The Journey Of A Thousand Miles Begins With A Broken Fan Belt And A Flat Tyre.

[B.W.G]

Zenit St.Petersburg - Premier Division - July/August 2019

Fixtures

League Table

Manager's Thoughts

Two months and two trophies added to the cabinet as we won the Russian Super Cup and Euro Super Cup even if both were closer calls then I would have liked.The league has gone very well so far as we have a 100% winning record so credit to Rubin for starting so well.I'll be honest,after how we have started then I won't be surprised if we can go this season unbeaten as well.The Russian cup starts next month as we face non-league side Gazovik Orenburg but I will field a strong side as I want an emphatic victory at some point.My only problem was the 4-0 victory over Rostov as Hulk conned the ref twice as he dived twice to win penalties which he converted so I was quite disgusted at that.

September sees the return of the Champions League and I can only describe our group stage as interesting.PSV have won 4 out of the last 5 Eredivisie titles.Celtic made the CL quarter finals last season and knocked out Juventus in the competition last season.Bologna are probably one of toughest we could have got,they are now tycoon owned,they were promoted to Serie A in 2016 and since then have finished 8th,5th and 2nd in their three seasons back.Also poor Birmingham as they get drawn against Juventus and PSG!Not too bothered by the domestic fixtures as the most tricky tie in the two months is at the end of October when we face Anji.

[Mattias333]

JackJCFC - Cheers fella I think a bit of luck is quite an understatement but with the way this CL has gone who knows what will happen.Roma knocked out Chelsea and Celtic took out Juventus!

Mattias333 - Yes you read that correctly,Norwich signed Lukas Podolski in 2015/16 for £1.2 million!He's now 33 as I'm in 18/19 and not 16/17 but unfortunately Norwich are top of the Championship!Other notable signings have included Thomas Ince (Now an England international!),Ruben Rochina (later sold to Chelsea for £21 million!),Neal Eardley (Welsh international,now at Roma),Lucas Viatri,James Mclean and two Swiss internationals in Ricardo Rodiguez and Michel Morganella!

Ricardo Rodiguez? I thought he was Alberto Del Rio's ring announcer (wrasslin fans will get that).

Im slowly getting there with your great career thread. Its the only one im actively reading at the minute during boring periods at work. Great stuff. Im still playing FM12 but looking forward to FM13. Cant believe Norwich signed some good players lol! 21m Profit on Rochina is massive to!

[B.W.G]

Ricardo Rodriguez also known as El-Local Do I like Alberto Del Rio....NO!....NO!....NO!

You'll be pleased to know that Norwich have quite a good striker at their club.

He's played 62 times for Norwich and has scored 39 times!

[AcidBurn]

Everyone should like Alberto Del Rio.

[B.W.G]

He's kind of in the middle for me,I don't like him but at the same time I don't hate him.My hate is saved up for 3MB!

I will get an update done today as I have the rest of the day off from work!!

[B.W.G]

Zenit St.Petersburg - Premier Division - September/October 2019

Fixtures

League Table

Manager's Thoughts

The last couple of months were trickier than expected,especially in the Champions League.We have five points from three games with Bologna leading the way with 7 which is impressive in their first CL campaign.I wanted a tougher and trickier campaign and I certainly have it.The Russian Cup sees us through to the quarter finals where we will face Mordovia in the Quarter finals after we beat Kuban in the 6th round.The League has gone as expected and it is pretty hard to see who will beat us but I have to give credit to Rubin who have so far kept up superbly and are only four points behind us.

The next two months sees us finish our group stage off in the Champions League which I do feel better about as we have home games against Bologna and Celtic.We have the Club World Cup which shouldn't be too difficult with the hardest team more than likely coming from South America.The League is interesting as we face Lokomotiv,Dinamo and Spartak Moscow as well as finally going face to face with second place Rubin!I feel confident that we can continue to go unbeaten,only another 17 games to go till we have gone two seasons unbeaten!

[AcidBurn]

I think domestically you won't lose a match this season. If you can win your home matches in the CL which you should then you'll be fine.

[deltablue]

Doesn't look that tricky to me, at least domestically

[B.W.G]

Acidburn - It will be a great to leave Russia unbeaten domestically.I am pretty confident about beating Celtic but Bologna do worry me a bit.

deltablue - I was trying to make it a bit more tense but your right,it really isn't that tricky domestically

[markyosullivan]

You'll be pleased to know that Norwich have quite a good striker at their club.

