You're not gonna believe this. He killed 16 Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator IV

[Dexter_Morgan]

Neftçi PFK June - August 2024/25

Transfers

















Fixtures



Table

Very good start for us as we made a perfect start in the league with the goals flowing yet again. I managed to really strengthen the squad with better utility players after letting a lot run down contracts so hopefully we will be a lot stronger than last season.

Losing Carrizo was a blow but once his release clause was met there was nothing that could be done to tempt him to stay, his replacement in Gonzalez though is more than his equal and a real speed merchant which will be huge domestically at least.

Our CL campaign went better than expected. After losing the first leg against Mezőkövesdi I expected it to be tie over but they went down to 10 men within 8 minutes of the return and we took advantage in a big way. In all honesty though I would have preferred to have lost and played in the Europa as we gave a good account of ourselves last time and points in that to add to the coefficient would have suited me more than money and probably losing in the CL as financially the club may not be loaded but we don't lose money either. I guess the positive is I can see what level we are at against better sides before deciding my future.

[noikeee]

I'm going to take a punt and suggest you'll beat Krasnodar for third place that group and get a Europa League run anyway.

[Dexter_Morgan]

I'm going to take a punt and suggest you'll beat Krasnodar for third place that group and get a Europa League run anyway.

It's too strong a group, Russia are 7th in the rankings and Krasondar we faced last year in the Europa and though we beat them once they have potential to cause an upset against the bigger sides, i'd be happy with 4 points from this group tbh.

[noikeee]

That kind of thing never stopped you when you played in Wales.

[Dexter_Morgan]

That kind of thing never stopped you when you played in Wales.

Shockingly we lost at home to Krasnodar but beat the scousers and Sevilla at home which leaves this situation going in to the last game

The Iron curtain has done really well in both competitions this season which i'll touch on in my report, apart from groups where there is no nation involved there'll be at least 1 getting through in every one

[Dexter_Morgan]

Neftçi PFK September - December 2024/25

Fixtures





Tables

Great start the season much like last year where we have come out and blitzed sides from the off. We weren't a million miles away from getting a Europa spot unfortunately Sevilla and Liverpool drew in the final game which was just about the only result I didn't want from that game but overall there has been promising sides that with a bit more strength in depth we could get ourselves out of a group in the future so even with my future unclear i'll be looking at adding for next season to try and keep us strong even if I do leave as players are starting to moan about moving to bigger clubs and in all honesty whilst i'll refuse for the rest of the season I can't blame them as they are better than this level now.

The rest of the Iron Curtain has done exceptional in Europe this year with 10 out of the 18 through in the CL are from the East which beats the previous best of 8.

In the Europa 11 of the 32 are from the Iron curtain, not quite the best which was 13 but that was made up of sides dropping out of the CL whereas this time not a single side has dropped in the Europa. It could have been even better but there was a group made up entirely of Iron Curtain sides and 2 groups where there was 3 in so obviously a few had to drop out.

[noikeee]

What I don't understand here, is you have the big leagues like Spain, England loaded up, right? So how are you getting the Iron Curtain teams to overtake them and become big? Just by roaming around between the Eastern European nations, and thanks to all the tycoons that take over on active leagues?

[Dexter_Morgan]

What I don't understand here, is you have the big leagues like Spain, England loaded up, right? So how are you getting the Iron Curtain teams to overtake them and become big? Just by roaming around between the Eastern European nations, and thanks to all the tycoons that take over on active leagues?

Well the usual top nations haven't declined so far, Ukraine is close to getting in to the top 4 and Russia may overtake France in to top 6. At the start of the game 5 Iron curtain nations were in the top 20 and as it stands 8 are in there which isn't a lot in 10 seasons or so when you consider the likes of Portugal, Turkey, Scotland, Belgium, Greece ect; aren't loaded where you'd expect nations loaded to get past those purely due to money coming in to these mid ranking nations. The biggest rise is by Estonia who have improved by 31 places over 10 years but Latvia for example have dropped by around 40 and Moldova roughly the same so not all nations are improving so these that have dropped dramatically i'll be looking at having a long spell once I win a European trophy or 2.

From the nations i've managed in

Kazakhstan started 45th and are 37th now which is the biggest rise

Poland started 21st and are 12th (with Wisla in the CL semi for the first time)

Czech Republic are 11th up from 15th but Dukla have declined so that isn't down to my management here and traditionally in this save the Czech Republic tend to improve as Sparta Praha get strong and lots of good regens do come from the country.

Azerbaijan started 40th and 47th at present (I expect a slight rise as we are 18th in this years scoring system for the coefficients)

I'd say the only tycoons that have had an influence on the game are Mezőkövesdi, Borac Cacak and the brief improvement Donji Srem had has made them bigger. The rest all seem to be average apart from CSKA Moscow who I believe would be strong even without the tycoon.

I'll try and do a big breakdown at the end of the season when I do the coefficients post about how nations have faired over the 10 seasons

[Dexter_Morgan]

Neftçi PFK January - May 2024/25

Fixtures







Table

I couldn't be any more happier with the season, we've blitzed our way through it with superb performances and the tactic has provided plenty of goals, enough for me to know that it can be an option again in the future if needed.

With the title and cup secured I was very tempted to stay on in all honesty, there's some good players in this division as it seems to be a retirement centre for older players but still of a decent quality to be able to perform well (the European MLS I guess) but after taking a few things in to consideration like where the division stands at the moment, did I want to sign a 2 year deal, the summer of players wanting leave and the type of job on offer in other nations I decided it was time to leave.

After a few years without silverware i've brought 2 league titles and 3 cups and 2 good European runs in a little over 2 and a quarter seasons so I can leave and say i've done a lot for the club. I've left the club with 6 decent new signings for when the inevitable exodus happens which in hindsight is something I should have done for Dukla, facility upgrades and close to £20M in the bank so the club is in a better position in every aspect than when I took over and hopefully in a position to keep on improving.

Some interesting jobs are available in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and potentially the Red Star job which is the one i'm holding out for, my aim is a top 20 division side this time and a realistic crack at the CL as after 10 seasons I feel it's the right time to try and take a bigger side on

[Dexter_Morgan]

Chapter V: Lokomotiv Moscow



Club







First Team











Under 21's



Under 19's

I had a few interesting offers including Zenit and Rubin who could be argued are a better club than Loko but the facilities, location, financial situation (lost out on European places in 2 of the last seasons due to FFP and) appealed to me as a bit of a challenge but at the same time a club with everything in the right place to be successful if properly looked after.

