Official Belarusian Vysshaya Liga Thread

Ok, after playing FM09 predominantly in the major leagues of the world I decided it would be fun to manage a club in a league where I knew next to nothing about. That's where the Belarusian Vysshaya Liga comes in. I'm not sure how many FM players on the forum have tried their hand at management in Belarus, or would even be interested, but I'll give the league and its clubs a run-down and maybe you'll give it a spin.

The League

The Belarusian Vysshaya Liga (or Premier League) is the top tier of professional football in Belarus. The league was formed in 1992 after the break up of the Soviet Union and is currently home to 16 clubs. Traditionally, the strongest clubs are Dinamo Minsk (champions 7 times) and BATE Borisov (who competed in the group stage of the the 2008-09 Champions League). All clubs in the league are restricted to 5 foreigners in a registered squad of 25 players of which only 4 foreign players can be selected for the first eleven. The league champions qualify for the Champions League 1st Qualifying Round while teams finishing 2nd and 3rd enter the UEFA Cup at the 1st Qualifying stage. The bottom 3 clubs are relegated to the First League.

The Clubs

BATE Borisov

Current top dogs in Belarusian football. BATE have won the Vysshaya Liga 5 times and are the only Belarusian club to have competed in the group stage of the Champions League. The club has an estimated value of £8.75m. BATE are overwhelming title favourites in the 1st season. Media Prediction = 1st.

Key player: Sergey Krivets

Worth a mention: Alexandr Yurevich, Vitaly Rodionov (on loan at Frieburg at start of game), Igor Stasevich

Darida-TDZh

One of the minnows of the league. Darida's highest league position was 8th in 2006. The club is semi-professional and has an estimated value of £350k. Media Prediction = 13th.

Key player: Igor Tarlovskiy

Worth a mention: Kirill Vertinskiy

Dinamo Brest

Dinamo Brest were formed in 1960. Their one major honour was their cup success in 2006 with their highest league placing being 7th in 1997. The club has an estimated value of £2.1m. Media prediction = 10th.

Key player: Roman Vasilyuk

Worth a mention: Alyaxey Baha, Segey Kozak, Alexandr Plotnikov

Dinamo Minsk

Dinamo Minsk are perhaps are the biggest, historic power in Belarusian football. In addition to winning the Vysshaya Liga 7 times (a record), they produced a remarkable achievement to win the Soviet Top League in 1982, beating traditional superpowers such as Dinamo Kiev, CSKA Moscow and Spartak Moscow. They followed this up with a run to the quarter final of the European Cup in 1983. Valentin Belkevich played for 5 years at Minsk before joining Dinamo Kiev in 1996 and earned 56 caps for Belarus, Sheffield United fans may remember Petr Kachouro - he started his career with Dinamo Minsk, as did Barca star Aliaksandr Hleb's brother Vyacheslav. The club has an estimated value of £3.4m. Media predication = 5th.

Key player: Bruno Mbanangoye

Worth a mention: Oleg Shkabara, Sergey Gurenko, Anton Putsilo

Dnepr Mogilev

Dnepr won the Belarusian title in 1998 but are currently at something of a low ebb with a media prediction of only 12th. Current manager Valery Streltsov is also the assistant manager of the Belarusian national team. The club has an estimated value of £975k.

Key player: Vladimir Shuneiko

Worth a mention: Evgeniy Kapov, Yury Lukashov

FC Gomel

Gomel are given a media predication of 2nd, mainly due to a 2nd place finish in 2007, however, prospective managers may struggle to meet that target with the players available. FC Gomel won their sole championship title in 2003. The club is valued at £1.4m.

Key player: Bressan

Worth a mention: Vladimir Gaev, Alexandr Klimenko

Lokomotiv Minsk

Another of the minnows. Lokomotiv are more regularly in the First League. With a media prediction of 14th and a highest ever league finish of 11th it will be a tough task to get Lokomotiv to match fierce city rivals Dinamo.

Key player: Dmitry Kabelskiy

Worth a mention: Pavel Shmigero, Sergey Shumanov

Mikashevichi

Mikashevichi are set to enjoy their first season in the Vysshaya Liga. This will be a tough challenge indeed with the media expecting a 16th and dead last position. The club is valued at £400k.