He's played 62 times for Norwich and has scored 39 times!

Another great footballer who's called O'Sullivan

[Raware]

17 games left to make it 2 seasons unbeaten?...It's going to be a tough ask but the way you're playing, it could be possible .

[B.W.G]

markyosullivan - He's far too good to be playing in the Championship as I scouted him and he is regarded as having the potential to be a leading player in the Russian Premier Division!

Raware - It's down to 13 games now so it is getting closer.This season has been a bit more challenging has Rubin are still on our tail but we are yet to play them but I'm confident

[AK22]

Based on recent events, Zenit fans don't deserve another unbeaten season.

Going along nicely though

[B.W.G]

I fully agree,that's why the recent events have basically confirmed that I am leaving at the end of the season even if I won't have seen out my contract!

Cheers fella

[B.W.G]

Zenit St.Petersburg - Premier Division - November/December 2019

Fixtures

League Table

Manager's Thoughts

We did very well in the last couple of months as we had to deal with a midfield injury crisis in which only Arnaldo and Hulk played a part in every game which was really annoying.We're still unbeaten in the league with ten games left but we have to face the bottom three in those last ten games,the major victory was against Rubin which helped put us eight points ahead of them who are in second place.The Champions League didn't see our best performances but we got through with three wins and three draws which gave us first place but we failed to beat Bologna,I feel sorry for whoever draws them in the knockout stages as they are very tough to beat!We also won the Club World Cup which the only surprising thing was that we faced Suwon who knocked out Corinthians!With that said we now enter the winter break and have no games till the end of February.

The Champions League draw for the Knockout Stages is certainly interesting.We have a rematch with Valencia at the same stage as last season,we have 2015 winners versus the 2018 winners in Juventus vs Tottenham,Tycoon vs Tycoon in Bologna vs Man City.We have the 2017 winners At.Madrid face AS Saint-Etienne who qualified from a group which contained Man City and Real Madrid! The tie of the round is most definitely Dortmund vs PSG,the winners of the Bundesliga from 2012-2019 vs the winners of Ligue 1 from 2012-19!

[B.W.G]

Zenit St.Petersburg - Premier Division - February/March 2020

Fixtures

League Table

Manager's Thoughts

Three wins and a draw in the league sees us with a 14 point gap with 6 games to go so barring a massive disaster then the title will be ours.My favourite performance was one the one against CSKA Moscow as it is always good to get an important win.We got very lucky in the Champions League as we sunk Valencia with an injury time winner in the first leg before we dominated them in the second leg to give us a 6-3 aggregate victory.We were drawn against the 2018 winners Tottenham in the quarter finals and somehow we won 2-1!We could have an advantage going into the home leg but anything can happen.

We are now approaching the last two months and we should get the league wrapped up in April,we have the second leg of the Champions League against Tottenham in which I am hopeful we can make the semi-finals.We do have the Russian Cup quarter-final against Mordovia but the board are not too concerned with how I perform in that as the league and Champions League are more important.Hopefully our attacking force can continue to keep scoring as I want to leave the club with bang by winning the Champions League as domestically,it has not been challenging what so ever.

[deltablue]

Looking forward to a new challenge then?

[B.W.G]

I am indeed.Part of me wants to manage in France to overthrow PSG as they are on course for their 8th consecutive Ligue 1 title!Sunderland have also piqued my interest as they currently sit in 23rd place with 4 games to go in League 1 so it would be a restoration job.The only job I would rule out now is the Man Utd job as I don't have it in me to manage them.

[B.W.G]

I rejected the AC Milan offer as I didn't fancy managing in Italy as I want a bit more freedom with the foreign restriction but just had this offer through.

They've agreed to delay the decision till the end of the season.Bayern only have a German Cup (2013) and a German Super Cup (2017) so they haven't really done much except for finishing behind Dortmund constantly!

[JackJCFC]

Bayern should be an interesting move, always enjoy seeing people manage in Germany, much more competitive. Hope you can finish the season unbeaten in Russia too!

[B.W.G]

Decided I'm going to take it.Bayern finished 5th this season behind Dormund (4th),Gladbach (3rd),Frankfurt (2nd) and Leverusen (1st).We managed to go unbeaten domestically but we lost in the semi-final of the Champions League to Man City!

