[FM17] FC Rostov - from one-season wonder to the new force?

[Vilmar]

Good luck against Chelsea.

[Koetzer]

Mid-season 2025/26

Transfers out

 

It turned out that we were slightly over FFP limits. I’m quite sure it would be covered with Champions League revenue, but still decided to sell Solano as he's unlikely to progress and be more than a backup player.

Finally we got foreigners in the youth intake. Two Iranians don’t seem to develop into first-team players, but still nice to have some diversity in the squad. Mikheev was touted as one of the best players of the generation though his coach report is full of red regarding personality (well, maybe tutoring and overall professional squad will have an influence). Kabanov and Amelin look promising too, hope to develop them into decent wing-backs.

  

February-March 2026

guess we need another miracle to advance further.

The miracle actually happened, can’t say other when the 167 cm left-back with jumping 5 scores two headers, but even that wasn’t enough for the win. Fabian Gomez replied with his two goals after half-time, making Chelsea clear favourites before the return leg. Could have more respect for the team that brought him to Europe  

Absolutely storming performance from Frolov. 3+2, he actually took part in every goal scored there, and set a new club record with his 23th goal this season. Next aim for him is 28, the all-time league record set by Seydou Doumbia in 11/12 season (which contained 44 games).

Finally we managed to go past the cup quarter-final. Dinamo couldn’t even take a single shot, no need to say more.

For 75 minutes the game was fully in our hands. We scored twice while Chelsea couldn’t even hit target, but their first shot was successful and they found the way back to the match. Few minutes before full time Gomez equalized. The same as in the home game, that means extra time. Or even penalty shootout, as it was year ago, not something good to remember. But on 120th minute it became even worse, pass from Gomez, Cris takes a long shot, no chances for Aoki. 3:2, an added minute remaining, the last chance, and Courtois saves a long shot from Mangena. Few seconds till Chelsea advance to quarter-final, defenders pass to each other, and Frolov intercepts! Immediate pass to the box for Mangena, Patrick gets the ball and fires it past the keeper! 3:3, and we’re through on away goals!!! Unbelievable…

This time luck was on our side. None of the opponents on this stage could be called easy, but Ajax is surely a better option than some others.

It looked like the whole team simply missed the first half, still celebrating after previous match. But in the second half Mangena and Frolov once again overturned the game.

 

And that happened during international break. Ramos was actually our fourth striker, but still hurts to lose a useful depth player.

Joseba Perez scored against his former team. His first goal for us and the decisive one in this game.

+5 with a game in hand, a good lead but still have to be concentrated at this point.

[kidthekid]

Great result against Chelsea. Any reason for two Iranians in the intake?

[john1]

Fantastic turn around in the Champions League Hope you can beat Chelsea  

[Koetzer]

On 04.07.2017 at 08:31, kidthekid said:

Great result against Chelsea. Any reason for two Iranians in the intake?

Only the manager's nationality, I think. Strange that it actually worked only at 10th season, while other staff and affiliated clubs don't seem to influence that at all.

 

April 2026

We started our attacks from the first minutes, and even an early penalty miss from Grujic didn’t influence the game. Two goals, some impressive saves by Ajax keeper, but shortly before the half-time they managed to score from the first shot. 2:1 wasn’t a good option for a home game, so we had to attack more in second half and finally got our third goal with a lucky deflection.

Our familiar problem, after big European matches it’s harder to find motivation for the league. At least Frolov saved a draw for us and moved one step closer to the record. Bad news that Grujic suffered a hip injury and will miss the remaining part of season.

Heerkens once again saved a penalty against us, from Kabiru this time, but actually he only delayed the loss. Three goals in the last 20 minutes, and we’re confidently advancing to semi-final.

Third English team we meet this season, and they obviously remember that final of 2024.

Again we needed to concede first to get into the game, but Frolov gave us the advantage very soon. 27 goals in the league, he’s now only one from the all-time record.

Krasnodar did their best to hold our attacks, but closer to the end we broke through. And who else than Frolov could score the eventual winner?  We’ll face Zenit in the final, time to return the cup.

Spartak lost 4 of 5 previous games and sacked their manager. Not the best time for them to face us, but who cares. The result was set before half-time, while Frolov equaled Doumbia’s result.

Krylja had two attacks in the game, both after horrible passes from our defenders and both successful. Luckily, we have Frolov, who saved a point for us and is a sole RFPL record holder now with 30 goals. I looked up for USSR record, and actually he’s not so far from beating it too, Oleg Protasov scored 35 in 1985 season.