Key player: Alexandr Bylina

Worth a mention: Vadim Lasovskiy, Vagner, Yavgeniy Lashankov

MTZ-Ripo Minsk

Perhaps an up and coming power in Belarus. The club played in the top flight in 2004 and have already managed two top 3 finishes. They enjoyed a famous UEFA Cup success in 2005 over Ferencvaros and are part of Vladimir Romanov's soccer holding which also includes Hearts. The club have a valuation of £2.1m. Ipswich fans may be interested to know that MTZ have 'borrowed' their nickname and call themselves the Traktor Boys...

Key player: Oleg Strakhonovich

Worth a mention: Alexandr Sulima, Igor Maltsev, Anton Bubnov

Naftan Novopolotsk

Naftan are a steady if not exactly spectacular fixture in the Belarusian Premier. Their sole title success came back in 1995 and the media do not envisage a title challenge, predicting an 8th place finish. Despite this they do boost a collection of Belarusian internationals so they have the experience to spring a surprise. The club is valued at £1.7m.

Key player: Dmitriy Verkhovtsev

Worth a mention: Dmitriy Komarovskiy, Alexandr Degterev, Vitaly Volodenkov

Neman Grodno

Much like Naftan, Neman Grodno are a regular fixture in midtable, however they punched above their traditional weight to finish 2nd in 2002. Silverware was earned for a one and only time in 1993 with a cup success.

Key player: Vitaly Nadievskiy

Worth a mention: Dmitry Rovneiko, Igor Chumachenko, Ivan Denisevich

Savit Mogilev

Another club set to embark on their debut season in the Belarus Premier and another candidate for the drop with a predicted finish of 15th. Fans of Championship Manager 01-02 will be pleased to find that Savit is the home of a legend (see key player...)

Key player: MAXIM TSIGALKO!!!

Worth a mention: Iulian Bursuc, Dmitriy Rubnenko

Shakhter Soligorsk

Genuine title contenders and league champions in 2005, Shakhter are now a force to be reckoned with in Belarus. Valued at £1.3m and with a media prediction of 3rd.

Key player: Sergey Nikiforenko

Worth a mention: Alexandr Gren'kov, Sergey Kovalchuk, Mikhail Martinovich

FC Smorgen

Smorgon are a relatively new club to the Belarusian top flight, being promoted there for the first time in 2006. As recently as 1997 the club were languishing in the wilderness of the 4th tier of Belarusian football. The media predict an 11th place finish. The club has a value of £675k.

Key player: Willer Oliveira

Worth a mention: Olexandr Davydovych, Alexandr Vas. Baranov, Mikhail Litninchyuk

Torpedo Zhodino

Another of the mid-table candidates, Torpedo's best ever finish was 4th in 2004 and given the standard of the squad it would be quite an achievment to match or better that in the 1st season. The media predict a 7th place finish. Torpedo have an estimated value of £925k.

Key player: Igor Shitov

Worth a mention: Dmitriy Klimovich, Igor Voronkov, Andrey Sheryakov

FC Vitebsk

Vitebsk's only trophy was a cup triumph in 1997 and their highest ever league position was 3rd in the same year, but despite this there is some raw talent in their squad. The media predict a 6th place finish. Vitebsk are valued at the £1.8m mark. They are managed by Alexandr Khatskevich who played for Dinamo Kiev with distinction in the 1990's and earned 38 caps for Belarus.

Key player: Pavel Sitko

Worth a mention: Pavel Chesnovskiy, Artem Kosak, Alexandr Kobets

Well that's my lowdown on the runners and riders in Belarus, I don't expect many FM players to be too interested in trying what is essentially one of the weakest playable leagues in the game but feel free to post your experience of playing in this league or signing Belarusian players for your club. Good luck if you decide to give the Vysshaya Liga a spin!

Brilliant Opening post. Good luck with this. Never managed in Eastern Europe. Always wanted to though.

Top stuff

Ok, after playing FM09 predominantly in the major leagues of the world I decided it would be fun to manage a club in a league where I knew next to nothing about. That's where the Belarusian Vysshaya Liga comes in. I'm not sure how many FM players on the forum have tried their hand at management in Belarus, or would even be interested, but I'll give the league and its clubs a run-down and maybe you'll give it a spin.