[B.W.G]

Zenit St.Petersburg - Premier Division - End of Season 2019/20

2019/20 Transfers

Four players left on loan to get first team experience while two left permanently.Faizulin was 33 and demanding first team action but was not good enough for the team so I let him go.Gonzalez left after the board accepted two bids from Real Madrid and Man Utd,Gonzalez decided to pick the cheaper of the two.Four Russians and One foreigner came in.Arnaldo took the over the foreign spot which waas Gonzalez's but only cost a fraction of the price.The four Russians bought in were mainly to give us more options with Lavrov being a Russian who would see more first team action then the others and is already a Russian international.

Competitions

League

League Table

I can't say that was too difficult as we finished the season unbeaten yet again and with a 16 point gap which is quite ridiculous considering there are only 30 league games played in Russia.We are definitely the stand out team as the other 15 teams seem to drop points at each other quite often.Also the power has shifted completely away from the Moscow sides and Anji as Zenit can probably dominate for another couple of seasons.With this season done,Zenit are now 70 games unbeaten in the league but that will change next season as I will be leaving and there will be a new manager and new tactics for the team to figure out!

Champions League

Semi-Final

We overcame a tough group which contained Bologna,PSV and Celtic as we topped the group with 3 wins and 3 draws.The knockout Stage saw us draw Valencia at the same stage for a second successive year,in the weirdest twist of fate possible,we actually beat them 6-3 on aggregate which is the same scoreline as last seasons tie at the same stage!We drew English giants Tottenham in the quarter finals and we showed them in both legs that we were the superior side when it came to finishing as we beat them 4-1 on aggregate.The semi-final pitted us against the English Premier League reigning Champions Man City,in both games they were much superior to us in every department,the two things that surprised me were that we scored two goals and they only scored five as we went out 5-2 on aggregate.Man City would go on to win an all English final against Arsenal with a 2-1 victory.

Russian Cup

Winners

A very simple run in which we were rarely troubled,we beat non-league side Gazovik Orenburg 4-0 in the 5th round in our easiest tie of the competition.We then beat Kuban 2-0 with relative ease in the 6th round.The quarter final were against 1st Division side Morodovia,the scoreline of 3-2 was a bit misleading as were in total control of the game and they scored from both of their shots.The semi-final saw us face rivals CSKA Moscow and in our toughest match of the competition,we managed to hold on for a 2-1 win to send us through to a 2nd successive final.The final was quite boring overall as it was more like a battle than a match,we also left it late to clinch victory thanks to goals from Rogov and Hulk in the last 13 minutes of the game.A win is a win and that is all that matters.

Club World Cup

Winners

We laboured to a 2-0 win against Etoile du Sahel in the semi-final which was probably the worst performance I have seen us put in.The final was against Suwon of all teams who knocked out Columbus Crew and Corinthians on the way to final,our overall performance was better then the semi-final but our finishing was poor.Thankfully some players had their shooting boots on to clinch us the Club World Cup.

European Super Cup

Winners

Was a very tough battle but we managed to finish as the stronger team,I am very impressed with the way we came back from 2-1 down to secure the European Supercup thanks to a late Hulk goal.This was Zenit's first Supercup victory since 2008!

Russian Super Cup

Winners

Another poor show when it came to finishing,we won thanks to injury time goals in the first half of extra time and injury time in the second half of extra time.We were poor but we won which is the important thing.

Players,Stats and Awards

Best XI 19/20 - Overall Best XI

A quick look at the Player's Statistics for the season.

The Star

Hulk

Hulk was literally incredible,he was top scorer hitting 28 goals as well as topping the assist chart with 23 goals.He also averaged at 7.73 over 48 games which was a remarkable feat.His performances saw him hit a triple for awards as he won Foreign Player of the Year,Managers Select Award and Fans Player of the Year.What a player he has been for us.

My Player of the Year

Claudio Jose

The most consistent player in the team who isn't called Hulk.Jose was a rock at the back in what was a pretty successful season for us.He played 44 times,scored 3,won PotM 6 times and averaged at 7.60 from his appearances.His form at the start of the season was so good that he got called up to the Brazil side and made an appearance in a friendly for them against Norway.He can still improve as he is currently rated at 3* and has 3.5* PA.Very good defender to have at our disposal.

Special Mention

Dusan Djuric

Did very well despite missing roughly four months of the season due to injury.Despite his injuries,he played 27 times and netted 14 goals which was an impressive return.He still has room to improve which is remarkable as he is pretty good now.I did accept a £31 million bid off Man Utd but he rejected them to stay at the club.He averaged at 7.42 from his 27 games which was a good return of form for him.Not quite at his peak yet so he can still get better.

