Red Star - Resurrecting a fallen giant

Hi everyone,

After starting a couple of careers with lower league clubs in FMC 2014, I’ve decided to go back to Red Star Belgrade (Serbia), with the aim of making the team one of the best in Europe, as they were before and up to early ‘90s.

History

Red Star Belgrade (Serbian: FK Crvena Zvezda) was founded in 1945. They are (historically) the most successful club in former Yugoslavia, and one of the most successful eastern european clubs. In addition to numerous domestic league and cup trophies, Red Star has won European Cup (now Champions League) in 1991, by beating Olympic Marseille 5:4 on penalties (only one of two east european clubs to do so), and the Intercontinental Cup (now replaced by FIFA Club World Cup), by beating Colo Colo 3:0 (the only eastern european club to win this title).

In addition to winning European Cup, they were semi finalists 3 times, and quarter finalists 5 times. They also played one UEFA Cup final, and two quarter finals.

Sadly, European Cup win would mark the beginning of the end of one of Europe’s top teams, as the Yugoslav wars were starting to take hold across the country. As a result, in 1992 most of the players who played in the squad that won European Cup had left, and as a result of international sanctions, the club (along with all other Serbian clubs) was banned from playing in European competitions.

Red Star was allowed back into international competitions in 1995, but all of their UEFA ranking points have been wiped, meaning that they would be unseeded and starting at early qualification stages for any european competitions.

Present

In recent years, situation at the club has been going from bad to worse. The club hasn’t won domestic title since season 2006-07. That season was also the last time Red Star has managed to get to group stages of european competitions (UEFA Cup), where they lost all group games, finishing last.

On the financial front, the club is in debt 27 million euros. Situation has deteriorated in the last year, with few players leaving, due to inability of the club to pay wages.

One positive thing is the stadium (nicknamed Marakana, due to its initial capacity of 100000, which has decreased over the years as new safety rules and regulations were being mandated by UEFA), which is the best and biggest stadium in Serbia (55000 seats). It has great training facilities and great youth facilities, which will help with developing homegrown talent.

My Goal

Short term goal is to win the domestic title. Long term goal is to win Champions League again, and make the team one of the best in Europe again.

Goal for the current season is to qualify for Europe for next season, and to try and win the domestic title. Winning the domestic cup would be a nice bonus, but not a high priority.

As a result of last season’s finish (2nd), the club will be competing in Europa League qualifying stages. Goal here is to qualify for the group stage.

Becoming the top dog in domestic competition shouldn’t be too hard - two main rivals here are FK Partizan (who have won last 6 domestic titles), and FK Vojvodina. Becoming one of top teams in Europe though is a different story. Plan is to win Champions League within 10 seasons, and become one of the top European teams again buy that time. And if I manage to win Europa League title during this time as well, it will be a great bonus.

Main problem facing the club is 27m debt, which I’ll need to address somehow (this is actually "not too bad", as in FM13 the club had debt of 50 million! Not sure how they managed to repay those 23m).

First Team

There is enough quality in the current squad to challenge for and win the domestic title. Current competition rules in Serbia allow for maximum of 4 foreign players in the playing squad.

Reserve Team

As you can see, there is a fair bit of promising young talent.

Season 2013 /2014

Season expectations are title challenge, which gives me 400k for transfer and 58k pw wage budget.

I'm satisfied with the current squad, so I won't be looking for any new purchases for the first team. There is, however, one transfer target that I have identified - more about him if I manage to sign him up:) If I'm to make that purchase, I'll need to sell some of the backup players - which is fine as I need to trim the squad anyway.

2nd qualifying round sees us take on Drogheda Utd, with first leg being played at home.

Red Star 1 - Drogheda Utd 0

First leg sees us take minimal victory. Onyilo (who came in from the bench at the beginning of the 2nd half) scored in '90th minute to make it 1-0. He was also player of the match, with a rating of 8.2. We had pretty good attendance, with 41000 tickets being sold.

Drogheda Utd 1 - Red Star 1

We took the lead in 1st half through Onyilo, who then picked up an injury (twisted ankle), which will see him out of action for the next 4 weeks. Drogheda equalised in 2nd half.

We are trough to the 3rd round, where Levski Sofia is waiting for us. Not really happy with the performance in these 2 games, and if we are to reach group stages we'll have to play much better than this.

Levski Sofia 1 - Red Star 2

Two fine goals, one from Nejc Pecnik and one from Nenad Milijas see us take the away win. I’m pleased with this result, however Pecnik was also injured (twisted ankle), which will put him out of action for 4 weeks.

Red Star 3 - Levski Sofia 1

Great home win (Levski did help us with an own goal), sealing the tie 5-2 on aggregate. This is more like it, gives me hope that we can qualify for group stages if the play off draw is not too hard.