The club made a £2M loss last season so i've already been ruthless and knocked out almost £270k a week on wages whilst bringing in £24M in transfer fees

I feel i've done well here with these outgoings as the players out were around the 30 mark and foreigners to boot so i've got us in well in the black by offloading not only older high earners but also players that cause problems in league selection rules. I feel I can work with this squad apart from in the goalkeeping position which is where I feel we are at our weakest and with no potential in what seems to be a good youth setup this will be the only position I will actively look and buy as I don't want to undo the financial work i've just gone and sorted out and one of the things brought up in the interview was a younger squad and good financial management. In fact i've been absolutely ruthless in everything i've done in this month, the interview also brought up using the DOF which I said I refuse to do so good as their word the board got rid like I asked

As always making the club strong off the pitch too is a priority so was delighted my requests were all granted

I'm actually looking forward to this more than any club i've been at so far, the league is at a good level and to compete for a title here we are going to have to do more than just have a good load of foreigners so this is probably my hardest test yet given off the field problems added as well. I have 3 years and with this year no Europe it could actually do us a favour in terms of less games to be played, ideally a top 6 position is the aim but this is the highest level i've been at so it might be a difficult ask for this year.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Coefficients

Nation          2014  2015  +/-  2016  +/-  2017  +/-  2018  +/-  2019  +/-  2020  +/-  2021  +/-  2022 +/-  2023  +/-  2024  +/= 2025  +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Albania         65    62    +3   58    +4   55    +3   58    -3   61    -3   71    -1   78    -7   74    +4   78    -4   82    -8   80    +2  
Armenia         88    83    +5   73    +10  77    -4   67    +4   58    +9   61    -3   67    -6   64    +3   75    -11  63    +12   68   -5
Azerbaijan      40    40    0    45    -5   44    +1   50    -4   43    +7   49    -6   45    +4   50    -5   55    -5   47    +8   40    +7
Belarus         22    25    -3   24    +1   30    -6   26    +4   19    +7   17    +2   20    -3   16    +4   19    -3   16    +3   17    -1 
Bosnia & Herz   47    53    -5   54    -1   54    0    62    -8   62    0    63    -1   58    +5   54    +4   53    +1   56    -3   52    +4
Bulgaria        26    23    +3   28    -5   21    +7   20    +1   25    -5   22    +3   21    +1   27    -6   27    0    25    +2   19    +6
Croatia         20    18    +2   20    -2   16    +4   13    +3   11    +2   11    0    12    -1   18    -6   21    -3   17    +4   14    +3
Czech Rep       15    14    +1   14    +2   11    +1   12    -1   13    -1   14    -1   15    -1   12    +4   14    -2   11    +3   11    0
Estonia         90    96    -6   87    +9   82    +5   76    +6   76    0    69    +7   77    -8   70    +7   59    +11  68    -9   75    -7   
FYR Macedonia   67    63    +4   66    -3   72    -6   79    -7   80    -1   81    -1   75    +6   68    +7   62    +6   61    +1   60    +1
Georgia         44    44    0    48    -4   52    -6   54    -2   63    -9   70    -7   76    -6   69    +7   64    +5   65    -1   65    0 
Hungary         30    36    -6   38    -2   45    -7   49    -4   51    -2   42    +9   42    0    40    +2   34    +6   31    +3   23    +8
Kazakhstan      45    47    -2   37    +10  36    +1   31    +6   36    -5   35    +1   34    +1   36    -2   37    -1   37    0    39   -2
Latvia          57    65    -8   74    -9   76    -2   81    -5   81    0    89    -8   92    -3   92    0    89    +3   97    -8   96    +1
Lithuania       66    77    -11  76    +1   67    +11  71    -4   75    -4   73    +2   68    +5   76    -8   79    -3   70    +9   70    0  
Moldova         39    38    +1   39    -1   37    +2   39    -2   40    -1   47    -7   54    -7   60    -6   68    -8   76    -8   81    -5
Montenegro      60    66    -6   67    -1   69    -2   73    -4   70    +3   76    -6   69    +8   72    -3   67    +5   75    -8   73    +2   
Poland          21    20    +1   25    -4   23    +2   21    +2   16    +5   12    +4   13    -1   14    -1   11    +3   12    -1   13    +1
Romania         16    16    0    15    +1   13    +2   16    -3   20    -4   19    +1   16    +3   21    -5   17    +4   14    +3   13    +1   
Russia          7     7     0    7     0    8     -1   8     0    9     -1   10    -1   9     +1   8     +1   7     +1   7     0    6     +1
Serbia          29    29    0    26    +3   24    +2   25    -1   24    +1   26    -2   19    +7   15    +4   12    +3   10    +2   10    0
Slovakia        36    33    +1   33    0    34    -1   34    0    26    +8   33    -7   31    +2   33    -2   36    -3   38    -2   36    +2
Slovenia        35    32    +3   32    0    25    +8   23    +2   23    0    21    +2   26    -5   26    0    26    0    27    -1   30    -3
Ukraine         9     8     +1   8     0    7     +1   7     0    7     0    7     0    7     0    6     +1   5     +1   5     0    5     0

Risers 13/24

Droppers 6/24

Non Movers 5/24

Biggest Risers +8 Hungary (23)

Biggest Fallers -7 Estonia (75)

Ten Year Overview

Nation          2014  2025  +/- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Albania         65    80    -15  
Armenia         88    68    +20
Azerbaijan      40    40     0
Belarus         22    17    +5 
Bosnia & Herz   47    52    -5
Bulgaria        26    19    +7
Croatia         20    14    +6
Czech Rep       15    11    +4
Estonia         90    75    +15   
FYR Macedonia   67    60    +7
Georgia         44    65    -21 
Hungary         30    23    +7
Kazakhstan      45    39    +6
Latvia          57    96    -49
Lithuania       66    70    -4  
Moldova         39    81    -42
Montenegro      60    73    -13   
Poland          21    13    +8
Romania         16    13    +3   
Russia          7     6     +1
Serbia          29    10    +19
Slovakia        36    36    0
Slovenia        35    30    +5
Ukraine         9     5     +4

Risers 15/24

Droppers 6/24

Non Movers 3/24

Biggest Risers +20 Armenia (68) +19 Serbia (10)

Biggest Fallers -49 Latvia (96) -42 Moldova (81)

I was surprised by the amount of rises over the course of the last 10 seasons tbh, I was sure it was about 50/50. Obviously there has been 2 major drops which is something i'm going to consider sometime within the next 2 moves as 40+ drops are huge, i'll get to that closer the time as I have a good job ATM but I do feel a move to a lesser nation and get them roughly where they were and do it with a struggling side would be a great challenge at some point.

