managers didn't motivate their players by giving away cash bonuses for playing well in key matches.
Actually, they do...
A great manager needs to be able to communicate & motivate the players through trust and respect to get the very best out of the players. Does that sound a lot like a MotS? It sure does to me.
You are forgetting that a MOTS is something exceptionnal, something that happens twice in a season. What you are describing is a great team led by a great manager, nothing more.
I guess everyone here is aware of the fact that you need to log in regularly to win at this game. What I am saying is that
logging in should not be a condition for any special reward in the game. What if an involved manager like you and me loses a MOTS because he couldn't log in for sometime because of some personal reason or because he couldn't find an Internet connection? This hypothesis sounds as ridiculous to you as it sounds to me but it could be a direct consequence of your system.
If money buys victory, it's called corruption.
A MOTS only makes your team play better, it does not mean victory everytime you use it. If you pay for a MOTS, you are not buying victory, you are just making your players want more on the field.
And this is as real as Gokickoff can get.Then again, I agree with you on the fact that admin will not change MOTS in the coming seasons, so this discussion may be pointless anyway