And I think I spoke too soon - playoff draw sees us take on Swansea.

Start of domestic season

Vojvodina 4 - Red Star 3

An unfortunate own goal saw us lose first game of domestic season. I’m happy that we managed to score 3 goals, however defence needs to be worked on.

Marko Vesovic got his first international cap for Montenegro, and Miguel Araujo played his first international for Peru.

Red Star 4 - Javor 1

First domestic win, with Abiola Dauda scoring 2 goals. Good result, but we were the favourites anyway.

Next fixture is against Swansea at home.

I had a cracking time with them on my journeyman save last year taking them from the bottom half of the 2nd division to Champions League winners and the biggest club in the world and hope to manage them again at some point on this. Good luck, i'll be keeping an eye out on this

I had a cracking time with them on my journeyman save last year taking them from the bottom half of the 2nd division to Champions League winners and the biggest club in the world and hope to manage them again at some point on this. Good luck, i'll be keeping an eye out on this

Thank you! I had a great save with them in FM13, managed to make them the top club after 15 seasons or so, hope I can emulate the same success here

Red Star 1 - Swansea 1

Excellent result, and with a bit of luck we may even be able to win in the second match. Swansea took the lead in 38th minute through Scott Graham, but Abiola Dauda pulled us level in 56th minute. Marakana was packed, with 55538 fans coming to see the game.

Rad 0 - Red Star 1 (SuperLeague)

Onyilo is back in first team after his injury, and he scored the winning goal in 63rd minute.

Swansea 1 - Red Star 2

Wow! As much as I was hoping for a win, I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but the team played exceptionally well. We took the lead in 5th minute through Onyilo, and Nejc Pecnik (returning after his injury) scored the second in 39th minute. Michael Bentley scored for Swansea in 78th minute, but it was more of a consolidation goal. This gives us a much needed cash injection of 1.3 million. However, Onyilo was injured again and will be out for 3 weeks. Same for our first choice goalkeeper, Boban Bajkovic, who will also be out of action for 3 weeks, due to groin strain. I'm hoping these injuries won't have too much negative effect for the next few games in the domestic league.

Europa League group draw

Not a bad draw, we should be better than Viktoria Plzen, and with a bit of luck we may take a few points off Real Betis (and maybe even a draw with OL). In any case, qualifying for group stage is a great result, regardless of what happens during the group matches.

Thank you! I had a great save with them in FM13, managed to make them the top club after 15 seasons or so, hope I can emulate the same success here

It's a great club to be The facilities help a lot and i'll be looking forward to some of the regens you produce.

Good start in Europe, Swansea isn't an easy tie to get through by any means

They are indeed:) I was a young lad back then, but still remember how good it felt when we won the CL back in 1991. Even more so, the semi final 2nd leg against Bayern Munich (home game) was the stuff dreams are made of.

[video=youtube;7gpfHmyHsIE]

On unrelated note, always good to get a win against your neighbours:)

The game was played at Marakana.

They are indeed:) I was a young lad back then, but still remember how good it felt when we won the CL back in 1991. Even more so, the semi final 2nd leg against Bayern Munich (home game) was the stuff dreams are made of.

[video=youtube;7gpfHmyHsIE]

That was some side back then, I remember they played us in the Supercup that summer and how we won that game i'll never know, that side was miles ahead of United at that time. Class support too.

Always had a soft spot for Red Star, the Munich link obviously plays a little part with that though but the European Cup side is the main reason.

Jagodina 1 - Red Star 2

Jagodina’s own goal helped us to victory. I was expecting a more comfortable win, but 3 points is all it matters. The result takes us to 2nd place with 9 points, same as leaders Napredak, who have a better goal difference (+8 to our +4). Our main rival, Partizan, is 5th with 7 points.

Red Star 4 - Radnicki 1923 3

Another tight win, we were up 3-1 at half time. Team is definitely lacking in defence department.

Filip Kasalica’s goal against Radnicki 1923 was the SuperLeague goal of the round. Goalkeeper Boban Bajkovic is back from his injury, as is Onyilo, much needed for the next game against Real Betis in Europa League.

Serbian Cup 1st round draw sees us draw Sumadija, this should be an easy victory.

Red Star 2 - Real Betis 2

Good start to Europa League group stage, with Nenad Milijas (captain) scoring both goals.

Napredak 3 - Red Star 3

I was hoping for a win here, but a draw still sees us in 2nd place, tied with Napredak on 13 points. 2-1 down at half time, we managed to get the away draw, despite an own goal in second half. Onyilo scored 2 goals in second half to get us a point.

Sumadija 3 - Red Star 7 (Serbian Cup 1st round)

Good win, despite our goalkeeper Boban Bajkovic scoring an own goal.

