[FM09] Omez Robtrachenko takes on Europe...

First things first - this is on FM09, update 9.03 and I've made no changes to the database.

I have these leagues loaded: England, Spain, Italy, France, Holland, Scotland, Germany and Russia. They are all down to the 2nd tier other than in England (League 2) and Italy (Serie C1).

The plan is to start in Russia under the name of Omez Robtrachenko (a former Russian International striker) and make my name there. The hope is to fairly regularly move clubs and be as successful as possible (in a nutshell).

My first season has nearly been completed (only just saw this career forum :o) so I'll do a quick summary:

Took over Amkar Perm in the Russian Premier Division. I had about a million or so to spend but that was about it. We had a fairly good squad to begin with, one that would certainly press for Europe anyway. Star men were left back Miklos Gaal, defensive midfielder Nikola Drincic and forward Sergey Volkov. I made 4 summer signings - Alexandr Shirko a 32 year old striker on a free transfer and a Brazilian versatile midfielder/defender called Bruno Lopes. At just 20 he seemed to be the best on paper. The other two were squad players.

We started the year in flying fashion, beating everyone home and away much to my amazement. This included a 4-0 win over Zenit at home and a 1-0 win over CSKA! We led the league for about 16 games until a slight stumble against Zenit and Spartak (2 losses) saw us drop behind CSKA. We have just beaten Brann in the Europa League playoff to make it into the group stages against Atletico Madrid, Porto and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Bit gutted with that draw - not much chance of progress.

As I type now we sit 3rd in the table level with Spartak Moscow but 5 points off CSKA. We've just suffered a serious injury crisis to our two CMs, GK, CB and RM. It looks as if we'll do well to finish top 3 with 7 games to go.

I plan on updating as and when I feel necessary as the seasons progress. My intention at the moment is to hopefully get Champions League football for Amkar and then reassess the job offers

Well done! Sounds like you've had a flying start to your Russian career and that your club are going to be challenging mighty soon!

Thanks

CSKA haven't lost in 20 games now and have just been crowned champs with 3 games to go. We're 3rd and level on points with Spartak. Its important to finish above them as we then skip the CL qualifying stages.

In the Europa League we astonished critics by defeating Atletico Madrid 2-0 at home . We lost to Porto 3-1 away but beat Tel Aviv 1-0 at home putting us in a good position.

Well we concluded the season with a stunning 6-1 win at FC Moscow (to relegate them) and finish 2nd in my first season in Russian football .

We have therefore qualified for next year's Champions League group stage, a great achievement.

I'm now looking to bring in a couple more Russian players to avoid going over the foreign limit of 7 in the 11 players on the pitch. I need a new striker for next year and ideally a versatile defender too. I've signed a new 2 year contract at Amkar as we have something good going on here.

Looking forward to the new domestic season, but I still have the Europa League to take part in. Following our 3-2 loss at Atletico Madrid we require 2 wins from our last two games - Porto (h) and Tel-Aviv (a) to qualify. Should be unlikely.

Drincic ? Is that the montenegren

If so, classy player, IIRC can hit them from long range and is good at set-pieces.

Good start iacovone. I'll be following this career with interest

Great start.

Never really tried the Russian Premier League properly.

Might have a little go when I get bored of my Pohang save.

Drincic ? Is that the montenegren

If so, classy player, IIRC can hit them from long range and is good at set-pieces.

That is indeed Drincic the Montenegran - he has 17 for long shots. He's been linked with a lot of big clubs but hopefully Champions League football will entice him to stay here.

Quick note to let anyone following that as of Thurs 3rd Sept I'll be on holiday for 2 weeks. Don't assume this has been abandoned, just a sabbatical for now

An excellent start to your career in Russia iacovone You've done well to bring Champions League football to Amkar. I had a career in Russia on 08 and thoroughly enjoyed it; a good league to play in.

Good luck for the new season

As a signing off update - we defeated Porto 1-0 at home and followed it up with a 2-0 win in Israel to ensure qualification through to the knockout stages. Porto drop out of the Europa League. We have Bilbao in the next round.

