[FM11] Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen...

[AK22]

Chapter 8 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go to Wembley

England - 2028 Review

Even after a dodgy friendly performance against France, our World Cup Qualifying campaign has started more than competently! 19 goals from the first three games is a great start, especially the 5-1 win in Austria. I expected a much tougher game when we travelled to Vienna, however, we went 2-0 up within 10 minutes, and the game was near enough over from that point forward. Our star performer so far being Jason Palmer, who has banged in seven goals in the opening matches. So, we're top of the group, but only on goal difference. As expected, the Germans have started well too and yet to concede a goal, so it's far too soon to start getting over-excited by our performance. If we can beat the Germans, then we should be able to book the flights to Portugal.

Team of the Year - Ashley Ross, Jason Palmer, Sam Docherty, Graham Davies and Mark Doughlin have been the outstanding players from this calendar year.

Best Overall XI - No real change this season.

[AK22]

Super start with Spartak AK

Another trophy for the cabinet. Now all about maintaining domestic dominance and making a mark in Europe. Good luck

It was a tough CL draw, however an EL run would be good to see where you stand, and for coefficient boosting which may help. Hopefully you'll get another title as well.

Thanks

I agree, it would be nice to make some progress with a Russian club in Europe. On the scale of things, the Russian Prem'er Liga is ranked as the 6th best league in Europe, so we're not that far behind the Premier League, La Liga etc.

On a domestic note, Kuban's tycoon owner has withdrawn his financial backing, so that should be one less title contender to worry about next season. I expect a three horse race with us, Zenit and CSKA all competing near the top.

[DodgeeD]

Great start in Russia - always nice to get a trophy early on. Europe is where the challenge will be it seems. Best of luck for next season!

[rancer890]

Great work winning the trophy mate. Hope you get better success in Champions League!

[noikeee]

Lots been happening in the past few days I see. Well done to grab the Russian title - I can't help but laugh at your continuous performances in the continental competitions though. That Libertadores final was the choke of all chokes! It must be frustrating but makes for a good story to read.

[Raware]

Not a bad first season in Russia I'm not too happy about Forest languishing above the League One relegation zone though

[AK22]

Great start in Russia - always nice to get a trophy early on. Europe is where the challenge will be it seems. Best of luck for next season!

Great work winning the trophy mate. Hope you get better success in Champions League!

Thanks chaps

I think the progress in Europe will be slow to start with, luckily the board aren't that demanding. Group stages of the Champions League and 2nd Knockout Round of the Europa League are the expectations, and both are very achievable. Realistically, I'll be more than satisfied if we can get out of our group in second place next time around, we simply don't have a good enough team to go much further...yet

[AK22]

Lots been happening in the past few days I see. Well done to grab the Russian title - I can't help but laugh at your continuous performances in the continental competitions though. That Libertadores final was the choke of all chokes! It must be frustrating but makes for a good story to read.

Tell me about, frustration isn't the word! We should have won that Copa Libertadores easily, taking a one goal advantage into the second leg at home should have been enough to see us through...

Not a bad first season in Russia I'm not too happy about Forest languishing above the League One relegation zone though

Can't complain really, it was mostly just a case of turn up and win in the league matches. Hopefully I don't balls it up next season!

I'll keep you informed on Forest's demise, unfortunately, they've only got a first team squad of 15 players so no wonder they're struggling. They do have a Brazilian striker though, on loan from Leicester

[AK22]

Chapter 9 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Moscow

Pre Season 2029

Board Expectations

Rosgosstrakh Prem'er Liga - Continental qualification through league finish Media Prediction - 2nd Title Odds - 3-1 2nd favourites (behind Zenit)

UEFA Europa League - 2nd Knockout Round

Kubok Rossii - Not important

TransTeleKom Superkubok Rossii - Not important

Transfer Budget: £28m Wage Budget: £925k p/w (currently £657870 p/w)

Facilities - The training facilities have deteriorated, have asked the board to improve. Season Ticket Sales - 23317 (up 1555)

Youth Intake - A couple of decent youngsters coming through, the pick being Alexandr Belov and Kirill Buyanov.

Transfer Summary - A net spend of just over £11m so far, there's money in the pot if I need to spend further in the summer window. Three of the five players are Russian, which will help us satisfy the Prem'er Liga regulations quite comfortably now.

Notable Transfers

Vladimir Mikaelyan - Highly rated, young Russian 'keeper. Unlikely to get anywhere near the first team for a couple of seasons though.

Armando - Nearly signed this chap last season but pulled out last minute having taken Leandro on loan. He joins us this season, but only on loan from Leverkusen.

Markko Kask - Estonia's young 'keeper joins us as back-up. He could be the next Mart Poom!

Yury Lakhov - £6.5m spent on the best Russian defender in the game (IMO). He returns to the club ten years after he came through the Spartak youth ranks. Hopefully, he'll be the rock of the back four for several seasons now.

Marcelo - Promising young Brazilian defender who can play in the centre or at right back. Got the potential to be great, but just need to get that aggression down a bit.

Anatoliy Kryvosheev - May have overpaid slightly, but didn't want him to go to rivals CSKA Moscow. Another young Russian, who can play in various midfield positions, who will be on the fringes of the first team.