Former Club Watch

FC Kaisar Champions, currently 3rd (Kazakhstan Super League)

Wisła Kraków 3rd (Ekstraklasa)

Dukla Praha 8th (Czech First Division)

Tycoon Watch

Mezőkövesdi - Spent £18.25M Champions (Hungarian Division I)

Szolnoki - Spent £949k and Finished 6th (Hungarian Division I)

Donji Srem - Spent £2M and finished 6th (Serbian Superleague)

CSKA Moscow - Spent £34.5M 3rd (Russian Premier League)

FC Kuban Krasnodar - Spent £25.5M Champions (Russian Premier League)

FC Dunav Ruse - Spent £3.6M and finished 8th, Cup winners (Bulgarian A group)

KF Laçi - Spent £600k Promoted as Champions (Albanian First Category)

Nyva Ternopill - Spent £6.75M and finished 7th. Chairman withdrew funding at end of season (Ukrainian Premier League)

[Dexter_Morgan]

Lokomotiv Moscow August - October 2025/26

Fixtures



Table

Decent start by us so far, far too early to tell if this is the sort of position we should be looking at for the season as we've been lucky having the big games at home so far and Dinamo look good this season. What I have done is gone back to the 4-3-3 i've mostly favoured as I feel this is too big a season to be experimenting too much, we need European football at the worst from this season and with a higher quality of team in this division it's too big a risk to be trying anything fancy, next season once the squad is more how I want it then I will look at making changes.

I made one signing in goal, he doesn't look overly special but with little time to work with and little money to spend any homegrown upgrade was the priority and something i've got as a priority for the scouts to do ready for next year.

Hopefully we can keep picking up points quickly as it is only a 30 game season and i'm not overly keen on the length of the winter break here as it has potential to be disruptive. We have a tricky tie away at Spartak in the cup, after seeing the reserves struggle to overcome a non league side I am not sure what to do about that, obviously silverware would be good but the league takes priority and having less games would probably do us a favour as there's been no shocks in it so far unlike in just about every other nation i've been in to date so could potentially be a waste of time going for it only to get knocked out in a few rounds time.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Lokomotiv Moscow October - December 2025/26

Fixtures



Table

A few signs of declining results in recent weeks but our start to the season keeps us in top spot heading in to the winter break. We were knocked out of the cup in a tight contest in a game that I decided to field a strong XI and we lost anyway so the worries in the last post turned out a waste of time anyway With just 13 games left of the season for us it's going to be my shortest full season so far in the career but in a way i'm happy about that as it means I can get on with things a bit quicker and just worry about transfer targets for next season.

[noikeee]

Looking easy there in Moscow. I guess the real challenge starts once you get going on the Champions League.

[Dexter_Morgan]

I'm not convinced we'll win it, we played most of the tough teams at home in the 1st half of the season and there's a few signs we're capable of dropping daft points too.

We do seem to have a great crop of young players that could make a mark in a year or 2, i'll probably not be at the club to oversee that but there seems to be a lot in place for the club to be strong long term, even in this latest intake there was 5 or 6 3 and half + star players, obviously that doesn't always mean they will turn out good but it does give some hope for the long term. I'll post the intake tomorrow when I go back on the game, spending most of the winter break sorting the backroom staff just about did me in

[Dexter_Morgan]

2026 Youth Candidates

Didn't have a decent intake in all my time with Neftçi so to get one like this is really good for a change If I was ultra picky then it is a shame that we have a couple of full backs again rather than the much needed goalkeeping position though as there are 4 RB's and 3 LB's all under 21 at the club who are 3 and half star and above.

Over the winter break I finally got round to sorting the backroom staff out, in all honesty I should have done it at the start of the season but after losing a year not in a job I wanted to get straight in to that and make up for lost time, but now that is all sorted hopefully i'll see improvements in training as we haven't really had anyone overly impress from either the U21's or 19's to make a step up despite the potential talent in those squads.

I managed to get the board to pay for my coaching licence, I think i'm right in saying this is the final one.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Lokomotiv Moscow March - May 2025/26

Fixtures



Table

Well after leading the table going in to the winter break with a decent lead all I can say is it was a disappointing end of the season for us, a spell of 1 win in 7 (injuries did play a part in fairness though it isn't an excuse) killed us off and we just couldn't recover enough to sneak even a CL spot. The graph shows just how much we declined in the final 13 games which is something I will have to improve on in the summer

[Dexter_Morgan]

Coefficients

Nation          2014  2015  +/-  2016  +/-  2017  +/-  2018  +/-  2019  +/-  2020  +/-  2021  +/-  2022 +/-  2023   +/-  2024  +/-  2025  +/-  2026  +/-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Albania         65    62    +3   58    +4   55    +3   58    -3   61    -3   71    -1   78    -7   74    +4   78    -4   82    -8   80    +2   80    0  
Armenia         88    83    +5   73    +10  77    -4   67    +4   58    +9   61    -3   67    -6   64    +3   75    -11  63    +12  68    -5   70    -2
Azerbaijan      40    40    0    45    -5   44    +1   50    -4   43    +7   49    -6   45    +4   50    -5   55    -5   47    +8   40    +7   34    +6
Belarus         22    25    -3   24    +1   30    -6   26    +4   19    +7   17    +2   20    -3   16    +4   19    -3   16    +3   17    -1   16    +1 
Bosnia & Herz   47    53    -5   54    -1   54    0    62    -8   62    0    63    -1   58    +5   54    +4   53    +1   56    -3   52    +4   61    -9
Bulgaria        26    23    +3   28    -5   21    +7   20    +1   25    -5   22    +3   21    +1   27    -6   27    0    25    +2   19    +6   20    -1
Croatia         20    18    +2   20    -2   16    +4   13    +3   11    +2   11    0    12    -1   18    -6   21    -3   17    +4   14    +3   10    +4
Czech Rep       15    14    +1   14    +2   11    +1   12    -1   13    -1   14    -1   15    -1   12    +4   14    -2   11    +3   11    0    11    0
Estonia         90    96    -6   87    +9   82    +5   76    +6   76    0    69    +7   77    -8   70    +7   59    +11  68    -9   75    -7   71    +4   
FYR Macedonia   67    63    +4   66    -3   72    -6   79    -7   80    -1   81    -1   75    +6   68    +7   62    +6   61    +1   60    +1   52    +8
Georgia         44    44    0    48    -4   52    -6   54    -2   63    -9   70    -7   76    -6   69    +7   64    +5   65    -1   65    0    58    +7 
Hungary         30    36    -6   38    -2   45    -7   49    -4   51    -2   42    +9   42    0    40    +2   34    +6   31    +3   23    +8   18    +5
Kazakhstan      45    47    -2   37    +10  36    +1   31    +6   36    -5   35    +1   34    +1   36    -2   37    -1   37    0    39   -2    41    -2
Latvia          57    65    -8   74    -9   76    -2   81    -5   81    0    89    -8   92    -3   92    0    89    +3   97    -8   96    +1   95    +1
Lithuania       66    77    -11  76    +1   67    +11  71    -4   75    -4   73    +2   68    +5   76    -8   79    -3   70    +9   70    0    76    -6  
Moldova         39    38    +1   39    -1   37    +2   39    -2   40    -1   47    -7   54    -7   60    -6   68    -8   76    -8   81    -5   91    -10
Montenegro      60    66    -6   67    -1   69    -2   73    -4   70    +3   76    -6   69    +8   72    -3   67    +5   75    -8   73    +2   78    -5   
Poland          21    20    +1   25    -4   23    +2   21    +2   16    +5   12    +4   13    -1   14    -1   11    +3   12    -1   12    0    12    0   
Romania         16    16    0    15    +1   13    +2   16    -3   20    -4   19    +1   16    +3   21    -5   17    +4   14    +3   13    +1   14    -1   
Russia          7     7     0    7     0    8     -1   8     0    9     -1   10    -1   9     +1   8     +1   7     +1   7     0    6     +1   6     0
Serbia          29    29    0    26    +3   24    +2   25    -1   24    +1   26    -2   19    +7   15    +4   12    +3   10    +2   10    0    9     +1
Slovakia        36    33    +1   33    0    34    -1   34    0    26    +8   33    -7   31    +2   33    -2   36    -3   38    -2   36    +2   40    -4
Slovenia        35    32    +3   32    0    25    +8   23    +2   23    0    21    +2   26    -5   26    0    26    0    27    -1   30    -3   31    -1
Ukraine         9     8     +1   8     0    7     +1   7     0    7     0    7     0    7     0    6     +1   5     +1   5     0    5     0    5     0