I'm back and the career is back on track

6th March 2010 Update:

We met Bilbao in the Europa League knockouts amidst the pre season friendlies and disappointingly lost 2-1 at home giving us little chance of qualification. Following a few key injuries in the run up to the 2nd leg, we failed to score and eventually lost 1-0 to find ourselves knocked out. It was a good run though and I was fairly pleased.

We lost in the Super Cup to CSKA Moscow fairly convincingly despite leading 1-0 through Maxi Lopez. Final score 3-1 CSKA. So its hard to use this as an indication of our prospects this year as CSKA really are a strong side.

I failed to sign a striker as I'd hoped in the transfer window but did splash out on a couple of Brazilians for a combined £8.6m. Willians (AMRLC/FC) and Sandro (DM/MC). We also snapped up Russian international - Denis Kolodin (SW/DC) for £2.8m. A couple of young Ukranian strikers came in for a small fee to give us depth there but its unlikely they'll challenge tbh. Finally Vadim Yevseev (DL/R) the 34 year old Russian signed to cushion the blow of selling left back Miklos Gaal to Rosenborg. Vladimir Yurchenko (AMRC/FC) was sold to CSKA for £2.2m and just scored against us .

That was all business done and whilst I think I've strenghtened the midfield I'm dubious about our defence and midfield. Without carrying the 'unknown quantity' tag this year, we'll be in for a tough season I think. A strong start is required.

April 2010 Update:

As predicted we have struggled early on. A win over Rostov at home was wedged between away defeats at CSKA 3-1 and Zenit 2-1. Injuries to my 2 first choice CB's haven't helped and frustratingly the league's rules have changed. It is now law to have a max of 6 foreigners in the first 11 whereas it was 7 last year. This is making my Brazilian signings look a little questionable now

1st June 2010:

Since our loss to Zenit back in April, we have gone on a great run of 5 wins from 6 (the 1 was a draw with Loko Moscow). This has catapulted us up the table and we currently sit 2nd behind runaway leaders Spartak Moscow (who we travel to next in July).

So the summer window has arrived, we've signed a new kit deal for 5 years. Strangely we've had no new youth players through the academy since I've been in charge - not sure if its a bug or whether this happens in July?

Individuals of note - Willians playing up front has been performing well. Drincic in DM has been in great form and Bruno Lopes is again on top of his game. New boy Sandro hasn't played as much as he'd like but he's on a long contract so that's fine with me.

Champions League draw is coming soon

According to this thread, Russian regens should appear on 27th December.

Good luck for the rest of the season and the Champions League draw? Would you rather have an easier group or money-spinning matches against Europe's elite?

Ah thanks for that - wonder why mine never came through :confused:

I'd quite like a couple of big times for the money tbh. I don't see us making it through the groups unless we get rather lucky so it'd be fun to take on the elite. Osasuna have just linked me with their job vacancy - interesting. I'm obviously on the lookout for any route out of Russia sooooo...

Summer 2010 Update:

First of all the World Cup has been ongoing in SA. Russia lost in round 2 to England 1-0. USA knocked out Germany and Argentina on their way to the final where they met Italy but lost on penalties.

Meanwhile on the transfer front Europa League winners Lazio weighed in with an £9.25m bid for Willians. His great form first half of the season has led to this interest and unfortunately my chairman has accepted the bid. Bye-bye . As a replacement nationalised Russian/Malawian Essau Kanyenda should be joining for just under a million. He has 16 in 21 in the second division, so a bit of a gamble. Alexander Ryazantsev a Russian AMRC should be heading to Amkar too as I look to sign more Russian players.

I've also invested in two Bosnians, a Russian and a Croat. All 18 or younger and all newgens. They'll add good depth to the squad despite being counted as 'foreign'.

1st Sept 2010:

So with Amkar flying high again in the league - top after 18 games on games won over Spartak (also on 43pts and CSKA on 41pts) the Champions League Group draw was made. We were seeded 4th and received a not too unkind draw with:

Inter

Villarreal

AEK

Amkar Perm

There's a very slim chance of qualification so we will be aiming for 3rd place to move into the Europa League. The problem is my squad is very thin and seemingly very injury prone so this could really stuff up our league ambitions! The focus will remain on the league as I'd love to add a trophy to Robtrachenko's CV.