The League

The Belarusian Vysshaya Liga (or Premier League) is the top tier of professional football in Belarus. The league was formed in 1992 after the break up of the Soviet Union and is currently home to 16 clubs. Traditionally, the strongest clubs are Dinamo Minsk (champions 7 times) and BATE Borisov (who competed in the group stage of the the 2008-09 Champions League). All clubs in the league are restricted to 5 foreigners in a registered squad of 25 players of which only 4 foreign players can be selected for the first eleven. The league champions qualify for the Champions League 1st Qualifying Round while teams finishing 2nd and 3rd enter the UEFA Cup at the 1st Qualifying stage. The bottom 3 clubs are relegated to the First League.

The Clubs

BATE Borisov

Current top dogs in Belarusian football. BATE have won the Vysshaya Liga 5 times and are the only Belarusian club to have competed in the group stage of the Champions League. The club has an estimated value of £8.75m. BATE are overwhelming title favourites in the 1st season. Media Prediction = 1st.

Key player: Sergey Krivets

Worth a mention: Alexandr Yurevich, Vitaly Rodionov (on loan at Frieburg at start of game), Igor Stasevich

Darida-TDZh

One of the minnows of the league. Darida's highest league position was 8th in 2006. The club is semi-professional and has an estimated value of £350k. Media Prediction = 13th.

Key player: Igor Tarlovskiy

Worth a mention: Kirill Vertinskiy

Dinamo Brest

Dinamo Brest were formed in 1960. Their one major honour was their cup success in 2006 with their highest league placing being 7th in 1997. The club has an estimated value of £2.1m. Media prediction = 10th.

Key player: Roman Vasilyuk

Worth a mention: Alyaxey Baha, Segey Kozak, Alexandr Plotnikov

Dinamo Minsk

Dinamo Minsk are perhaps are the biggest, historic power in Belarusian football. In addition to winning the Vysshaya Liga 7 times (a record), they produced a remarkable achievement to win the Soviet Top League in 1982, beating traditional superpowers such as Dinamo Kiev, CSKA Moscow and Spartak Moscow. They followed this up with a run to the quarter final of the European Cup in 1983. Valentin Belkevich played for 5 years at Minsk before joining Dinamo Kiev in 1996 and earned 56 caps for Belarus, Sheffield United fans may remember Petr Kachouro - he started his career with Dinamo Minsk, as did Barca star Aliaksandr Hleb's brother Vyacheslav. The club has an estimated value of £3.4m. Media predication = 5th.

Key player: Bruno Mbanangoye

Worth a mention: Oleg Shkabara, Sergey Gurenko, Anton Putsilo

Dnepr Mogilev

Dnepr won the Belarusian title in 1998 but are currently at something of a low ebb with a media prediction of only 12th. Current manager Valery Streltsov is also the assistant manager of the Belarusian national team. The club has an estimated value of £975k.

Key player: Vladimir Shuneiko

Worth a mention: Evgeniy Kapov, Yury Lukashov

FC Gomel

Gomel are given a media predication of 2nd, mainly due to a 2nd place finish in 2007, however, prospective managers may struggle to meet that target with the players available. FC Gomel won their sole championship title in 2003. The club is valued at £1.4m.

Key player: Bressan

Worth a mention: Vladimir Gaev, Alexandr Klimenko

Lokomotiv Minsk

Another of the minnows. Lokomotiv are more regularly in the First League. With a media prediction of 14th and a highest ever league finish of 11th it will be a tough task to get Lokomotiv to match fierce city rivals Dinamo.

Key player: Dmitry Kabelskiy

Worth a mention: Pavel Shmigero, Sergey Shumanov

Mikashevichi

Mikashevichi are set to enjoy their first season in the Vysshaya Liga. This will be a tough challenge indeed with the media expecting a 16th and dead last position. The club is valued at £400k.

Key player: Alexandr Bylina

Worth a mention: Vadim Lasovskiy, Vagner, Yavgeniy Lashankov

MTZ-Ripo Minsk

Perhaps an up and coming power in Belarus. The club played in the top flight in 2004 and have already managed two top 3 finishes. They enjoyed a famous UEFA Cup success in 2005 over Ferencvaros and are part of Vladimir Romanov's soccer holding which also includes Hearts. The club have a valuation of £2.1m. Ipswich fans may be interested to know that MTZ have 'borrowed' their nickname and call themselves the Traktor Boys...