OFK Beograd 1 - Red Star 4

Great win against one of better sides in SuperLeague. Two goals from Milijas and another two goals from Kasalica sealed the win for us. We are still 2nd, tied on 16 points with Napredak (+11 vs our +8), who have been punching well above their weight so far.

Serbian Cup 2nd round draw puts us against FK Radnicki Nis (another SuperLeague side). Not as good as I hoped, but nevertheless we should be favourites for this match.

Viktoria Plzen 1 - Red Star 2

As I hoped, good win, with Milijas and Martinovic scoring goals for us. This puts us in 2nd place within the Group I, tied on 4 points with OL (+2 vs our +1).

Next up - The Eternal Derby

Good luck in yugoslavia

Srecno u Evropi, ali u ligi ti je 2. mesto limit.

Good luck in yugoslavia

Thank you:)

Srecno u Evropi, ali u ligi ti je 2. mesto limit.

Videcemo jos:)

The Eternal Derby

The Eternal Derby (or Derby of Southeast Europe) is a local derby between Red Star and FK Partizan, who are two of the biggest clubs in Serbia. The rivalry started immediately after both clubs were founded in 1945, and continues to this day.

Daily Mail has ranked this derby 4th among the 10 greatest football rivalries of all time. It is not unusual for fan violence to break out at these games, either in or around the stadium.

Two great articles from foreigners witnessing the last derby

http://haveblogwilltravel.org/eternal-derby

http://supportersnotcustomers.com/2013/11/04/welcome-to-hellgrade/

“Watching football may never be the same again"

My first game against Partizan, and looking at the current team forms we should have an upper hand. The fact that we are playing this game at home should help a lot too.

Red Star 2 - Partizan 0

Great home win against our rivals. Ninkovic put as ahead in 28th minute, and Martinovic completed the scoring in 65th. Ninkovic did pickup an injury (bruised rib) which hill see him out of action for about a week.

Red Star 1 - FK Radnicki 0

Fine display from Onyilo sees him score from free kick in 21st minute to take the victory for us. The result also gives me confidence for the Serbian Cup 2nd round game, as we’ll be playing FK Radnicki in that tie. The win also sees us take the first place in the league standings for the first time this season, with 22 points, 2 more than 2nd placed Napredak.

Olimpique Lyonnais 3 - Red Star 1

Even though we lost this game, it was a close fought match. Milijas’ missed penalty in second half is a case of what could have been. We are still 2nd in Group I.

FK Cukaricki 1 - Red Star 2

Another solid win, however Onyulo picked up another injury which will see him sidelined for next 3 weeks.

Red Star 4 - FK Radnicki 1 (Serbian Cup 2nd round)

Great home win. Radnicki sealed the deal for us with an own goal in 80th minute.

FK Vozdovac 1 - Red Star 5

After a slow start and 1-1 at half time, we kicked up a gear and dominated the game in second half.

Serbian cup quarter final draw sees us take on Donji Srem (another SuperLeague side).

Red Star 2 - Olimpique Lyonnais 2

Great result in our 4th group game. Still 2nd in the group with 5 points, and with a bit of luck in next two games we should be able to keep the 2nd place.

Red Star 2 - Novi Pazar 1

Solid win, but we should have scored more goals, as we had a few one on one situations with opposition goalkeeper from which we didn’t manage to score. This win sees us in 1st place with 31 points, 8 more than second placed Napredak. Our main rival Partizan seems to be struggling, down in 11th place with 15 points.

Spartak 3 - Red Star 3

An own goal from Araujo meant that we would take only 1 point from this game. We also played last 10 minutes with 10 men, as Mijailovic picked up his 2nd yellow card of the game. That also earned him one match suspension.

Real Betis 2 - Red Star 2

A draw here means we are still in 2nd place. Last game of the group stage will see us take on Viktoria Plzen, and I’m hoping that we can win and qualify.

Sloboda 2 - Red Star 3

Excellent performance from Onyilo (who is back from his injury), where he scored a hat trick to give us 3 points. Sloboda did play with 10 men for most of the 2nd half though, and we conceded a goal deep into injury time (90 + 3).

Red Star 2 - Donji Srem 2 (7 - 6 penalty shootout) Serbian Cup quarter final

Penalty shoot out win sees us go through to the semi final. Not a bad result, as I was resting a few of the first team players.

Red Star 1 - Donji Srem 0 (SuperLeague)

Goal from Nejc Pecnik gives us 3 points from this fixture.

Serbian Cup semi final draw puts us against Vojvodina.

Red Star 1 - Viktoria Plzen 2

Even though we lost, we managed to retain 2nd place in the group (OL had beat Real Betis). This means we qualify for the first knockout round, which is way more than I expected from our European campaign.

Our rivals Partizan have also managed to qualify from group stage, which is a great result, as it will help with SuperLeague rankings.

