sherm Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 To step off a plane and into the Glasgow weather, and not feel the cold, is a problem, but that is exactly what Vladimir Shenzin had when he stepped off his flight from Moscow to Glasgow. Coming from -10 to 4 degrees was like going to Australia from England! Vladimir had been successful in his last spell as a manager, as he had led Icelandic side Keflavik to three league titles, garnering himself a reputation as a brilliant tactician. However, he had been, as had the rest of the world, shocked by the plight of the once great Rangers. They had suffered financial setbacks, and they were now managerless. Nobody wanted to take on the plight they were in, and that is when they turned to Vladimir. He had expressed his interest in the job, but deep down, he never expected to be offered the position. So when he received the phone call, his reaction was an initial one of shock, but he also knew he couldn't turn down the opportunity to manage one of Scotland's biggest clubs Walking into the famous Ibrox Stadium, Vladimir couldn't help but admire the photos and pictures that adorned the walls. He knew that he had the task of his life, but he was confident enough in his abilities to know he could do that task. It would be tough though, with less than £2,000,000 for transfers, and a small wage budget, but on the plus side, there were still several good players at the club. Mikel Arteta, Stefan Klos, Craig Moore and Peter Lovenkrands all had ability to turn a game, and with the right signings, it would be a good squad he had on his hands "I remember walking down the corridors. There was just such a special feel about the place. It was then that I knew I could achieve whatever I wanted to at the club. I got such a warm welcome too, and even though I knew I was chosen because, well, nobody else wanted the job, I was made to feel like the number one choice. I felt so at home..." Vladimir Shenzin --- I was born in Moscow, the youngest of three brothers. My two elder siblings, Sergey and Mikail, would always go off to play football, and it killed me that I couldn't play with them. My Dad was a bootmaker, and he did well for himself, but we were never rich. We always got supported from our parents, and they did everything they could to help us School wasn't something that interested me, except for the football we played, and I wasn't the most academically gifted child. My P.E teacher saw my potential though, and I made the school team aged 12, the youngest to do so. I went through all four years, before leaving and signing a youth contract with Spartak Moscow. I was a conventional centre forward, but while at Spartak, I learned to adapt my game, well enough to make my debut aged 18 years and 34 days. The five years I spent at Spartak established me into one of the best Russian players in the world, and I got my big break at 23, sealing a £500,000 move to AC Milan. However, my time in Italy was unhappy, as I just could not get into the style of play over there, and eventually I moved to Ajax. I was successful there, scoring 145 goals in six years, before eventually taking up a player/coach role back at Spartak. After completing my badges, I got a chance to manage Keflavik in Iceland, and there I guided them to three league titles, two Icelandic cups, and within four minutes of Champions League qualification .. Sergey Shenzin paced up and down the room, tapping his shotgun in his left hand. A sinister smile had crossed his face, and as he turned to face his adversary, the man cowered into the corner, his hands covering his face in fear "Roman, you know I like loyalty? You haven't been loyal have you Roman?" "Yes I have Mr Shenzin, you know I..." "Shut up!" It was as if he was talking to the entire room, as the silence reverberated around "Now, you have to pay a price for the lack of loyalty..." With that, he took his shotgun, put it into the mouth of the terrified man, and pulled the trigger. Within seconds, blood, brains and the back of his head were splattered along the wall "Andrey, Pavel? Clean that up for me?" And with chilling coldness, he wiped off his gun and headed away from the room Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenthreeleader Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Why do I get the feeling I'm going to love this? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherm Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Cheers 10-3, I hope you do enjoy the story --- The first thing I needed to do was to hire myself a capable assistant. Language barriers were not a problem (well, except for understanding the Scottish accent), so when the ideal candidate turned out to be English, it didn't matter. The man who proved himself ideal for the job was former Newcastle and Liverpool player Peter Beardsley. He had an obvious knowledge of the game, and his opinions and tactical suggestions would be welcome for me, and I was delighted to have him on board. He was joined by a new chief scout, Simon Clifford, and between them, these men would take charge of our pre-season games, leaving me free for the