[FM14] elbilly rides again... please help him up if he falls off...

[elbilly]

SKA KHABAROVSK - RUSSIAN PREMIER DIVISION 2015-2016

Looking at who we had left I felt we could win 3 of the games remaining. The first being the visit of Sovetov. They took a surprise lead and we were being wasteful in front of goal. When we went 2-0 down early in the 2nd I still felt we could get something but our players were deflated and showed nothing else for the rest of the game.

I also half fancied our chances at Rubin, but this was not one of the games I felt we should be winning. Losing a winger early on was not ideal, but his replacement put in the corner that lead to us taking the lead. We were far from the better team but having taken the lead we were trying to shut up shop. We banished the memories of points dropped at Anji and Dinamo to hang on.

I paid Lokomotiv a compliment before the game, their manager returned with a personal insult so I really wanted to hurt their title bid. Unfortunately their team is far better and none of our players would get close to making their side. The plan was to sit deep, frustrate and try to hit them on the break. Going behind early threw that out of the window, and despite our 2 goals we were never on a par with them even at 1-1 their next goal was always coming.

A chance at our first final awaited us against CSKA. While we had home advantage the league's top side were in great form. So when we took the lead I was very happy and that we held it to the break, we could even had doubled it had Chonka finished better. Within minutes of the 2nd half Ropotan should have made it 2 but hit the post with the keeper beat. The final 10 minutes were very nervy but we held it together!

Next up we played Amkar in what would be a dressed rehearsal for the cup final. But this game was no less important as we both needed the win, them to get out of the auto relegation places and us to hang onto our European aspirations. Our finishing was letting us down in a game we were dominating. We suffered a couple of scares with their few chances and eventually got the lead and 3 points we deserved. The bigger pictures was Anji drew, our top 4 spot and place in Europe next season sealed.

The final day of the season saw us travel to Rostov. We had nothing to play for as we would finish 4th no matter what happened. We flew into a 3-0 lead but were dragged back to 3-2 by the break. After a great first half pretty much nothing happened in the 2nd and we finished the league on a high.

[elbilly]

RUSSIAN CUP FINAL 2016

SKA KHABAROVSK v AMKAR

TORPEDO

I bet nobody had their money on this being the final fixture of the Russian Cup. Nevertheless both teams deserve to be here.

We'd lost a couple of first choice players the week before playing them in the league. A sly plan, one I would have implemented myself had we been in their position of being big underdogs in both fixtures. While another player got injured in training.

Amkar were certainly bringing a bigger game this time, but we always had the better quality and Morozov headed in from Murnin's corner. Soon into the second half they had a man sent off and ten minutes later Urreta converted a penalty. They still had something to give though and got a goal back. We got another penalty and Remme Berge stepped up this time to restore our 2 goal lead. From there they never threatened again and we claim our first ever piece of silveware.

[duffy89]

Congrats on the Cup! Great achievement! Also, well done on securing European football again, hopefully you can find you shooting boots this time around!

[Dexter_Morgan]

Well done on the cup and a decent league campaign

[elbilly]

SKA KHABAROVSK - RUSSIAN PREMIER DIVISION 2015-2016

SEASON REVIEW

That turned out a pretty dam good season in the end after our shocker of a start. Things certainly seemed to pick up after we turned our attentions away from Europe, but I am not unhappy at having been there as we got some good money out of it, we had our best crowds of the season in that competition. The cup success was a real achievement for our club as we take our first major domestic trophy.

The league position was the same as last season though we gained 3 less points, much down to the poor start. More points would not have seen us any higher, but we were better this season than last season where I think I was pretty honest is realising that we relied on luck to get 3 or 4 wins, this season our wins were well earned and we dropped points where we should have gained more. Without dropping points late in games, and that terrible performance at Sovetov, we could have contended for the ECL places.

Next season

We really need to recruit more Russian players, a GK would be good meaning we'd only need to have 3 outfield players Russian to meet the required quota. With 3 of our 5 CBs being Russian (and one of the foreign will be going and a youth Russian coming in) and both RBs Russian we'll have that sown up before our selection choice leaves the defence. A striker who can score 20+ is a must. A Russian will be impossible but that is fine as long as we can get someone to consistently find the net. So I'll be staying as I have one year to run on my contract. I am hopeful of a top half finish, I know I should be looking to do as well if not better than the last 2 4th place finishes, but let's face it there are at least 3 other clubs there with better players and finances than us in Anji, Spartak and Dinamo, if they all get their act together we are looking at 7th being our highest possible finish. I am, of course, happy for them to lose too many games they should be winning and help us get higher than where we should be. We are very good at beating teams who should finish bottom half, both home and away, we then manage to catch the better teams than us on bad days, or happen to have a good day and finish our chances when they come along, the very top sides, Zenit, CSKA and Lokomotiv are so much better than us anything against them is a huge bonus.