Winter break is here, and I can say I'm more than satisfied with what we've achieved in the first half of the season.

Europa League first round draw has given us Valencia. And if we manage a miracle and go past them, we’re almost certain to face Man City in the next round. Looks like our European adventure will soon be over. Still, more than happy that we’ve reached this stage.

And I guess good results have paid off, as Red Star have offered me a new 2 year contract.

Red Star 3 - Steaua 3 (Friendly)

Znojmo 1 - Red Star 3 (Friendly)

Red Star 2 - Kuban 1 (Friendly)

Ujpest 2 - Red Star 4 (Friendly)

Red Star 3 - Zenit 4 (Friendly)

Red Star 3 - Valencia 3

Great result, Marko Vesovic pulled us level in 85th minute for a well earned draw.

Valencia 2 - Red Star 1

The end of our European adventure for this season. I’m very happy with what we’ve managed to achieve, and the performance gives me confidence for next season.

Red Star 3 - Rad 2

Two fine goals from Milijas see us take the victory against Rad.

FK Javor 0 - Red Star 0

A disappointing draw against a team who are rock bottom in the league.

Red Star 2 - Vojvodina 0

Great home win against one of our main rivals. Payback for the loss in first half of the season:)

FK Radnicki 1923 0 - Red Star 3

A goal each from Petkovic, Milijas and Lazovic sees us take a victory and another 3 points.

Napredak 3 - Red Star 2

A goal deep in injury time gave Napredak the win. They have been performing above all expectations this season. We are still 10 points clear of 2nd placed Spartak.

Vojvodina 1 - Red Star 5 (Serbian Cup semi final 1st leg)

An excellent victory means that we’ve pretty much qualified for the cup final. Onyilo had another superb display with his hat trick.

Red Star 1 - Jagodina 0

Not a bad result considering we were playing with 10 men from 40th minute, due to Darko Lazic receiving his second yellow card of the game.

Red Star 0 - OFK Beograd 0

Disappointed that we didn’t manage to get a win at home, especially after having 20 shots on goal vs OFK Beograd’s 4.

The Eternal Derby

Partizan 2 - Red Star 2

Happy to take the point from an away game in the derby, although we did concede a late goal in 90th minute.

Red Star 2 - Vojvodina 1 (7 - 2 agg) (Serbian Cup semi final second leg)

Convincing aggregate score takes us to the final. Darko Lazic scored both goals for us.

Red Star 1 - Cukaricki 0

Late goal from Luka Milunovic gives us a home victory.

Red Star 3 - Vozdovac 1

A fine win, helped by an own goal from Vozdovac.

Radnicki 0 - Red Star 3

Good win which sees us lift the domestic league title with 4 games to go! Great achievement, and this also gives me a chance to give some game time to second choice players in the next 4 games. This also means we’ve qualified for the Champions League qualification stage for next season.

Novi Pazar 3 - Red Star 2

Few of the second choice players got a chance in the first team, so not a bad result. We’ve won the league anyway:)

Serbian Cup Final

Rad 1 - Red Star 5

A convincing win to take the domestic cup. Great result, and a domestic double - couldn’t have asked for more this season!

I have also entered Serbia Hall of Fame, which is very nice achievement:)

Red Star 2 - Spartak 0

Two late goals from Petkovic and Kasalica give us the win.

Donji Srem 0 - Red Star 1

Onyilo scored the winning goal for us.

Red Star 2 - Sloboda 0

Last game of the season, and a nice home win as a thank you for our fans.

In summary, it has been a great season. We got the domestic double, played very competitively in Europe, and really were the strongest side in all domestic competitions. Hopefully the next season will be even better!

Season 2014 - 2015

I already have a few bigger clubs such as AS Monaco, Udinese, FC Twente, LOSC Lille, Shaktar, Genoa and Leverkusen knocking at my door to buy some of the current squad, but I won’t be selling anyone just yet.

My budget for the new season is 3.83 million for transfers, and 79k per week for wages.

Transfers

Out:

Ljubo Nenadic (reserve team) to Sloboda for 31.5k

Abiola Dauda to Guangzhou for 800k - didn’t really want to sell him, but his contract was expiring and for whatever reason he didn’t want to renew it.

Novak Martinovic to Lokomotiv Moscow for 650k - wasn't planning on putting him on transfer market, but got an offer from LM, and as he is getting older (29 at the moment) I thought I'd take it.

Red Star has reached top spot in Serbia, right where it belongs:)

Champions League 2nd qualifying round puts us against Dinamo Tbilisi.

Transfers

In:

Marko Pavlovski (AMC) from OFK Beograd for 3m - He's a great young player, grew fond of him while playing FM Handheld 2014 - Grows into world class player very quickly. He was the target I identified at the beginning of last season whilst he was on loan to FC Porto. That's my transfer budget for the season gone:)

Very interesting career thus far, Red Star look like a fun club to play.