Bring on the second half of the season

Very good start to the Amkar job, Congrats on the Europa league run and Champions League qualification..

Ive really enjoyed reading through this actually, and you have inspired me to start my own =)

Look forward t hearing more

1st October 2010:

A narrow 1-0 away defeat to ten man Inter made me think we had a chance in the Champs League and this was confirmed in our first ever Champions League home game in which we destroyed AEK 3-0. Back in the league we are 23 games in (7 to go) and sit joint top with CSKA on 54 points. Spartak are a point behind (Dinamo in 4th are on 40 points) so its very much a 3 horse race.

Encouragingly Spartak Moscow at home is our toughest tie in the remaining 7 games and we definitely have the best run in of the three. If we stay injury free (Denis Kolodin broke his leg) we could nip in and take the title. Encouraging times for Amkar!

November 2010:

Looks like I cursed myself. 3 league games later and 3 defeats . 3-2 to Villarreal in the CL at home is respectable. But a home defeat to lowly Shinnik and an away defeat to Dinamo Moscow have really upset the apple cart. Next up, the crucial Spartak game - we have to win it to get us back in the title race. We're now 5 points adrift...

December 2010:

An outrageous end to the season for Amkar! Despite the blip in October and the subsequent draw with Spartak Moscow (which effectively ended our title challenge) we won our last 4 games. CSKA were 2nd and holding the crucial Champs League spot but our 12 points from 12 were enough to pip them to 2nd on the last day of the season. We won 3-0 at Tom Tomsk as CSKA crumbled away at Saturn. It was a fine end to another solid season for Amkar and I'm delighted we have CL football to look forward to next year.

Back to our CL group - we lost twice to Villarreal and Inter (all close games) which mean that our final game vs AEK decides who drops into the Europa League. We hold a 3 point advantage so its all in our hands and we should secure Europa League football for 2011

Star player this year would have been Willians but after he was sold it was Bruno Lopes

1st January 2011:

The traditional winter break coincides with the pre season period for Russian sides. Following our dramatic qualification for the CL we have a budget of just over £11m available to spend. The key areas to strengthen are RM, ST and a versatile defender.

In the yearly awards I won Manager of the Year and Bruno Lopes our CM came 3rd in the Players' Select award. Our first intake of youth arrived and they were all shocking! Amkar then offered me a new contract - they wanted a 4 year deal but I negotiated it to two years - til Dec 2012. That way teams won't be put off the compensation to snag me from Russia .

In terms of aspirations for the season I want to win the title. With the right additions we could have the best side in the league without the best individuals. Our CM's are great - Bruno Lopes, Sandro and Drincic. We scored 62 goals last year (just over 2 a game) and 1 behind CSKA - showing that we are clinical without having a genuinely good striker (though I have hopes for Maxi Lopez to stay injury free this year!). Our keeper Narubin has been excellent both seasons and CB Belorukov has been a rock. Hossain Kaebi at RB has been a bit of a revelation and Starkov at LM has been in fine form. Unfortunately Starkov looks as if he'll be leaving on a bosman . However I'm confident of some good purchases over the next month before the first friendly at the end of January. Here's to a good year

(I may even throw some screenshots in the next update )

Nice read iacovone. But some screenshots would be nice.

I would also a request a team history of the following teams:

• Real Oviedo
  
• Savona
  
• AFC Wimbledon
  
• San Marino
  

Thanks.

Nice read iacovone. But some screenshots would be nice.

I would also a request a team history of the following teams:

• Real Oviedo
  
• Savona
  
• AFC Wimbledon
  
• San Marino
  

Thanks.

Ill go for a wild guess and say it will go something like this, LLLLLL.

16th March 2011 Update:

The New Season is Upon us!!

Well ready for a reeeeaaaal update ? Man I've been shoddy in here, not a single screenshot thus far

First off its essential to name and show you my star men and new signings for this 3rd Russian season.

First off club captain Sergey Volkov - he's been a good goalscorer for me in two years despite not being fantastic stats-wise.

Club VC Nikola Drincic is arguably our best player, a superb Serbian DM who contributes plenty of goals. He is the current fans player of the year.