Saul finished the season top scorer, much like Balotelli last year his return of 13 goals show how poor our front options are, but he came up big when he was needed and goal of the season.

Murnin provided the most assists mostly from corners even if my coaches keep telling me to drop him and remove him from taking corners

Gadjiev proved his promise this season and finished with the highest average rating, we had a little argument earlier in the season and he wanted to leave, glad I rejected offers for him

Morozov was again great and a real rock at the back, it's hardly a shock that our two highest rated players were CBs as they simply have to be

Ramos playing in front of the back two was the next best as is clearly our best midfielder

Remme Berg showed that we got a bargain with this player and I think he can become a real top player

[elbilly]

MONEY!!

[elbilly]

Congrats on the Cup! Great achievement! Also, well done on securing European football again, hopefully you can find you shooting boots this time around!

Well done on the cup and a decent league campaign

Thanks guys, was a nice way to finish the season. I think our scoring needs to improve in all competitions as again we were amongst the lowest scorers in the top half of the league.

[elbilly]

Always good to see

[B.W.G]

Congrats on an excellent season,always good to see money coming into the club.

[deltablue]

Good year capped off with the cup win

[elbilly]

Congrats on an excellent season,always good to see money coming into the club.

Good year capped off with the cup win

Thanks guys, it's good to get back and have some decent playing time.

Just did a little analysis of our results last season and against the sides that finished 9th-16th we played 16 won 12 drew 3 and lost 2 for 39 points, while against the other 7 sides in the top half we played 14 won 3 drew 2 and lost 9. Against the top 3 we played 6 lost 6. While it's great that we can beat those sides taking 39 of 48 points in the process, we clearly have a lot of work to do to get more points from these top half teams. Like I've said before most of them should be finishing ahead of us anyway based on resources but we need to become much harder to beat in those games.

[b101]

I really like the look of Remme Berge

[elbilly]

I really like the look of Remme Berge

I am hopeful he will turn into a fine player

[elbilly]

Not sure what to do with this. Got one year left. Do I go on and try to break the Moscow/St. Petersberg stranglehold on Russian football? Can it be done, we are starting to get our players poached by bigger clubs and they want to leave. Can I replace them with better players which is what we need to compete with the bigger clubs and retain them.

Have delayed for now and will think about it. Even if I decline I'm sure if I decide I want to stay later in the year they will be happy to sit down and offer a new contract.

And it's always nice to know Graham still likes me.

[b101]

What is your wage total at the moment? £7.5m looks nice, but the £220k seems a bit paltry...

[duffy89]

I'd accept the new contract and give it another year. Think you're making great progress.

Even if you do accept, lets face it, you can walk away at any time.

[elbilly]

What is your wage total at the moment? £7.5m looks nice, but the £220k seems a bit paltry...

We're currently spending $171k p/w with the season about to start, which has jumped already from the $140k of last season, due to one new signing in particular and wage increases. Only 3 of our players are on $10k+ the majority are under $6k. It's unlikely I'll spend the $7.5m and will likely push some of it to the wages as I did when it was $8.61m and $140k p/w, to attract a few better players rather than overhauling the squad.

[elbilly]

SKA KHABAROVSK - RUSSIAN SUPER CUP 2016

CSKA MOSCOW v SKA KHABAROVSK

SPORTCOMPLEX SAYANY

Had Russia made it to the Euros we might have been facing a weakened CSKA team, at least the usual chief tormentor, Alan Dzagoev, went to Chelsea for $24m in the summer so he won't be bothering me again, for now.

Dzagoev's replacement though scored within 50 seconds. It wasn't long before it was 2 and that was pretty much game over. We were at least creating plenty of chances and Chonka had 2 efforts brillinantly saved. Meanwhile CSKA were wasting none of their chances.

[elbilly]

I'd accept the new contract and give it another year. Think you're making great progress.

Even if you do accept, lets face it, you can walk away at any time.

Very true and thanks. They want me to sign 3 years though, not sure I want to commit that long.

[elbilly]

Contract update, I have declined the board's offer of a new contract, I asked for 2 years rather than the 3 they wanted me to sign and the cheeky beggars then dropped my wage by $400 p/w and still wanted 3 years, I don't care what I get paid as it means nothing to me, but I rejected the offer for the cheek of it.