Risers 9/24

Droppers 10/24 -10

Non Movers 5/24

Biggest Risers +8 FYR Macedonia (52)

Biggest Fallers -10 Moldova (91)

Former Club Watch

FC Kaisar 5th, currently 1st (Kazakhstan Super League)

Wisła Kraków Champions and Cup winners, Europa runners up (Ekstraklasa)

Dukla Praha 2nd (Czech First Division)

Neftçi PFK League and cup winners (Azerbaijan Premier League)

Tycoon Watch

Mezőkövesdi - Spent £12M Champions, cup winners (Hungarian Division I)

Szolnoki - Spent £168k and relegated (Hungarian Division I)

Donji Srem - Spent £5M and finished 2nd and cup runners up, must be overspending as failed to reach Europe due to FFP this year, capacity of ground extended though (Serbian Superleague)

CSKA Moscow - Spent £27.7M domestic double (Russian Premier League)

FC Kuban Krasnodar - Spent £13.15M finished 6th (Russian Premier League)

FC Dunav Ruse - Spent £2.06M and finished 4th (Bulgarian A group)

KF Laçi - Spent £530k Finished 5th (Albanian Superleague)

[Dexter_Morgan]

Jut looking over the rankings again and though a lot of nations have dropped 10 of the top 20 divisions are now from the Iron curtain which is the strongest it has been at any stage during the save, only Russia and Ukraine look like breaking in to the top 4 any time soon but it is certainly a huge step and only the 2nd time in any of these saves i've seen 5 in the top 10.

What is surprising is the Spanish decline in recent seasons.

This is the total Coefficient points over the last 5 seasons

As you can see England are miles ahead of everyone and will take a few years of poor performances before they get dismantled as the top nation but the Ukraine has Italy in sights to claim that 4th CL spot and Russia not far behind them as the 5th placed nation in Europe. Going back to Spain they were 10th in the points system for last season which is a really poor drop.

If you look at international sides though it probably isn't as much of a shock that the Iron curtain is doing well in domestic leagues as there has been a steady improvement recently in a fair few national sides

On first look you'd wonder how Albania and Georgia's national side are doing so well when their respective domestic leagues aren't, well there's a simple answer to this once you look at their squads.

Only 5 of the Albanian first team play in their domestic league. 4 play in Italy, 3 in Germany, 2 in Spain. The rest are in the likes of Ukraine, Croatia, Romania which are strong leagues now and it's a similar story with the Georgians with plenty of them scattered all around Europe. I only noticed some of these facts by accident but knowing what I do now then Albania and Georgia could be potential good moves in the future if they continue producing decent players. I've actually just spotted a center half due to this extra analysis that is a 20 year old Albanian based player so if the reports are good this post may have been worth the extra effort

These are the qualification places for next seasons European competitions.

If I go any further along then readers will have to scroll the graph to the left, should I carry on with that graph or make a fresh one from 2027? Not sure what would be easier for readers tbh so input would be appreciated.

[dan_simmonds]

Wow, bit of jumping about since I last checked in. Very jealous of your Czech success, hopefully I can replicate it at some point.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Lokomotiv Moscow July - December 2026/27

Transfers





Fixtures





Tables

Happy with the season so far but after last seasons collapse after the winter break it is on my mind we could do the same again. What I have done in the summer was strengthen the defence and those players have settled in really well so hopefully that will continue and maybe stop us losing some of the silly games we did late last season.

I have to be a bit honest and i've not really enjoyed being in Moscow, not because of the results because for 2 thirds of the time so far we've excellent, but something just doesn't feel right, the facilities are already at the club, there was a good base of players to work with early on so it just feels like i'm tweaking somebody else's work to take it to the next level rather than build like at previous clubs. In hindsight i'd have picked a bottom half side and worked with them, if it was a good side in a poorer division or maybe a well known side that hasn't won something in a few years (Red Star or Dinamo Zagreb for example are clubs i'm dying to have a crack at now) then i'd at least feel like i've achieved something, as it is all i'm doing is slightly improving what is already a good club so I may review my position at the end of the season.

Wow, bit of jumping about since I last checked in. Very jealous of your Czech success, hopefully I can replicate it at some point.

Cheers, the difference between my time in the Czech Repulic is I can choose players which makes it a lot easier It is good to see 10 of the top 20 being made up by the Iron Curtain now and that these nations are improving things like their facilities with the extra money coming in to them and not just using it all on players, hopefully in 20 years or so the East can be dominant because though the rankings are improving the traditional top 4/5 nations still end up in the main winning the European comps so there is still a gap in that regard.

[sherwinriga]

I don't see the Russian league table.

[Dexter_Morgan]

I don't see the Russian league table.

I don't know what happened but the image was definitely pasted in to the post as the code was there when I went to edit it, anyway redone it and it's there now

[Rikulec]

Helmer is a cracking player.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Helmer is a cracking player.