At the back we have solid Dmitry Belorukov who has led the line well. New signing Yury Lebedev is an international with great potential to strengthen our defence.

Next up is another fan favourite and my best signing (and also one of my first). At just £275k he has been a true bargain and consistent performer.

Ivan Starkov has delighted the Amkar fans by finally committing his future to the club in the winter. His ability anywhere down the left flank is invaluable.

Finally my two other pre season signings. Alexandr Ryazantsev has come in to fill in the weakness at right wing and has already achieved popularity amongst the faithful by scoring in the Suer Cup. Alexandr Stavpets was signed for a rather large £5.5m but should add much needed firepower up top. Him and Maxi Lopez could prove deadly in time.

So that rounds up the key squad members.

Here is last year's league table showing how we just scraped back into the Champions League .

Now onto this current 3rd season in charge! And its been the tale of two penalty shoot outs thus far...

First up was the Europa League 1st Knockout Round against Galatasaray. We travelled to Turkey first and disappointingly lost 2-0. No away goal to give us hope and to be honest I thought that was it. But the home leg saw us show real fight and we scored just before and after half time to make it 2-2 on aggregate. Extra time stayed even and it was to penalties in front of the Amkar fans. Keeper Andriy Narubin was the star saving two penalties and we scored all 4 of ours to secure progress! A great achievement so far.

Then onto the Russian Super Cup against Spartak Moscow, the league winners. It is played at the league winners stadium so was effectively an away tie. Ryazantsev marked his debut with a stunning goal to give us a shock lead but this was cut down by Abreu on the 82nd minute. Extra time again proved to be a stalemate and off we went to penalties...and again Narubin was the hero - saving another penalty. The 5 Amkar penalty takers scored for us to win my first trophy!

Back to the Europa League and we stunned the competition with a thumping 4-0 home win over Dinamo Kiev and made sure of progress in Ukraine despite a 2-1 loss. We have been drawn against Porto in the Quarters with the slim possibility of a semi final against either Valencia or Bordeaux. I'd be stunned if we made it past Porto however.

So there we have the current situation with Omez Robtrachenko's career and time at Amkar Perm! I should add a footnote that we are 4th favourites for the title and have started with a lucky 1-1 draw at Dinamo Moscow.

Angry Update ALERT!!!

This is so frustrating!

Season 1: 7 foreigners allowed in the first 11

Season 2: 6 foreigners allowed in the first 11

Season 3: 5 foreigners allowed in the first 11

Any chance of a news item explaining this was going to happen!? Now my best laid plans are ever so slightly ruined

And goodbye Amkar

Nope its turned out ok tbh...I bought mainly Russians this summer so I can field a 6 and 5 and not be too weakened by it.

Having said that I won't sign another contract with Amkar. I'm here til December 2012 - that's another 18 months to win another trophy before pastures new

April 2011 Update:

Its been a disappointing start to the league campaign with narrow 4-3 loss to Zenit away and 2-1 loss to Spartak at home . We are shipping far too many goals

July 2011 Update:

Well well well...things took a dramatic turn for the worse at Amkar. First of all we lost heavily to Porto in the quarter finals of the Europa League 4-1 on aggregate. To be fair that wasn't unexpected but it was indicative of our season thus far.

Back to the league and we continued to struggle and actually went 6 games without a win in the league . This led me to realise we had no realistic chance of mounting a title bid and it was with great regret I called time on my reign at Amkar.

Time out of the game lasted til July and despite a couple of tempting offers - namely Malaga - in the second division in Spain, I was eventually offered a far better opportunity in Russia. Zenit saw Dick Advocaat leave for Tottenham Hotspur and decided I should be the man to replace him.

With £20m in the coffers and a hefty wage budget the job was too good to turn down. I've signed until 2013 and am targetting the title by the time I leave here

So Omez Robtrachenko has moved up in Russia as his career continues to blossom

EDIT: Forgot to mention the shocker I had! I got offered a job in the 2nd division of Russia and accidentally clicked agree instead of reject! After holidaying for about a month (thinking I was applying for new jobs) I realised my error! So thats my little disclaimer for any future career screenshots that look a bit iffy. How embarrassing...