When I mentioned Protasov’s record I honestly didn’t expect it would be beaten so soon   Especially against Krasnodar, who were our closest opponents in the league (7 points behind, but still). Frolov made history, scoring six within a half. No one ever before did that in the Russian league.

Well, surely 1:0 win at home is a good result, giving us quite good opportunity to advance, but after Kabiru’s goal we had at least three clear chances. Hope I won’t regret about them at Old Trafford.

Ten points clear, should be easy to retain the lead. Five teams behind us will contest the remaining European places.

[Koetzer]

May 2026

Rested all usual starters before the second semi-final game, but still got 3 points after a long shot from Muldoon. One step closer to the title.

First half really made me regret our misses in home game, poor defending allowed Pogba to score twice and put his team into lead, which they were confidently holding after half-time. Almost desperate change to three strikers, all out attack… and it worked! Jose Antonio crossed from left wing, Frolov won the ball and slotted it right to the net! Only the second CL goal for him, but so important. Once again we’re through on away goal in the end, our second Champions League final awaits!

Atletico lost 0-2 to Leverkusen away, but overturned it at home. 3-0, and for third season in a row we’re facing Simeone’s team.

Yamlikhanov’s sole strike gave us the win, and day later Krasnodar dropped points against Zenit, securing 8th consecutive league title for us.

Conceded from a free kick on 89th minute, which actually was the first Zenit’s shot on target, but Frolov saved us again. His 40th goal of the season.

In last three games I gave some first-team practice to promising youngsters from reserve squad. They didn’t prove to be ready yet, but that experience will hopefully help their development.

Zenit claimed second place, Krasnodar declined in the end so only Europa League for them.

That was a true final. First half was completely ours, Kabiru gave us the advantage and Frolov was close to improve it but his penalty shot was saved. Soon after half time Zenit equalized, and later their midfielder Kudryashov was sent off, but we couldn’t use it. First counter after that ended with a penalty and red card for Savchenko. Hruby scored, 20 minutes to go, we’re down and playing 10 on 10. Third striker brought in, and that worked again. Frolov equalized with ten minutes to go, and with few seconds remaining in injury time he crossed from right wing, and Kabiru tapped the ball in! Our first cup win in four years, now time for the treble!

 

Some news before the final in Paris:

Surprised to see Karamoko in World Cup squad. He’s playing for Amkar in Russian second tier now, but Ivory Coast manager sees him good enough for the team.

 

The last player from the starting squad leaves the team, still holding club record in all-time appearances.

[Koetzer]

2025/26 Champions League final

Simeone had something to think about with all these injury problems (including their highest valuable player Andre Horta), but they are still rated as a better team. Not a surprise actually, winning both La Liga (with 12 points gap from Barcelona) and Spanish cup means they were really good this season. They won 16 of the last 17 games, losing only to Leverkusen in the first semi-final leg (though overturning it at home).

 

Atletico: Oblak – Fernandez, Mateus, Bergmann, Gallina – Bergwijn, Coronado, Saul, Castillejo – Audren, Dembele

Rostov: Aoki – Duarte, Larsson, Smith – Antonio, Sergeev, Ricardo – Diawara, Ogasawara – Mangena, Kabiru

Only two changes in our squad from the final two years before, Schennikov is old and out on loan now, and Grujic misses the end of season due to injury. As for Atletico squad, three players from their starting 11 had slight injuries and were doubtful for the final.

 

3’ Audren takes the first shot in the game, far away from target.

4’ Saul gets yellow for a foul on Mangena.

14’ Another yellow for Atletico, Fernandez tripped Kabiru.

21’ Third yellow card, for Bergwijn that time.

23’ Ricardo loses the ball after free kick, Bergwijn and Dembele run against sole Larsson who seems to slow down the attack forcing Dembele to the right wing, but he crosses to the box, and Audren scores. 0-1

36’ Yellow card for Antonio, Fernandez tries his luck after a free kick, far off target.

42’ Yellow for Mangena.

 

One shot on target for both teams, would be hard to overturn this game.

 

49’ Ogasawara finally takes our first shot on target, but it’s blocked by defender and Oblak claims the ball easily.

51’ Yellow card for Ricardo.

56’ Bilbao comes for Saul, first substitution in this game.

61’ Garcia replaces Castilejo, we respond with two subs – Mangena and Diawara out, Oien and Frolov in. Diawara managed to get yellow with his last action on the pitch  

71’ Free kick close to the area, Kabiru shoots but over the bar.

72’ Bonazzoli for Audren, the only goalscorer currently.

75’ Another yellow for Larsson, and I make the last substitution. Yamlikhanov replaces Sergeev, three up front, formation that worked in semi-final.

76’ Free kick taken by Fernandez, Aoki claims the ball.

