[FM10] Crazy Canuck on Global Managerial Tour: Life Outside the Lower Leagues

[rancer890]

New York Red Bulls and World Cup 2014 Update

Australia

Andy Martin

• June 13 vs Egypt (W 4-0): 7.3 rating
  
• June 18 vs Belgium (W 2-1): DNP
  
• June 24 vs Brazil (L 0-2): 6.5 rating
  
• June 28 vs France (L 0-1): DNP
  

United States

Peri Marosevic

• June 14 vs Switzerland (W 4-2): DNP
  
• June 19 vs France (D 0-0): 6.9 rating
  
• June 24 vs Ivory Coast (L 1-3): 6.7 rating
  
• June 28 vs Brazil (L 0-2): 6.9 rating
  

Anthony Boytchuk

• June 14 vs Switzerland (W 4-2): DNP
  
• June 19 vs France (D 0-0): DNP
  
• June 24 vs Ivory Coast (L 1-3): DNP
  
• June 28 vs Brazil (L 0-2): DNP
  

Australia and USA were both knocked out in the Second Round of the World Cup.

[rancer890]

2014 World Cup in Brazil

Group Stage

Advances from Group Stage

Group A - Brazil, Australia, Belgium, Egypt

Group B - France, United States, Switzerland, Ivory Coast

Group C - Argentina, Mexico, Senegal, Croatia

Group D - Paraguay, Nigeria, England, UAE

Group E - Spain, Romania, Colombia, Honduras

Group F - Portugal, Turkey, Chile, South Korea

Group G - Italy, Russia, Japan, Ecuador

Group H - Germany, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Second Round

Brazil 2-0 United States

France 1-0 Australia

Nigeria 1-2 Argentina

Mexico 4-0 Paraguay

Spain 3-1 Turkey

Romania (p) 1-1 Portugal

Italy 3-0 Ghana

Russia (e) 2-1 Germany

Quarter-Final

Brazil 2-1 Mexico

France 1-2 Argentina

Spain (e) 4-2 Russia

Romania 2-2 (p) Italy

Semi-Final

Brazil (e) 2-0 Italy

Argentina 2-1 Spain

3rd Place Playoff

Italy 0-1 Spain

Final

Brazil 1-2 Argentina

Awards

Best Goalkeeper - Diego Cavalieri, Gianluigi Buffon, Iker Casillas

Best Player - Robinho, Pato, Didler Drogba

Golden Boot - Didler Drogba, Robinho, Milan Baros

I have applied for the following international jobs: USA, Brazil, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Germany. I'm not sure if I will resign from NYRB if I get an international job, but I'll see.

[iacovone]

Good luck rancer. International management has been a refreshingly nice career move for me. Really enjoying myself at Cameroon (mainly because we're a lot better than anyone I've faced )

[rancer890]

Good luck rancer. International management has been a refreshingly nice career move for me. Really enjoying myself at Cameroon (mainly because we're a lot better than anyone I've faced )

...I got passed over by all the nations (well I got offered the Turkish job but wanted the USA badly so rejected (a delay international job offer would be nice...) that but Dominic Kinnear got the USA job so I applied the Turkish vacant position again and they picked someone else. The Danish national job opening was also available but they picked someone else too).

Oh well, I still have New York and trophies to win in North America.

[rancer890]

New York Red Bulls

July 2014

1st: at Charleston - Open Cup 3rd Round - W 2-0 - Peri Marosevic (2)

Charleston had more possession but you can't win if you don't shoot.

8th: vs Real Salt Lake - Open Cup Quarter-Final - W 2-1 - Peri Marosevic (2)

A good game against RSL as usual (they seem to be my personal rival now). Marosevic scored the game winner in the 92nd minute.

12th: vs Monterrey - Superliga - W 2-0 - Peri Marosevic, Ruben De la Red

An even game in ever statistic except the scoreboard.

15th: vs Tigres - Superliga - D 0-0

A game where we created a lot of chances, but none of them hit the back of the net.

17th: vs Columbus - MLS - D 1-1 - Gary McClellan

On a game we lost our players to the All-Star game, we lose the win on a 90th minute goal by Columbus.

19th: vs Kansas City - MLS - W 2-0 - Peri Marosevic, Leonid Chyzhevskyi

In front of another near full house at Red Bull Arena, we win again as Chyzhevskyi finally scores.

22nd: at Chicago - Superliga - D 1-1 - Sam Cronin

We were struggling for most of the game against Chicago at Toyota Park but a Cronin strike outside the box in the 76th minute salvaged a draw and top spot in the Group.

25th: at LA Galaxy - MLS - D 0-0

We were dominating from start to finish, but we can only get a draw.

29th: vs Pumas - Superliga Semi-Final - W 5-3

A wild game. We were only down 1-0 at halftime but Pumas were constantly attacking and they were going to score more, so I went with the most angriest half time talk you can get and that turned the game around. Boytchuk started off the bench after Marosevic was having a bad game and scored a hat-trick in his best game of the year. The final is against my rival, Real Salt Lake.

31st: vs Chivas USA - MLS - W 1-0 - Leonid Chyzhevskyi

A nice game considering we lost Seth Stammler to injury, and Ruben De la Red and Mark Randall to red cards. Chyzhevskyi scored in the 94th minute to steal 3 points.

MLS Standings

Superliga

In the CONCACAF Champions League, we are in the Preliminary Round against Club Franciscian (Martinique), although those matches won't be until the end of August. Another busy month in August, with MLS, Open Cup, Superliga Final, and CONCACAF Champions League.

[DodgeeD]

Looks like another busy summer - and in World Cup year as well!

A shame you missed out on the Turkish job.

[rancer890]

Looks like another busy summer - and in World Cup year as well!

A shame you missed out on the Turkish job.

Thanks Big D. Mind, I did reject them first.. (to see if I would get the USA job), but as you will see in the next monthly update, I have several reasons to celebrate, and it's not trophy related (not entirely anyways )

[rancer890]

New York Red Bulls

August 2014

2nd: vs Colorado - MLS - D 2-2 - Peri Marosevic, Anthony Boytchuk

We had a comfortable 2-0 lead just to throw it all away in the last 15 minutes...

5th: at Real Salt Lake - Superliga Final - W 2-1

A fantastic start in the opening third of the match gives the club its first Superliga victory and my first trophy with New York!!!

7th: at Chicago - MLS - D 3-3 - Peri Marosevic, Sam Cronin, Anthony Boytchuk

We were on our way to a comfortable victory until Marvell Wynne got red carded in the 35th minute and went from 2-0 up to 3-2 down after 70 minutes. Fortunately, Boytchuk scored a key goal to salvage a draw.