My objectives for the season:

- Put up a decent title defence. I'm not convinced we'll win back-to-back titles, the top five of the Prem'er Liga is pretty competitive, and Zenit have the resources to blow the rest of us out of the water if they want to. Kuban are no longer tycoon backed, but probably will still be in the mix along with CSKA Moscow too. The board's expectations are very achievable though, so as long as we finish in the top five, the board will be satisfied.

- Better performances in the European competitions. First up will be Palermo in the first knockout round of the Europa League. They seem a pretty tough cookie, but I would hope we can progress to the next round. The Champions League campaign won't start until September, by that time, we will be in the run-in of our league campaign, so it will be important that I rotate the squad and keep the players fresh. I want to shake off this hoodoo I've got with continental knockout competitions, we won't be winning the trophies this season, but I still want to make sure we do ourselves justice and eliminate the sloppy performances!

- Identify a new goalkeeper. My current number 1, Alphonse Areola, is 36 now and coming to the end of his career. I've signed two young 'keepers over the winter, but neither of which are suitable for regular first team football yet. I'll be looking to compile a shortlist of players so that I can bring in the new man between the sticks either in the summer or next winter.

[deltablue]

I wonder if you'll get the same effect in Europe as I did in Sweden with AIK at the end of FM 10, I had a reasonable squad but still way off sides from bigger leagues, and while group stage results went roughly as expected (and we were unimpressive in the qualifiers), we were a match for some very strong clubs in the spring, getting a few scalps in the Knockouts, presumably because being fresh seemed to trump match fitness. Interesting to see how you get on.

[AK22]

I wonder if you'll get the same effect in Europe as I did in Sweden with AIK at the end of FM 10, I had a reasonable squad but still way off sides from bigger leagues, and while group stage results went roughly as expected (and we were unimpressive in the qualifiers), we were a match for some very strong clubs in the spring, getting a few scalps in the Knockouts, presumably because being fresh seemed to trump match fitness. Interesting to see how you get on.

That's an interesting viewpoint deltablue. The knockout stages for the European competitions start in February, whereas domestic Russian football doesn't start until March, so I expect this is very similar to Sweden and other 'snowy' country with a long winter break. Going into the knockout rounds, my players were struggling for fitness, and even after several pre-season friendlies, some players were still lacking match practice.

I'm not too sure how much of a difference it would have made if they were fully fit, and how much of a (dis)advantage the long winter break is at the moment. After another season or two, I might be able to give a more substantial opinion on whether it's better to be fresh (and slightly out of match practice) after the winter break, or be in the midst of a packed winter-spring schedule (much like the English teams). I do agree that come April/May, if we're still in the competition then, teams from Russia/Ukraine are likely to be less jaded than teams from central Europe, who are coming to the end of a long season. That being said, I can't see my Spartak team reaching the semi-finals of any European competition in the forseeable future!

[rancer890]

I played with Shakhtar and we had a winter break from late December to late February/early March. I had to arrange some friendlies around when the 1st Knockout Round games would take place. I'm not sure if you would call it realistic but arrange some friendlies a month or so before break ends so they can at least have a decent chance of doing well.

[AK22]

Hmmm...I did arrange some friendlies, but maybe not enough for it to be effective to their fitness. Or maybe they were too spaced out? I only played one a week.

What I also found difficult was establishing what was my best XI. As I had brought in a handful of new players, a few of them were thrown straight in at the deep end in a Europa League knockout tie. Perhaps I should have benched them and stuck with the players from last season who know the system better?

It's definitely given me some food for thought, so maybe I'll try a different method if I'm fortunate enough to be in the same position next season

[rancer890]

It's always been hard for me in Russia to progress in the knockout stages because there's a whole new group of players. At least with Shakhtar I had more or less the same players. I would say arrange more friendlies so they could all gel quicker.

[AK22]

I think you're right, more friendlies needed next season. I normally leave it to my assistant to organise these, but I'll probably add in a few additional fixtures myself too.

Full update when I get home later tonight, but as you can probably guess, our Europa League campaign didn't go too well

[AK22]

Chapter 9 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Moscow

Mid-season 2029 Update

By no means a disaster, but it could be so much better; I think this year might turn out to be a bit of an 'if only' season.

Our Europa League campaign ended almost as quickly as it started, being knocked out by Palermo. The first leg was an exciting end-to-end match which saw us throw away a 2-0 lead due to eight minutes of slack defending. As previously discussed, I think my player's lack of fitness let us down here and they had run out of puff come the second half, allowing Palermo's speed and counter attack to tear us apart. The second leg was another sloppy performance, which could have gone better. We were more than a match for Palermo throughout, creating plenty of chances. However, our tardiness combined with Palermo's clinical edge in front of goal led to a 6-3 aggregate loss. It looks more one-sided than it was, we were in this tie from the off and gave them more than a run for their money. On another day, we might have gone through...if only! Palermo did make the final, losing out to Bari(!) in an all Italian affair.