[elbilly]

SKA KHABAROVSK - RUSSIAN PREMIER DIVISION 2016-2017

The Super Cup game meant our opening league fixture was postponed until midweek. A home tie against Terek gave me hope that we wouldn't suffer the same terrible start as last season. Chonka's early goal had us going. We had chances to more than double the lead but saw 2 efforts come back off the bar. Terek's tactic of kicking lumps into us lead to 2 dismissals but we still could not get more than the one goal and luckily that's all we needed.

We really didn't need to concede early against Lokomotiv but of course that's what happened. We were level soon though as Chonka was brought down when through on goal, surely a red card should have followed but somehow not even a yellow was given. Berge dispatched the penalty. We then took the best of the first half but missed 2 great chances and were duly punished within 10 minutes of the restart. Chonka was felled again in the box, by the same player again with no card show, but this time Berge's shot found only the keeper's hands.

Taking on Dinamo recently hasn't seemed as daunting as it did in our first season, and our record stands up well against them. The game was pretty even for the first 45 but we took complete control in the 2nd with Saul's goal from Chonka's cross giving us the win. The Ukranian should have doubled our lead but at least he is doing well to get in for these chances, I would like him to start converting some more.

Keen to avenge the home defeat to Sovetov, that win saved them from a relegation scrap on the last day of the season and they won their playoff to stay up. The 1st half could not have gone any better as we were at our most efficient in front of goal.

Morodvia came up as league runners-up, it's been almost 3 years since we last met. Predictably we were the better side but they got level in the 2nd half before we got away from them.

Next up we played the first division winners Alania. A finely crafted goal gave us the lead with Krarszt finishing. Their keeper was keeping the score down but they never threatened our goal.

After the 1st leg in Europe we faced and Anji side that we had draw with twice last season and who had started well in the league themselves. Having never lost to them we found ourselves down 2-0 at half time and early in the 2nd it was 3, and they were all gifts, an own goal, a horror back pass and failing to clear the ball twice from a corner.

The last game before the international break and close of the transfer window was a trip to Rubin who had already dismissed another manager this season, they didn't want me again! We played out a draw and our keeper was MoM which says it all. Though in the 2nd half neither side produced anything worthy of winning the game.

Well that's a much better start than last season! The five clean sheets are nice too, may be thanks to our new keeper and playing a couple of the weaker teams.

The playoff game to make the group stages of Europa put us in a tough tie against 1860 Munchen despite them having been relegated from the BL last season. Again our finishing was a big disappointment but at least we took a lead to Munich.

Following the no show against Anji we had to face games on Thursday and Saturday. First up the important 2nd leg in Munich. And an early goal was exactly what we ordered leaving the Germans needing 3 goal, given our good defence so far (except against Anji) I was happy we would see this out without much bother. When the same happened in the 2nd half we were

home and dry.

Tough draw, will be hard to get anything from the group. A couple of full houses at home would be nice to get some income

[elbilly]

SKA KHABAROVSK - RUSSIAN PREMIER DIVISION 2016-2017

TRANSFERS

The big transfer news for us was the departure of Edu Ramos back to Spain with Espanyol. We only managed to get $2m for him but he only had a year left on his contract and we had failed for the last 6 months to renew the contract. Eventually he agreed to sit down and wanted $33k p/w, not a chance. Amazingly at Espanyol he agreed for the same he'd been getting from us for the last 2 years ($2.9k p/w I mean wtf!!). Still getting 10 times the money we paid for him and 2 good seasons is not a bad return.

That money enabled us to strengthen in the midfield and we have gained strength in depth there with Jacobsen and Maripuu. Meanwhile more wingers join the club in Beerens and Melikson.

New LB Getigezhev means all our back 4 are the Russian quota we are required to field. This transfer cost far more than I really wanted but we needed to buy Russian and he was by far the best option available that we could afford and wanted to come.

Our biggest buy, though not transfer value, was the GK Brkic who I beat down from $2.2m to $950k, though his wages are far above what I wanted to pay when I assessed the options available to us it was worth paying the extra and he's already shown he will likely be worth it.

In other departure news, Urreta's stay was short lived and he leaves on loan to SLB with a future fee agreed as he failed to settle in Russia. Bjorkstrom leaves as he never cut it, hopefully our new Swedes will fare better. Sikov leaves as he got hardly any game time last season and would not this season with our Russian youngsters coming through.