Key player: Oleg Strakhonovich

Worth a mention: Alexandr Sulima, Igor Maltsev, Anton Bubnov

Naftan Novopolotsk

Naftan are a steady if not exactly spectacular fixture in the Belarusian Premier. Their sole title success came back in 1995 and the media do not envisage a title challenge, predicting an 8th place finish. Despite this they do boost a collection of Belarusian internationals so they have the experience to spring a surprise. The club is valued at £1.7m.

Key player: Dmitriy Verkhovtsev

Worth a mention: Dmitriy Komarovskiy, Alexandr Degterev, Vitaly Volodenkov

Neman Grodno

Much like Naftan, Neman Grodno are a regular fixture in midtable, however they punched above their traditional weight to finish 2nd in 2002. Silverware was earned for a one and only time in 1993 with a cup success.

Key player: Vitaly Nadievskiy

Worth a mention: Dmitry Rovneiko, Igor Chumachenko, Ivan Denisevich

Savit Mogilev

Another club set to embark on their debut season in the Belarus Premier and another candidate for the drop with a predicted finish of 15th. Fans of Championship Manager 01-02 will be pleased to find that Savit is the home of a legend (see key player...)

Key player: MAXIM TSIGALKO!!!

Worth a mention: Iulian Bursuc, Dmitriy Rubnenko

Shakhter Soligorsk

Genuine title contenders and league champions in 2005, Shakhter are now a force to be reckoned with in Belarus. Valued at £1.3m and with a media prediction of 3rd.

Key player: Sergey Nikiforenko

Worth a mention: Alexandr Gren'kov, Sergey Kovalchuk, Mikhail Martinovich

FC Smorgen

Smorgon are a relatively new club to the Belarusian top flight, being promoted there for the first time in 2006. As recently as 1997 the club were languishing in the wilderness of the 4th tier of Belarusian football. The media predict an 11th place finish. The club has a value of £675k.

Key player: Willer Oliveira

Worth a mention: Olexandr Davydovych, Alexandr Vas. Baranov, Mikhail Litninchyuk

Torpedo Zhodino

Another of the mid-table candidates, Torpedo's best ever finish was 4th in 2004 and given the standard of the squad it would be quite an achievment to match or better that in the 1st season. The media predict a 7th place finish. Torpedo have an estimated value of £925k.

Key player: Igor Shitov

Worth a mention: Dmitriy Klimovich, Igor Voronkov, Andrey Sheryakov

FC Vitebsk

Vitebsk's only trophy was a cup triumph in 1997 and their highest ever league position was 3rd in the same year, but despite this there is some raw talent in their squad. The media predict a 6th place finish. Vitebsk are valued at the £1.8m mark. They are managed by Alexandr Khatskevich who played for Dinamo Kiev with distinction in the 1990's and earned 38 caps for Belarus.

Key player: Pavel Sitko

Worth a mention: Pavel Chesnovskiy, Artem Kosak, Alexandr Kobets

Well that's my lowdown on the runners and riders in Belarus, I don't expect many FM players to be too interested in trying what is essentially one of the weakest playable leagues in the game but feel free to post your experience of playing in this league or signing Belarusian players for your club. Good luck if you decide to give the Vysshaya Liga a spin!

Great opener

Great OP, shall add it to the links thread.

I'm just starting a new game with Neftan so will update progress occasionally on this thread (I suspect I may be the only one though!).

Neftan's squad is ridiculously large at the start so 12 players have been shown the door already. My loyal assman stayed for 2 days before jumping ship to Dinamo Brest so the staff have been overhauled also. Trawling through the free transfer list at the moment, the most promising player appears to be Maxim Tsigalko's goalkeeping twin Yuri - he described my initial contract offer as laughable though so that's not so promising...

Just won my first friendly 4-0 against RGOUR Minsk, not getting carried away as they're non-league so decided not to give a full-time talk. The upshot of that is that over half my squad are now angry that I'm not giving them any credit... oh dear!