I nearly didn't sign him as we had 2 young full backs who are highly rated at that time but not quite ready for the 1st team but decided on getting him in on a Bosman last January. If we'd have had the intake which was immediately after that before I went in for him then I may not have bothered as we are overloaded in that position now

[Dexter_Morgan]

Some big news regarding my future

There was just no way I could turn this down, no cup win for 6 years, no title for 10 and a possible relegation candidate this year is too tempting for me not to take. Borac and Domji thanks to their tycoon takeovers have been so strong that it has crippled both Red Star and Partizan in terms of how strong they are now, Red Star are 7th in the nation and Partizan 9th so they really are a long way behind. I was tempted to take the job immediately but I don't like moving clubs when in a job during the season and with Lokomotiv still in Europe, a title challenge and the cup i'd like to at least try and win a trophy whilst i'm in Russia.

I'll use the time I have in Russia still to get a detailed report on Red Star to see what needs improving in the current squad, see if there is any talent there ect; so I won't be going in to the job totally blind and then I can build from there.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Lokomotiv Moscow January - May 2026/27

Fixtures



Table

Disappointed to leave Russia without a trophy especially as I felt we had a great chance with the cup but I do feel the club is at least on a sound financial level that will enable them to compete in Europe unlike when I arrived and a few little boosts to the training facilities too (not that they needed it desperately but thought it should be done). A CL spot and 2nd is also a slight improvement for the club and hopefully they go on and do well though I am glad to be out of there as I wasn't enjoying it as I mentioned in the last post and it is going to be a tough summer keeping hold of certain players as I was turning down some big bids back in January for players.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Chapter VI: FK Crvena Zvezda

Club









First Team









Reserve Team





Under 19's

God knows what the previous manager was up to but how this group of players only survived relegation by head to head sorting is some mystery. He's had some superb players left in the reserves like Bido Jasarevic, Milos Bisevac let out on loan and an excellent set of youngsters.

I have a clear vision of what I want to try out in terms of tactics and what to do with the squad which i'll get on to in my next post as there's too many pictures on this one as it is and I would ideally like to get a few players in and out to try and implement it better

[Dexter_Morgan]

Coefficients

Nation          [b]2014[/b]  2026  +/-  2027  +/-  2028  +/-  2029  +/-  2030  +/-  2031  +/-  2032 +/-  2033   +/-  2034  +/-  2035  +/-  2036  +/-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Albania         [b]65[/b]    80    0    76    +4  
Armenia         [b]88[/b]    70    -2   72    -2
Azerbaijan      [b]40[/b]    34    +6   29    +5
Belarus         [b]22[/b]    16    +1   16    0 
Bosnia & Herz   [b]47[/b]    61    -9   57    +4
Bulgaria        [b]26[/b]    20    -1   18    +2
Croatia         [b]20[/b]    10    +4   10    0
Czech Rep       [b]15[/b]    11    0    9     +2
Estonia         [b]90[/b]    71    +4   59    +12     
FYR Macedonia   [b]67[/b]    52    +8   55    -3
Georgia         [b]44[/b]    58    +7   68    -10 
Hungary         [b]30[/b]    18    +5   17    +1
Kazakhstan      [b]45[/b]    41    -2   42    -1
Latvia          [b]57[/b]    95    +1   95    0
Lithuania       [b]66[/b]    76    -6   73    +3
Moldova         [b]39[/b]    91    -10  96    -5
Montenegro      [b]60[/b]    78    -5   84    -6   
Poland          [b]21[/b]    12    0    12    0   
Romania         [b]16[/b]    14    -1   11    +3  
Russia          [b]7[/b]     6     0    5     +1
Serbia          [b]29[/b]    9     +1   13    -4
Slovakia        [b]36[/b]    40    -4   37    +3
Slovenia        [b]35[/b]    31    -1   24    +7
Ukraine         [b]9[/b]     5     0    4     +1

Risers 13/24

Droppers 7/24

Non Movers 5/24

Biggest Risers +12 Estonia (59)

Biggest Fallers -10 Georgia (68)

Former Club Watch

FC Kaisar Champions currently 6th (Kazakhstan Super League)

Wisła Kraków Champions (Ekstraklasa)

Dukla Praha 2nd (Czech First Division)

Neftçi PFK Champions (Azerbaijan Premier League)

Tycoon Watch

Mezőkövesdi - Spent £12.5M Champions (Hungarian Division I)

Szolnoki - Spent £1.92M and promoted (Hungarian Division II)

Donji Srem - Spent £8.29M and finished 2nd, cup winners (Serbian Superleague)

CSKA Moscow - Spent £15.25M finished 4th, CL Runners Up chairman withdraws funding (Russian Premier League)

FC Kuban Krasnodar - Spent £20.42M finished 7th (Russian Premier League)

FC Dunav Ruse - Spent £3.92M and finished 2nd, chairman withdraws funding (Bulgarian A group)

KF Laçi - Spent £230k Finished 6th (Albanian Superleague)

Some big moves with Russia sneaking in to the top 5 now and Ukraine 4th with both of those nations grabbing the 4th CL spot

Also seeing 2 tycoons leave their clubs is a bit strange as there hasn't been a new one for a while even though a few sides have been linked with one but it never materialised, i'm wondering if because these tycoons have pulled out whether a couple of new ones will emerge and it's the game balancing things out a little?

[Dexter_Morgan]

FK Crvena Zvezda Pre Season 2027/28

Transfers





Tactic

It's taken me quite a while to get through to the start of the season as I wanted to completely revamp the club, 43 players left which took a lot of time to get through as I spent a lot of time thinking about the direction I wanted to go. With only a top half finish needed I decided that I would strip the club of older players and promote youth/reserve players if I thought they were a better long term option. I may have bit my nose off to spite my face as I believe that in terms of ability the players I let go would have probably got us a Europa spot but for this club to go so long without silverware something had to be done and I believe that giving the kids a chance with no big pressure was the better option for the club. In some ways I wish that the club went down last season and had a season to adapt at an easier level but I guess I can't have it my own way.

This tactic is something I wanted to try (using a libero) at some point but i've not been at a club where the players suited it, with no natural full backs of any quality this has been my first opportunity to try the system out. I want to be attacking but not too stupid in our own half which is why I have gone for the 3 in midfield, it did cross my mind to play a system like this

GK

L

CB CB

DM DM

RW AMC AMC LW

ST

but with such a young developing side it is probably suicide Next year however I will seriously consider it if this system works well as I really do want to have some fun and experiment a bit with this side

[noikeee]

Red Star. Another league that's on my to-do list at some stage, I've done Croatia (had LOTS of fun in Croatia) but never Serbia. Am I right in remembering that in a previous career you managed Red Star and won the Champions League with them, or am I confused with someone else?

Also I'm amazed you managed to not win the Russian league in 2 years. Bit odd after so much success everywhere, but these little setbacks make it much more interesting as it's not all predictable win-everything.