[elbilly]

This is a really proud day for the club with our first Russian international and a player produced by the club. A defeat to Japan and win over England as Russia prepare to host the 2018 World Cup

[AK22]

An excellent turnaround in the league last season

Let's hope the Europa League Group Stages go better this time around!!

[Dexter_Morgan]

Good luck for this season, seems a better start already

[elbilly]

An excellent turnaround in the league last season

Let's hope the Europa League Group Stages go better this time around!!

Thanks man, unfortunately we fared little better in Europe this time

Good luck for this season, seems a better start already

Thanks Dexter, we are looking good in the league still as the next update will show

[elbilly]

SKA KHABAROVSK - 2016-2017 EUROPA CUP GROUP I

The first European game was the visit of Feynord and they came at us from the off going ahead deservedly. We responded well drawing level almost immediately. And within minutes of the restart we went ahead, 10 minutes later we had 3, a remarkable turnaround from the way things were looking in the opening 10 minutes. Their late 2nd goal meant little as we still had a 2 goal advtanage and take a great 3 points.

At Salzburg we didn't turn out and duly got beaten, I hoped while it was still 1-0 we might nick a point but we hardly threatened their goal.

Hanover have finished in the top 7 the last 3 seasons in the BL so we knew we faced a tough tie. And we were behind early. From there we were equal to our hosts with some hope we could get something but we conceded early in the 2nd half and that was game over. The only positive was Radchenko finally getting a goal, then they got a 3rd. Our 2nd came too late and we couldn't force another chance.

The return at home against Hanover was must win if we were to entertain thoughts of staying in the competition. We were 2 down within 10 minutes and it was 3 within 14. We were awful in those first 45 minutes definitely the worst we've played all season, our passing was amateur at best.

With European progression all but over a second string XI would need to pull out two wins as we concetrated on the league. They were ruthless in front of goal while we were wasteful. They led 3-0 at the break, even though we got a goal we never threatened a comeback and go out of Europe.

I really wanted go out on a high against Salzsburgm but despite being the better team on the day they were the better where it counted and scored where we squandered.

[elbilly]

SKA KHABAROVSK - RUSSIAN PREMIER DIVISION 2016-2017

For the 3rd time in 4 years we draw rivals Luch in the 5th round of the Russian Cup. We were big favourites against the 1st division side and it showed as we dominated proceedings.

In between 2 tougher fixtures I felt we could send out the second choice XI (a team that on paper would beat our 1st XI of two seasons ago) against Ural and they did the job even if only 3 of the 22 shots on goal were on target at least one of them found the net while they never threatened seriously.

We beat Lokomotiv at this stage last season on the way to our cup success. Given how well we played against them at their place in the league earlier I was hopeful we could pull off another shock. Saul got 2 first half goals while our goal had lived a charmed life early on. I hoped the 2nd goal would make the Lokomotiv players drop their heads. And it seemed that is what happened as the threat posed early in the game never reemerged and the scoreline looks like we gave them a good beating.

There was a big Kuban storm that was weathered early on before we took the lead despite having not had a single shot. They deservedly got level but after the break we were more than equal and we got a goal from an injury time corner to take all 3 points to continue our fine start to the campagin.

Two unlikely teams in the top 3 faced each other when Krasnodar visited. Their keeper was having a great game and it took a cracking free kick from Murnin to give us a deserved lead. Chonka doubled it to put the game beyond doubt in the 2nd half.

Our record read pretty well against Spartak having lost just once in 4 outtings. They still had a lot more quality than us and we held firm and Saul should have given us the lead before they scored a goal that looked suspiciously offside. We went at them in 2nd half but their keeper was equal to our good efforts on goal.

An early lead against CSKA and it could have been 2 or 3 in the opening 20 minutes as we flew out of the blocks with a fine counter attack ending with a goal disallowed for offside. We were never going to keep the Moscovites quiet for too long and it took a couple of good saves from Brkic to preserve our lead. Their goal when it came was hardly a surprise as we had been holding on. But the sickener was to come late in the game as we had managed to stem the flow of possession and shots coming at our goal only to see a scrappy goal bundled into the net.

On the back of 3 defeats we went to Rostov and went behind when our defence gave up. We were not the best team but got the win which will do me fine after the defeats.

I expected little against Zenit with a tired side. Though given some results we've seen in the league this season anything was possible. We kept them honest but they had one good chance and took it.

Beerens gave us an early lead against Terek but then went off injured and they levelled the scores. Chonka restored the lead at the start of the 2nd he also went off injured, Udaly secured the points and thankfully finished the game.