77’ Kabiru finds Yamlikhanov in the area, but it’s offside.

78’ Garcia passes through to Dembele, cross from right wing and Bonazzoli scores a header. 0-2, seems to be the end.

79’ Kabiru delivers a corner, and there’s a penalty! Mateus pushed Oien, Frolov steps up and confidently fires it past Oblak! 1-2, can it be our way back to the game?

90’ Bergwijn is sent off for two yellow cards! Only two minutes for us to save this game though…

90+2’ No, Atletico played too solid defensively. Fifth final became lucky for them.

Jose Antonio was selected into the dream team.

[kidthekid]

2 finals in 3 years, not bad. Rostov are indeed a new force and not a one season wonder

[john1]

Really unlucky in the final  Roll on next season!  

[Koetzer]

Awards

Best Player: Frolov (Rostov)

Players’ Select:  Frolov (Rostov), Yoskov (Krasnodar), Larsson (Rostov)

Top Goalscorer: Frolov (Rostov) – 38, Hruby (Zenit) – 22, Yoskov (Krasnodar) – 19

Goalkeeper of the Year: Mitryushkin (Rostov)

Young Player of the Year: Frolov (Rostov)

Team of the Year

Incredible season for Frolov, 43 goals in 44 games and totally deserved awards. Including one more:

 

Arsenal Tula and Ufa returned from FNL directly, and Shinnik defeated Orenburg in play-offs. Their first appearance at top flight since 2008, earlier they even played in European cups several times (that legendary highlight against Valencia from 1998 ) 

 

European Review

Champions League – deserved title for Atletico, nothing to add.

Europa League – Real, Bayern, Arsenal, Liverpool, Dortmund, Milan… strong lineup this year, but West Ham (Mancini) managed to win. None of Russian teams could even advance from groups.

 

England – Chelsea (Jardim), Man City (Pep), Man Utd (Prandelli). Swansea (Heckingbottom) and Wolves (Pellegrini) finished in Europa League zone, ahead of Arsenal (Rui Vitoria/Lopetegui) and eventual EL winner West Ham. Everton (Alex Neil) relegated, second time in last three seasons.

Spain – Atletico (Simeone), Barcelona (Conte), Real Madrid (Emery)

Germany – Leverkusen (Klopp), Bayern (Tuchel), Wolfsburg (Stendel)

Italy – Roma (Ancelotti), Juventus (Zidane), Napoli (Fonseca)

France – PSG (Mourinho), Monaco (Guegan), Lyon (F.de Boer)

Netherlands – AZ (Kooistra), Feyenoord (van Bronckhorst), Heerenveen (Klompe). Only 5th place for Ajax (Langeler), their continental performance was far better.

[john1]

Fantastic season once again  Shocked to see Swansea in top 4  

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2026/27

Transfers out

Decided to sell Ivanov, 18M is really a good deal for a backup player. Surprised that Marseille signed Gavrilov, he didn’t seem to have a high potential (if our reports were wrong, we still have 50% from next sale clause).

Transfers in

 

Nikolay Petrenko – replacement for Ivanov, and actually a better alternative for aging Lystsov too.

Raymond Quinn – ex-Cliftonvillle striker impressed during his trial, so I decided to sign him on full contract.

Jay Stewart and Jakob Larsen – usual youngster signings.

Some more money earned as Gomez was signed by PSG for 137M, seems to be a new world record.

 

World Cup 2026 – Mexico

Groups A-D | E-H

After 60 years of waiting England finally got their second trophy. Brazil with two our wing-backs in the squad couldn’t even advance from the group (even though it contained eventual champions and hosts, that was a huge disappointment). Extra place for North America made it possible for Guatemala and Curacao to qualify, both were outclassed but still a good experience for these nations.

U-19 Euro: France won the cup, Russia (with 5 our players in the squad) finished third in their group and lost to Germany in 5th place playoff.

 

Super Cup

We suffered a lot from injuries during pre-season, Oien is out until winter, Kabiru, Mangena and Sergeev will miss start of the season (though should be fit before September), so our lineup was far from ideal. Zenit scored from a penalty shortly before half-time and tried to hold the lead, but in the end our advantage was converted into goals. With a bit of luck surely, two own goals within a minute – that’s not something usual to see in that kind of match. And first of them was scored by Gyuracz, who played his first game after leaving us  

[Koetzer]

August 2026

Two minutes into the game, and last season’s best player scores again! Second goal from Grujic effectively ended this match.

A bit similar game with the Super Cup, CSKA were in the lead at half-time, but we managed to overturn it, Frolov and Kabiru assisted each other to give us 3 points.