Very interesting career thus far, Red Star look like a fun club to play.

They are indeed..watch this space for Champions League progress:)

Red Star 5 - Dinamo Tbilisi 0

We absolutely dominated the game, second leg looks like a formality more or less. Our new signing Marko Pavlovski came in in second half, and scored his first goal for the club. Onyilo scored the first goal of the game after just 15 seconds. Excellent result.

Dinamo Tbilisi 2 - Red Star 1

Few of our young players got a chance to play in Europe, including our young 2nd choice goal keeper Rajkovic, so it was a decent result. We are through to the next round, which puts us against FC Red Bull Salzburg.

Red Star 0 - FC Red Bull Salzburg 0

A game where we should have scored at least one goal given the chances we had. 13 shots vs their 5. Im hoping for a better result in second leg.

FC Red Bull Salzburg 2 - Red Star 4

Great performance from Onyilo, who scored a hat trick to take us to the play off. No matter what happens there, we’ll be playing 6 more games in Europe afterwards.

Really enjoying this. A good read so far. Will follow along for the journey

Thank you!

Red Star 3 - FK Radnicki 1923 0

Good home win and a good start to domestic season.

Sloboda 3 - Red Star 4

We were 2-0 up at half time, but then managed to make a mess out of it. Luckily Ninkovic scored a late goal to give us the victory.

Red Star 1 - Spartak 1

We were 1-0 down at half time, Onyilo’s late goals salvaged a point for us. Not really happy with the performance in this game. The draw sees us drop down to 3rd place.

BATE 0 - Red Star 3

Two superb goals from Lazovic and one from Milijas see us take the away victory. I’m hoping this result will be enough to take us to Champions League group stage.

Red Star 1 - BATE 1

Great result over two legs to give us 4 - 1 win on aggregate. We played with 10 men for last 10 minutes, after Krneta got a red card for professional foul. The result means we’ve qualified for Champions League group stage! It also gives us a handy cash sum of 8.6 million, which will definitely help with addressing the loan debt (now down to 24m).

Champions League group draw puts us in group G, with Bayern Munich, Inter and Basel. Not a bad draw, we should be better than Basel, and with a bit of luck we should finish in at least 3rd place, which would mean qualifying for Europa League knockout stages.

Transfers

Out:

Milos Vesic (GK) (Reserves) to Sloboda for 105k

Red Star 3 - Rad 1

Milunovic, Lazovic and Onyilo socred goals to take the victory.

FK Mladost 0 - Red Star 5

Good result against newly promoted FK Mladost. However Lazovic has picked up an injury which will see him out for 3 weeks. This means he’ll miss next game against Inter in Champions League.

Serbian Cup 1st round draw puts us against Timok, a First League side. Should be an easy game.

Red Star 2 - Inter 1

An excellent result in our first group match! We took 2-0 lead in first half and managed to hold out for a win. However our defender Filip Mladenovic got a broken rib, which will put him out of action for 5 weeks. Injury list is getting a bit worrying now, I might have to start looking at the reserve team to plug in some gaps.

Jagodina 2 - Red Star 4

Another superb hat trick from Onyilo seals the win for us. Our young defender, Milos Brajovic, who was promoted from reserve team, had his first senior game, replacing injured Mladenovic.

Red Star 4 - Timok 0 (Serbian Cup 1st round)

Good result, with few of our second choice players being put into the starting lineup.

Red Star 4 - Donji Srem 1

Two goals from Onyilo and one each from Araujo and Ninkovic get us 3 points from this match.

Bayern Munich 5 - Red Star 3

Not a bad away result, Im happy that we have enough quality to score 3 goals against a team such as Bayern. Defence is lacking due to injuries, so will be interesting to see what we can do during home game.

Serbian Cup 2nd round draw puts us against Donji Srem

Red Star 4 - Cukaricki 0

Great home win, we were up 2-0 at half time.

The Eternal Derby

Partizan 1 - Red Star 1

Happy with point in an away derby game, although we needed a penalty to pull level in the second half.

Red Star 2 - Basel 1

Our second win in CL group stage, but one where Basel scored 2 own goals to give us the win.

OFK Beograd 2 - Red Star 3

Another own goal from our opposition gives us the win. Is it just me or are there more own goals than you’d see in real football games?

Red Star 2 - Donji Srem 1 (Serbian Cup 2nd round)

Not the best performance, but we are through to next round.

Red Star 1 - Vojvodina 1

Kasalica scored the goal for us. Few of the first team players are being rested for next CL game against Basel, so not a bad result.

I have asked the board to improve training facilities, and they agreed. Improvement is going to cost 1.7m, and will be completed in 11 months time. This should increase their rating from great to top.