12th: vs San Jose - Open Cup Semi-Final - W 2-1 - Leonid Chyzhevskyi (2)

Two goals in the first half by Chyzhevskyi send us to our first Open Cup Final (2nd final if you include the Final under the New York/New Jersey Metrostars). We didn't play with several starters because I didn't know they were playing internationals...

16th: at Kansas City - MLS - D 1-1 - Peri Marosevic

Marosevic gave us the early lead, albeit for only 3 minutes before KC equalized and both teams got a point.

20th: vs Kansas City - Open Cup Final - W 2-0

A solid team effort and my strikers contributing as usual gives us our second trophy (and my second trophy) this month!

24th: at Chivas USA - MLS - W 2-1 - Sam Cronin, Mark Randall

Two early goals from my midfielders Cronin and Randall hold off a late charge by Chivas USA to get another 3 points and stay close to TFC for top spot in the East.

27th: vs Club Franciscain - Champions League Prelim Leg 1 - W 7-0 - Peri Marosevic (2), Leonid Chyzhevskyi (3), Sam Cronin, Baiano

A dominant win from start to finish, that could have been a lot uglier...Marosevic got injured and out for nearly a month though, so the second leg will have more fringe players playing (but Chyzhevskyi and Boychuk up front because I only have 3 strikers).

Standings

A busy September with 7 league games, and probably 2-3 Champions League group stage matches.

Indonesian National Team

I accepted the Indonesian offer on August 17th, and immediately resigned as the Socceroos U19 boss. We have a lot of players playing outside the country, and some playing in Europe as well. We're 79th in the World Ranking so will look to improve that. We're not world-beaters yet, but with young talent like Dedik Huda, Ahmad Hidayat, and Ahmad Sutopo, the future is certainly bright for Indonesia.

There are 3 friendlies for 2014, all at Indonesia, against: Saudi Arabia (Sept. 6), China (Sept. 10), and Japan (Oct. 11).

NOTE: the game doesn't seem to know that I resigned from the Aussie U19s (like this) and I want to edit this to show I resigned on 17.8.2014 but I can't find this on FMRTE 2010. Anyone got any ideas? (the same thing happened on my FM09 career game. The Senegalese Ass Man kept giving me reports of players I don't care about even though I moved onto another country )

[DodgeeD]

Double congrats on our first trophies. Got the Mickey Mouse tuff out of the way now - time to go after the real silverware.

Interesting job op with Indonesia (must be annoying though to get it more easily than in your challenge save!). Any competitive games coming up?

[rancer890]

Double congrats on our first trophies. Got the Mickey Mouse tuff out of the way now - time to go after the real silverware.

Interesting job op with Indonesia (must be annoying though to get it more easily than in your challenge save!). Any competitive games coming up?

2 down, 2 to go (MLS Cup, Champions League).

I was looking for a European job, but I couldn't resist applying to Indonesia because I didn't get it while at Persma. I have no competitive games for 2014, but hope the friendlies can get me to know the squad. I recalled quite a few youngsters for the first match against the Saudis so hope all goes well in my debut. I actually might stay with them and try and win the World Cup with them (like the unfinished part of my challenge ).

[Raware]

At last! Some silverware! Good job rancer, it's about time! I see Marosevic and Chyzhevskyi are still banging the goals in .

As DodgeeD said, interesting choice in taking the Indonesia job. It'll be tough to get them to compete with the big boys of Asia but if anyone can, i'm sure it'll be you, helped with your experience in Indonesia with Persma.

[rancer890]

New York Red Bulls

September 2014

3rd: at Club Franciscain - Champions League Prelim Rnd Leg 2 - W 3-0 - Leonid Chyzhevskyi, Mark Randall, Anthony Boytchuk

13th: at FC Dallas - MLS - W 1-0 - Ruben De la Red

15th: vs San Jose - MLS - D 2-2 - Ruben De la Red, Chad Barrett

17th: at Monterrey - Champions League Group Stage - L 0-2

20th: at Colorado - MLS - L 0-3

22nd: vs Toronto FC - MLS - L 0-2

24th: vs Motagua - Champions League Group Stage - W 2-0 - Peri Marosevic

27th: vs LA Galaxy - MLS - W 3-1 - Anthony Boytchuk, Gary McClellan, Chad Barrett

29th: vs Columbus - MLS - W 2-0 - Peri Marosevic, Sam Cronin

In short, we had a bad month (which is the update is so condensed...). We lost Chyzhevskyi for over a month on the first game of the month and then lost Bouzanis, De la Red, Randall, Marosevic, all to injury, and Wynne to a 3 game suspension. In short, we lost because of injury and the yearly MLS fixture pileup at the end of the season. I had to sign Chad "I can't score on an open net IRL" Barrett (even though he scored 2 goals for NYRB, I still hate him ) just because he was the best American striker unattached and the foreign ones would be useless for this season since I can't get them immediately onto the team (they would join the team in Jan. 2015, which is obviously way too late for the playoffs). Thanks to MLS, I had to play games every other day (much of the same next month ).

Indonesia

6th: vs Saudi Arabia - Friendly - W 1-0 - Hermawan Jati

10th: vs China - Friendly - D 0-0

A good first couple games for Indonesia. I've gone for the same tactic as my Red Bulls club. There's a good foundation at the club, and I'm choosing the younger footballers with a couple veterans. It's ambitious but I want to get Indonesia to the World Cup in 2018.

MLS Standings

Champions League Standings

[iacovone]

Going well rancer . Two trophies so far is a great return this season. Hope you have fun at Indonesia, that's two promising results so far.

[rancer890]

New York Red Bulls

October 2014

1st: vs Toronto FC - Champions League Group Stage - D 0-0

6th: vs Real Salt Lake - MLS - L 0-1

8th: vs Monterrey - Champions League Group Stage - W 2-1 - Anthony Boytchuk, Daniel Bergara

13th: at San Jose - MLS - W 5-3 - Sam Cronin, Leonid Chyzhevskyi, Chad Barrett, Anthony Boytchuk, Luke Sassano

15th: at Chicago - MLS - W 1-0 - Luke Sassano

18th: vs Chicago - MLS - W 2-1 - Baiano, Peri Marosevic

22nd: at Motagua - Champions League Group Stage - W 2-1 - Peri Marosevic, Mark Randall

25th: at Seattle - MLS - L 1-2 - Mark Randall

29th: at Toronto FC - Champions League Group Stage - D 2-2 - Anthony Boytchuk, Chad Barrett

We had an okay month...we were still struggling without our key players at the beginning of the month but once we were at full health we were unstoppable. A lucky win against Monterrey was because the game winner was a penalty. The San Jose game was a goal fest as the clubs kept exchanging goals, and showed how good we are with a healthy lineup. We lost Hainault and Wynne before the Seattle game and if we won we would have clinched the East, but alas we didn't and will settle for 2nd place in the East and 3rd in the Overall Table. We were in danger of getting eliminated from the Group Stages of the Champions League but a draw at Toronto meant we're advancing and TFC are not. Eastern Conference Semi-Final is against Kansas City.