Larsson scored an early goal from a corner, and then we were in full control.

First half was going to finish 0-0 despite our advantage, but on the last seconds of injury time Frolov scored with a long shot. And just after the half-time Ogasawara extended our lead.

Quite the same, we were far better but could score only once before half-time. Mangena returned after his injury with the winning goal.

Confidently leading with 100% result so far.

All familiar opponents in the group, should be able to contest the top spot with Man Utd. BATE were the last team drawn into group H.

We continue to raid FFA COE academy, signing their keeper Frank Millar. And here are outgoing transfers in August. Yes, you read it right, Zenit paid 35M for Drannikov. He’s surely a high potential player, but isn’t worth that and actually didn’t fit to our tactics (tried to retrain him as wing-back, but his defending skills are still too low). 

[john1]

Not bad signings and good start to the season. Surprised to see West Ham in the Champions League  

[Vilmar]

I had West Brom in the Champions League in my second season. And they managed to get passed the group phase. 

[Koetzer]

18 hours ago, john1 said:

Not bad signings and good start to the season. Surprised to see West Ham in the Champions League  

They finished 9th last season but won the Europa League.

 

September 2026

 

Last minutes of first half seem to be our best time this season. Mitchell recorded his first ever goal for us, and the winning one.

That was close to a big disappointment but ended with an impressive comeback. Anderlecht scored from a free kick in the first half and almost held us till the final whistle. Diawara finally was able to equalize on 90th minute, and just few seconds before the end we won a corner, Diawara crossed and Kabiru scored the winner!

Good start with Frolov’s goal, and actually everything was clear before half-time. Ndiaye became another player who scored for us after being sold  

The most experienced player in that experimental squad made the difference. Two goals and assist from Grujic, and we’re through.

Two early goals and another easy win before a very important European game.

Both teams had enough chances to score, but goalkeepers were not going to concede at all. A draw that makes United chances for top spot a bit higher.

Still haven’t dropped points in the league and leading with a visible gap from all others. Krasnodar and Lokomotiv disappoint their fans at start, going in the dangerous zone so far.

[Koetzer]

October 2026

Krasnodar’s form was awful at start of season, but as always that means nothing when AI team plays against you. Frolov had a chance to bring another win for us though, but missed a penalty.

Frolov suffered a light injury in national team, but even without him our attacking force was unstoppable for Lokomotiv. Two from Yamlikhanov, two from Kabiru and two more from others.

Incredible finishing from Kabiru guided us to the second group win. Meanwhile Man Utd drew with Anderlecht, so we became sole leaders after half of group games.

All that attacking power simply disappeared against Mordovia. 0-0 and only two points remaining.

Same problems against Shinnik, but in the end Frolov finally found the way to goal. We’re through to quarter-final and will face Anji there.

A goal scored from the first shot is always useful when you play against a team of lower stature that will most likely park the bus. Yamlikhanov once again proved to be a useful backup.

Only two points ahead of Zenit, but all other teams are already far away.

[john1]

Not bad 2 months apart from dropping points against Kransodar and Mordovia  

[Koetzer]

November-December 2026

Marseille actually looked better in first half, but the only moment when they allowed Kabiru to shoot from the box ended with our goal. Closer to the final whistle our Nigerian striker scored again from a free kick, sealing our win and the place in knockout rounds.

That’s ridiculous how our offense completely disappears in some games. Shinnik defended well of course, but we should have played much better.

Zenit caught us after last game, so we needed a win to restore our lead and got it quite easily. Frolov was tired after playing for national team, Yamlikhanov replaced him in the starting squad and eventually became the best player of this match, scoring a hat-trick.

Diawara saved us in the first game against Anderlecht, and here his goal helped to break their solid defense once again. In the other group game Marseille destroyed Man Utd 4-1, and that means our 1st place is now secure and a trip to Old Trafford wil be actually an exhibition game for us.

Mangena scored only twice in the season before this game, but against Spartak he finally unveiled that power we used to see from him. 3+1, and the game was done very soon.

CSKA managed to equalize after our first goal but we then responded with five. Frolov is unlikely to repeat his last season’s records, though he still can score a lot and proved it once more.

Managed to return a gap ahead of Zenit. Krylja Sovetov and Rubin are in contention of European places, while Lokomotiv seem to be in trouble.

With top spot in group already secured I rested some key players, so the result wasn’t a big disappointment.  

 

Almost got Liverpool from unseeded teams, Napoli surely looks like a better option. They are 10th in Serie A so far, though managed to beat Barcelona in the group.

Good performance from the U19 team as well, nice to see that after disappointing last season which ended on the group stage.