Dinamo were playing the first game under their 4th boss since I arrived in the premier division. We took the the game to them from the off and were deservedly 2 goals ahead by the break. On the back of the disaster in Hanover this was a pleasing performance to see.

Our 7 encounters with Lokomotiv have seen 30 goals between the side 17 for them and 13 for us, so goals aplenty then! A repeat of our 3-0 win in the cup would be most welcome and would see us go top of the league. Saul finished from a fine counter attack down the right but failed to do the same when we hit them again down the left. Some great saves were keeping them in it and I felt we were ready to beat one of the big teams, but in the 89th minute we sufferd the heart break of an own goal to deny us.

Relegation threatened Sovetov took a suprise lead. We got better after the break and eventually fought back to claim the points.

The last game before the winter break saw us go to bottom side Mordovia who look certs to be going straight back down. Again we went behind. My displeasure was conveyed to the players who responded well to turn the result around. They came close to stealing a point at the end but our keeper saw to it we took the 3 points.

Just look at that, top of the league! We may not remain there but the way the season has been going with the bigger clubs losing to teams we've been beating and they should be beating with ease anything could happen. We've been better defensively and I think this has got something to do with the new keeper as well as our new LB who has been a bi improvement on Shish. Saul has already got only 1 less goal than his total for last season but we are still low scorers, only the bottom 6 teams have scored less than us!

[Dexter_Morgan]

Tight at the top still but it's a great start to the season in the league. Could do with scoring a bit more though.

[elbilly]

Tight at the top still but it's a great start to the season in the league. Could do with scoring a bit more though.

It's certainly very tight and I'd be very surprised if we can maintain our position. Looking at fixtures and taking the teams various squads into account I am looking at another 4th place being a good finish and 5th place being what I think we can expect to finish. We really do need to score some more goals, there is someone arriving over the winter who will hopefully increase our goal return. I am very happy with our GA column and is a big reason we are where we are, we had scored one more goal and conceded twelve more at this point last season.

[elbilly]

New Signing

He may be 35 and not have much pace, and he may be a bit unpredictable but we are proud to announce our new signing

I think this is quite a coup for the club, he was available on a free and I think the wages are pretty reasonable. Compared to the strikers we have he is a massive improvement

[elbilly]

On the back of that good news came some unwanted news.

We have tied up contracts for all the players I want to keep next season but this does mean I cannot approach anyone with their contract expiring in the summer. I suppose this is a result of us not advancing in Europe

[elbilly]

SKA KHABAROVSK - RUSSIAN PREMIER DIVISION 2016-2017

Back from the winter break and first up a trip to second placed Anji who had destroyed us at our place. Again they were the better team and we were hanging on until they took the lead, we were hardly in this one.

All that would be acceptable against Alania was 3 points and that's the way it went. Zlatan showed his class in his first start setting us up for the 1st and scoring the 2nd.

The game against Rubin had two points of note and they were the goals, the rest was pretty awful.

Again we gave Zenit a tough game but again they took their chance when it cam while our best effort came back off the post and had a goal disallowed for offside.

Having been beaten twice by Anji already this season we faced them for a 3rd time in the cup. We looked a lot better than our previous efforts, as we have tended to in the cup against the bigger teams. They had a late penalty that was saved and Zlatan came off the bench to grab the decisive goal.

There was a ridiculous turn around of 2 days until our next game against Spartak, who now occupied the top spot in the league. They are a different team to the one we faced last season and they were deservedly 2-0 up at the break. A penalty got us back in the game but not for long.

Ural had somehow won 3-0 at Zenit in their last game despite lying bottom of the table before kick off. But we had beaten them in all 5 previous meetings. Ural had a man sent off just before the break but we continued to struggle to break them down. Some tactical tweaks broke the deadlock and saw us put a couple in.

Krasndor had their own top 6 ambitions and we'd have to be at our best to get anything from their place. But neither team were very good and played out a dire 0-0.

Another chance to make a second final in two years and a home tie. Reme Berge gave us the lead but we couldn't hold onto it. And they went ahead with 20 minutes left, I tried to throw everything at them but the players clearly weren't interested and we went out.

We'd had to field a weakened team against Rubin as there was only one day off before our league game against Kuban, and given that one place in the league is worth a lot more money than winning the cup, this took priority. We started well scoring from a crossed free kick and worked the ball well downt the right to go 2 up before the ball was smashed through our keeper. Then right on the stroke of half time we restored our 2 goal lead. They brought it back to within one not long after the break. We had to go defensive and hung on for the win.