MLS Standings

Playoff Table

Champions League

The media was also touting me as the new manager of PSV but that never materialized.

I'm looking real close at the Everton managerial post (last in EPL atm), but with Moyes earning $4.3 million/year with 4 years remaining on that contract, I don't think I would want to go to a club with unstable finances if Moyes is sacked. I'm also looking at CSKA Moscow. The contract of the current manager is expiring at the end of the year and it doesn't look like he will be resigned.

Indonesia

11th: vs Japan - Friendly - W 1-0 - Ronny Dodi

Japan were the stronger team this entire match, but we just scored that one goal to give us another victory. Just like that Hong Kong vs Japan match IRL (Raware should know). We're now 57th. 2 wins and 1 draw against the best of Asia with a young team. Not bad at all...

[Raware]

Looking good on all fronts so far rancer .

A move to CSKA Moscow would be a great move. I had a great career with them on 08, taking them to UEFA and Champions League glory in 7 years. I really enjoyed the Russian league and found some great players there.

Also, great win against Japan . They're probably the strongest team in Asia so to nick it 1-0 is a great result even if it was a friendly. You're right about the HK v Japan fixture IRL. Japan were all over HK but HK hung on in there to make it to the final and win it...first time ever! HK stadium was buzzing .

[rancer890]

Looking good on all fronts so far rancer .

A move to CSKA Moscow would be a great move. I had a great career with them on 08, taking them to UEFA and Champions League glory in 7 years. I really enjoyed the Russian league and found some great players there.

Also, great win against Japan . They're probably the strongest team in Asia so to nick it 1-0 is a great result even if it was a friendly. You're right about the HK v Japan fixture IRL. Japan were all over HK but HK hung on in there to make it to the final and win it...first time ever! HK stadium was buzzing.

I was a bit surprised the manager didn't call up any of the foreigners who took up HK citizenship. But it was just shocking at how HK equalized early in the 2nd half. I was a bit surprised that the goalscorer even got a trial in England. The English clubs really do look at the HK clubs after all.

In a matter of fact, one HK player is playing football outside China/HK. He is based in England, at Crewe, Zak Deane. He assisted with Crewe's promotion push to League One, scoring 24 goals, 2 assists, and 7.0 rating in 48 games last season. And he started out at HK as well.

[rancer890]

New York Red Bulls

2014 MLS Playoffs!

November 2014

MLS Eastern Conference Quarter-Final

1st: at Kansas City - 1st leg - W 3-1 - Sam Cronin, Chad Barrett, Gary McClellan

Despite being outplayed by Kansas City, we end up winning the 1st leg and having a relatively comfortable return leg at Red Bull Arena to hopefully advance to the Semis either at Toronto or home against Chicago.

8th: vs Kansas City - 2nd leg - D 1-1 - Baiano

Solid return leg and we did what we needed to advance to the Semi-Final...at home against Chicago, who defeated TFC 3-0 on aggregate. I didn't think we would win against Toronto FC.

MLS Eastern Conference Final

15th: vs Chicago - W 5-2

Fantastic match. From the beginning it looked like it was going to be a high scoring affair, and I was not wrong. Our club was just unstoppable this game. And with this win we advance to our 2nd consecutive MLS Cup Final!

MLS Cup

23rd: vs San Jose (at Columbus) - W 6-3

We certainly couldn't stop the Albanian international Berisha from scoring a hat-trick, but we certainly stopped the rest of the team, and De la Red is leaving for HSV in January but we send him off with a championship.

The game itself looked like another high scoring affair, with both clubs creating chances. I was a bit concerned after going down 2-1 that Berisha and co. were going to run away with the match. However, with Randall and Marosevic's goal just before half time, we had the 3-2 lead and I sensed that the momentum was going our way. Chyzhevskyi's trademark strike gave us a 2 goal lead but the 3rd Berisha goal got me a bit worried and replaced the tiring Chyzhevskyi with Boytchuk. I was looking at the clock constantly and when I saw Jason Hernandez foul Cronin in the 90th minute I knew he was going to get a red card. Boytchuk scored 2 quick ones in extra time and when the whistle blew we were crowded MLS Cup Champions!!!

\o/ We are the Champions! \o/

The end-of-season update will be coming soon.

And I will be keeping my options open for managing in Europe.

Looking at the job security, here are some managerial posts I would be interested in, in random order:

• Kaiserslautern (2.Bundesliga) - very insecure - sitting 15th in the German 2nd Division, manager Erwald Lienen ($450k/yr till 2017) has a very insecure job, and the club has secure finances. However, I'm not too sure whether I want to join a non-top flight club. And anyways, iacovone is there already.
  
• Everton (EPL) - very insecure - last in the EPL, with 7 points in 13 games, the Toffees are really struggling under David Moyes after seeing him just narrowly avoid relegation the previous season. It's a job I really want, but Moyes has a $4.3 million contract through 2018. If the Toffees sack him, there's going to a lot of work to do to save this club. Not to mention I will have to rebuild the squad even if I get the job.
  
• Stuttgart (1.Bundesliga) - very insecure - 9th in the 1.Bundesliga, they're not exactly in a relegation spot, but being touted by the media to win the title, 9th place is unacceptable. Markus Babbel has a $2.2 million contract through 2018.
  
• CSKA Moscow (Russian Premier League) - very insecure - having finished the season in 7th, CSKA Moscow will not appear in Europe for the 2015 season. With the current manager's contract set to expire in the end of 2014, it is looking very likely that CSKA will want a replacement. I'm not too sure whether that replacement is me though. As much as I want to go to Europe, Russia seems very unknown to me. However, they also have excellent facilities and if I get the job, I can get them back to the Champions League.
  
• Anderlecht (Belgian Pro League) - very insecure - currently 8th, Anderlecht are not the big club in Belgium anymore, and have faded since winning the league back in 2010. It's not a big club, and Belgium was always a place I fancied managing, but is Anderlecht right for me? Declaring in this vacant job in 2010 was the reason I got sacked from Beijing.
  
