First off, Congrats for promoting
Secondly, it looks like you have landed in a tough league for DIV. If this guy was for fourth place with the roster that he has, you are up against some tough competition. I would love to know what the Average Weekly Net Income is for this league. Seems like they are overpaying just a bit.
Third, I would have to agree with the fact that it would be a miracle if you won this nest game. I would TIE.
Fourthly, you are not playing to impress other people with your first year in your league, you can do that by merely posting in the league forums. Contributing to the league forums in an educated manner helps you enjoy the game more, allows you to learn from others, learn about others, and makes them like you more then the manager who never posts.
Fifth, D.IV is alot easier to stay in than to promote into. By simply maintaining gameshape and enthusiasm along with a semi decent team, such as your current one, you should be able to stay in D IV.
Sixth, Don't think that you need to spend your money on alot of new players right now in order to better compete with the best teams in your league. In the end, you might get close, but mostly likely will lose and spend a lot of money in the process. (Believe me, I promoted from D.V, and spent money on guys right away, making me good but not the best. So I made it to the championship for the next two years only to lose (not really even close games). When I look back I wish I had saved and then just mad a run the third year. So if you know you can't be the best, don't put all your resources into trying to be.
Finally, I would not only TIE this game, but I would play your scrubs, which would save your starters for your game against SA Storm (who looks very beatable) and your cup game.
Hope this helps. any questions beyond that, feel free to ask