Nice move! You'll have a much better chance of winning something at Zenit and with £20 million to spend...will we be seeing any big names arrive?

The issue at the moment is that I have 3 of my 5 allowed non-Russians in a fairly watertight defence so I'm leaning more towards signing Russian internationals. There are a couple playing abroad who I could tempt back here - Kerzhakov is at Dinamo Kiev, Torbinsky at Werder and Bilyatidenov is somewhere in Europe too. I need a top class striker thats for sure. Frazier Campbell is keen but I'm not sure on that one!

We've won 3 out of 3 at Zenit, beating 2nd place Lokomotiv Moscow 3-0, Amkar (!) away 1-0 and Ural 3-2 away. Not too shabby at all.

As I say I need another striker - one who can provide good foil for Dmitry Sychev (who is class!).

August 2011:

The window is officially open and I'm pleased to announce two main signings:

Alexander Kerzakhov joins for a club record £9.5m (which is wrong given that Danny went there IRL for IIRC £20m) and adds some much needed firepower. Him and Sychev could be something special in time.

Aaron Shakespeare was discovered playing in New Zealand when I was at Amkar. He since moved to Preston and accumulated some England U19 caps. Its a coup to get him as he clearly has a lot of potential. £2.5m.

After 4 games in charge the League table looks like this. Its a hunt for 2nd and the Champions League in reality.

Some intriguing signings there iacovone. Kerzakhov should be entering his prime now and Shakespeare will be a star in the future if nurtured right. No pressure .

How do you rate your chances of catching Spartak for the Champions League spot?

Good move on getting the job at Zenit. Who were the main stars in the squad before you took over?

Shakespeare looks a good prospect. Will you be playing him in defence or midifield?

Some intriguing signings there iacovone. Kerzakhov should be entering his prime now and Shakespeare will be a star in the future if nurtured right. No pressure .

How do you rate your chances of catching Spartak for the Champions League spot?

I fancy us to catch Spartak. Its close at the moment - we're 5 points behind with 6 games to go. We have to win all our remaining games in my eyes. Spartak at home is our last game of the season - hopefully we can keep in the race and end on a high!

Good move on getting the job at Zenit. Who were the main stars in the squad before you took over?

Shakespeare looks a good prospect. Will you be playing him in defence or midifield?

Shakespeare has been played in central midfield thus far. I like him too - think he has a great future.

The best players when I arrived were these chaps:

Dmitry Sychev - current Russian international.

Da Costa Goore - Ivorian left back

Alejandro Dominguez - not found his best position yet, but he's operating from the right wing at the moment.

I also snapped up my former Amkar signing Bruno Lopes for £4m. He'd been superb over at Amkar and I know what to expect from him.

Robtrachenko's End of Season 2011 Report

The year began with hopes high at Amkar Perm as I entered my 3rd season in charge. We now had the strongest team I'd managed there and following two successive 2nd place finishes, the target had to be the title. Unfortunately it seems my first two seasons were more a 'honeymoon' period and not indicative of our actual ability. The league campaign quickly became an uphill struggle and by the time we'd gone 5 without a win I'd decided the time had come to step down.

I spent a couple of months out of a job as a few tempting offers came by. Augsburg in the German 2nd Division could offer me a big transfer kitty but I wanted a top level side. Malaga tried the same trick, though at the time they were officially a Primera side. I quickly discovered that they'd already been relegated, so they were told 'no' as well. Then confusion came as I mistakenly accepted a job with Russian 2nd Division side Sibir. It was only after I came out of my holiday a month later that I realised what I'd done! Needless to say I quit and was back on the hunt.

July saw a few big name sides looking for a new boss. Napoli stood out, but when Tottenham lost Redknapp to retirement, Dick Advocaat flew to London, leaving the Zenit St Petersburg job open. My application was in and the job was offered to me!

On arrival I had about half of the league season remaining and the start of the Europa League to look forward to. We sat 4th and the aim was to make sure of Champions League next year. CSKA were miles ahead at the top and Spartak were the ones to catch.