day-to-day activities It was easy enough to find some new signings, as I already had several contacts in mind, and it resulted in me cashing in on a couple of favours, as I headed back to Iceland to dip into the talent market there. The first place I went to was my old club Keflavik, and I had no problem in splashing out £425,000 on striker Porarinn Brynjar Kristjansson. He was a big powerful lad, brilliant in the air, and could hold the ball up, and I knew he was the sort of striker that would do exceptionally well. There were also two new additions to the midfield, as team-mates (for club and country) Orri Freyr Oskarsson and Johann Porhallsson joined for a combined fee of £60,000. Oskarsson could play on the right hand side of midfield, but I had him earmarked for a central role, while Johann looked perfect for a left midfield role. He was quick, sharp, tricky, and could whip a cross in, while Oskarsson loved to bomb forward from midfield, but he also wasn't shy of making a tackle or getting stuck in "When the opportunity came to join Vladimir and Rangers, we both felt we couldn't turn it down. They are a massive club, and to have the chance to join them was terrific. Vlad was, without a doubt, the most thorough and hands on boss I ever worked for. He preparation before a game was unbelievable, and if a team had a weakness, he knew it. The man was a genius" Johann Porhallsson -- Peter had kept me up to date with the pre-season games, and the first three games had been on the club tour of Republic of Ireland. The opening game had resulted in a comfortable 3-0 win over Cork City, with goals from Lovenkrands, Emerson and youngster Scott Burns, but it was the second game which Peter had been most impressed with He had opted for a young side in the game against Bohemians, with the likes of Chris Burke, Daniele Fortunato, Scott Burns and Alan McGregor in the side, but Peter was delighted with the impact they had. Fortunato was particularly impressive, bombing up and down the right hand side, and it was the young Italian who set up the opener, squaring the ball back for Arteta to dummy, and Steven Thompson fired home into the bottom corner. Ronald de Boer was the man who doubled the lead on the half time interval, linking well with Nerlinger and curling the ball home nicely. The second half was more of the same, as we dominated in both possession and chances, and it was Chris Burke who sealed the win with a five minute brace. His first came after a mistake from the defense, which allowed Lovenkrands in, who squared the ball across the box for Burke to head home. The fourth was even better, as he stepped up to take the free-kick and he curled it home beautifully into the top corner. The 4-0 win against one of the better Irish sides with a young side was a mighty impressive performance The final game was against Derry City, and this was a simple and routine 2-0 win. McGregor and Fortunato kept their places after good showings in the last game, but it was a double from veteran striker Michael Mols in the second half that sealed their 100% record on the tour, and they flew back in high spirits, ready to meet their new team-mates ... Unfortunately, my relationship with my brothers had deteriorated over the recent years, and I had not spoken to either Sergey or Mikail in almost seven years. I knew that Sergey was involved in the Moscow underworld, and that Mikail wasn't exactly all legal, and I could not bring myself to associate with that. This had started when our father died. He was a strong willed man, coping well enough after my mothers death, but when he died, my brothers could not take it He was a hero to them, and they went off the rails when he left us. They had tried numerous times to get in contact with me, but each time I had rebuffed their attempts, and though I was sure they knew I was in Glasgow, I was sure they wouldn't come and try to find me. If I'm honest, I didn't want anything to do with them... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherm Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Sergey Shenzin sat opposite his brother, Mikail, with his henchmen either side of him, and he tapped his pen from side to side on his mouth. Then, without warning, he swept off all the stuff on his desk in a rage of anger. He was prone to bouts of violence, and when he had one, everybody steered clear "That son of a bitch" "Sergey, calm down" He shot his brother a look that didn't need any words "Calm down. How the hell am I supposed to calm down? I've got millions of pounds in assets frozen by those bastards" "We still have funds in the private family account, and there is no way they can prove you guilty" A sinister smile crossed both brothers face, and that sibling instinct told them the same thing "I think we need to go and find little brother" -- Our next pre-season game saw AEK Athens make the trip to Ibrox, and all of our new signings made their debuts during the game. Oskarsson and Kristjansson started on the bench, while Porhallsson started on the left hand side of midfield, and it was our Icelandic winger that set up the opener, a jinking run into the