• Liverpool (EPL) - insecure - in 6th place in the EPL. I can always dream. Liverpool are a big club, and I probably have no credentials for a Big Four club, but who wouldn't want to manage at Liverpool. And I think I'm way better than Benitez ($8.25 million until 2017). Hicks and Gillett left a year ago, no more excuses at Anfield. On another thought, if they sack Benitez, Liverpool will be in financial ruin with the compensation package for him...the new manager will have to pull off a 'Terk' to save the club.
  
• Manchester United (EPL) - insecure - currently 11th in the EPL. Who doesn't want to manage one of the world's most well known clubs? I know it will be impossible for me to get this job, but Javier Aguirre ($2.1 million through 2016) is on the hot seat to get results ASAP.
  
• Barcelona (La Liga) - insecure - currently 9th in La Liga. A bit surprised at their record, considering they still have a lot of their stars at the club. Josep Guardiola needs to step it up and get Barca back into Champions League contention, although the prospect of winning the league is bleak.
  

Well, those are the jobs I'm interested in. But realistically, I might manage in Russia or Germany. I really like the Everton job but I'm going to have to be a selling club and try and stay in the Premier League, a near impossible task for me tbh.

[rancer890]

New York Red Bulls

Major League Soccer

2014

Media Prediction: 1st

Finishing Position: 1st

MLS Cup Playoffs: Winners

US Open Cup: Winners

Superliga: Winners

Champions League: 2nd in Group A

Squad

Squad 1

Squad 2

Transfers

Transfers

Most active transfer season to date. It was risky to sell a couple key players but it worked out fine in the end.

Future Transfers

Key Players

GK - Dean Bouzanis

DR - Marvell Wynne

DC - Daniel Bergara

DC - Andy Martin

DLC - Andrew Hainault

DM/MC - Luke Sassano

DM/MC - Ruben De la Red

MC - Sam Cronin

MC - Mark Randall

ST - Anthony Boytchuk

ST - Leonid Chyzhevskyi

ST - Peri Marosevic

Finances

Finances

Club Information

Affiliations

Overview

Facilities

Goals:

If I stay, I want to win everything again. If I go (varies on the club), I'll want to make an immediate impact and look towards the future.

[rancer890]

Crazy Canuck Youth Player Project

2011 Intake:

Anthony Boytchuk - ST (Canada/USA)

Left Foot - Reasonable

Right Foot - Very Strong

PPMs - Places Shots (2012), Plays Short Simple Passes (2013), Plays no Through Balls (2014)

Initial Profile

End of Season 1 - Profile

End of Season 2 - Profile

End of Season 3 - Profile

[font=Courier New]Year     Club      League    Games     Goals     Assists   MoM    Rating
2012     New York     MLS  18 (21)         5           9     1      6.84
2013     New York     MLS  17 (16)        12           6     3      7.15
2014     New York     MLS  20 (24)        16           8     3      7.11
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals                     55 (61)        33          23     7      [/font]

Player Info - Largest workload of his career. He seems to be shaping up into a very solid striker.

Awards:

• 2014: USA Young Player of the Year - 3rd place
  
• 2015: USA Young Player of the Year - 1st place
  

Aaron Comer - DR/DL (USA)

Left Foot - Very Strong

Right Foot - Reasonable

PPMs - none

Initial Profile

End of Season 1 - Profile

End of Season 2 - Profile

End of Season 3 - Profile

[font=Courier New]Year     Club      League    Games     Goals     Assists   MoM    Rating[/font][font=Courier New]
2012     New York     MLS   6 (14)         0           1     0      6.90
2013     Portland   USL-1       0          0           0     0      -.--
2014     Portland   USL-1       0          0           0     0      -.--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals                      6 (14)         0           1     0      6.90[/font]

Player Info - He was recently released by Portland.

2012 Intake:

Paul Fox - AML/ML (USA/German)

Left Foot - Very Strong

Right Foot - Reasonable

PPMs - none

Intial Profile

End of Season 1 - Profile

End of Season 2 - Profile

[font=Courier New]Year     Club      League    Games     Goals     Assists   MoM    Rating
2013     New York     MLS   0 (23)         0           3     0      6.73
2014     New York     MLS   2 (15)         0           2     0      6.82
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals                      2 (38)         0           5     0      [/font]

Player Info - Not as much P/T as last year, but I'll take his workload year by year. With the late season fixture congestion, he'll always find a game here and there.

2014 Intake:

Yury Kornev - DC (Russian)

Left Foot - Reasonable

Right Foot - Very Strong

PPMs - None

Initial Profile

Player Info - Looks like a very good player for the Russian Premier League. He is a bit slow and needs some work on the mental aspect on the pitch, but he has the potential to be a great player for Zenit.

[rancer890]

2014-2015 Offseason

Well, good news, there is a stadium expansion at Red Bull Arena. Bad news: the board took out a loan to pay this and are paying $952k per month until February 23, 2016. Or about 45 times greater than our $20k yearly sponsorship.

I made a couple transfers already: one, acquiring Carlos Henderson for Geoff Chiles. And two, dealing centre back Chris McDonald to FC Dallas for $1.4 million (to basically pay for 1.5 months of the loan ).

As for the job front, Everton did fire David Moyes but Owen Coyle was named the replacement. However, this job offer came. They're still in the Champions League (qualified 2nd in Group Stage) and finished 2nd so they will be in the Champions League next year as well. I am probably going to accept this offer (just look at post 2 to see how prepared I am. ), but will do so later. They'll pay $375k (1/3 of a month of loan repayment) so I'm ready to move on the bigger and better things!

[SilentBob]

Congrats on the MLS Cup win rancer. Shame you didn't do it with TFC.

[DodgeeD]

A great season but aren't you tempted to stay on to add the NACL and complete the 'Grandslam'?

Seriously though, great thatyou finally got some silverware at NY to make those boys back in Beijing look foolish. Good luck at Zenit.

[rancer890]

Cheers SilentBob. I know. I should have managed at TFC. But not my fault they refused to sack Chris Cummins...and I am way better than Chris Cummins.

I thought about that in my decision DodgeeD, but knowing I can get jobs of Zenit's reputation, the fact that I don't want to manage the club in mid-season (very important to me actually), and that I don't want to manage in a mid-table European top flight club factored into my decision.

Oh, and St. Petersburg is a bit closer to Indonesia than New York. Less time on the airplane.

Ed Zijp was planning to hire Brian McBride anyways from the start. Everyone wins and I'll still be keeping tabs on the players. Although none are 'leading Russian Premier League' quality and no one left with me.

A lot of Brazilians go to play in Russia but I plan to change that with a distinct North American flavour.