And the last news item of the year, Frolov wins another award. Totally deserved, that goalscoring form was hard to ignore.

[john1]

Decent month, good to see your u's19 finished top  Can i see screenshot of Frolov?

[Koetzer]

@john1 that's from end of previous season, he has about the same stats now:

[kidthekid]

Did Frolov come from your academy? Solid prospect!!

[Koetzer]

13 hours ago, kidthekid said:

Did Frolov come from your academy? Solid prospect!!

Yes, that's him just after the youth intake.

[Koetzer]

Mid-season 2026/27

Transfers out

 

Transfers in

Can’t stop signing free youngsters They all have 3-3,5 star potentials, so I predict all of them will end up in Mordovia or similar teams in 2-3 years but who knows, maybe someone will be useful for us. 

Finally we got a player from Partizan in the youth intake, along with a surprising Mexican, both useless though. This year lacks top prospects, though Gerasimov and Nazarov look quite promising.

 

International tournaments

Asian Cup – Australia (Muldoon, Davidson, Guida) lost the final to Iran. Japan (Aoki, Ogasawara, Oda) only reached quarter-final, losing to Saudi Arabia.

African Cup – South Africa (Mangena) couldn’t defeat the title and finished fourth, sending out Nigeria (Kabiru) in quarter-final. Mali (Diawara) and Benin (Radji) didn’t advance from the groups.

U-20 Copa America – Argentina (Bonanno) claimed the trophy, winning all 5 games in the final round.

 

February-March 2027

Frolov missed a penalty, and soon after this we conceded. Poor start of the year, leaving us with a tough task for home game.

First time I see opponents use the same formation with us, and we completely failed. That becomes really concerning.

We had a man advantage since 8th minute, so the result was almost determined then but quality of our finishing was far from satisfactory, and our win was secured only in the end. Anyway it should encourage the team after two losses at start.

That was much better, three goals before half-time made our win obvious.

Another confident win, looks like the team regained form before the return leg against Napoli. Hope that will be enough to advance.

We took control of the game just after a start whistle, and after some missed chances finally managed to score. Mangena was tripped in the box, and this time Grujic converted it to a goal. Second half started the same way, and very soon Ogasawara gave us an overall advantage with a long shot. 2-0, and Napoli actually had no chances till the end.

We got Liverpool in quarter-final. They are only 11th in the Premier League currently, but don’t know if it would do us any favours. Champions League remains the only way for them to qualify for next season.

Our U19 team lost to Sochaux on penalties. Very unfortunate, as this squad could certainly go further.

We simply can’t play in domestic matches after Champions League. The team was fit and actually played with the strongest squad available, but couldn’t match opponents mentally.  

Anyway even those drops of form didn’t influence our position, 7 points clear from Zenit so another title is only a matter of time.

[john1]

Not a bad month overall  Hows your scouting is set up to find hidden gems?

[Koetzer]

13 hours ago, john1 said:

Not a bad month overall  Hows your scouting is set up to find hidden gems?

My scouts are constantly browsing most important regions and have assignments for all major international tournaments. Also I manually check all national team squads once in a year, usually if a 17-18 years old player is in senior squad (even of a weak team like Sri Lanka), he may be worth scouting.

April 2027

Boring and disappointing.

Our advantage was converted to the only goal few seconds before half-time, Frolov scored after Antonio’s cross. We’ll face Spartak in the final.

Another 1-0 win after Kabiru’s early goal, and we’re improving our lead.

Liverpool got an early lead after a corner and protected it well, but closer to the end Frolov, who came as a substitute, managed to equalize. Still not the best result for a first game at home.

We got a lead in the end of first half, Sergeev took a long shot and the ball went in after a deflection. Liverpool equalized even before half-time though with a shot from Will Hughes. As the extra time was becoming more realistic, both teams started to push more, creating some chances… and we were more successful in it. Diawara made a through pass to the box, Kabiru was first on the ball and scored! 2-1, we’re going to the semi-final!

We have never lost to Man City before, twice knocking them out in quarter-finals.

The score suggests an easy game for us, but actually it was quite tough before we scored second goal.

We were close to the disappointing draw, but in the last attack Frolov headed the ball in after a cross from Kabiru.

6 points and a game in hand. Quite tough schedule awaits us in May, but I’m confident we can hold it.

[john1]

Superb result over Liverpool    Hope you can get past Man City!

[Koetzer]

May 2027

Rested all the key players before the Champions League semi-final but that squad coped with their task well.

All our previous visits to Etihad ended with 0-0 draws, but this time the goalless run was broken. Two great passes from Diawara, and our strikers made it 2-0 at half-time. Tah scored one back soon after the game resumed, but then we held that advantage. Still unbeaten against City and have a good chance to reach the final once more.