Domestically, we started in great form beating Zenit 4-2 in the Superkubok. We were 2-0 down within half an hour, but staged a determined comeback to overturn the deficit, and set down a marker for the season ahead. Unfortunately, we kept tripping ourselves up over this marker in the coming weeks. We really should have beaten Zenit and CSKA, but somehow, only came away with one point from these two six-pointers, allowing Zenit the chance to pull away. In contrast, we really let ourselves down in the matches away to Terek, Shinnik and Locomotiv. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy, too many points dropped. I'm not going to comment too much on the cup penalty defeat to Amkar, I just knew it was going to be one of those games when we were never going to score. Even after creating plenty of good opportunities, my strikers struggle to find the net when it is needed the most. All-in-all, this leaves us with a tricky uphill battle if we're going to retain our Prem'er Liga crown. Zenit have a seven point advantage over us, and have really hit the ground running this season. Bare in mind we have got to play away matches against Zenit, CSKA, Kuban and Rubin in our run-in, I really can't see us challenging at the top unless something goes horribly wrong for the teams around us. I think if someone offered me third now, I'd take it. At least that will guarantee Champions League football for another season and give us the income needed to come back stronger next year.

It also appears I've got a bleedin' interfering chairman here at Spartak too. Apparently, £3m is a big enough bid for one of my young Russian talents for him to take matters into his own hands and organise the transfer himself. Displeased is not the word! Luckily for him, this player is not crucial to my short term or long term plans at Spartak, otherwise I would have jacked it again. I did make sure to criticise him to the hilt in the following press-conference though! Actually, the summer transfer window has been a pretty active time for the club. Lots of the big central European clubs have been sniffing around, and I've managed to flog off £18.6m worth of bit-part players. Four further players have joined the club too, left back Kirill Popov and Belgian striker Bas Peters being the two marquee signing. Hopefully, this won't unsettle the squad too much and Peters will be the regular goalscorer I'm looking for to keep us near the top of the table and spearhead our forthcoming Champions League campaign.

[AK22]

Chapter 9 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Moscow

Winter 2029 Update

I can't really complain about how the second half of the season panned out, 36 points from 15 games is a solid return. We won all the matches that we were favourites for, and domestically, we only lost three matches, all of which were tricky away ties against top five opposition. Zenit finished the season with a five point advantage over us, having had the title sewn up with two games to go. In several previous seasons, 69 points would have been more than enough to finish as champions. In fact, it's only three points fewer than our total from last season, so there's not really any need for serious concern. The reason for Zenit dominance over this season is quite simple, they took more points than us from the 'six-pointer' fixtures against their title challengers. We only took 10 points from the games against the other top five teams, Zenit took 13, beating us twice in the process. This will be something I will be looking to improve upon next season. On a positive note, we won all the Moscow derbies in the second half of the season, including a pleasing 2-0 win away to CSKA, which really pleased the fans. Also, our defence is looking impenetrable at times, having only conceded one goal in the final eight games. If we can maintain this solid base next season, we'll definitely be in contention for honours again.

I'm extremely encouraged by our improvement in Europe this season, however, as we finished only one point away from qualification to the knockout rounds, it could have been even better. Once again, the draw could have been more favourable, having drawn us against German domestic champions Bayern Munich, as well as the French champions (again), Marseille. I didn't expect Beitar Jerusalem to cause us too many problems, but it would be a tough ask to get anything out of the four games against the other two sides. We took a fluky point at home to Marseille, which was more than we deserved, but we did play well in Moscow against Munich. However, this match finished in disappointment when they stole victory with a dubious goal in the 85th minute. Little did I know that if we had clung on for a point against the Germans, we would have qualified for the knockout rounds. The 1-0 win in Marseille was a cracking result for us, however, it was a dead-rubber for both teams, so it's difficult to judge how much of an achievement it was. I suspect if Marseille hadn't already qualified as group winners then we would have faced a much sterner test, and I doubt we would have taken the three points as easily as we did.

So, it's Europa League football again in the early spring, where we will face Leverkusen, the runaway leaders at the top of the Bundesliga. Knockout football doesn't get any tougher than this...

[AK22]

Chapter 9 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Moscow

Season 2029 Review

Rosgosstrakh Prem'er Liga - 2nd League Table Position Graph Season Summary

UEFA Champions League - 3rd in Group F (Qualified for Europa League)

UEFA Europa League - 1st Knockout Round (3-6 vs Palermo)

Kubok Rossii - Reached quarter-final, to be played in April 2029 vs Rubin

TransTeleKom Superkubok Rossii - Winner

Finances - I've managed to stockpile a fair bit of cash this season, making a £10m profit. This should come in handy if I need to spend big in the winter transfer window.

Average Attendance - 45326 (up 243)

Transfer Summary - A very active season in the transfer market with ten players joining the club and eleven leaving. Next year I will looking to maintain a stable squad, complimenting the existing players with a few quality signings.

Key Players

Alphonse Areola - Russian Goalkeeper of the Year. I'm more than impressed with his 25 clean sheets this season, however, I'm not sure if I can eek out one more season from him while he's still at the top of his game.

Yuri Lakhov - Prem'er Liga signing of the season, and £6.5m well spent. He was the rock at the heart of our defence, and his 13 goals were pretty handy too.

Ronald - Not at his best this season, but 16 assists was a good return considering. I'm trying to re-train him at AMC but it's taking longer than I originally expected.

Matt Brick - Our top scorer with 16 goals. Coming to the end of his career, so may turn out to a 'bit part' player from next season.