[rancer890]

December 15, 2014

Nakano quits the Red Bulls as he joins Russian Premier League powerhouse Zenit St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, Russia - The new manager of Zenit St. Petersburg was unveiled today to the media. The Canadian manager brings a wealth of experience managing in China with Beijing Guo'an, and in the United States with the New York Red Bulls, recently winning the MLS Cup, Superliga, and US Open Cup. Although he does not Russian, he is unfazed at take the 2015 title from holders Spartak Moscow. "Spartak Moscow are a fantastic club," Nakano states, "but we will improve the squad and aim to bring the championship back to St. Petersburg."

"We have fantastic players, like Jo (yeah, that one ), Oscar Cardozo, Willians, Paulo Henrique who are all gifted goalscorers for the (Russian) Premier League and the new signing (before Nakano joined the club, for $22 million) Etienne Capoue, and Danny Morais in the middle, and Mikael Lustig at the back. The goalkeeper position needs some new blood however, so I will look to improve that position with young talent, preferably Russian."

The young 35 year old Canadian has already made his mark on the club, sacking 6 staff members from the previous regime, including one scout, two physios, and three coaches.

[iacovone]

Awesome career move rancer. Good to see you in Europe now .

Paulo Henrique just scored 4 in the German Cup Final for my parent club Werder!

[rancer890]

Awesome career move rancer. Good to see you in Europe now .

Paulo Henrique just scored 4 in the German Cup Final for my parent club Werder!

Cheers iacovone. Very excited about this job, even though I did lose out on a couple signings already (but no big deal since I think the current job is already good enough to challenge for the title).

I updated my youth intake post and looks like my new youth product has very good potential.

[Raware]

Great move rancer and probably at the right time too. Nothing much more you could've done at NY Red Bulls. The Russian Premier League is a great league to play in and from the sounds of it, you'll hit the ground running with some of the players you've got. Any plans to bring some players with you, namely Leonid Chyzhevskyi and Peri Marosevic who seemed unable to stop scoring in the MLS!

[rancer890]

Great move rancer and probably at the right time too. Nothing much more you could've done at NY Red Bulls. The Russian Premier League is a great league to play in and from the sounds of it, you'll hit the ground running with some of the players you've got. Any plans to bring some players with you, namely Leonid Chyzhevskyi and Peri Marosevic who seemed unable to stop scoring in the MLS!

I would like to bring some players over to Russia, but only Chyzhevskyi and Bouzanis seem to want to come to Russia, but New York wants $6 million+ per player, so it's just not worth it at this time.

The squad looks fine but still looking for improvements so trying to sign a couple players on a fee and free transfer and looking to sell some players too. More to follow.

I'm also facing Real Madrid in the 1st Knockout Round of the Champions League, so hope we can at least be competitive there.

[rancer890]

Zenit St. Petersburg

2015 Transfer Season

The transfer season was a bit of an eye opener. I had several targets but I was just too cheap and they ended up going to other clubs. My first signing was an unspectacular one, but it did meet one of my off-season targets for this squad, signing Dmitry Demidov to fill the role as the 3rd goalkeeper. He has potential to eventually be better than my current Number 1 goalkeeper and so I just to need to give him games every now and then. After several weeks of frustration of not being able to get the players I want, I settled with $9 million on Jose Gerardo Quintana. I lost out on other transfer targets so ended up getting several loans: Branko Ilic (loan fee $65k from Siena), Jesper Goransson (loan fee $600k, future fee of $4.5 mil from Blackburn), and Dmitry Ivanov (loan fee $525k, future fee of $2.8 mil from Shinnik).

Leaving the club include: GK Miro Varvodic (free), Luiz Adriano (free), Henrique (the Bordeaux DC, Santos $1.1 mil), Edmar (Brondby - free), Alexey Ionov (FC Twente - $2.5 mil), Marko Babic (Ahlen - $180k).

Ahmed El Mohammady will leave for Ajax for $3 million on June 1, and GK Audre Zuba will join the club on July 1.

Transfers

Now onto the season.

[iacovone]

Quintano looks like he'll be well worth the $7m you paid

I had a great file on FM09 right before FM10 came out with Amkar Perm in the Russian Prem. How are they doing? I ended up overachieving and landed the Zenit job as well, it was great fun!

[rancer890]

Quintano looks like he'll be well worth the $7m you paid

I had a great file on FM09 right before FM10 came out with Amkar Perm in the Russian Prem. How are they doing? I ended up overachieving and landed the Zenit job as well, it was great fun!

Cheers iacovone. He's doing solid so far for Zenit and seems I didn't make the wrong decision signing him.

In MLS I never needed to pay signing on fees, appearance fees, etc, so it's a bit of a shock to see nearly all my targets sign for other clubs. TBH, Quintana wasn't on my radar until I looked at the transfer rumours saying that I was interested in him, so I signed him.

Amkar? They're highest finishing position was 2nd in 2011 but the previous season they just got relegated to the Pervvj Divizion.

[rancer890]

Zenit St. Petersburg

February 2015

25th: vs Real Madrid - Champions League 1st Knockout Round Leg 1 - L 0-2

March 2015

7th: vs Spartak Moscow - Superkubok Final - L 2-4 - Danny Morais, Vladimir Bystrov

14th: at CSKA Moscow - Prem'er League - W 2-1 - Oscar Cardozo, Igor Denisov

18th: at Real Madrid - Champions League 1st Knockout Round Leg 2 - L 0-4

21st: vs Spartak Moscow - Prem'er League - W 5-0

A good start to the season with Zenit. I didn't expect anything out of the Real Madrid matches, since we were still in pre-season form, and the 6-0 aggregate loss was something I was prepared for. The Spartak match in the Superkubok (Supercup) had goals, although we didn't score enough. We scored the first goal but one of my players (Quintana) got sent off before halftime and Spartak equalized in the 84th minute, and then promptly scored 3 goals in extra time. The CSKA match was won from a Denisov strike from outside the box in the 81st minute, and the Prem'er League match against Spartak was just fantastic by my club. Cardozo looks fantastic with the games I've managed and it's early but it's nice to start off with some wins. There are 4 games next month so I hope to maintain this form.

Standings

Player of the Month: Oscar Cardozo (3rd place)

Team of the Month: Igor Denisov, Oscar Cardozo

[rancer890]

Zenit St. Petersburg

April 2015

5th: at Khimki - Prem'er Liga - D 0-0

I was disappointed in the result considering I dominated Khimki the whole match.

11th: vs Lokomotiv Moscow - Prem'er Liga - W 1-0 - Oscar Cardozo

Another great match. The scoreline does not show how dominating we were (like 59% possession and a clear shot advantage, and 3 CCCs). I'm still pleased with the 3 points.

18th: at Krylja Sovetov - Prem'er Liga - W 5-0

A fantastic game for Jo who scores 4! And also could have scored a couple more if he wanted.