Basel 2 - Red Star 2

We had 2-0 lead at half time, but a poor performance in second half saw us take only a point from this game. We are 2nd in the group, and it looks like we’ll at least qualify for Europa League knock out.

Serbian Cup quarter final draws us against Indjija. Should be an easy win.

Novi Pazar 2 - Red Star 5

Good win against a team who are in relegation zone. We were 2-0 up after 5 minutes.

Indjija 2 - Red Star 4

Onyilo was superb today, scoring another hat trick. Result gives me confidence for our cup quarter final game.

Inter 2 - Red Star 0

Not the best result, but I knew it would be a tough away game. We are still 2nd, with Bayern left to play. Even if we lose next game, we are guaranteed 3rd place in the group, and Europa League knockout stages.

Red Star 3 - Napredak 0

Good win against 11th placed team.

Indjija 2 - Red Star 7 (Serbian Cup quarter final)

5 goals from Onyilo take us to semi final. We absolutely trashed the opposition. Biggest win so far.

Red Star 2 - FK Radnicki 0

Decent win against a side which is in relegation zone.

Red Star 7 - Bayern Munich 3

Unbelievable result, I have no idea how we managed to score 7 goals against Bayern. Onyilo and Milunovic were superb, both scoring hat tricks. The result means we keep 2nd place in group G, and as a result we’ve qualified for Champions League knockout stages. Awesome stuff!!

Serbian Cup semi final draw puts us against Metalac, a first league side. We should go through to the final.

This concludes first part of the season. We’ve got a very healthy 11 point lead in domestic league. Amazing season so far, topped by finishing second in CL group G.

Champions League 1st round draws us with Tottenham. Could have been worse, so not entirely unhappy with this draw.

Red Star 1 - Augsburg 1 (Friendly)

Red Star 2 - FC Kobenhavn 1 (Friendly)

Red Star 3 - Spartak Moscow 1 (Friendly)

Vidima-Rakovski 0 - Red Star 3 (Friendly)

Farul 1 - Red Star 4 (Friendly)

Red Star 1 - Tottenham 0

A goal from Onyilo in first half gives us the victory in home leg. Good win, and with a bit of luck we may even go through to quarter final.

Red Star 1 - Sloboda 0

Late goal from Onyilo gets us 3 points. Considering we had 19 shots vs their 6, we should have scored at least one more.

FK Radnicki 1923 0 - Red Star 0

Average game, we had few shots on goal but couldn’t make any of them count.

Spartak 1 - Red Star 3

Good win against the side who are currently 4th in the league.

Tottenham 2 - Red Star 1

Good result that gives us an away goal win. We are through Champions League quarter final, which has exceeded all expectations. We were also given a nice sum of 3.5m as prize money.

Red Star 2 - Mladost 2

Decent result against a side who are currently 3rd in domestic league.

Champions League quarter final draw puts us against Bayern Munich. Can we repeat our performance against them from group stages? I certainly hope so!

FK Rad 1 - Red Star 3

Good win, Darko Lazovic scored 2 goals for us, and was a many of the match as well.

FK Metalac 0 - Red Star 1 (Serbian Cup semi final 1st leg)

With the amount of chances we had we should have scored a couple more goals, but nevertheless the result gives us an advantage for the second leg.

Red Star 1 - Jagodina 1

Another average game and another draw. We are still 10 points ahead in 1st place with 9 games to go, so no reason for concern.

Bayern Munich 2 - Red Star 0

Not the best performance, but we are still in with a chance if we manage to repeat last home game performance against Bayern.

The Eternal Derby

Red Star 1 - Partizan 1

Another draw in the derby. We took an early lead, but conceded just before the end of first half.

Red Star 2 - Bayern 1

We almost made it. Last 15 minutes were played with 10 men, as Lazic got his second yellow of the game (which means he'll miss 1st European game of next season). Despite the aggregate loss, I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to achieve in Champions League this season. This sets the bar very high for next season’s competition.

Red Star 1 - OFK Beograd 0

Minimal win, but after 3 draws in domestic league its good to be back to winning ways.

Red Star 4 - Metalac 0 (Serbian Cup semi final second leg)

Convincing win in second leg puts us through to the final.

Cukaricki 2 - Red Star 2

Few of first team players are in need of a rest, and I think its showing. Disappointing result.

Donji Srem 2 - Red Star 4

Good win against 2nd placed team. The result puts us 14 points clear of them, with 5 games to go. If we win next game, we’ll take the title.

Vojvodina 1 - Red Star 2

Good win which means we won the domestic title with 4 games to go.

Sloga 1 - Red Star 2 (Serbian Cup final)

Another cup final win and another domestic double!

Red Star 3 - Novi Pazar 1

Solid win against a team that likely to get relegated this season.