We began with a 3-0 win at home over Lokomotiv Moscow and a 1-0 win at my old stomping ground Amkar. Wins over Ural and Khimki wrapped around a surprising 1-0 home loss to Saturn. We were looking strong in most areas.

Summer transfers of Alexander Kerzhakov, Bruno Lopes (an old Amkar favourite) and a young prospect Aaron Shakespeare meant that I'd strengthend the spine considerably.

We had OB from Denmark to negotiate in the Europa League 4th Qual Round and did so just about 2-1 on aggregate to send us into a group of Panathinaikos, Toulouse and Palermo (tough!). In between the OB games we were reminded of how strong CSKA were as they thumped us 4-1 away. However following the 2nd leg against OB (a 2-0 win) we embarked on a stunning run of 8 wins in all competitions! The defeated sides were OB, Spartak Nalchik, Vityaz Podolsk, Panathinaikos, Rubin, Krylja Sovetov, Toulouse and Luch. A 0-0 draw with Palermo ended this run.

To end the season we won 5 out of the last 6, including a memorable 2-0 win over rivals Spartak Moscow to confirm our position of 2nd and secure Champions League football! As it turned out 3rd place now gets Champions League football as well, so Spartak were safe.

Our 2 players in the Russian Team of the Year were - Roman Shirokov and Alejandro Dominguez who was magnificent since my arrival!

So with Champions League football ensured for late 2012 the next year will be a big one for Zenit. I want to challenge for the title this year coming. We are still in the Russian Rambler Cup (FA Cup) at the quarter final stage with only CSKA remaining as a big side. I expect us to have a lot of in and out transfers this winter as we have a few too many foreigners at the minute. I'd also expect us to have a good bash at the Europa League this season

That's all for now chaps, bring on 2012

Zenit 2012 Pre-Season Update

Following our strong finish to last years domestic campaign (8 wins from last 8 games), I prepared for a busy summer.

Our biggest problem was having too many foreigners in the squad. So I immediately transfer listed and sold Pawel Brozek, Marcin Kowalczyk, Ovidui Petre, Lee Chun-Soo and Alexander Curtean for a combined £10m to various Eastern European sides.

With this additional cash and the £20m transfer budget I invested in a number of top class names. To solve our left sided hole former Amkar man Ivan Starkov joined for a fairly hefty £7m. Fedor Smolov is a young promising Russian striker bought from Dnipro for ~ £4m. Then we were delighted to have the opportunity to sign Roma hotshot Alessio Cerci for about £3m. Not a bad deal in my book.

Just before the window shut, the creme de la creme arrived in the form of Rafael Van Der Vaart for a mere £3.6m! Needless to say this has to be one of the biggest signings in Russian football - if not the biggest.

There is one young kid I paid a lot for. £2.8m for Dmitry Yegorov from CSKA is a hefty fee but he is just 16 and seemingly has the world at his feet. Finally to top it all off was the arrival of stunningly good youth academy prospect Sergey Makarov who will definitely get some game time this year. He's predicted to be a leading RB in the future. I'm excited.

After all of this I would have said the league should be ours this year. Unfortunately CSKA have bought 4 fantastic players this winter! Douglas Costa, Nilmar, Federico Laurito and Marquinhos

The silver lining however is that they are all foreigners and add to their already burgeoning handicap of 11 prior to the new South Americans. So with a total of 15 in their squad and only 5 spots in the first XI, CSKA would struggle to accomodate them all. Thankfully .

Aims for the Season:

• Well we are already out of the Uefa Cup to Bordeaux so a good start in the CL is a necessity this year.
  
• I expect at least top 2 and to definitely close the gap on CSKA. This does not mean the title is out of our hands, we have every chance.
  
• We're in the quarters of the Russian FA Cup and with only CSKA remaining in the draw we should at least make the final (providing we avoid them)
  
• Blood through the exciting youth products!
  
  

I like your style iacovone, you dont need masses of screenshots. I dont even click on most of them as they dont give me much info.

CSKA don't seem to have any common sense by the looks of it! Makarov looks like he could be very, very talented. Not sure what's going on with his hair though..

I like your style iacovone, you dont need masses of screenshots. I dont even click on most of them as they dont give me much info.