Will update when the season is well under way and will alert any lower league managers to any promising Belarusian players.

Loyal for a whole two days?

What’s your wage/transfer budget like?

Loyal for a whole two days?

What’s your wage/transfer budget like?

Yep two days, just checked his profile at Dinamo and he's already disappointed at how things are going - that's after 4 days!

Budget is £33k and I have to reduce the wage bill to bring other players in. The problem is no-one wants the players I don't need and sacking them and paying compensation would just be counter-productive. The key player I posted the screenie of for Neman is valued at £1.9m though so it might be an idea to invite offers for him in order to strengthen other areas of the team.

Nice post mate, hopefully some people will be encouraged to start a save in this league. Do keep us updated on how you are doing though!

Nice post mate, hopefully some people will be encouraged to start a save in this league. Do keep us updated on how you are doing though!

Will do Mikal, thought I'd just mention that I managed to sign Milevskiy on a free transfer... Scored on his debut too.

Yep two days, just checked his profile at Dinamo and he's already disappointed at how things are going - that's after 4 days!

Budget is £33k and I have to reduce the wage bill to bring other players in. The problem is no-one wants the players I don't need and sacking them and paying compensation would just be counter-productive. The key player I posted the screenie of for Neman is valued at £1.9m though so it might be an idea to invite offers for him in order to strengthen other areas of the team.

Haha four days and he's disappointed already.

Thanks for the budget answer.

may aswell give it a go later, none of my other saves tickling my pickle at the mo. Try to reintroduce total football back into eastern european football

p.s. Any other leagues you would recommend running alongside? i'm guessing just the other former soviet states? the ones that are on there anyway

may aswell give it a go later, none of my other saves tickling my pickle at the mo. Try to reintroduce total football back into eastern european football

p.s. Any other leagues you would recommend running alongside? i'm guessing just the other former soviet states? the ones that are on there anyway

Well I have virtually all the eastern european leagues running. I would strongly recommend Ukraine certainly. Just picked up an 18 year old midfielder from Chernomorets for £1k who is potentially a lot stronger than anyone in his position in my squad. I'd also recommend loading all players from Belarus and from the likes of Armenia, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. Don't forget however that you are restricted to 5 foreigners in your squad and 4 in your first 11.

Who would you say is the star player in the whole league (after Krivets)

Who would you say is the star player in the whole league (after Krivets)

I would say that stats wise Dinamo Minsk midfielder Bruno Mbanangoye (along with Krivets) is probably the strongest all rounder in the league, that's backed up by the fact that clubs in the Premiership, La Liga and the Bundesliga are after him in my game.

started a Dinamo Minsk game last night, its going reasonably well apart from i just lost the big game against BATE so they've gone 5 points clear of me in the league (after 11 games iirc).

Kept their base formation as i assumed the default would be suitable (3-4-2-1) considering i knew nothing abotu the players. First thing i did was to cut some dead wood, selling youngster Gaev, Brazillian Adriano and some other squad players to free up some wages.

I only brought in a couple of players (with not knowing the squad), a keeper, i got ????? from Lokomotiv Moscow on loan (the Belarus u18 goalkeeper), and brought in a Belarusian striker, and a Belarusian AMRL. Overall, all is going well, got knocked out of the federation cup not realising only the top team of the group went through (lost out on GD), but started the league rather well, and in total i've only had 2 draws and 1 loss (to BATE) so far.

Got a bit unlucky in that the chairman looking to step aside was only replaced by another board member who did not provide any cash injection upon his takeover, but all in all i'm looking good for a top 3 finish and europe next season

started a Dinamo Minsk game last night, its going reasonably well apart from i just lost the big game against BATE so they've gone 5 points clear of me in the league (after 11 games iirc).

Kept their base formation as i assumed the default would be suitable (3-4-2-1) considering i knew nothing abotu the players. First thing i did was to cut some dead wood, selling youngster Gaev, Brazillian Adriano and some other squad players to free up some wages.

I only brought in a couple of players (with not knowing the squad), a keeper, i got ????? from Lokomotiv Moscow on loan (the Belarus u18 goalkeeper), and brought in a Belarusian striker, and a Belarusian AMRL. Overall, all is going well, got knocked out of the federation cup not realising only the top team of the group went through (lost out on GD), but started the league rather well, and in total i've only had 2 draws and 1 loss (to BATE) so far.