25th: vs Tom - Prem'er Liga - W 5-1

Another solid game from the lads. 7 goals in the last 2 games for Jo!

Standings

A fantastic start to the season, but it's 30 games long so the lads must keep working. A league isn't won after 6 games!

5 games in the month of May. I'll be happy to keep up our current form.

Player of the Month - Jo (2nd place)

Team of the Month - Mikael Lustig, Gia Grigalava, Jo

[rancer890]

Zenit St. Petersburg

May 2015

2nd: at Shinnik - Prem'er Liga - D 1-1 - Jo

Tough that we lost a couple points because of a late goal by Shinnik. We were dominant the whole game.

9th: vs Spartak Nalchik - Prem'er Liga - W 5-0

Great match by the lads, showing a clear difference in quality with Spartak Nalchik.

16th: at FC Moscow - Prem'er Liga - W 4-1 - Mikael Lustig, Jo (3)

We didn't dominant like the Spartak Nalchik match, but another solid showing as we convert on our chances.

23rd: vs Rubin - Prem'er Liga - W 2-1 - Etienne Capoue, Paulo Henrique

A close win against Rubin despite our normal regular bombardment of shots. Rubin scored in the 91st minute but we hung on for 3 points.

30th: at Kuban - Prem'er Liga - W 2-1 - Jose Gerardo Quintana, Willians

Two goals 4 minutes apart led us to another Prem'er Liga victory.

Standings

It's a good start 1/3 into the season. We'll need to work hard to win the title because the only points Spartak Moscow have lost this season is to us (the 5-0 win ). We have 3 games against mid-table clubs so will look to get some more points in those games.

Player of the Month - Jo (3rd place)

Team of the Month - Mikael Lustig, Gia Grigalava, Jose Gerardo Quintana, Jo

[rancer890]

Zenit St. Petersburg

June 2015

14th: vs Anzhi - Prem'er Liga - L 1-2 - Willians

21st: at Volga NN - Prem'er Liga - W 3-1 - Oscar Cardozo, Willians, Jo

28th: vs Ural - Prem'er Liga - W 2-0 - Jo (2)

An okay month, even though the Anzhi game was bad all around as we lose for the first time. I don't want to lose too much ground on Spartak Moscow for top spot in the Prem'er Liga. 4 games in July 2015, 3 of them are against Moscow based clubs (Dinamo, CSKA, Spartak) and the other one against Khimki.

Standings

Player of the Month - Oscar Cardozo (2nd place)

Team of the Month - Mikael Lustig, Danny Morais, Jo

Indonesia

6th: at Japan - Friendly - L 1-3 - Choirul Tanjung

10th: vs Afghanistan - Friendly - D 0-0

A couple disappointing friendlies. Our win against was a fluke so that loss was no surprise. However, we should have won the Afghan game. Next month is the Asian Cup in a group against the Aussies, Iraq, and Oman.

[rancer890]

Zenit St. Petersburg

July 2015

4th: vs Dinamo Moscow - Prem'er Liga - W 3-0

11th: vs CSKA Moscow - Prem'er Liga - W 4-0

15th: at Avangard Kursk - Kubok Rossil 6th Round - D 3-3 (won 11-10 on penalties) - Willians, Alexey Uvarov, Jo

18th: at Spartak Moscow - Prem'er Liga - D 0-0

26th: vs Khimki - Prem'er Liga - W 3-1 - Oscar Cardozo, Willians, Paulo Henrique

28th: at Brøndby - Champions League - W 4-0

Standings

A good month, although the game at Avanard Kursk gave me a little scare. I was also a bit disappointed because I don't see how Spartak are going to lose any points the rest of the season. Except their game against CSKA.

I have some signings, but I'll put a summary when the transfer closes at the end of August.

Player of the Month - Jo (2nd place), Oscar Cardozo (3rd place)

Team of the Month - Danny Morais, Jo, Oscar Cardozo

Indonesia

21st: vs Australia - D 0-0

25th: vs Iraq - W 1-0 - Jajang Susilo

29th: vs Oman - D 0-0

Group Stage

The quarter-final is against Japan, where my run in the Asian Cup will probably end. But I already exceeded expectations (aka 'just don't embarrass ourselves ). The from this tournament is that I have 4 injuries and I'm not allowed to call up anyone.

[DodgeeD]

Looks like you're shaping up for a good first season rancer, even if Spartak prove uncatchable. A starnge sight at the bottom though - Shinnik haven't won a game yet but they are not in last place!

A good effort in the Asian Cup so far too, especially the draw against Australia. And who knows? Keep that defence tight against Japan and you might get a positive result.

[rancer890]

Looks like you're shaping up for a good first season rancer, even if Spartak prove uncatchable. A starnge sight at the bottom though - Shinnik haven't won a game yet but they are not in last place!

A good effort in the Asian Cup so far too, especially the draw against Australia. And who knows? Keep that defence tight against Japan and you might get a positive result.

Yeah, a bit strange at the bottom. Shinnik haven't won a game. But one of my draws were against them. We would be tied with Spartak for the league lead.

You will find out about the Japan game in my next update. Although I can tell you I like the signings I've made so far in the transfer window, and will definitely give an update on that on its own post.

[iacovone]

Going very nicely rancer. Particularly with Indonesia in the Asian Cup! Hope you get a positive result against Japan

[rancer890]

Cheers for the comment iacovone.

First off:

2015 August Zenit Transfer Season

The majority of my transfer this season were in the summer. The only signing I arranged for July 1st was GK Andre Zuba. However, I couldn't play him for an entire month because I couldn't register him for league matches until August 1.

While I couldn't buy players, I could certainly sell them, and leaving the club included Ahmed El Mohammady to Ajax, strikers Pereira, Doriva, and Gerson out on loan and including agreed fees I hope are all activated because I have no interest in playing them long term.

When the transfer window for Russian teams reopen on August 1, I signed the following players, mostly Russians:

• Vladimir Mustafin - a very talented young player who can play DC, DM, and MC. A big cost at $3 million, but I think he's worth every penny.
  
• Dmitry Borisov - signed on a free transfer, the former Alania youth has potential to be better than my No. 1 GK Zuba.
  
• Manuel Parra - My only non-Russian signing. Having been acquired from Barca for $5.25 million, he was unhappy with the lack of P/T at Barca and knowing Cardozo and Jo might want to head back to a better European league, I think Parra has what it takes to be a quality Prem'er Liga striker in the future.
  
• Vyacheslav Sotnikov - another young GK, and former CSKA youth. Sotnikov and Borisov with both be a part of my future considering I have 2 Russian GKs atm and one is retiring and the other is 36.
  