Manager's Thoughts

So now I end my spell in charge unbeaten domestically and winning almost everything.It wasn't really that difficult on the domestic front as the teams just loved dropping points against each other,I was pleased at our attempt to retain the Champions League but in the end Man City were much stronger than us.My time at Zenit as seen my point total for the hall of fame shoot up to 1079 so I need another 300 to get onto the World Hall of fame.I will be leaving with my head held high thanks to quality performances coming from Hulk who has been brilliant during my spell in charge.

I will be resigning end of season as I've had an offer from Bayern in which I will be accepting as they have been underachieving for a while now and also find themselves out of the Champions League spots.I will be taking over around the 25th June 2020 in which I will be looking to add to the quality youngsters they have there.

Season       Club          Division       Country      League       Cup       Continental    Avg.Att       Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012    Gangneung City    N-League       S.Korea       4th       3rd Rnd        N/A          1618     Playoff Defeat!
2013    Gangneung City    N-League       S.Korea       1st         Q.F          N/A          3540     Playoff Vitors!
2014    Gangneung City    K-League       S.Korea       4th       WINNERS        N/A          3707     FA Cup Winners!
2015    Gangneung City    K-League       S.Korea       3rd       WINNERS      WINNERS        4233     Left 18/11/15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16   Wigan Ath.     Championship     England       5th       6th Rnd        N/A         13218     Playoff Winners!
2016/17   Wigan Ath.      Premiership     England       8th      Runners Up      N/A         19551     Top half finish.
2017/18   Wigan Ath.      Premiership     England       5th*      3rd Rnd*       N/A         17379     Left in Dec 17
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18    Zenit        Prem.Division     Russia        1st       5th Rnd     Group Stage    42445     League Winners!
2018/19    Zenit        Prem.Division     Russia        1st       WINNERS      WINNERS       50024      Won Treble!
2019/20    Zenit        Prem.Division     Russia        1st       WINNERS     Semi-Final     53101    Resigned at E.O.S
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[b101]

Great work at Zenit, Bayern's facilities are unrivalled so it'll be good to see the youth prospects you get through there.

[B.W.G]

Cheers fella From what I've seen,Bayern have two 4.5* PA youth players,three 4* PA players and three 3.5* PA players in the youth team.There is also 2 3.5* PA players in the u23s so we do have a lot of potential quality.We also have a German 22 year old who came through at Kaiserslautern who is rated at 5* CA so is potentially the Worlds best right back.

[deltablue]

Bayern looks like a great move.

[B.W.G]

Looks like it at the moment,I've built the team up for the next few years in mind and have also bought in 3 English players who should all become internationals in the future.

[noikeee]

I don't find Bayern a very likeable club but after winning CL, Club World Cup then making it to the semis of the CL again, with a Russian club.. well I'd definitely leave and try a new challenge too.

Think this has been the most successful career in these forums this year so far (although I'm not following even half of them). That doesn't really surprise me given your previous successes in previous careers - Iker Sola, etc - but that was still quite a remarkable stint at Zenit!

[B.W.G]

Bayern Munich - First Division - Pre-Season - 2020/21

Club Information - Facilities - Boardroom Overview - Expectations - Finances

Pre-Season Transfers

Most of my transfer dealings were letting some of our players go out on loan to help get the first team experience considering they were in the Bayern Munich II side so I thought loaning them out could do them more good.We signed six players for £29 million which is pretty good going as these players will be worth a lot more in the future.All the players we have signed have 4* PA or above and are not older than 22 years old (Hughes and Barns-Graham).

Pre-Season Fixtures

Nothing really to say other than this was a case of getting the players to adapt to my tactics.The win against Benfica was encouraging as we will be competing in the Euro Cup with them.

Team and Tactics

Tactics - Team Report

Key Players

Manuel Neuer - GK

Still the number one keeper at Bayern even at 34 years old.He will be important this season but I have got his understudy in the form of Hughes who has come from Southampton.Neuer is probably one of the best keepers and hopefully he can show his ability and experience to help us challenge for the title.Will give him a rest in the early stage of cup matches to help avoid any long term injuries.

Torsten Breitbach - DR

I am going to go out on a limb and say he is the best right back in my save,he is 22 and has 5* CA which is absolutely remarkable.He is literally the first name on the team sheet.He is very good physically,has hell of a good tackle and most important thing for me is that he is a very determined player.He is the best defender in my side so I hope he can contribute massively.