box allowing him to cut the ball back for Stephen Hughes to slide into the bottom corner. The Greek visitors made their presence felt, as they tested Stefan Klos several times, but there wasn't anything they could do when we went into a 2-0 lead, Oskarsson seeing his shot parried into the path of his fellow substitute Kristjansson, who nicely finished into the unguarded goal. It made it four wins from four in our pre-season campaign, but with one more game to go, I felt we could go into the season in good shape and start well in our campaign The final pre-season game was a visit to Division Two side Airdrie Utd, but unfortunately, all our hard work of the last four games was undone, as we suffered an embarassing 2-1 reversal. We started well enough, testing the home 'keeper early on, but it was a breakaway move that saw Michael Ball make a mistake, allowing Jerome Vareilles in to slide the ball past Klos. Fortunately, we managed to get ourselves back on track, and just before the half ended, Mikel Arteta levelled things up, combining nicely with Hughes and sliding home beautifully. Several changes came at half time, but the home side were impressive, stifling our attacks before snatching the win, the cross coming in, Vareilles heading the ball down and into the net, deflecting off Nerlinger and past Klos into the goal Following the last game, we added two more additions to the squad, as Birmingham midfielder Aliou Cisse completed his loan move for the season, but the signing that excited me most was the £1,000,000 transfer of Kilmarnock striker Danny Invincible. The Aussie had several years of top flight experience, and I felt with his addition our strikeforce had all the weapons it needed to aid us in our season -- Sergey and Mikail landed in Glasgow, and with both dressed in Armani suits, they received several looks. Flagging a taxi, they drove to their hotel. They had, unusually for them, come without a plan of action, but the only thing they knew was they had to find their little brother. "So how do we go about this?" A look that said everything crossed Sergey's face "No idea. Find Vladimir, then go from there. We have to take our time though" "What do you mean?" "Well we can't just storm in there. We have to set the foundation out for getting him on our side. We haven't spoken for years don't forget" On that note, they opened up a bottle of vodka, and poured themselves a healthy measure, toasting their success Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 excellent story Sherm,but wouldn't expect anything else Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherm Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Cheers Mark, glad to know you're reading and enjoying --- "When Rangers came calling, I was tempted straightaway. They are one of the biggest clubs in the world, but the thing that swung the move for me was Vladimir. His coolness and knowledge was terrific, and he gave off a real good vibe. His answers to my questions were well thought out, and I knew I wanted to play under this man. It was the best move I ever made" Danny Invincible -- "Number 24, Rangers, will play..." "Number 7, Celtic" The Champions League qualifying had drawn up and early season Old Firm game, which would add two more games to the list. It was an interesting tie, but before that game, the opening League game was first, and it would see a visit to Ibrox from Kilmarnock. Danny Invincible was desperate to play against his old club, but he started on the bench. Daniele Fortunato took his place at right full back, while Oskarsson and Porhallsson started in midfield. It was our Icelandic duo that started well, linking up with each other beautifully, and it was Porhallsson who set up the opening goal, using his pace to burtst down the left hand side, before drilling a low ball across the box. It missed everybody, all except Ronald de Boer, who drilled the ball in hard and low to the bottom corner. There were no more first half goals, although chances came and went, but it wasn't until the 64th minute the lead was doubled. Stephen Hughes latched onto a Craig Moore clearance, before slipping it through to Invincible, and the Aussie turned his man before finishing beautifully for a debut goal, against his former club. The points were sealed eight minutes later, Oskarsson winning a free-kick, which Stephen Hughes curled home into the bottom corner -- Sergey sat in the pub, sipping a vodka and looking over his notes. He had sat in the stands for the Rangers Kilmarnock game, but spent the majority of the time watching his brother and his mannerisms. It was plain to see that he was no longer the shy and retiring boy that he used to be. He was now a fully fledged man, with confidence and charisma, therefore he would not be as easy to confront as they thought "Mikail? Sergey" "..." "No. This will not be easy" "..." "Well he doesn't have a family or anything that we can target. We need a new plan" "..." "OK. I shall head back to base" His military background had taken over in the situation, and it was times like this that both he and Mikail were grateful that they had been in the Russian military