Got a bit unlucky in that the chairman looking to step aside was only replaced by another board member who did not provide any cash injection upon his takeover, but all in all i'm looking good for a top 3 finish and europe next season

Nice start elgreenio. Minsk do appear to have a pretty reasonable squad relatively speaking, I'm a bit mystified that they're given a media prediction of 5th. You have a very good player in Putsilo (sp?), overlooked him in my synopsis at the start but he may be one of the most effective players in the league and is capable of playing at a higher level.

Haven't had much chance to play in the past couple of days, so only played one league game last night. Good debuts for my 2 teenage Ukrainians in a 3-0 win. Made the same mistake as you at not looking at the rules for the Fed Cup and went out in 2nd with 1 win and 2 draws. Oh well, unbeaten in 4 competitive games so far. Will update again at around the half way point in the season.

to be honest it's like the old AMC bug is back for me, Playing Putsilo and Mbanangoye as my two AMC's and if they don't manage to get a goal, they usually get a 5.7-5.9 rating, but i'm sure some individual tactics tweaks can change that, although Putsilo does have great potential by the looks of things

Yeah its got to the point where I very rarely use the AMC position any for that reason. I'll either play a striker with a back arrow and lowered mentality or a centre mid with mentality on the 2nd or 3rd notch of attacking to fit that role in the team.

Player ratings really do need an overhaull in FM10.

Got to the halfway stage in the season and have managed to guide the modest Naftan Novopolotsk squad up to 4th in the Belarusian Premier, 5 points behind BATE (who have a game in hand) and Dinamo Minsk:

Mid-season table

The standard of our football has hardly been exhilirating but we've managed to grind out some good wins to keep in touch, barely, with the leaders. The problem is that BATE and Dinamo are just too strong. I'd compare BATE to an average Championship club in terms of quality, with Dinamo being slightly behind that, maybe League 1 play-offs. The rest are League 2/Conference, and that's being generous. Thankfully Dinamo have just sold two of their best midfielders, Putsilo for £425k and Kislyak for a measly 70k.

Kislyak is definitely someone who lower league managers could go for at that price + he's only 20 and can develop further. Other bargains outside the top two that spring to mind include Yuriy Tsigalko (GK, free agent), Pavel Plaskonny (DC/DL, free agent and in the Belarusian national squad), Sergey Kozak (DMC/MC/MR, Dinamo Brest, 375k), Nicolas (AMC/FC, MTZ-Ripo, 110K), Vitaly Rozgon (versatile def available for free from Mashuk in Russia), Dmitriy Komarovskiy (AMC/FC, Naftan, 150k), Mohamed Seydou Dera (DMC/MC/ML, Neman Grodno, 50k), Yuriy Tselykh (ST, Vitebsk, 26k), Vagner (AM RLC, Mikashevichi, 50k), Taina Adama Soro (DC/DMC/MC, First league Minsk, 12k).

I managed to pick up two teenagers from Chornomorets in the Ukraine, midfielder Dmytro Koloda and striker Denys Vasin for a combined total of 1k who are promising and I'm sure would be good signings for Blue Sq N/S and Conference managers.

On course for a European spot although my best defender by a mile has just pulled his hamstring so we may struggle a little.

Fourth place, that's good going must be a struggle though?

Fourth place, that's good going must be a struggle though?

Its a struggle all right, but there is a satisfication to be had from playing the game at this level that you don't quite have at the likes of Man Utd, Barcelone, Liverpool etc. Everyone knows the transfer targets to go for at the big clubs but the transfer market in Eastern Europe is a total mystery, just brought in a free full back that my fans are rejoicing at!

Just beat Torpedo Zhidino 2-0 away (they were unbeaten in 8). Was 0-0 with 15 to go, we'd been defensive all game so I decided to make a few attacking changes and go for it, 82nd min my reserve striker, who hadn't scored for the club, dances past three defenders and cracks one into the bottom corner - we then added another on the break in the last minute. Was happier with that result than any I've had in my Man Utd save to be honest!

I've said it before on this thread, but this guy really is a great free transfer signing. Lower league managers - snap him up:

What does his profile/stats look like?