• Eugenvy Abakumov and Eduard Troshin are both just depth signings and I don't see them having any impact at the club.
  
• Vyacheslav Sidorov - another young striker, from Prem'er Liga club Anzhi. He'll be playing reserve/cup games and then going out on loan next season for development.
  

As I'm a very cost conscious manager, when I buy players, I usually sell off some expendable players too, and the Brazilian exodus started. Young defender Marcelo was sold to Flamengo for $6.75 million, Paulo Henrique to Bochum ($8.25 million), Airton to FC Bayern ($6 million).

For the next couple weeks, I kept trying to find ways to improve through Russian talent, and I found Victor Mostovoy, and signed him for a hefty loan fee ($875k) with an option to buy him for $9 million.

On August 26, I acquired a very talented Saudi player, by the name of Naji Darwish for $23 million from PSG. He's injuried for a couple weeks but I think this signing is worth it, even with the big risk due to the cost. Of course, I had to also sell and Danilo and Felipe Santana were the latest Brazilians to leave Zenit. The acquisitions of Artem Merkulov, another useless Brazilian brought by the previous manager, and the permanent transfer of Dmitry Ivanov ended the August transfer season.

Transfers

Overall, I'm pleased with the transfers I've made. I've infused the club with much needed Russian talent and sold off some players not in my long term plans.

[rancer890]

Zenit St. Petersburg

August 2015

1st: at Locomotiv Moscow - Prem'er Liga - W 3-1 - Jose Gerardo Quintana, Oscar Cardozo, Paulo Henrique

I didn't have much of a squad because I couldn't register my new signings, but we still beat Locomotiv Moscow.

5th: vs Brøndby - Champions League (Best Placed Quali.3 Leg 2) - L 0-1 (win 4-1 on aggregate)

We didn't need anymore goals, and despite giving up one near the end of the game, we advance to the Playoff against Benfica.

8th: vs Krylja Sovetov - Prem'er Liga - W 2-0 - Oscar Cardozo, Jose Gerardo Quintana

Cardozo scores from inside the box in the 26th minute and Quintana scores a late marker in extra time from a set piece corner.

15th: at Tom - Prem'er Liga - W 1-0 - Gualberto OG

We were lucky considering the OG was inside the 1st minute of the match. I really expected more but a win is a win.

19th: vs Benfica - Champions League Playoff 1st leg - L 0-1

Real disappointed I couldn't win because the goal was an OG by Felipe Santana. And you know what happened to him in the end.

A tough 2nd leg at Portugal is next.

22nd: vs Shinnik - Prem'er Liga - W 2-0 - Willians, Jo

After an embarrassing draw against Shinnik earlier in the season, we win this one, although not very convincingly.

26th: at Benfica - Champions League Playoff 2nd leg - D 2-2

Lost of words on this one. Just gutted.

29th: at Spartak Nalchik - Prem'er Liga - D 1-1 - Jo

Disappointing that we struggled in this one but thankfully Spartak drew their match as well.

Standings

Europa League Group Stage - lots of reputable teams in the Europa League like Man Utd, Inter, and Barca. My goal is to make the Quarter-Finals.

Team of the Month - Mikael Lustig, Gia Grigalava, Danny Morais, Jose Gerardo Quintana, Jo

Indonesia

1st: vs Japan - Asian Cup Quarter Final - L 0-3

Not a very good game. Japan dominated us in every single facet of a football match. All we did was out-foul them.

12th: at Northern Mariana - Friendly - W 1-0 - Sergio van Dijk

Probably wanted a bit more than a 1 goal win. A bit surprised we couldn't handle them at times...I have games against Guam and Kyrgyzstan next month. The goal is to win both of them.

[rancer890]

Zenit St. Petersburg

September 2015

2nd: vs Alania - Kubok Rossil 7th Round - W 2-0 - Manuel Parra, Artem Merkulov

Parra and Merkulov score their first ever goals at the club as my backups and youths defeat Alania.

17th: vs Dundee United - Europa League Group Stage - W 3-0 - Etienne Capoue, Antonio Candreva, Oscar Cardozo

The scoreline does not show that Dundee were very close to scoring a goal or two that might have shifted momentum in the 1st half, but Candreva and Cardozo scored in the 2nd half to secure the win.

19th: vs FC Moscow - Prem'er Liga - W 3-0 - Manuel Parra (2), Danny Morais

In Parra's 2nd start at Zenit, he scores 2 minutes into the match and also 2 minutes before the end of the match, with Morais scoring off a set piece early in the 2nd half to stay 2 points behind Spartak.

26th: at Rubin - Prem'er Liga - W 2-0 - Mikael Lustig, Oscar Cardozo

Lustig opens the scoring with a long shot from outside the box in the 5th minute, and Cardozo scores off a rebound after the GK failed to keep hold of the ball in the 48th minute.

Standings

Only 2 Europa League games and a Prem'er Liga game in October, followed by 5 total games in November, and 2 in December to finish the season. My new signings are doing quite well so far.

Indonesia

5th: at Guam - Friendly - D 0-0

I don't know what happened...we didn't capitalize on our 11 shots on target.

9th: vs Kyrgyzstan - Friendly - W 2-1 - Agus Cahyadi, Jajang Susilo

We were fortunate to win this one after being down 1-0 after halftime and I basically yelled at the starting XI to pick up their play.

Next month, I have 2 games against Mongolia in WCQ and a friendly in between against Hong Kong.

Indonesia U23's

9th: vs Thailand U23's - AFC Olympics Quali. 2nd Round Leg 1 - W 1-0

16th: at Thailand U23's - AFC Olympics Quali. 2nd Round Leg 2 - D 1-1

We were lucky to win in qualifying. We couldn't score any goals, and we won because we won the first leg on an OG. It is a bit concerning that my players aren't scoring, but I've been using the same tactics I did while at Persma, but my Persma squad was a bit more talented.

The Group Stage Indonesia U23's are in include Japan, UAE, and Vietnam. Top team qualifies for the Olympics. I am a bit concerned about Japan...

[rlipscombe]

rancer - interesting to see you turning Zenit back into a more Russian team. any particular reason for this?

[MeLikeFM]

rancer - interesting to see you turning Zenit back into a more Russian team. any particular reason for this?

There is minimum amount of russians you need in your XI

[rancer890]

rancer - interesting to see you turning Zenit back into a more Russian team. any particular reason for this?

What MeLikeFM said basically. :o

I had some trouble fielding enough Russians for league matches and Champions League/Europa League registration. I don't even have 4 Zenit trained players over 21 years of age. There were way too many Brazilians in the squad.