[Dexter_Morgan]

I've been them a couple of times and did it though the FM14 side was one of the best sides i've ever had, mostly home grown and ridiculously good. I refuse to be any other Serbian side bar Red Star (think a lot of it is down to their links with Man Utd) but I do enjoy it in Serbia, there's always some decent talents knocking around other clubs too so you can usually build a really good home grown base over time

The Russian league is a tough one to crack tbh, there's been 7 different winners in the 14 seasons and obviously with the coefficients improving it shows that the clubs can compete against big sides too. I am disappointed we didn't at least make it to the cup final as Krasnodar were on a poor run and there for the taking but we did seem to have a habit of losing stupid games in my time there I may go back and try and build a smaller club at a later date but unless the CSKA Sofia job comes up after Red Star then my next move is going to be another one of the custom leagues as these are not only more interesting for myself but I think the readers like to see different leagues pop up from time to time and with Azerbaijan continuing to improve even though it's been a few years since I left i'd like to see if I can help another one of those divisions on their way

[Dexter_Morgan]

FK Crvena Zvezda July - Decemeber 2027/28

Fixtures





Table

It's a mixture of being delighted and shocked with our start, with a risky tactic I really didn't know what to expect so for us to take off and perform like we have has been pleasant especially as we have played really well, this is probably the most entertaining side i've had so far in the save. We do look a little shaky at times at the back but i'm not too worried at this stage as we have a very young side especially the back 4 with Peric at 21 being the eldest there, even the 2 keepers are 20 and 21 respectively so it is to be expected for a while but by playing them they can only get better.

The aim for the season is to simply continue as we have, Donji are our only real rivals for the title at this stage but they have the experience (and money obviously) to push us all the way and in all honesty I expect with their recent history for them to overtake us but we will have a real go at it now we are in this position.

I've made a few transfers to boost the numbers in defence and midfield as we are short in numbers there and have been really lucky with injuries in these positions

Srdjan Stojiljkovic comes in for £1.2M

Kirk Simmonds I felt was worth a punt at £250k

Vladimir Milosavljevic is the most expensive at £2.6M and should be an excellent addition at DM and will hopefully help the back 4 tighten up a little

Carlos Fernandez is probably the best CB at the club and to get him from Boca for free is a real coup for us, hopefully he settles in quickly

Guido Sánchez is another Argentine with real promise and again in for free so delighted with this capture and as with all our signings I feel there is some real strength added from a defencive point of view as we look to tighten up.

It's been a while but there's been a tycoon takeover in Ukraine

It'll be interesting to see how they do in what is the strongest Iron Curtain nation as the sides in the top half are all capable in Europe and often even the less fancied names tend to do well so it will be a hard nation to crack

[deltablue]

Definitely a formula for success there

[Dexter_Morgan]

Definitely a formula for success there

It's been frustrating as all the talents weren't given full time contracts and have youth ones instead so every time a club comes in i'm having to offer stupid money for their age to keep hold of them

[DavidBeckham]

Kirk Simmonds is already a beast at a tender age of 19

[Dexter_Morgan]

Kirk Simmonds is already a beast at a tender age of 19

Got injured for 2 months during his first game Was a bargain at just over £200k though, surprised he hadn't already been snapped up as he'd be a star already in a lot of the middle ranking divisions

[Dexter_Morgan]

FK Crvena Zvezda February - May 2027/28

Fixtures





Table











Youth Candidates

On one hand i'm disappointed that we've not come out of the season with a double given how we played particularly in the first half of the season but out of the defeats after the winter break there's probably only one of those that we went in to expecting to win, that coupled with the fact i'd have snapped your hand off for 2nd at the start of the season given that I seen this as a season of transition whilst we bed in the young players then we've actually over achieved as 7th was the pre season prediction by the media and I was looking for us to be about 4th/5th so in reality it wasn't a bad season at all.

Having the cup to show after 2 seasons of nothing for myself and 7 for the club is also a step in the right direction, there's goals in this side and for such a young side our defence isn't really too bad and year of the first team can only do wonders as we look to tighten up a bit next season. Going back to 4-3-3 could help a little with that but it means scouting for at least 2 full backs and in all honesty the 1-2-3-3-1 has been exciting to watch and like I say I think with experience in the back 3 that we'll naturally tighten up anyway and by playing the more traditional tactics all the time it can get a bit predictable for myself and probably those reading. If anything I really want to drop one of the CM's and either play 2 AMC's or 2 CF's and go really gung-ho but I feel it is probably for the best to leave that for another season and see how we go this year before doing it.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Coefficients

Nation          [b]2014[/b]  2026  +/-  2027  +/-  2028  +/-  2029  +/-  2030  +/-  2031  +/-  2032 +/-  2033   +/-  2034  +/-  2035  +/-  2036  +/-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Albania         [b]65[/b]    80    0    76    +4   79    -3 
Armenia         [b]88[/b]    70    -2   72    -2   62    +10
Azerbaijan      [b]40[/b]    34    +6   29    +5   26    +3
Belarus         [b]22[/b]    16    +1   16    0    15    +1
Bosnia & Herz   [b]47[/b]    61    -9   57    +4   66    -9
Bulgaria        [b]26[/b]    20    -1   18    +2   16    +2
Croatia         [b]20[/b]    10    +4   10    0    9     +1
Czech Rep       [b]15[/b]    11    0    9     +2   6     +3
Estonia         [b]90[/b]    71    +4   59    +12  58    +1     
FYR Macedonia   [b]67[/b]    52    +8   55    -3   57    -2
Georgia         [b]44[/b]    58    +7   68    -10  67    +1
Hungary         [b]30[/b]    18    +5   17    +1   14    +3
Kazakhstan      [b]45[/b]    41    -2   42    -1   44    -2
Latvia          [b]57[/b]    95    +1   95    0    103   -8
Lithuania       [b]66[/b]    76    -6   73    +3   73    0
Moldova         [b]39[/b]    91    -10  96    -5   88    +8
Montenegro      [b]60[/b]    78    -5   84    -6   92    -8
Poland          [b]21[/b]    12    0    12    0    10    +2
Romania         [b]16[/b]    14    -1   11    +3   13    -2
Russia          [b]7[/b]     6     0    5     +1   2     +3
Serbia          [b]29[/b]    9     +1   13    -4   11    +3
Slovakia        [b]36[/b]    40    -4   37    +3   37    0
Slovenia        [b]35[/b]    31    -1   24    +7   20    +4
Ukraine         [b]9[/b]     5     0    4     +1   3     +1

Risers 15/24

Droppers 7/24

Non Movers 2/24

Biggest Risers +10 Armenia (62)

Biggest FallersBosnia & Herz (66)

An incredible turn around around in the top 20 with 11 nations being in the list, Russia and Ukraine making it in to the top 3 is really big and Russia isn't far off being the biggest nation just 3 points behind England in the coefficients now and i'm pretty sure it is the first time in any of these saves that has happened (I remember Serbia and Russia making the top 5 in the same save but i'm sure only one of them made the top 3). Russia was helped by having Lokomotiv and Dinamo Moscow playing in the CL semi with Arsenal beating my former side 4-3 after extra time in the final itself.

