable         542
     - mikeytwigge          Mikey Twigge        Palermo     Stable         542
  42nd super_lampard        Super Lampard       Lecce       Insecure       542
  43rd Swafe                Saul Goode          Osasuna     Precarious     542
  44th hamilton162          Tom Hamilton        Mallorca                   509
  45th kashmirshazad        Shazad Ali          Newcastle                  508
  46th DiscoStu94           Da Hoover Man       Sampdoria                  501
     - ScottT!              Scott Tysoe         Sunderland                 501
  48th canvey!!             Fréderico Canvey    Stoke                      476

[tomsmith1989]

Still stable. Good news I suppose. Hopefully I can keep it up.

Kutgw!!

[rancer890]

Boro beat Man Utd.

Still stable and KUTGW canvey!!

[hasdgfas]

Still Very Secure, and beat Man Utd at the fortress known as Craven Cottage

[super_lampard]

Insecure now not sure how long i can hold out for

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Still stable and a win over Roma, lets go the Lazio boys

[el sid]

Manager of the month

el sid: I made a mistake on that bit - Atlético Madrid and Juventus are both in the Europa League. However, is the Group Stage so Juventus winning did not knock Atlético out.

Still in Europe then

KUTGW mate

[canvey!!]

Manager of the Update – Previous Winners

  Update Winner, Club                
  Jul 08 James Salter, Reggina
  Aug 08 Lawrence Lazewski, Valencia
  Sep 08 Clark Aitken, Roma
  Oct 08 Clark Aitken, Roma 
  Nov 08 Leo Dodge, Tottenham 
  Dec 08 Maurice Jobson, Man United
  Jan 09 Bryan McGuinness, Everton
  Feb 09 Robert Boyle, Blackburn
  Mar 09 Brucie Bonus, West Brom
  Apr 09 Neji Hyuuga, Deportivo
  May 09 Lucas Volman, Real Madrid
  Jun 09 Jonte Rhodes, Lazio
  Jul 09 Wobill Luman, Betis
  Aug 09 Liam Ferguson, Man City
  Sep 09 Lisa Jeffries, Juventus
  Oct 09 Lord Weeman, Napoli
  Nov 09 Lisa Jeffries, Juventus
  Dec 09 Cool Manager, Atlético Madrid

Top Ten – Players Sold (Value)

   Pos Username   Manager            Club          Value
   1st ~Ian~      Bryan McGuinness   Everton     £68   M
   2nd fergysafc  Liam Ferguson      Man City    £45.50M
   3rd BenArsenal Ben Cee            Inter       £44   M
   4th tadr       Andre da Conceiçao Chelsea     £43   M
   5th Jack Rudd  Lisa Jeffries      Juventus    £36   M
   6th ian_1982   Maurice Jobson     Man United  £34.50M
   7th PluckaDuck Tyler Burrows      Udinese     £25.50M
   8th Neji       Neji Hyuuga        Deportivo   £24.50M
   9th Haowan     Haowan Madridstas  Barcelona   £23   M
  10th Swafe      Saul Goode         Osasuna     £19.75M

Lifespan – Less than 1 Year

  Pos  Username             Manager             Club      Days
  49th corinthiano          Mathias Brunckhorst Chievo     327
     - Neilio               Neilio              Almería    327
  51st Robert_296           Robert Boyle        Blackburn  326
  52nd brettney1980         Brettney Joven      Wigan      320
  53rd TigerJoe             Joe Seddon          Getafe     271
  54th jack.browne          Jack Browne         Sevilla    250
  55th NepentheZ            Neppo Monster       Cagliari   236
     - dafuge               dafuge              Torino     236
  57th KiddingChoc          Zach Machios        Portsmouth 235
     - Whoopy D             Whoopy D            West Ham   235
  59th d-machine            David Machine       Athletic   229
  60th PaulHartman71        Jeremy English      Liverpool  204

[Cardiomolester]

Stable with Genoa - excellent KUTGW canvey!!

[SCIAG]

Still in every competition. This could be a good year. KUTGW!

[Walcott\'s Wonderkids]

Very poor month for Brucie Bonus and West Brom, but at least I'm still regarded as stable.

Good update always, KUTGW