Another win with the backup squad, only two points remained from officially claiming the title.

Our counters proved to be a deadly force once again, Kabiru ran one on one with goalkeeper and scored an early goal. Iheanacho had a chance to equalize soon, but his penalty was saved by Aoki. Shortly after half-time Diawara finished another counter after opponents’ corner, and in second half Kabiru set the final score. Our third final in four years!

Chelsea knocked out Atletico in the other pair. Last year we had epic battle with them in first playoffs round, with the decisive away goal from Mangena on 121st minute put us through.

Only one rest day for first team, while backup also wasn’t fresh enough. Quite disappointing result, but the situation didn’t change much, still one win will bring us the title.

That was the last home game for us this season, and we did exactly what was needed. Comfortable win and 9th consecutive league title.

I didn’t expect two away wins against Zenit and Spartak, as gave chances to impress for some young players, but the quality of our squad was enough. First ever goal from our Sri Lankan defender is also worth mentioning.

Spartak lost 3rd place with the last matchday defeat. Krylja Sovetov will play in Europa League next season, while Lokomotiv again need to take part in relegation playoffs.

Frolov added another club record to his name, scoring on 23rd second of the cup final. Spartak managed to equalize when Lystsov headed the ball into the own net, but that was the only time they threatened our defense. Frolov and Kabiru later made our advantage obvious. Third trophy during the season, can we add the fourth?

No. The main disappointment actually came just a day before the final. Luiz Ricardo, our first choice right-back, requested to sell him to the better division, and then most of the squad supported him. Massive morale drop before the most important game in season… maybe that had influence in the penalty shootout, where two of our players simply shot to the standing keeper’s hands.

Kabiru finished the season as Champions League top goalscorer, and was included into team of the season along with Aoki. Small consolation anyway.

[kidthekid]

Wow, tough penalty shoot out, but great to see your team back in another UCL final. Is Rostov's reputation now world class?

[Koetzer]

18 hours ago, kidthekid said:

Is Rostov's reputation now world class?

Yes, been world class since our Champions League win.

 

Awards

Best Player: Frolov (Rostov)

Players’ Select:  Kabiru (Rostov), Frolov (Rostov), Pinamonti (Zenit)

Top Goalscorer: Frolov (Rostov) – 18, Tyurin (Rubin) – 18, Pinamonti (Zenit) – 16

Goalkeeper of the Year: Mitryushkin (Rostov)

Young Player of the Year: Smirnov (CSKA/Dinamo SPb)

Team of the Year - nice to see Ndiaye there along with five our current players.

 

Fakel won the FNL season with a huge margin, promoting with Volgar and Orenburg (through playoffs against Arsenal).

 

European Review

Champions League – so close again…

Europa League – Inter replaced their manager after unsuccessful start of season, and Joachim Low guided them to the cup and next season’s Champions League place. What’s really good, Spartak and Krasnodar reached late stages, and that allowed Russia to overtake Portugal in the coefficient table, so a season later we’ll have one more European spot.

 

England – Chelsea (Jardim), Man City (Pep), Man Utd (Prandelli). The same as year before. Leicester (Rui Vitoria) return to Champions League, finishing 4th.

Spain – Real Madrid (Emery), Atletico (Simeone), Villarreal (Ramon Diaz). First time since 2012 some other team reached top 3. As for Barcelona (Conte/Allegri), they at one moment were in relegation zone, but recovered to finish 7th.

Germany – Wolfsburg (Stendel), Dortmund (Eduard Graf), Leverkusen (Hannes Wolf)

Italy – Roma (Ancelotti), Milan (Schmidt), Juventus (Zidane)

France – PSG (Mourinho), Bordeaux (Vieira), Monaco (Guegan)

Netherlands – PSV (Fitzel), Feyenoord (van Bronckhorst), Ajax (Fonseca)

[john1]

Gutted to see you lost in CL final  But congrats on winning the league and cup  

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2027/28

Transfers out

 

Losing Ricardo was a huge disappointment, but I had no other choice. Also decided to sell Oien as found a good replacement on free transfer.

Transfers in

Juan Carlos Oetling – this Mexican wonderkid will replace Ricardo as our first choice right-back.

Jeet Padaruth – was released by Man Utd. Our scouts were impressed with his mental abilities, so decided to sign as a rotation option.

Andrejs Stols – not the highest potential, but professional and determined, so should develop well.

 

International tournaments

Copa America – Mexico B (Oetling) defeated Argentina in the final. Brazil (Ricardo) stopped in quarter-final, losing to Argentina on penalties.