Former Club Watch

FC Kaisar 3rd, currently 2nd (Kazakhstan Super League)

Wisła Kraków Champions (Ekstraklasa)

Dukla Praha 3rd (Czech First Division)

Neftçi PFK Champions and cup winners(Azerbaijan Premier League)

Lokomotiv Moscow 2nd (Russian Premier Division)

Tycoon Watch

Mezőkövesdi - Spent £27.5M Champions and cup winners (Hungarian Division I)

Szolnoki - Spent £1.6M and finished 14th (Hungarian Division I)

Donji Srem - Spent £16.19M and Champions (Serbian Superleague)

FC Kuban Krasnodar - Spent £12.45M finished 3rd (Russian Premier League)

KF Laçi - Spent £565k Finished 4th (Albanian Superleague)

Gelios - Spent nothing since takeover, finished 10th (Ukrainian Premier League)

[Dexter_Morgan]

The Czech Republic won Euro 2028 making them the first Iron Curtain nation in the save to win an international tournament after beating England 5-0 in the final

[Dexter_Morgan]

FK Crvena Zvezda July - September 2028/29

Transfers



Fixtures



Table

We are doing ok so far but feel I made a big mistake selling Peric and Despotovic this year now as we are just far too inexperienced at the back and CM, I thought with the year experience for the younger players we could get away with it and with 6 CB's and 9 players who can play between CM/DM or AMC I sacrificed them thinking the squad was too heavy with players in the same position as I was finding it hard to rotate. In hindsight i'd have loaned 2 of the kids out in midfield (no shortage of loan offers came in during the summer) and 1 of the CB's and waited a year to move players on. It isn't that we are playing badly but we are just missing that little extra and the games against Krasnodar and Roma show just how much of a long way we have to go at this stage.

We may just about get away with it in the league and be strong enough to make a Europa spot (i'll happily take that now seeing how we're weaker than go for a title challenge like i'd planned) but i'm putting this season down as another of transition and hope we improve as we go on.

I have a lot of faith that I can get it right eventually with this squad and tactic but i've certainly over estimated us last summer but it wasn't something I could have known until Peric and Despotovic had left the club. It probably looks like i'm moaning because we aren't walking it But in reality I thought a challenge again would be a good season and my complaints are that in letting Peric go too soon we are very vulnerable at the back, the Donji game for example we were cruising at 5-0 up with half an hour to go and by the last 10 minutes I was thinking if they get a 4th then they'd get a point from the game. I'm not too bothered by the CL group results either in all honesty we are facing stronger sides than us by far so it is to be expected, in all honesty a Europa place would have probably suited us at this stage as we weren't desperate for the CL money and playing sides mostly of a similar level is probably more of a benefit at this moment than getting hammered every couple of weeks, at the same time though I never send out a side to lose so we had to go for it

[Dexter_Morgan]

FK Crvena Zvezda October - December 2028/29

Fixtures



Tables

Pretty much the same as earlier where I feel there is something just missing a little at this stage but we've carried on picking up decent wins including the shock one in Rome that keeps us in Europe after Christmas which was something that didn't look likely after the first 2 games.

In the league we are where I was aiming to be, when I took the job I knew how far the club had fallen with Donji and Borac being strengthened for years by their tycoons so this was never a case of me walking in and winning titles easily my concern has been and continues to be our defence and as I said I was probably being a bit too ambitious getting rid of some more experienced players so soon but the attributes of those back there are clearly rising with the more experience they get so hopefully it is just a case of being patient as they naturally grow through playing. Attacking wise the danger is clearly there and the midfield seems to have improved in recent months and i'm relatively happy with the goalkeeping situation for the moment though I am convinced either will be first choice long term if we continue to grow, the problem is though experience is hard to come by and we do have a wage limit of about £20k max per week so keepers in their better years are never going to come here for that kind of money, so I have to go down the scouting of yet another youngster route and hope we can develop one. We do have Dusan Javorac from last years intake that is highly thought of but at 16 he's nowhere near ready so even that isn't an option.

[Rikulec]

Good luck in the Europa League.

[Dexter_Morgan]

We've just hammered Inter Milan over 2 legs and have Rad in the next round so have a good chance of a little run in it

[Dexter_Morgan]

FK Crvena Zvezda January - May 2028/29

Fixtures







Table



Squad

After moaning in my previous 2 reports I have to hand out praise to the players in this one. I usually hate the winter breaks in these saves and use it as an excuse to holiday a few months rather than hit continue a billion times but this one seemed to have done us a favour, everything about the team improved when we came back from the break, the improvement in the defence was probably the most pleasing but the all round play seems to have stepped up to another level.

I was toying with the idea of moving to a back 4 at one point but i've had faith that this group of players would eventually develop and become a championship winning side even if it took a season or two more so it was pleasing for us to do it a little earlier than expected especially when Donji are so strong not just at home but regularly making semi finals in Europe too so it isn't an easy league to win.

I'm expecting a busy summer this year as interest has always been high in the players and i've already made a couple of signings that i'll touch on once the rest of the dealings have been done and i've worked out who we can afford to lose and what replacements are available.

Just one player of note from the youth intake and he is probably the best i've ever seen come through at that age, i'm training him as an inside forward and i've been tempted to put him in the first team squad already he's that good, for now though i'll let him develop in the youth squad and keep him in mind for any injury crisis

[Dexter_Morgan]