Team of the Year - This was my first choice team when everyone was fit. Lakhov stands out as the 'star of the show' here too.

Overall Best XI - I'd like to see Areola make 500 appearances for the club, he should achieve this next season even if I bring in another 'keeper.

Fans Player of the Year - Yuri Lakhov.

Review of Season's Objectives

- Put up a decent title defence. I'm not convinced we'll win back-to-back titles, the top five of the Prem'er Liga is pretty competitive, and Zenit have the resources to blow the rest of us out of the water if they want to. Kuban are no longer tycoon backed, but probably will still be in the mix along with CSKA Moscow too. The board's expectations are very achievable though, so as long as we finish in the top five, the board will be satisfied.

Achieved. We defended our title honourably, but Zenit were just too good this season, having led from matchday one. We'll be back next season though, and coupled with some improved performances against our rivals, we should be Zenit's biggest threat.

- Better performances in the European competitions. First up will be Palermo in the first knockout round of the Europa League. They seem a pretty tough cookie, but I would hope we can progress to the next round. The Champions League campaign won't start until September, by that time, we will be in the run-in of our league campaign, so it will be important that I rotate the squad and keep the players fresh. I want to shake off this hoodoo I've got with continental knockout competitions, we won't be winning the trophies this season, but I still want to make sure we do ourselves justice and eliminate the sloppy performances!

Achieved. We made a big improvement in the group stages of the Champions League this season, securing 6 points more than last season. Hopefully, we'll push on again next season and maybe make the knockout rounds. Our Europa League campaign was a bit of a damp squib though, so there's still room to improve further.

- Identify a new goalkeeper. My current number 1, Alphonse Areola, is 36 now and coming to the end of his career. I've signed two young 'keepers over the winter, but neither of which are suitable for regular first team football yet. I'll be looking to compile a shortlist of players so that I can bring in the new man between the sticks either in the summer or next winter.

Achieved. I've identified three 'keepers who would fit the bill nicely. However, none of them are Russian, so they would take up one of the foreigner slots in the first eleven if I do decide to purchase them. Also, with Areola having such a great season, I'm in two minds about whether I need to sign someone this winter or not now.

Previous club watch:

Thurrock - Sitting bang in the middle of League One. Might make the playoffs again, probably not though.

Nottm Forest - Survived by four points last season, but once again are perilously close to the trapdoor of League One. Currently just three points above the dreaded dotted line.

Southampton - Continue to be a top six Championship side, but continue to miss out in the playoffs.

Lazio - Surprisingly, they didn't win the league last season, finishing second to Sampdoria. Still unable to make a big impact in the Champions League though.

Cruzeiro - Won another Brasileirao, beating Flamengo by eight points. Still no Copa Libertadores for the Raposa

Season    Team            League          Finish  Cups            
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11   Thurrock F.C.   BSS             15th    N/A             
2011/12   Thurrock F.C.   BSS             2nd     FA Cup 2nd Rd, FA Trophy 1st Rd
2012/13   Thurrock F.C.   BSP             1st     FA Cup 1st Rd, FA Trophy 3rd Rd
2013/14   Thurrock F.C.   League 2        5th     FA Cup 1st Rd, Carling Cup 2nd Rd, JPT 2nd Rd
2014/15   Thurrock F.C    League 2        6th     FA Cup 3rd Rd, Carling Cup 3rd Rd, JPT 2nd Rd
2015/16   Thurrock F.C    League 2        6th     FA Cup 3rd Rd, Carling Cup 4th Rd, JPT 1st Rd
2016/17   Nottm Forest    League 1        3rd     FA Cup 3rd Rd
2017/18   Nottm Forest    League 1        1st     FA Cup 2nd Rd, Carling Cup 2nd Rd, JPT 2nd Rd
2018/19   Southampton     Championship    5th     FA Cup 3rd Rd
2019/20   Southampton     Championship    4th     FA Cup 5th Rd, Carling Cup 3rd Rd
2020/21   Southampton     Premier League  7th     FA Cup 6th Rd, Carling Cup 4th Rd
2021/22   Southampton     Premier League  8th     FA Cup Semi-Final, Carling Cup 3rd
2022/23   Lazio           Serie A         1st     Europa League RU, Coppa Italia TIM SF
2023/24   Lazio           Serie A         1st     Champions League Last 16, Coppa Italia TIM RU
2024/25   Lazio           Serie A         1st     Champions League QF, Coppa Italia TIM Winner
2025/26   Lazio           Serie A         1st     Champions League Last 16, Coppa Italia TIM Winner
2026      Cruzeiro EC     Brasileirao     1st     Copa Sudamericana Winner
2027      Cruzeiro EC     Brasileirao     1st     Campeonato Mineiro Winner, Copa Libertadores QF, Copa Sudamericana SF
2028      Cruzeiro EC     Brasileirao     N/A     Campeonato Mineira Winner, Copa Libertadores RU, RESIGNED 11/07/2028
2028      Spartak Moscow  Prem'er Liga    1st     Champions League Group Stage
2029      Spartak Moscow  Prem'er Liga    2nd     Champions League Group Stage, Europa League 1st KO Rd, Kubok Russii SF

[AK22]

Chapter 8 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go to Wembley

England - 2029 Review

There must be something wrong my game...as I'm really enjoying managing England! After a magnificent qualifying campaign, the nation now has the 2030 World Cup to look forward to. As predicted, the two matches against Germany would decide our fate on whether we would top the group or have to settle for the playoff route. We had an excellent game at Wembley against the Germans, winning 2-1 in a match we comfortably controlled. When they pulled one back with fifteen minutes to play, the nerves started to jangle, but luckily we clung on to take a vital victory! With our significant goal difference advantage, I knew that as long as we won all our other matches, it didn't really matter what happened in the return match in Germany. In fact, we earned a credible point in Hamburg, proving we can mix it with the other big nations now. I'm not sure if we'll maintain this form at the World Cup, but I'm going to Portugal with more optimism than I would normally, and maybe, we have a chance of winning it.