Thanks

CSKA don't seem to have any common sense by the looks of it! Makarov looks like he could be very, very talented. Not sure what's going on with his hair though..

Yep Makarov is going to be one hell of a player at this rate . CSKA may have little sense in the market but they're getting around it well enough and proving an enormous challenge this year

Zenit 2012 End of Season Update

I'm going to start by listing last season's aims:

Aims for the 2012 Season:

• Well we are already out of the Uefa Cup to Bordeaux so a good start in the CL is a necessity this year.
  
• I expect at least top 2 and to definitely close the gap on CSKA. This does not mean the title is out of our hands, we have every chance.
  
• We're in the quarters of the Russian FA Cup and with only CSKA remaining in the draw we should at least make the final (providing we avoid them)
  
• Blood through the exciting youth products!
  

Results:

• We had a tough group in the Champions League - Marseille, Bayern Munich and AaB. Obviously AaB became the whipping boys of the group losing all 6 games. A 1-1 draw away at Marseille was encouraging but I was disppointed in our 1-1 home draw with Bayern. We were in a good position still though until we lost 2-0 at home to Marseille! This meant qualification would require going to Germany and defeat Bayern Munich to take 2nd place. Things started well as we won a penalty but Alejandro Dominguez saw his effort saved! Shirokov scored on 20 mins to give us an unlikely lead. Goals either side of half time put Bayern back in charge but a massive siege on the Bayern goal led to an equalizer from Sychev followed by a penalty given in the last minutes which Van der Vaart converted! We qualified for the knockout round in 2013 in the place of Bayern
  
• As predicted we gave a good account of ourselves in the league but CSKA were beyond strong this year. They won the title dropping just two points all year . We came 2nd in the league showing patches of great form but we're just not as strong as CSKA at the moment.
  
• Well we didn't avoid CSKA, meeting them in the final ultimately. A 2-0 loss was disappointing but not wholly unexpected. This was a missed opportunity for a trophy.
  
• Of the youth products Sergiy Makarov is still the one to watch putting in some decent showings at right back. Our other potential star was signed from CSKA as a 16 year old last year. Dmitry Yegorov played a number of games this season and looks very talented.
  

One of my Amkar signings ended up putting in the best average rating over the season - Ivan Starkov.

Bruno Lopes once again put in a great seasons performance under my stewardship. He's a real favourite of mine.

Rafael Van der Vaart took his time to find his feet in Russia but his solid second half of the season coincided with me putting him an AMC position rather than just MC.

Finally a mention must go to Dmitry Sychev who scored plenty of goals in an otherwise unspectacular season. But he formed a fantastic partnership with Alexander Kerzhakov and between them kept us up near the top all year.

To summarize I was pleased with the year once I'd accepted how good CSKA were. For the next year:

• I aim to get to the quarters of the CL
  
• We have to close the gap on CSKA in the league
  
• I'm going to try to snap up one or two of their players in the winter to help close it up.
  
• This is likely to be my last year in Russia (I know I know I keep on saying this, but it could be time to look for warmer climes )
  

Bring on 2013!!

Not a bad season there considering how good CSKA are.

KUTGW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good read, have enjoyed it. Good luck for next season, that first league title is beckoning

Good read, have enjoyed it. Good luck for next season, that first league title is beckoning

Thanks

Unfortunately that title is not beckoning following a shocking start to the year at Zenit. I got incredibly frustrated with our lacklustre start and promptly resigned :o

So say hello to the new Atalanta manager in Serie A. Currently we are 12th with just 1 game remaining in the season. I've been given £22m to spend (which to be honest was the clincher) and seem to have a reasonably good squad. I'll do a nice pre-season update when the time is right. Wish me luck! Robtrachenko has made the move to one of the 'big leagues'.

ok, good luck lol

Are going to be sniffing around Zenit for some signings ?

Well I've just signed Aaron Shakespeare from them for less than £2m. Other than that I won't be. I'm trying to get either Federico Laurito or Douglas Costa from CSKA Moscow but they'll cost a lot of money. I need one 'marquee' signing and then build the squad with the remainder of the transfer fund.