Javi Martinez - DM,MC

Martinez will be our first choice DM thanks to purchases in the window for the MC position which we were lacking.Martinez's mental stats appear to be some of the best in game which is great for us as he can be used for tutoring purposes.The other reason I will be playing him in the DM position is that he is good at marking and tackling which is important and has some good physical stats to help such as strength and stamina.

Gaston Ramirez - AMC,AMRL

Ramirez will be playing in his B position this season which is in the AMR position,according to reports he is playing near his full potential.He will be an important piece if we are to have a successful season as I rely alot on the AML and AMR positions.He has high flair and creativity and mixed with some of his technical abilities and I am going to guess that he will be the player who provides the most assists.Will be looking to him to tutor one of our youngsters who has 4.5* PA.

One to Watch

Domenico Nanni - DR

New signing from Southampton where he was actually a product of their youth academy.He is our 3rd choice right back but will be re-training him to play as DC as well as a secondary position.He is rated at 4* PA so he can be a leading star in the first division which will help give us options in the future.Will get some game time this season to help aid his development.

Martin Ruiz - ST

I have to thank Porto for releasing Ruiz at the end of the last season as we were able to snap him up for free.He had a good scoring record for them as well so I don't actually understand why they released him.He is currently rated at 2* but has the potential to reach 4.5* which is very impressive.He should get game time this season as our current strikers of Bony and Lukaku are not really that far ahead of him.I have very high hopes for him.

Manager's Thoughts

Certainly was an interesting pre-season compared to those at Zenit.Managed to get in some quality young players who will be of great use in the future and some will be able to contribute straight away.I am quite surprised Bayern have won very little and that will be corrected in due time.For this season,I want to challenge for the title and get back into the Champions League as we will be playing in the Europa League due to Bayern's 5th placed finish last season.This is a small challenge for us and in a much more competitive league which has got me excited.I have to thank my scouts for the hard work,especially the one who scouted Ruiz,I will also run into a couple of players I used to manage in Ramone Carter (former Zenit,now playing for Kaiserslautern) and Ibrahim Ngambi (ex-Wigan,now at Dortmund).

I have a five year contract with Bayern Munich in which I want to win some trophies to catch up to Fergie's Hall of Fame points total as well as set Bayern up for the future,don't really have much to do with regards to facilites,I can upgrade training and youth facilities but that can wait till the end of the season.When the five year contract is up,I may start bugging them for a new stadium as the 20 year rule should come into play.Lets get this party started!

[B.W.G]

I don't find Bayern a very likeable club but after winning CL, Club World Cup then making it to the semis of the CL again, with a Russian club.. well I'd definitely leave and try a new challenge too.

Think this has been the most successful career in these forums this year so far (although I'm not following even half of them). That doesn't really surprise me given your previous successes in previous careers - Iker Sola, etc - but that was still quite a remarkable stint at Zenit!

Normally I don't find them that likeable but I dislike Dortmund even more but that's because I have a soft spot for Schalke who I have seen several times play when I visit family over there!So my aim is to topple Dortmund first of all.To be fair,outside Zenit,I don't even feel like I've been successful but I feel this will be much more challenging which is something I was after.

Cheers mate

[noikeee]

Holy crap Breitbach is insane!

[DazRTaylor]

I love managing FC Bayern. Fabulous youth set up - as proved by Breitbach!

Also, great stuff in your career in Russia. Awesome mate.

[AcidBurn]

Your career in Russia was brilliant but it was the right time to move on. Breitbach looks like one of the best defensive fullbacks I have ever seen on FM. Also any side with Javi Martinez in is worth managing I haven't played as Bilbao on FM13 because he isn't there any more, on my old Malaga save he was scoring 20 goals from midfield despite being awesome defensively, great player.

Good luck dude!

[JackJCFC]

Got some exciting player at Bayern, should be an interesting season. Good luck!

[B.W.G]

noikeee - He is indeed!From what I've seen,he isn't afraid to shoot either as he has hit the crossbar three time in three games all from distance!

DazRTaylor - Cheers mate Breitbach is actually a product of Kaiserslautern's academy,Bayern signed him when he was 16 so the top training facilities have helped his development.

Acidburn - Cheers fella Breitbach is the best I have seen on any FM,the only shocking thing about him is that he is 22!I've never actually managed Martinez before so it's my first time,good to see you have had success with him,hopefully he can lead me to success as well!

