russian league...

first season as anji i played 44 games in the league managing to become champions. In my 2nd season i trailed by 2 points after 30 games, thats ok i thought...14 games is enough time to catch them up...now here is my WTF moment. My second season has finished on 30 games played...can anyone explain these crazy russian rules?? I guess the extra 14 games has something to do with teams being level (either fighting for relegation/championship).

I also feel SI could deal with this slightly better, either by drawing attention to it in the media...i did read the league rules at the start of season one and no where does it mention an extra 14 games. It simply says if teams are equal on points the following factors will seperate them.

Games won

head to head record

think it was goal difference next

i've even googled it to see if i can get an explaination, which obviously didn't work as there would be no need for this desperate post. So that failing, over to the trustful FM forum...no douby someone on here can offer some assistance? cheers

IRL the Russian league is playing an extended season this year to then bring it in line with other major European leagues as from next season. That is why it splits into a championship/relegation league. The rules do state how many games to be played each season though.

Wikipedia explains all, first link on google.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_Russian_Premier_League

From Wikipedia

Teams in the Russian Premier League play each other twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 30 matches. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. If teams are level on points, the tie-breakers are the number of wins, then the goal difference, followed by several other factors. If the teams are tied for the first position, the tie-breakers are the number of wins, then head-to-head results. If the teams tied for the first place cannot be separated by these tie-breakers, a championship play-off is ordered.

Russian Premier League match between Lokomotiv and Spartak at the Lokomotiv Stadium

As of 2010, the champions and the runners-up qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage. The third-placed team qualifies for the Champions League second qualifying round. The fourth- and fifth-place teams qualify for the UEFA Europa League. The bottom two teams are relegated to the First Division (renamed the National League Championship starting in 2011).

Unlike most other European football leagues, the league traditionally ran in summer, from March to November, to avoid playing games under the cold and snowy weather in winter. This will be altered ahead of the 2012/13 season, with the league planning to run the season from autumn to spring. The transitional season of the competition began in early 2011 and will continue until summer of 2012. After the 16 Premier League teams have played each other twice over the course of the year 2011, they will be split into two groups of eight, and the teams will play other teams in their groups two more times for a total of 44 games (30 in 2011 and 14 in 2012). Those two groups will be contested in spring 2012, with the top eight clubs playing for the title and European places. The other sides will vie to avoid relegation: the bottom two will go down while the next two play-off against the sides third and fourth in the National League Championship, with the two losers being demoted (or denied promotion).[5]

Aagh....beaten to it

cheers to you both, wish i had either of you hired as my assistant manager...i'd be celebrating back to back titles.