I also achieved my first ever 'perfect 10' rating for one of my players. Ashley Ross scored five goals in the 7-2 drubbing over Moldova, and achieved perfection according to the FM gods. Overall, this has to be one of the most convincing qualifying campaigns I've ever seen. We were the highest scorers in the qualifiers, averaging over four goals a game. Also, the defence is looking sturdy and cohesive too, so the future's looking very bright. I just hope we don't get the jitters come June/July!

Here's the draw for the World Cup groups:

The Netherlands and Chile are ranked 12th and 13th in the world rankings respectively, so it's certainly no easy group. I'm just glad we didn't draw Argentina or Italy, who bothed missed out on being top seeds.

Team of the Year - Ashley Ross and Jason Palmer were the stand out figures this year, but great performances from defenders Steve Moore and Sam Docherty stood out too.

Best Overall XI - No real change this season

[archanios]

Wow, you've had an amazing career so far!

How much do you think it will take if you're going to compete for the top spots in the CL?

[DodgeeD]

Good progress in Europe and unlucky in the title race! I'm sure there will be more progression next season.

Great job with England too. The group draw could have been kinder but in that form, you should still top the group.

[AK22]

Wow, you've had an amazing career so far!

How much do you think it will take if you're going to compete for the top spots in the CL?

Thanks archanios

To be honest, it will be a long term project to make Spartak into a team capable of reaching the last-four of the Champions League. Basically, I'll need two teams. One for the Russian domestic season, full of homegrown Russian players, and another with players capable of winning the European competitions. TV revenue and prize money is miniscule in Russia compared to England/Spain/Italy/Germany so it would take several seasons of buying in the talent to take us to that next step.

Anyhow, it's unlikely that I'll stay more than four seasons with Spartak, as I like to move around on this save. However, I have enjoyed the Russian leagues so far, so I've extended my contract to 2031, which gives me at least another two more seasons with the team. The short seasons of 30 games fly-by, and the league is pretty competitive too, which keeps me on my toes

[AK22]

Good progress in Europe and unlucky in the title race! I'm sure there will be more progression next season.

Great job with England too. The group draw could have been kinder but in that form, you should still top the group.

Cheers DodgeeD

I expect next season to be pretty close too. Zenit are still the strongest side in the league, but are no means invincible, which gives us some hope. I'll also be looking to start the season better than last year too. At the half way stage, we had gifted them a seven point advantage, which is a big lead. I believe if we had maintained a smaller gap, maybe only 2/3 points, that would have put a bit more pressure on them to succeed. As it was, they knew they could afford to slip up a couple of times and not be punished.

With England, I too expect to top the group. The FA want us to reach the semi-finals though, which seems a big ask. However, we have performed to a extremely high standard in the qualifiers, so that's probably why the expectations are so high. Unfortunately, as in real life, England seem to play better in qualifying than they do at the major tournaments.

[B.W.G]

Unlucky with the title race but well done on making progress in Europe.Quite a tough group you received for the world cup but I hope your able to carry that stunning form into the World Cup

[rancer890]

Another solid season there with Spartak, finishing behind Zenit . Just keep acquiring the best Russian talent and then you can compliment them with foreigners to succeed in the league and in Europe. That was my strategy with Shakhtar and you can't even naturalize players in Ukraine.

[AK22]

Unlucky with the title race but well done on making progress in Europe.Quite a tough group you received for the world cup but I hope your able to carry that stunning form into the World Cup

The World Cup draw could have been a lot kinder, but we should get through (he says optimistically ). If Palmer and Ross continue their goalscoring form in the finals then we'll have a great chance against any team, no matter how tight their defence.

Another solid season there with Spartak, finishing behind Zenit . Just keep acquiring the best Russian talent and then you can compliment them with foreigners to succeed in the league and in Europe. That was my strategy with Shakhtar and you can't even naturalize players in Ukraine.

That's the plan rancer I just begrudge paying out £5/6m for players only worth £1/2m, just because they're Russian. Maybe I'm just a tight-arse, we have plenty of money now!

It takes six years for players to naturalize to Russian nationality, so I'm going to have to be in it for the long-haul if I want to go down that route. I've already got a couple of players with Russian second nationality, which definitely comes in handy for domestic games.