What does his profile/stats look like?

Tsigalko

His average rating is nothing special, but his goals conceded/clean sheet record is great and he just keeps getting picked in the team of the week.

On another note things are looking up as BATE and especially Dinamo Minsk have been pillaged in the transfer window and lost several of their best players. BATE have only conceded 5 goals in 19 league games and have just beaten a very strong Shakthar Donetsk 1-0 in the 1st leg of the final qualifying round of the CL. Tough team to compete with.

Thanks.

Don't like to lose the guy but that's a hell of a profit to make on a player I signed for £1,000 only 5 months ago:

End of Season Update

Thought I'd post a quick end of season update - we managed to nick into 4th spot after MTZ lost there last two games. So we qualify for the UEFA Cup if BATE, Dinamo Minsk or Dinamo Brest (extremely likely) win the Belarusian Cup which is at the quarter final stage. Curiously though the cup doesn't resume until April, a whole 6 months away! A very odd way to run a competition.

Final Table

Naftan Squad

So BATE ran away with the league as predicted despite losing Krivets to CSKA Moscow for £2.6m. Brilliant 20 year old winger Pavel Nekhaychik easily filled the gap scoring and creating freely to win midfielder of the year. Team mate Yuriy Tselykh won player of the year (* a nice little touch in this league which I hadn't seen before is you get to vote for your player of the year, you also vote for your favourite goalie, defender, midfielder and striker). An example of BATE's strength was winning 5 and drawing 1 of 6 games in 9 days (6 in 9 days!) without conceding towards the end of the season.

My favourite moments of the season were:

1. Beating MTZ 4-0 to stay in touch with 4th place near the end of the season - Zuev scoring a first half hat-trick

2. My captain Verkhovtsev winning MOM in a Belarus-Argentina (containing Tevez and Aguero) game despite only coming on in the 71st minute.

3. Young Ukranian discovery Denys Vasin scoring home and away for BATE against Valencia in the UEFA Cup shortly after his £500k transfer from Naftan.

Congratulations with finishing fourth, great job.

good stuff CPS, see my mighty Minsk got 2nd. I havn't had chance to play but i should get back on it tonight and give an update soon.

p.s. Putsilo broke his foot(i think it was foot, may have been leg), out for 5-6months

good stuff CPS, see my mighty Minsk got 2nd. I havn't had chance to play but i should get back on it tonight and give an update soon.

p.s. Putsilo broke his foot(i think it was foot, may have been leg), out for 5-6months

Yeah the mighty Minsk got second but they were well behind BATE to be honest. They've lost most of your best players - Putsilo went to Romania but is attracting teams in France and Holland and Mbanagoye is having a tough 1st seasond in the Premier League wth Stoke. The problem with that is that BATE and Minsk come after my best players now. Lost Vasin as I mentioned, now my Armenian full back Melikyan, who I signed for £8k has gone to Dinamo for a cool £500,000. He was a revelation in the 15 or so games he played for me so sorry to lose him.

Just getting underway with season 2 after an interminable post-season. Quite pleased with the squad I've managed to assemble now though, virtually all the dead wood (about 30 players) has been got rid of. Just won 4-1 away in the 1st Fed Cup game with my Cameroonian debutant getting a great goal. Would like to bring in a quality left back and striker and I can leave the transfer market behind. Young Koloda is progressing nicely as a deep-lying playmaker in midfield, he won Belarus signing of the season and I just hope the big guns don't prise him away.

**Quick tip** Try and sign a teenage fullback called Farhod Vasiev from Tajikistan who plays for Saturn. I would've had him for £75k if I could have afforded it at the time but he went to KamAZ instead. He's well out of my reach now, in fact Saturn are trying to buy him back for £350k only a few months later. His stats are terrific for his age.

**Quick tip** Try and sign a teenage fullback called Farhod Vasiev from Tajikistan who plays for Saturn. I would've had him for £75k if I could have afforded it at the time but he went to KamAZ instead. He's well out of my reach now, in fact Saturn are trying to buy him back for £350k only a few months later. His stats are terrific for his age.

i'll give him a look. it may be worth mentioning him in the headhunters lair (if thats still going)

So we qualify for the UEFA Cup if BATE, Dinamo Minsk or Dinamo Brest (extremely likely) win the Belarusian Cup which is at the quarter final stage.