Radnicki 2 - Red Star 3

Radnicki’s own goal helped us get a victory.

Napredak 3 - Red Star 2

A disappointing game, but the result doesn’t mean anything as we’ve already won the league.

Red Star 2 - FK Indjija 2

An ok result considering few of our young players got a chance to play in the first team. Last game of the season.

In summary, its been a great season. Another domestic double, and great performance in Champions League.

Season 2015-2016

The board had set initial budgets to 150k per week for wages, with 11.2m for transfers.

Onyilo won the Golden Boot award - awesome achievement! He also won SuperLeague player of the season, and came in second place as Manager’s player of the season.

Bravo majstore!, samo nastavi.

Bravo majstore!, samo nastavi.

Do pobede u CL:)

Hopefully you win the CL in the next couple of seasons. Pravi si majstor

Hopefully you win the CL in the next couple of seasons. Pravi si majstor

Hvala

Transfers

Out:

Nikola Mijailovic - retired

Dragan Mrdja - Contract expired

Djordje Rakic - Contract expired

Omega Roberts - Free transfer

Aleksandar Kirovski - Free transfer

Nejc Pecnik to Besiktas for 180k - His contract was expiring and he didn’t want to renew it, so I decided to sell him.

Goran Gogic to Vojvodina for 140k - His contract was expiring and he didn’t want to renew it, so I decided to sell him.

In:

Nikola Stojkovic (20yo MC) from reserve team

Loan debt has gone down to 16.25m, and club value has gone up to 40m. We’ve also made the rich list, sitting in 71st place.

Red Star 2 - Torpedo Kutiasi 0

Solid win, their goalkeeper was in good form, saved a few of our shots.

Torpedo Kutaisi 1 - Red Star 5

Very good performance in second leg.

Stromsgodset 1 - Red Star 3

Solid away win, which puts us in control.

Red Star 1 - Stromsgodset 0

Solid aggregate win puts us through to the playoff.

Red Star 3 - Donji Srem 0

Good start to domestic season.

Spartak 1 - Red Star 3

Onyilo, Milunovic and Milijas score goals to give us 3 points.

Red Star 3 - Vojvodina 3

Disappointed that we didn’t get the win at home, but it was an entertaining match.

Red Star 4 - FC Midtjylland 1

After a slow start and being down 1-0, we kicked up a gear to score 4 goals, including 2 from Milunovic. Looks like we’ll be competing in Champions League group stage once again this season.

FC Midtjylland 0 - Red Star 1

Poor performance despite the win. Only positive was our goalkeeper Rajkovic, who was exceptional. If it wasn’t for few of his good saves in one on one situations, we would have probably lost the game. Defence left too many gaps. On top of that, Araujo picked up one match ban after collecting 3 yellow cards.

Champions League group draw puts us in Group E, with SLB, OM and Basel. Not a bad draw, I think we have a decent chance of progressing from our group.

Red Star 4 - Jagodina 1

Much better display than our last game. Ninkovic, Milunovic, Milijas and Onyilo scored to give us the win.

Transfers

Out:

Stefan Mihajlovic (reserve team) to Villareal for 800k

Our goalkeeper Rajkovic got his first cap for Serbia, but has also picked up an injury at the same time, which will put him out of action for two weeks. This means he’ll miss first group game against SLB.

Mladost 0 - Red Star 1

We needed a penalty to get the win. Not the best performance, but 3 points put us back into 1st place in league standings. Milos Ninkovic picked up a light injury, which will put him out of action for 3-4 days. This means he might not be available for game against SLB.

Serbian Cup 1st round draw puts us against Javor (another SuperLeague side).

Red Star 5 - SLB 3

Amazing result, considering we were missing 3 of our 1st team players (Rajkovic and Ninkovic through injury and Araujo was serving his one match ban). Great performance from Onyilo, who scored a hat trick.

Indjija 1 - Red Star 3

Good performance, with Onyilo scoring 2 goals.

Red Star 1 - Javor 0 (Serbian Cup 1st round)

Own goal from Javor’s Pejovic puts us through to the 2nd round.

Training facilities have been upgraded, and are now rated Superb.

Red Star 2 - Rad 0

Goals from Milunovic and Lazic give us home victory.

Basel 0 - Red Star 0

Very frustrating game, no real chances, and our players looked like they went for a walk in the park. We are second in the group behind OM with 4 points, Basel is 3rd with one point, and SLB last with 0 points.

Serbian Cup 2nd round draw puts us against Indjija.

The Eternal Derby

Partizan 0 - Red Star 3

Great away derby win. Due to poor performance in the last game, most of the 1st team players were not in the starting lineup for this match. Looks like the strategy worked. Goal from Kovacevic and Pavlovski and an own goal from Partizan’s Djokovic sealed the win for us.