[AK22]

Chapter 9 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Moscow

Pre Season 2030

Board Expectations

Rosgosstrakh Prem'er Liga - Continental qualification through league finish Media Prediction - 2nd Title Odds - 5-1 (2nd favourites behind Zenit)

UEFA Europa League - 1st Knockout Round

Kubok Rossii - Not important

Transfer Budget: £29m Wage Budget: £925k p/w (currently £718581 p/w)

Facilities - Improvements in youth and training facilities are forthcoming. Season Ticket Sales - 23437 (up 120)

Youth Intake - Nothing too promising this season but Alexey Sergienko was the best of the bunch.

Transfer Summary - I wasn't planning on making wholesale changes this winter as I want to keep a gelled squad. A handful of youngsters have had their contracts terminated, and three players join us for a net cost of £5.7m. If things don't work out, it leaves me with plenty of cash to spend in the summer if needs be. I've also lined up the signing of a new goalkeeper who will join us in July when his contract runs out.

Notable Transfers

Julinho - This Brazilian midfielder was highly rated by my scouts, and as he only cost £2.1m, he seemed quite a bargain. He's already played two seasons in Russian, so he's well on the way to be 'naturalised'.

John Skelton - A promising young English striker who came through the youth system at Arsenal. I'll be looking to send him out on loan to get some match experience.

Anton Kornienko - I think I've considerably overpaid for this fellow as he's nearly 30. However, he is Russian, and with his high flair rating, I'm hoping that he can find a breakthrough against teams who park the bus.

My objectives for the season:

- Top three finish. It is crucial that we maintain Champions League qualification every season now. Failure to do so would have huge consequences in terms of the progress we're making as a club, and the money's pretty handy too. I would imagine we'll be in the title race again this season, however, Zenit will be favourites and we'll do well to cling on to their coattails.

- Reach the knockout rounds of the Champions League. We need to be challenging ourselves to get out of the group now. We came very close to doing so last season, so I would like to think we've got a decent chance this season. Obviously, this will come down to how favourable the seedings/draw is.

[Raware]

A transfer budget of £29m?! With that kind of money I'm surprised the board don't want the title. Hopefully you can topple Zenit this season

[AK22]

A transfer budget of £29m?! With that kind of money I'm surprised the board don't want the title. Hopefully you can topple Zenit this season

Yes, it's certainly nice to have a board not demanding the title every season. The club's on a very sound financial footing so they can afford to give me plenty of money to spend

Actually, since I've been here, we've made a net profit of £2m on player transfers. So it seems we may have turned into the 'Arsenal of Russia'

[AK22]

World Cup 2030 Update

Hosts: Portugal

Holders: Spain

England

FA Expectation: Semi-final

Title Odds : 5-1 (Joint fifth favourites, Spain are the favourites)

Once again, FA expectations were high. If we were going to reach the semi-finals, we would need a combination of good form and good luck. The first match against Chile was a great way to open the competition. The 4-0 final result showed our class, and gave me optimism that we had hit the ground running. South Korea gave us a good battle, but we scraped a goal to take all three points and to guarantee our place in the next round. The third group match was against the Dutch, and this match would determine who would go through as group winners. We went 2-0 up and were looking comfortable to win the group at a canter. However, the Dutch launched a comeback with 20 minutes to go, and were unlucky not to score a winner in the final few seconds. We scraped the point needed to the top the group, however, this performance would signal the start of our demise in the tournament.

With Ivory Coast beating Argentina in their final group match to top their group, it meant we would have to face one of our biggest rivals in the second round. Ideally, I would have preferred to play the Ivorians, but still fancied our chances against the Argies. This game was a typically tight and nervy World Cup knockout game, one that would be decided by the slightest of margins. We battled throughout to find a way through, and had a couple of great chances to seal it in extra time. Unfortunately, the Argentine defence kept firm, and the tie would need to be settled by the lottery of penalties. Both sides missed their opening penalties, and Argentina missed their second too. We held our nerve to convert all our remaining spotkicks, with Dave Patten scoring the crucial one to send us through to the quarter-final 4-3 on penalties.

Another tough test would face us in the quarter-final. However, we had beaten the Germans already in the qualifiers, so I was feeling confident that we could beat them again at the World Cup. We started very poorly in Lisbon, and found ourselves 2-0 down within half an hour. We pulled a goal back just before half-time when Sam Docherty converted a header from a corner, giving us some hope of a revival in the second half. The Germans sat back after the break, allowing us plenty of space and possession, but we never really created anything to cause them any concern, what had happened to my free-scoring strikers?! As we continued to commit men forward, they picked us off on the counter-attack late in the second half to seal a 3-1 victory, and their path to the semi-final. This was another typical England World Cup Finals performance, where there was several similarities between this match and the match between the two nations in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. I would have expected a much more plucky performance from my side, but once again, it seems that when it comes to major tournaments, England just don't seem to have the bottle when they need it the most.

The tournament itself was quite lacking of surprises, upsets and shock results. Top seeds, France and Mexico, failed to get out of their groups, but them aside, all the big nations made their way to the later stages of the competition. The final was a repeat of the 2026 final, with Spain prevailing this year in a 1-0 win over Brazil. Star of the tournament was Porto's Brazilian striker, Lopes, who scored eight goals in the tournament.

[archanios]

Tough luck on the WC. But that's England I guess...

[iacovone]

Question is - can you stay on as England boss after that disappointment?

[markyosullivan]

Lopes would be a good addition to your team AK

[Deisler26]

Ah, Germany stops us again

Great read, AK

[AK22]

Tough luck on the WC. But that's England I guess...