Coefficients

Nation          [b]2014[/b]  2026  +/-  2027  +/-  2028  +/-  2029  +/-  2030  +/-  2031  +/-  2032 +/-  2033   +/-  2034  +/-  2035  +/-  2036  +/-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Albania         [b]65[/b]    80    0    76    +4   79    -3   72    +7 
Armenia         [b]88[/b]    70    -2   72    -2   62    +10  64    -2
Azerbaijan      [b]40[/b]    34    +6   29    +5   26    +3   26    0
Belarus         [b]22[/b]    16    +1   16    0    15    +1   17    -2
Bosnia & Herz   [b]47[/b]    61    -9   57    +4   66    -9   74    -8
Bulgaria        [b]26[/b]    20    -1   18    +2   16    +2   16    0
Croatia         [b]20[/b]    10    +4   10    0    9     +1   7     +2
Czech Rep       [b]15[/b]    11    0    9     +2   6     +3   8     -2
Estonia         [b]90[/b]    71    +4   59    +12  58    +1   59    -1
FYR Macedonia   [b]67[/b]    52    +8   55    -3   57    -2   65    -8
Georgia         [b]44[/b]    58    +7   68    -10  67    +1   66    +1
Hungary         [b]30[/b]    18    +5   17    +1   14    +3   13    +1
Kazakhstan      [b]45[/b]    41    -2   42    -1   44    -2   45    -1
Latvia          [b]57[/b]    95    +1   95    0    103   -8   110   -7
Lithuania       [b]66[/b]    76    -6   73    +3   73    0    62    +11
Moldova         [b]39[/b]    91    -10  96    -5   88    +8   86    +2
Montenegro      [b]60[/b]    78    -5   84    -6   92    -8   101   -9
Poland          [b]21[/b]    12    0    12    0    10    +2   12    -2
Romania         [b]16[/b]    14    -1   11    +3   13    -2   11    +2
Russia          [b]7[/b]     6     0    5     +1   2     +3   1     +1
Serbia          [b]29[/b]    9     +1   13    -4   11    +3   9     +2
Slovakia        [b]36[/b]    40    -4   37    +3   37    0    37    0
Slovenia        [b]35[/b]    31    -1   24    +7   20    +4   24    -4
Ukraine         [b]9[/b]     5     0    4     +1   3     +1   2     +1

Risers 10/24

Droppers 11/24

Non Movers 3/24

Biggest Risers +11 Lithuania (62)

Biggest Fallers -9 Montenegro (101)

A lot of fallers this year but big moves with Russia and Ukraine taking 1 & 2 respectively. The traditional big clubs still tend to have someone that will win a tournament but overall the East keeps providing latter stage clubs in competitions.

Former Club Watch

FC Kaisar 3rd, currently 3rd (Kazakhstan Super League)

Wisła Kraków 2nd (Ekstraklasa)

Dukla Praha 6th (Czech First Division)

Neftçi PFK Champions (Azerbaijan Premier League)

Lokomotiv Moscow 2nd (Russian Premier Division)

Tycoon Watch

Mezőkövesdi - Spent £15.71M Champions and Europa runner up (Hungarian Division I)

Szolnoki - Spent £1.42M and finished 12th (Hungarian Division I)

Donji Srem - Spent £17.92M and finished 2nd (Serbian Superleague)

FC Kuban Krasnodar - Spent nothing and finished 8th (Russian Premier League)

KF Laçi - Spent £151k Finished 2nd (Albanian Superleague)

Gelios - Spent £20.37 and finished 10th, improvements to ground and training facilities though which suggests the chairman is willing to help in long term (Ukrainian Premier League)

[Darius1998]

Superb run in the Europa League as well to go along with the domestic double. Looks like you almost turned it around against Arsenal as well.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Superb run in the Europa League as well to go along with the domestic double. Looks like you almost turned it around against Arsenal as well.

Cheers, I couldn't really put any fault with the game at Arsenal, we had more shots, more of the ball but it was one of those flukes where everything they hit went in There's so much potential in this side that I know now i'll carry on past next season (if allowed). We've gone a bit backwards over the summer in the sense i've lost 3 big players but there's 2 coming in, i'm promoting someone from the reserves too and hopefully i'll get a keeper as that is our weak link but the potential is clear enough not to make many big changes.

[Dexter_Morgan]

FK Crvena Zvezda Pre Season 2029/30

Bit of a tough one to let such talent go but realistically I think we have better potential long term in those positions with 25% of the next sale added too it gives the club a bit a boost in terms of finances for the next manager (i'll go in to this in a later post as i'm undecided what to do when my contract runs out) for the inevitable ripping apart of the squad on my departure. I also felt that not adding to the squad since my first season could make the side a little flat, FM has a tendency (or so it seems for me) to start throwing up poor performances if you go too long without a couple of tweaks too which was also a factor as was despite the fact we had 6 or 7 players hitting double figures last year and hitting the 99 goal mark I felt we should be scoring a little more given we often have 60%+ of the ball and make a lot of chances, something that was really highlighted in the Arsenal games, not only shouldn't we have lost by 4 at their place we should have had at least 2 ourselves which is why the minute the scouts brought Ali Ozdemir to my attention I couldn't resist signing him especially on a free as his composure and finishing is better than anyone currently up top and at 21 can only get better, a lethal striker as obvious at it sounds may just give us that extra bit.

Rade Djokic is a natural striker but to me he looks like he'd be ideal as my left inside forward, we get the wide players in some good positions and again someone that can come in from the wing and finish a couple more chances can be vital, he was out on loan last season otherwise i'd have had him in sooner, the deal was agreed last October so it has been a long wait to get him in but hopefully it will be worth it.

Another factor in a few of those sales was this lad

He's not had a chance at all in the first team as I simply didn't know what to do with him, I was hoping that Simmons would grow in to a class AMC but he fell a little short (on the plus side we got a very nice profit from what essentially is a failed experiment) and we were a bit heavy on AMC's whereas Batanjac has naturally developed and looks like he could step up so even though he is a bit late to the party I feel he deserves a season to see how he gets on, there's always been elements of interest from other clubs which makes me think he could become a decent player so we'll see how he does.

I don't think i'll be making any more changes this summer but a keeper is still a position I would like to improve on and also maybe one more CB, the defence has improved the last 6 months or so but I do think we are lacking a class player in each position, even if only as a short term solution whilst others develop.

[Dexter_Morgan]

FK Crvena Zvezda August - October 2029/30

Fixtures



Tables

Happy enough with our start, the new players seem to be settling in well enough and hopefully as the season goes on they'll improve and get used to the tactic. Our CL group is relatively easy considering we were 4th seed so we certainly got a bit of luck there What has probably impressed me the most this year is the defence has been really tight, considering there was no improvements in that area at all and the tactic hasn't been changed it has been a pleasant surprise.

I'm still unsure about my future after this season, i've enjoyed the turnaround that i've brought to the club and i've not really had a proper crack at the CL as of yet and getting to the Europa semi last season is the furthest i've taken a side in any European competition so far and coming after 14 seasons so far that is a slow rate for me (granted i've not managed more than 3 seasons at any club and realistically 6 of those were in nations that had no chance of ever winning anything) so I would like to get some kind of continental competition in the next few years but I also have a desire to get to Latvia or Montenegro and build a club that isn't one of the big boys within the division, I particularly like the idea of Montenegro as even sides in mid table earn just short of a million per season in stadium sponsorship alone even in it's current state and there are a few good players that come out of that nation but sides don't hold on to them for long, building a side there should by rights see a lot more stadium money come in and long term see the division get back round to roughly the 50 mark it was at the start of the game.