Gold Cup – Jamaica won the final against Honduras, USA (Smith) defeated Mexico for the bronze. That seems ridiculous, but none of those big teams lifted the Gold Cup in this game. Six tournaments were held, and Costa Rica, Canada and Jamaica each won two of them.

 

Super Cup

Coped without own goals this time. Petrenko scored the only one, heading the ball in after a corner.

[john1]

Padaruth looks promising player. Surprised to see Jamaica winning the Gold Cup  

[Koetzer]

July-August 2027

Played much better and took the lead soon after half-time, but the equalizer came with their first shot on target almost immediately, forcing us to score more. Luckily, Frolov was able to clinch our starting win.

Slow start, but after the penalty we controlled the game and didn’t give any chances to opponents.

Conceded in the first attack and couldn’t do anything after. Disgusting.

Our attacks were far from best again, and opponents as usual needed one chance to score. Our former player Shikunov equalized with a long shot.

Still not the football I wanted to see from the team, but at least we got 3 points. Frolov scored another goal and is only two away from beating the club’s all-time record.

 

Krasnodar had the best start so far, we are 3 points behind but it’s still very early to make any predictions.

Not the worst option. Villarreal had a great last season, but they lost their top striker Bernal to Liverpool and don’t seem to have anyone as an adequate replacement.

Another bargain as we sold Manusovich to Dortmund after signing him for free several years ago.

[Koetzer]

September 2027

Poor first half once again, but luckily we could score after half-time.

We conceded an early goal, then I completely messed up team talk at half-time, so didn’t expect any progress, but the team really played better. Kabiru equalized quickly, Juventus took the lead again but in the end they couldn’t cope with our attacks. Cuello scored his first ever goal from a corner, and almost immediately Frolov won the penalty, converting it by himself then. Great start of the group.

Another boring and disappointing game after a win in Europe…

At least in the cup we were able to score in the first half, against second tier team though. Lokomotiv will be the next opponent.

That’s already becoming funny. We can’t score in first half even from a penalty, but do it just some seconds after half-time. Expected win thanks to Mangena and Frolov, and we lead the group with 6 points.

A bit worse situation than we used to, but I believe we’ll recover soon.

[Koetzer]

October 2027

Decided to start with AM instead of DM, and that actually worked. We conceded twice but looked really better in attack comparing with previous games. Frolov’s hat-trick made him our all-time leading goalscorer, and he’s only 22, so I hope the record will be improved a lot.

Krylja finished the game with nine players, so the win was quite easy. Still disappointed with the quality of our finishing.

Had more chances, but once again couldn’t convert it. Can afford this away draw so far.

Quite an equal game after Grujic’s goal, but in the end we managed to extend our lead, converting the set pieces. Returned to the top despite still having a game in hand.

The only goal from Yamlikhanov was enough to put us through.  We’ll get Krasnodar in the quarter-final.

Savchenko replaced injured Antonio in the first half, and just a minute later scored the winning goal after a corner.

  

Our postponed game against Krasnodar seems to be the key for determining the winter champion.

[Koetzer]

November-December 2027

Great start as Kabiru scored twice in first 15 minutes, and just after half-time he added third goal. Confident win, securing a top-2 spot for us. Next group game against Juve should decide who finish first.

Frolov had a slight drop of form recently, hope that winning goal against Zenit will be a turning point for him.

That was close to a disappointing draw with currently the bottom team, but a strike from Mangena in injury time saved our 3 points.

Early goal from Kabiru could give us the lead at half-time, but few seconds before the whistle De Santis equalized. A draw still wasn’t good result for Juventus, so they continued attacking and on 83th minute De Santis got his second after a free kick. That was a clear offside from my point of view, but the referee had other opinion. We had to switch into more offensive style, and that worked. Yamlikhanov received a pass from the own half, and his long shot was unstoppable for Rajkovic. We even had a real chance to win this game, a penalty was awarded in injury time, but Kabiru couldn’t beat the keeper. So, we remained top of the group and only need a win in Zagreb.

Krasnodar had only one shot on target before half-time but somehow were leading thanks to own goal and lucky long effort from Fernandez. However, in the second half everything went as planned for us. Goals from Kabiru and Frolov allowed us to extend the lead to 6 points.

Surely I would prefer a win, but considering CSKA were our closest opposition in the league, a draw wasn’t too bad result.

17 years old Dmitry Orlov got his chance after Yamlikhanov’s injury and used it well, scoring twice. I guess he can be ready for more first-team football next season.

Quite a comfortable lead before the winter break.

Two goals from our central midfielders guided us to the fourth win in the group and finish on top.

Worst option we could get. Ancelotti’s side won the Serie A four times in a row and aren’t going to stop.