Question is - can you stay on as England boss after that disappointment?

Ah, Germany stops us again

Great read, AK

Cheers guys. Yep, same old story I'm afraid. 'England knocked out by Germany', I'm sure that was written in the Doomsday Book.

The FA haven't sacked me, they're disappointed but understand why we were knocked out by Germany. I'm going to stay on for now, and battle through the EURO qualifiers. I'm a bit deflated at the moment but I'd like to do another World Cup campaign, just to see if we could go a bit further. A lot of the regular players are the wrong side of 30 now, so some changes will be needed long term. I'll be looking to bring in a handful of youngsters for the EURO campaign, so they'll have a few caps under their belt by the time the World Cup comes around.

For info - EURO 2032 is being hosted by Germany and World Cup 2034 is in China.

[AK22]

Lopes would be a good addition to your team AK

I know! He looks a class act, and I'm surprised one of the huge European clubs haven't taken a punt on him. (I'm not saying Porto are a small club)

Unfortunately, he's out of my price range and he isn't interested in a move to Moscow either.

[AK22]

Chapter 9 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Moscow

Mid-season 2030 Update

We've started the season in much better form this year, we're five points better off in the league then at this point last season. Our defence is looking pretty resolute too, a hallmark of many of the teams I have managed. Domestically, the biggest surprise so far has been how poor defending-champions Zenit have been. They find themselves down in fifth place, 10 points behind us, and now face a big task to ensure Champions League qualification. In fact, it's looking a good season for Moscow teams, with three of the top four sides all coming from the capital. By the looks of things, it's going to be a two-horse race between us and Kuban for the Prem'er Liga crown. They are unbeaten so far, and are matching us result for result, so I'm expecting a close finish to the season. The penultimate game could be the decider, when we host Kuban in a crucial six-pointer.

I was delighted with our performances against Leverkusen in the Europa League. This was the side that went on to win the Bundesliga by an eight point margin, and we made them look less than average, beating them 2-0 home and away. Despite the positives of these performances, we became severely unstuck against Lille in the next round. Relegated from Ligue 1 in the previous season, Lille were only in the competition as they had won the Coupe de France. Surely a side in the second tier of French football would not pose us any problems? Perhaps I underestimated them, perhaps they're cup specialists, perhaps we got complacent. What I do know is that they wiped the floor with us, stifling our play, frustrating the hell out of me, and send us home with a big slice of humble pie.

My original plan of minimal transfer activity went out in the window come the summer. Six back-up/rotation players left us, so I had to dip into the market and bring in some reinforcements. Three out of contract players joined us on free transfers, the pick of the bunch being Croatian 'keeper Stipe Djuric, who was brought in to replace the aging Areola in between the sticks. Young Spanish striker Rafael Santamaria was stolen off Aberdeen, and defender Redouane Abdessadki was reunited with his old national team boss. I also purchased two players who have the potential to be huge stars for Spartak Moscow. Montcho Abecodjo, a young Benin international, should turn out to be an excellent centre-back, and I blew £12.5m to bring Marco Shayesteh to the club. Once he's settled in, I'm sure he'll be a big hit here for many seasons to come.

[archanios]

Too bad about the Europa League exit, but you're looking good domesticly!

[AK22]

Chapter 8 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go to Wembley

England - The Road to Germany

Somehow, I managed to miss the draw for the European Championship qualifier groups, but I'm confident that we'll progress without too many hiccups. Serbia are likely to be the toughest test, and I'll be happy with a point when we visit Belgrade, but the other four nations are all pretty poor. After Serbia, the next highest side in the world rankings are Northern Ireland at 72nd. Georgia are 81st, Faroes 162nd and Luxembourg 173rd, I don't think I could have handpicked a better group!

Talking about world rankings...these are the latest standings post World Cup. We've maintained a solid position within the top 10, which ensured we were top seeds in the EURO draw. No major surprises, except maybe the Ivory Coast, who continue to maintain their status as the best nation in Africa.

[AK22]

Too bad about the Europa League exit, but you're looking good domesticly!

Thanks archanios At least I've still got my Champions League campaign to look forward to....

[roganp]

Great start to the season Shayesteh looks an excellent signing. Good luck for the rest of the season

[B.W.G]

Looking good so far although it is very close in the league.Good luck in the Champions League

Your qualifying group looks straight forward but as they say,there are no easy games!Lets hope you can end England's heartache

[Raware]

Looking good at the half way mark of the season AK . Although there's still half of the season left, it does look very likely that it'll be you and Kuban fighting it out. Should be an interesting game when you two meet, even if you did beat them easily in the cup. How does that cup (Kubok Rossii) work? It seems like you won the final but was then placed in to the 6th round after :confused:. I'm also impressed with the signings you made, in particularly Montcho Abecodjo who looks like a rock at the back and a star for years to come.

Should be an exciting finsih to the season .

[noikeee]

I think you over-achieved at the last World Cup actually. England winning a penalty shootout? The qualifying group is looking good for the next Euro, hopefully you'll go another step further and fight for the Cup there.

Amazing that even with Spartak, you still do well domestically and choke continentally. Losing to a 2nd tier team, ouch. Very unlucky with that Champions League group though, and great performance versus Leverkusen.