all those years ago. ... The Champions League beckoned, but it could for all the world have been a Premiership game, as Celtic made the trip across Glasgow. Vladimir knew it was vital to get his side a good lead going into the return leg, but even he could not have expected the outcome they got. A rampant, dominant and composed performance saw his side claim a second successive 3-0 win. The first half an hour was slow, but the home side were constantly keeping the possession, but it took an own goal from Stilian Petrov to spark things up. Ricksen had overlapped Oskarsson, who fed him the ball. His low cross found Steven Thompson, who shot, but a wicked deflection off Petrov wrong footed the 'keeper and trickled into the net. It was the second half which was the time when Rangers asserted there dominance, and it was goals from Steven Thompson, with a fabulous header, and a sublime individual effort from Peter Lovenkrands, who beat three men before rounding Douglas and slotting home, and a chorus of cheers rang out when the final whistle blew, with Rangers halfway towards Europe's elite Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherm Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 "From the very first derby match, it was obvious how important these games were to the fans. Then 3-0 win in the first game was greeted in a way I had never seen before. I truly believed then, and I still do to this day, that it is the best derby in the world, in terms of atmosphere, and the way everything happens around it. Fortunately for me, I always had a decent record in them, which was a blessing" Vladimir Shenzin .. I had been delighted with the start we had made, and it seemed like everything had clicked into place. The new lads were fitting in well, the formation I was using had worked a charm, and I was enjoying life as Rangers boss. That was however, until I heard a knock at my office door and midfielder Mikel Arteta popped in for a chat "Mikel, what can I do for you?" "Well, I just wanted to let you know I am handing in a transfer request" I nearly spat my coffee all over my computer screen, and the shock on my face must have been obvious "You're what? Handing in a transfer request? You better be joking Mikel?" The youngster seemed shocked at my outburst, but quite frankly, I didn't care at that point "Well, I've heard that Real Madrid want to sign me, and my agent..." That was it for me "Well I'll tell you what, you ungrateful little ****. Your request is granted. But, if I find that you have been speaking to Real Madrid without the proper channels, I will come down hard on you, and them. Got it?" Arteta mumbled a reply, before slinking out of the office. I was furious with his audacity, and to punish him further, I relegated him to the reserves and vowed he would never play for me again -- Our next game saw us travel to Tynecastle to take on Hearts, and though I expected a tough game, we started brilliantly. Steven Thompson made his first start of the season, with Nerlinger and Khizanishvili also coming into the team. It took just 143 seconds for us to take the lead, when a long Craig Moore clearance beat the defenders, allowing Peter Lovenkrands the time and space to run, before he shot hard and low from an angle into the bottom left corner. The Dane was also a major part of the second, which came just three minutes later, as he slipped the ball through for Porhallsson, who found Thompson in the box and the striker side footed home nicely. The home side were never really in with a game, and they never tested Stefan Klos until the second half, but by then we could quite conceivably have been four or five ahead. As it was, we ended the scoring in the 78th minute, Thompson linking well with de Boer, who dinked a return into the striker, and his instinctive shot found the roof of the net to seal the points. I had made the players aware of what had gone on between myself and Mikel Arteta, and I was delighted to hear them support me. I hoped it would fire them up for our next game, which saw Dundee United make the trip to Glasgow. Steve Thompson was all geared up for playing against his former club, but unfortunately he picked up a groin strain beforehand, which meant Porarinn Kristjansson came into the team. The Icelandic forward had a superb game, as he kept dropping deep into the hole, leaving Danny Invincible to do his own thing upfront, and it was this that led to the opener, Kristjansson sliding the ball through for the Aussie to dink underneath the 'keeper and score his second for the club. His third came just eleven minutes later, a lovely passing move ending with the ball at Orri Oskarsson's feet, and the winger whipped a beautiful cross onto Invincible's head, and he guided it into the top corner. The visitors never had a sniff really, and a fourth successive three goal win was confirmed when the ball broke loose to Kristjansson after a defensive error, and he spotted the 'keeper off his line, before chipping him from just about 30 yards, a wonderful goal to open his account for the club and seal the points Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.