And I now realize Americans don't fancy playing in Russia too much. It's a bit challenging to bring them over from MLS (Mexicans don't mind playing in Russia, and not too sure about Canadians, need to find one with Prem'er Liga quality first ). A couple Indonesians are also playing club football in Russia. I wouldn't mind bringing a couple over to Zenit if they have potential since I'm already fluent in Bahasa Indonesian.

[iseemonsters1]

Bad luck with the Champions League exit. Looks like you're on an impressive run of form in the league though! You've only lost one game out of 25 and you're still not top! Does that seem pretty typical in Russia, or are you and Spartak just both particularly good this season? What do you think your chances of overtaking Spartak are?

Mustafin and Parra look particularly good for how much you paid for them. Is Naji Darwish living up to his transfer fee?

[rancer890]

Zenit St. Petersburg

October 2015

1st: at FC Groningen - Europa League Group Stage - L 2-3 - Diego Contento, Jo

After getting a 2-0 lead after halftime, a Danny Morais OG sets off a chain of events where the Dutch team scores goals in the 87th and 91st minute to win.

17th: vs Kuban - Prem'er Liga - W 3-2 - Etienne Capoue, Danny Morais, Antonio Candreva

An exciting game on a Fan Day where Candreva scores the game winner in the 90th minute to steal 3 points off Kuban.

22nd: vs Genk - Europa League Group Stage - W 3-0 - Jo (2), Etienne Capoue

On another rainy day in St. Petersburg, we score 3 goals in the 2nd half to grab another victory in the Europa League and $200k.

Standings

With only 4 league games left in the season, an exciting season is coming to an end. With 1 home game and 3 away games, it will be tough to the end the season but we just need Spartak to falter for one match and we have to capitalize to win the Prem'er Liga.

Indonesia

5th: vs Mongolia - AFC WCQ 1st Round Leg 1 - W 3-1 - Ahmad Sutopo (2), Hermawan Jati

10th: vs Hong Kong - Friendly - W 7-3

25th: at Mongolia - AFC WCQ 1st Round Leg 2 - D 0-0

An exciting few games with the national team. We were solid against Mongolia (although I would have wanted to get a goal or two in the road games). The HK game was just an offensive outburst.

My next international match is in 2016.

[rancer890]

Bad luck with the Champions League exit. Looks like you're on an impressive run of form in the league though! You've only lost one game out of 25 and you're still not top! Does that seem pretty typical in Russia, or are you and Spartak just both particularly good this season? What do you think your chances of overtaking Spartak are?

Mustafin and Parra look particularly good for how much you paid for them. Is Naji Darwish living up to his transfer fee?

Cheers for the comment iseemonsters. Yes, it's a bit weird: 1 loss and I'm not leading the league. Spartak's only loss was against us. Spartak seems unstoppable atm, but whenever we draw a game, Spartak also draw. Our schedules both have mid-table teams to end the season, but Spartak have a split 2 home/2 away games while I have 1 home/3 away games. I still remember how I lost the only league game this season...a 90th minute goal by an Anzhi striker.

I'm not sure if I can overtake Spartak, but all I can do is win all my remaining games and hope Spartak draw a match. Although with how Spartak are playing it's unlikely...

Dawish just came back from injury and still trying to get back into fitness. It's too early to tell tbh. I've been playing Merkulov while he was injured and he's doing well so far. It won't be until next season if Darwish can live up to his transfer fee. And Darwish is having issues settling in Russia...

[rancer890]

Zenit St. Petersburg

November 2015

1st: at Anzhi - Prem'er Liga - W 4-2

Fantastic match. Cardozo scores 4!!! Spartak defeat Shinnik 3-1.

5th: at Genk - Europa League - W 4-2 - Jo, Willians, Naji Darwish, Oscar Cardozo

A solid effort by my squad as Darwish scores his first goal for Zenit.

8th: vs Volga NN - Prem'er Liga - D 1-1 - Danny Morais

Disaster! Volga score in 92nd minute! But Spartak lose to FC Moscow! 1 point behind Spartak for the league lead!

21st: at Ural - Prem'er Liga - W 1-0

Jo scores in the 1st minute. Our defense makes sure that Ural don't even get a shot on goal. Spartak? They lose points again as they draw against Kuban 1-1.

And here is the league table after 29 games. We hold all tie-breakers with Spartak so as long as we don't lose against Dinamo and Spartak defeat a tough Volga squad, we will be champions of Russia.

28th: at Dinamo Moscow - Prem'er Liga - D 2-2

I was scoreboard watching this entire game. Welter Felipe scores fr Dinamo just before halftime, but I fire up the lads and Cardozo equalizes right after kickoff. Quintana scored from a near impossible angle and I'm looking at the Spartak scoreboard, and it's still 0-0. Entering the 80th minute, I was starting to pace around a bit and still seeing the Spartak-Volga score being 0-0. Dinamo equalize in the 87th minute and I check the Spartak-Volga game and it's 1-0 Volga! The game ends at 2-2 and Spartak couldn't score against Volga so Zenit break the 4 year Spartak stranglehold on the Russian Prem'er Liga title and win our 2nd domestic in the history of the club!!!

Standings Zenit vs Spartak Moscow

Europa League

Still have a couple Europa League games (at Dundee, vs FC Groningen) and then I'll post my end-of-season update.

[rancer890]

2015 Russian Prem'er Liga Awards

Russian Goalkeeper of the Year

1st: Vyacheslav Malafeev (Zenit)

2nd: Sergey Pesjakov (Spartak Moscow)

3rd: Ivan Garcia (Ural)

Russian Foreign Player of the Year (aka Oscar Cardozo Award )

1st: Oscar Cardozo (Zenit)

2nd: Igor Onyschenko (CSKA Moscow)

3rd: Jo (Zenit)

Russian Prem'er Liga Player of the Year

1st: Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow)

2nd: Jose Gerardo Quintana (Zenit)

3rd: Ever Banega (CSKA Moscow)

Russian Prem'er Liga Top Goalscorer

1st: Igor Onyschenko (CSKA Moscow)

2nd: Jo (Zenit)

3rd: Oscar Cardozo (Zenit)

Russian Prem'er Liga Team of the Year

GK - Vyacheslav Malafeev (Zenit)

DR - Mikael Lustig (Zenit)

DC - Alexey Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow)

DC - Danny Morais (Zenit)

DL - Adriano (CSKA Moscow)

MR - Robert Lauko (Ural)

MC - Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow)

MC - Jose Gerardo Quintana (Zenit)

ML - Nicolae Josan (Anzhi)

ST - Oscar Cardozo (Zenit)

ST - Igor Onyschenko (CSKA Moscow)