I wonder how long it'll take until your board demands the title, as evidently the club is growing, albeit slowly. Looking good for the title this year regardless of board expectations.

[AK22]

Great start to the season Shayesteh looks an excellent signing. Good luck for the rest of the season

Thanks roganp. I don't expect too much from Shayesteh straightaway, I'm sure it will take him a few months to settle to life in Russia.

Looking good so far although it is very close in the league.Good luck in the Champions League

Your qualifying group looks straight forward but as they say,there are no easy games!Lets hope you can end England's heartache

You're quite right, I shouldn't under-estimate any oppositions. However, if I can't beat the Faroe Islands and Luxembourg, I'd just as well give up now!

[AK22]

Looking good at the half way mark of the season AK . Although there's still half of the season left, it does look very likely that it'll be you and Kuban fighting it out. Should be an interesting game when you two meet, even if you did beat them easily in the cup. How does that cup (Kubok Rossii) work? It seems like you won the final but was then placed in to the 6th round after :confused:. I'm also impressed with the signings you made, in particularly Montcho Abecodjo who looks like a rock at the back and a star for years to come.

Should be an exciting finsih to the season .

Thanks Raware, that match against Kuban will be crucial, as I think everyone else is too far back to make a late surge for the title. If we win that match, I think we'll win the title.

The Kubok Rossii is a tad on the complicated side. The competition does not follow the usual Mar-Dec Russian schedule, and instead follows the more traditional European format, the final is in May. However, by this point, the qualifying rounds for the following year's competition have already taken place (usually mid-April). The big sides then enter the competition in the 6th Round which is played in July.

A typical schedule for us would be:

6th Round: July

7th Round: August

Quarter-Final: Early April

Semi-Final: Late April

Final: May

The winner then get placed in the forthcoming Europa League competition.

[AK22]

I think you over-achieved at the last World Cup actually. England winning a penalty shootout? The qualifying group is looking good for the next Euro, hopefully you'll go another step further and fight for the Cup there.

Amazing that even with Spartak, you still do well domestically and choke continentally. Losing to a 2nd tier team, ouch. Very unlucky with that Champions League group though, and great performance versus Leverkusen.

I wonder how long it'll take until your board demands the title, as evidently the club is growing, albeit slowly. Looking good for the title this year regardless of board expectations.

Cheers noikee, I expect this will be the last season where the board does not expect a title challenge. I think that as the club's reputation rises, so will the boards expectations, and they'll be more demanding from next season onwards.

I don't know what it is with my teams! Domestically or international, put them in a league/qualifying group situation, and they'll win it or come extremely close. However, in a cup knockout competition, I just don't seem to have the knack/luck/tactics to be successful. Losing to Lille was an aberration! I think it might start putting less importance on European football, playing some of my back-up players, to see if that will turn the tide of results

[rancer890]

Unlucky in Europa League...but the league seems to be a two horse race...Kuban are so close to first place!

The group draw there is favourable. Just do what's expected of you.

[AK22]

Unlucky in Europa League...but the league seems to be a two horse race...Kuban are so close to first place!

The group draw there is favourable. Just do what's expected of you.

Thanks rancer I'm getting a bit sick of continental competitions now, but you never know, I might get the knack of them eventually. Perhaps I just need to take over at Barcelona, either that or go back to the bottom of the English league structure, there's no Champions League to worry about there!

[AK22]

Chapter 9 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Moscow

Winter 2030 Update

What a incredible second half of the season, only dropping five points in the league. Considering Kuban were only a point behind us at the halfway stage, to win the league by twelve clear points was quite an achievement. We actually had the league sewn up with two games to spare, so I'm more than impressed that we finished the season off with solid wins against Kuban and Rubin. The 78 points we racked up was only one short of Zenit's 2024 record for the most point in a season, so that's something to aim for next season. Unfortunately, we haven't had much luck with injuries though. In the game against Kuban, striker Bas Peters broke his leg, and will now miss five/six months of football. Also, star signing, Marco Shayesteh, injured himself eight games into his career at Spartak Moscow, tearing his hamstring and missing three months of game time. Hopefully, he will have learnt Russian by the time he's fit again!

Once again, we were so close to qualifying for the knockout rounds of the Champions League. If we had managed to score a goal in either of the home matches against Arsenal or Lazio, we would have secured qualification, and potentially, could have topped the group. Even though it's disappointing to be playing only Europa League football in the spring, there are a lot of positives to take from this campaign. Lazio went into the competition as defending champions and second favourites (behind Real Madrid) to win it this year, so I was concerned that our fate had been decided before the group matches even got underway. However, we gave it our best shot throughout, securing a point at home to Lazio, and then beating my former team 1-0 on my first return to Olimpico (even though it was a dead rubber). Two credible results, showing what we can do on our day, and to be fair to us, we should have beaten them at our place too, as we won the possession battle 58-42, and had far more shots at goal 26-10. It's now two seasons out of three that we've had the defending champions in our group, and we have definitely given a good account of ourselves in the games against them. I'm extremely confident that next year could be the year we make the breakthrough, but for now, we'll have to do with a Europa League campaign, where it's Chelsea in the first knockout round, and then potentially my beloved Liverpool in the following round.