JackJCFC - I think you will be right with it being an interesting season,it is a lot more competitive than the Russian League.One of my signings,Shaun O'Halloran has started fantastically has he has scored 7 in 2 games!Cheers mate

[JackJCFC]

Is O'Halloran an Irishman? Strange to think an Irishman playing for Bayern.

[AK22]

Good luck in Munich!

[B.W.G]

JackJCFC - He's actually pure English.Was born in Derby and is part of Derby's youth setup.

AK22 - Cheers fella

[roganp]

Good luck with Bayern, the Bundesliga is always a fun league to manage in.

[B.W.G]

Cheers fella,we've made a good start as we won 9 out of 10 games and lost the other.Looks like it will be quite challenging!

[B.W.G]

Bayern Munich - First Division - August and September 2020

Fixtures

League Table

Manager's Thoughts

I've made a very good start to life as Bayern Munich manager as we won nine out of ten games in two months.The game against Aachen was an absolute shocker as everyone failed to turn up,incidentally this was my first defeat in the league since 4/11/17 when I was Wigan manager and we lost to Man Utd 1-0!The Euro Cup has been a walk in the park so far as we brushed apart Borac (BL) in the Playoff and Stade Brestois 29 in the group stage.I don't think anyone in the group will be a threat as we also have Genk and Levski in the group so we can probably get 15+ goals in the group.The German Cup saw us face non-league opposition Waldalgesheim and win 9-0 with the plaudits going to debutant Shaun O'Halloran as he hit a double-hat-trick.The highlight performance was the 4-0 victory over Gladbach who came 3rd in the league last season so that is definitely an encouraging sign.

The next couple of months sees us have three Euro Cup ties,a second round German Cup tie against Kaiserslautern.In the league we have nine games and we have some tricky fixtures as we face Wolfsburg,Leverkusen and an underachieving Dortmund.We will need to take every game seriously as the league is very competitive and that is proven by one of the relegation favourites Aachen sitting in 6th place.Hopefully more joy will come and we can have a comfortable gap but I cannot take anything for granted.

[AK22]

What's going on?! You lost!

[B.W.G]

I've lost twice more since,we lost 3-0 to Schalke and 1-0 to Wolfsburg.If only I could take my Euro Cup form into the league,so that's three league games so far.This league is far tougher than Russia for sure and I'm actually enjoying it

We've had our transfer budget upped to £55 million due to the finances are being good so I've already practically spent it for incomings for January.This is the guy I want though!

He is 17 and already that good,what is he doing playing in the Championship!!!

[Jason the Yank]

He's Welsh.

[DazRTaylor]

I am surprised he hasn't been capped yet.

[B.W.G]

Jason the Yank - Wales do deserve some talent which won't have a tendency of diving on minimal contact

DazRTaylor - I've noticed that a lot of bright young talent is normally overlooked by international mangers.

[B.W.G]

Bayern Munich - First Division - October and November 2020

Fixtures

League Table

Manager's Thoughts

If there is one thing I have shown in the last couple of months,it's that I don't how to draw games.The league saw us get beat by Schalke badly,Wolfsburg and HSV but we are still have a nice gap at the top despite losing more than Schalke and Wolfsburg.My favourite league games was definitely beating Dortmund 4-0 in the final game of November as they continue their battle against relegation.The Euro Cup has gone smoothly so far,we've scored 26 goals so far in 5 group games,the game against Stade Brestois 29 wasn't even that close as they scored with every shot on target.Levski won't want to see Shaun O'Halloran again as he netted his 2nd double hat-trick this season,he also happens to be our top scorer with 21 goals in 17 games,he only needs 5 more goals to set a new record!

The next couple of months sees the last Euro Cup group game against Genk and the German Cup resumes as we take on Kaiserslautern in the second round.We have two league games in December and three in January but even I don't know what will happen considering I've lost to two mid-table sides in HSV and Aachen!Think Kaiserslautern will be the most difficult league game but we can't take anything for granted.The transfer window opens in January and we have already sorted our business out for incomings as we will spend roughly another £37 million which is mainly thanks to the board increasing the budget.I still need to sort the outgoings out as more will leave on loan and 3-4 players will leave permanently in the window.

[DazRTaylor]

Draws are a waste of time anyway.

[B.W.G]

We carried our no draw run on throughout December so they definitely are a waste of time

[deltablue]

Long may it continue

[Jason the Yank]

Carlsberg don't do draws...