So with 2 games remaining we have secured a top 6 finish but we have to go to CSKA and have a winnable home game against Rostov while Lokomotiv play Alania and already relegated Mordovia

[Dexter_Morgan]

Good luck in the last few games, I take it there are only 2 CL spots?

[elbilly]

SKA KHABAROVSK - RUSSIAN PREMIER DIVISION 2016-2017

A shock win over CSKA would see us in the hunt for a top 3 spot and therefore Champions League qualifiers for next season, but their 2 goals within minutes of each other midway through the first half gave us a mammoth task and we could not get back level.

With Zenit winning and Lokomotiv drawing (at home against relegated Mordovia) we were in 5th place going into the last day of the season. Zenit would play host to title hopefuls CSKA while we faced relegation play off threatened Rostov. Speaking of the title race Spartak were home against Krasnador. Anji, in pole position for the title, would play Terek at home.

We took an early lead to calm our nerves. A second goal minutes into the 2nd half would seem to have made us safe, and we were now in 4th spot and qualifying for the group stages of Europa until a comeback from Zenit put us down to 5th and facing the playoff again.

[elbilly]

Good luck in the last few games, I take it there are only 2 CL spots?

Thanks, there are 3 now, but we didn't make it, far too big a task to win at CSKA. I am happy with how we've finished as it was such a tight league this year.

[Dexter_Morgan]

A really strong season again there and as you said it was a tight league. Hopefully you can push for a top 3 spot next season

[SRL88]

Solid season indeed.

[duffy89]

Zlatan

Good season again, just tough to crack those big boys!

[B.W.G]

Very solid season overall

[swallow1050]

Decent season, just needed a few results against the top teams and you would of had a CL spot!

[elbilly]

Decent season, just needed a few results against the top teams and you would of had a CL spot!

Very solid season overall

Zlatan

Good season again, just tough to crack those big boys!

Solid season indeed.

A really strong season again there and as you said it was a tight league. Hopefully you can push for a top 3 spot next season

Thanks guys, I am very happy with how the season went, even if we fell away a bit toward the end, we just can't seem to get past the bigger clubs, though most of them had a few shock defeats this season.

Zlatan had show how much quality we don't have in other areas of the team, but as you can probably guess his work rate and consistency is severely lacking.

With the reduction to our wage budget strengthening the squad is going to be difficult, there are about 6 players leaving at the end of their contracts but this is only going to bring us back within the current budget. Suppose I'll be waiting to see what Graham will give me for next season before I decide if I will ask for a new contract which expires soon.

[elbilly]

SKA KHABAROVSK - SEASON REVIEW - 2016-2017

A very good league campaign again, I still enjoy looking at the table after 20 games and seeing us sitting at the top I had a feeling it would never last and I am happy with our finishing position.

The cup exit at the semi final stage in hindsight was disappointing, if I had know we would not need to get anything against Kuban I would have fielded the first team in the cup.

Europe again a disaster, at least we increased our goal output by 500%

Players role of honour

Saul again finished top goal scorer but scored one less than last year and didn't manage a goal after the turn of the year

Chonka was a top player for us and provided the most assists

Meanwhile on the other wing Beerens provided plenty of chances and chipped in with a few vital goals

Of our regular starters Gadjiev had the top average rating as well as getting 5 caps. I think he could become a top defender in Russian football and will not be at the club long as I have been beating off suitors for 18 months

Amazingly we got no players in team of the year yet again and no other awards made their way to eastern Russia.

[elbilly]

They been relegated to Ligue 2 but I feel this is a club I could do something with and presents a new challenge. They are in debt and will require a fair bit of dealing in the transfer window to get a decent team together to launch a bid at promotion.

I have asked to delay the decision.

I was unsuccessful after my interview with Club Brugge.

[elbilly]

Tried and unsuccessful with applications for Cardiff, Nancy and Zenit. Zenit took the for the Kuban job so they presumably had only one other choice....

With this budget and the good players I know the club has I think we can have a crack at the title, at least that's what I'm going to tell the board, hopefully I'll get even more money

[elbilly]

Squad

Stadium

Finances

[swallow1050]

Oh wow 30m in the black! I thought it was some what of a sideways step to move to a team that finished 4 places below you! but obviously you have a better chance of aiming for the top with the finances you have! Good Luck!

[b101]

Why do Rennes always get relegated?

[deltablue]

Decent warchest.

[AK22]

Bye bye Graham

Still, a good opportunity to do well with Kuban.