Cukaricki 0 - Red Star 5

Super performance, with Onyilo scoring another hat trick.

OM 1 - Red Star 0

A decent result against a stronger side. Lazic has picked up another yellow card (his 3rd), which means he gets a ban for the CL next game. We are still 2nd in the group.

Red Star 2 - Napredak 0

Napredak’s own goal gave us the lead, with Milunovic scoring another late in the game to seal the win for us.

Red Star 4 - Indjija 1 (Serbian Cup 2nd round).

Good win which puts us through to the quarter final.

Red Star 3 - OFK Beograd 2

Good 1st half performance saw us take 2-0 lead before half time. Equally bad 2nd half performance saw us lose that lead. We were lucky that OFK Beograd scored an own goal late in the game to give us the win.

I’va asked the board to improve training facilities further, which they agreed to. Improvements will cost 4.6m, and will be completed by 21/10/2016 (11 months time)

Red Star 3 - OM 2

Superb performance from the whole team. Lazovic scored 2 goals and Milijas scored a late goal (84th minute) to give us the victory.

Serbian Cup quarter final draws us against Partizan. This should be a good match.

Radnicki 2 - Red Star 6

An absolute trashing, result says it all really.

Red Star 2 - Javor 0

I was expecting a bigger margin against the team who are currently rock bottom, but it was an exciting game nonetheless. Javor’s own goal gave us the lead, then our goalkeeper saved their penalty, and on top of that we had 3 goals disallowed due to offsides.

SLB 0 - Red Star 2

Great win, which means that a draw in next game with Basel will put us through to the knockout stages.

Red Star 3 - Metalac 1

Good win, with Milunovic, Onyilo and Stojkovic (our young midfielder who was promoted from reserve team) scoring goals.

Onyilo has taken up Serbian citizenship, which means he’ll no longer be treated as a foreign player.

The Eternal Derby - Serbian Cup quarter final

Red Star 3 - Partizan 2 (Serbian Cup quarter final)

Good win, despite Milijas’ mixed penalty at the end of first half. We are through to the semi final.

Radnicki 1923 0 - Red Star 1

Onyilo’s late goal gives us away victory.

Red Star 1 - Basel 1

We were 1-0 up until 70th minute, when our goalkeeper made a terrible mistake an passed the ball to one of Basel’s strikers, who slotted it into the net. Still, we finished 2nd in our group, and have qualified for knockout round.

This game also concludes the end of first half of the season. We are 1st, 5 points ahead of second placed Vojvodina.

Serbian Cup semi final draw puts us against Rad.

Champions League knockout round draws us against Real Madrid. Looks like our European adventure is soon going to be over.

Red Star have offered me a new 3 year contract worth 4.6k a week.

Jaggiellonia 1 - Red Star 3 (Friendly)

Transfers

Out:

Jovan Krneta to Hoffenheim for 550k

In:

Konstantin Tosic (17yo from reserve team - AS Monaco just offered me 2.5m for him, which I have turned down)

Sasa Zdjelar from Olumpiakos (currently on loan to OFK Beograd) for 4m

Red Star 3 - Thun 0 (Friendly)

Senta 0 - Red Star 5 (Friendly)

Red Star 0 - Spartak Moscow 1 (Friendly)

Red Star 1 - Zenit 3 (Friendly)

Red Star 2 - Real Madrid 1

Two superb goals from Milunovic give us home victory. Can we actually pull this off in the second leg?

Vojvodina 1 - Red Star 1

Decent result against 2nd placed team.

Donji Srem 1 - Red Star 6

Super victory, with our new signing Sasa Zdjelar scoring 2 goals.

Red Star 3 - Spartak 1

Good win, with Onyilo scoring 2 goals for us.

Red Star 3 - Mladost 0

Onlyio scored another 2 goals for the victory. Milos Ninkovic also scored, but then picked up an injury which will put him out of action for 3 weeks.

Real Madrid 2 - Red Star 0

Despite the aggregate loss, we’ve played very well. Bad luck of the draw, otherwise we might have reached quarter finals like last year.

Red Star 3 - Indjija 0

Good win which puts us 9 points clear in 1st place.

Rad 3 - Red Star 3 (Serbian Cup semi final first leg)

Not a bad result, considering Ninkovic was out through injury and Araujo was out due to suspension.

Jagodina 0 - Red Star 2

Pavlovski and Onyilo score to give us the victory. Good result against 3rd placed team.

Rad 1 - Red Star 3

Good win, and the result gives me confidence for next fixture against Rad, which the cup semi final 2nd leg.

Red Star 0 - Rad 0 (Serbian Cup semi final 2nd leg)

We are through to the final on away goals. Not a bad result considering we played most of the second half with 10 men, due to Lazic getting his second yellow card of the match.