So a cup success for BATE gave the minnows of Naftan a rare chance for a European adventure. We came through the first 2 qualifying rounds against Macedonian and Kazakh opponents and were massive underdogs when paired with Loko Sofia in the next round. I was delighted, not to say shocked, when we steamrolled through 7-3 on agg. Loko Sofia were Bulgarian runners-up and not a greyed out squad if you were wondering!

That left us one win from the UEFA/Europa league group stage, unfortunately we got paired with Monaco to scupper that plan. Despite that we put up a stirring display at home only going down 4-2 after two late goals for them (their young striker Bakar was just too strong). Dymtro Koloda once again proved his class with a terrific solo goal. That leaves mission impossible for the away leg but it is a few much needed pounds in the coffers.

The downside of this European run is that, as the Belarusian league starts in February, we have a fixture pile up in the league run in.

Quick related question, what dictates the number of injuries you sustain in a game, is it down to physical factors such as natural fitness and stamina? We’ve had some horrific injuries from torn hamstrings, fractured skulls and broken arms that my squad can barely cope with. I’ve reduced training and it is the 9.3.0 update I’m using – bare in mind I very rarely start with a player if his fitness is less than 90%.

Full season update to come.

Naftan End of 2nd Season Update

CHAMPIONS!

Well what a season. Managed to take the title from BATE against all the odds. In a very close run in. With 5 games to go we were neck and neck on level points - we then win away to Dnepr with a goal 4 minutes into injury time (there were only supposed to be 3, thanks ref!) and BATE draw at home after Lokomotiv score a surprse late equaliser. So a two point advantage for us going into a crunch home game vs BATE. We somehow manage to score twice in the last 5 minutes to force a 2-2 draw to mantain the advantage. We both win the third from last game, then we pull another rabbit out of the hat in the penultimate match:

Miracle comeback vs Dinamo Brest

So we still held a 2 point lead going into the last away game against, you guessed it, BATE (our fixtures kept getting moved back due to European commitments). I played 5 in the middle of the park and stifled them knowing a draw would do, we held them 0-0 comfortably despite a cavalry charge from them in the last 5 minutes.

Final Table

Key Players

Jean-Paul Boya Ntsogo

What can I say about this guy other than he was an absolute star on the right wing. Signed for £18k from the wilderness of Slovak lower leagues, he ended the season valued at £675k and earned a call up to the Cameroonian national squad. Winner of the Belarusian league's best foreign player and also winner of the midfielder of the year.

Artem Fedorchenko

An £8k signing from Vitebsk, this centre half was a beast in defence and attack. His goalscoring record from free kicks, penalties and set piece headers was exceptional. Won defender of the year and ended the season valued at £600k.

Dmytro Koloda

I've banged on about this guy a bit on this thread but picking him up for free was a great piece of business. We simply wouldn't have won the league without him pulling the strings in midfield. He's now been called up to the Ukranian U-21's and has a host of clubs looking to bring him back to his home country.

I might stick it out for one more season in Belarus to see if I an squeeze into the CL Group Stage. This league can be a lot of fun though and that was probably my favourite season in a FM/CM game for a long time.

CPS

Congrats with the fine season.

Woohoo! Champions League football comes to Novopolotsk in only the 3rd season. Pretty pleased with that as Naftan's rep is only:

The club is actually starting to become quite rich, but the facilities need major investment. The ground capacity is only 5,300 for instance.

This post has got me and will be starting a fresh game tomorrow in the Belarus league. Just wondering what picture pack your using?

This post has got me and will be starting a fresh game tomorrow in the Belarus league. Just wondering what picture pack your using?

You can download a facepack here:

http://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2009/03/belarus-facepack-for-football-manager-2009/

Badges can be fond on www.sortitoutsi.net

Good luck with your game, what team are you going for?

I think I'm going to start as BATE. I'll keep you updated.

I think I'm going to start as BATE. I'll keep you updated.

Cool, BATE have a very strong squad. You can definitely make the CL group stages in the first season. Just be aware of this problem if you intend to play a long term game though:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=134270

Ahh I don't think I could deal with that.