Our youth team struggled in the group, but the last matchday win against Dinamo moved them up to second place.

[john1]

Orlov, looks promising youngster  Tough draw against Roma, very surprised to see PAOK in it  

[Koetzer]

Mid-season 2027/28

Transfers in

Transfers out

Nicusor Neculai – promising Romanian striker, think I can sell Ramos in the summer transfer window and use him as a rotation option.

Two foreigners in the youth intake, and again both useless. Eremenko looks the most promising so far.

 

February-March 2028

Awful start of the first competitive match this year, as Roma scored twice in first 20 minutes. Kabiru’s goal after half-time gave us some chances for the return leg, though the referee clearly wasn’t on our side. Two penalties (luckily the second was missed), 7 yellow cards and red for Oetling, which leaves us without right wing for the next game as Perez is injured.

Volgar keeper had a great day, saving his team a lot of times but in the second half we finally were able to score.

FM just decided we should lose this match. Strange defending, open goal misses, and even despite scoring an early goal we're out of the cup.

Mitryushkin conceded an easy shot from our former player Benko, but Muldoon and Grujic overturned it all very soon.

I decided to start Padaruth as right wing-back, and he really was able to replace Oetling despite being uncomfortable on this position. One of his crosses was received by Kabiru, who headed the ball to Mangena, and Patrick scored the only goal. Roma couldn’t respond to that, so we advanced on away goals!

Unfortunately, our youth team couldn’t do the same, losing to PSG.

Were a bit lucky with the first goal but actually the win was deserved. Lokomotiv could only score few seconds before the final whistle.

Getting Benfica would be extremely good option, but... Real Madrid instead.

Frolov scored his 100th league goal, and we recorded another confident win.

Good month except losing in the cup, we improved our lead in RFPL and advanced in Champions League.

[john1]

Romanian kid looks superb! Tough draw against Real Madrid!

[Koetzer]

April-May 2028

Poor start of second half could cost us points, but Oetling’s first goal for the club after a corner was decisive.

Very unlucky. We were leading after a great free kick from Kabiru, could score more, but instead conceded 10 minutes before the final whistle. After a cross from right wing the ball hit Duarte and went in.

Our young center-back Lykov scored his first career goal early in the game, and actually it became the winning one.

We had some chances in first half, but then Real defended well and managed to hold their advantage… Surely a step back from our previous seasons, but if a quarter-final loss is a big disappointment for us that says enough about our current stature.

Conceded a last minute equalizer from our former player Ivanov, having a man advantage for the whole second half. Not our week for sure.

Two goals from Orlov helped us to move one step close to the title. 

And once again Orlov scored the winning goal. With 11 points gap we surely will clinch the title in upcoming games.

Frolov missed previous matches due to injury, but recovered before the game against Spartak and made the difference with late goal and assist. And Orlov continued his scoring run.

We needed to win only one game to be the champions, but it wasn’t so easy to achieve. Frolov scored twice in first half and that could make us too complacent. Terek got one back soon after half-time, and then Espindola received a red card less than a minute after coming from the bench. Luckily, our defense was solid enough to keep the lead, and so we won our 10th consecutive league title!

CSKA and Krasnodar will join us in Champions League. Krylja Sovetov dropped from last season’s European places to the relegation playoffs zone.

 

Awards

Best Player: Frolov (Rostov)

Players’ Select:  Frolov (Rostov), Padaruth (Rostov), Alexeev (Spartak)

Top Goalscorer: Frolov (Rostov) – 22, Kiselev (CSKA) – 21, Stjepanovic (Krylja) – 15

Goalkeeper of the Year: Mitryushkin (Rostov)

Young Player of the Year: Shvetsov (Spartak/Fakel)

Team of the Year

 

Padaruth proved to be a quality signing. Also nice to see our prospect Stewart in the dream team, he surely helped CSKA to reach second place.

 

Four teams promoted from FNL this year, including Sakhalin! That trip to Far East would be interesting. Krasnodar lifted the cup after defeating Zenit on penalties.

 

European Review

Champions League – another trophy for Mourinho’s collection, and Fabian Gomez again was the top scorer with 14 goals.

Europa League – Barcelona recovered after a poor last season, and Tottenham reached the final fourth time in five years (though won only one of them).

 

England – Chelsea (Jardim), Man Utd (Prandelli), Man City (Pep). Only two Manchester sides swapped, quite boring. Cristiano Ronaldo was hired by Bristol City in January, but couldn’t save them from relegation to League 1. Not the best start of managerial career Other notable players managing here include Yaya Toure (Bournemouth, 9th in PL), Rooney (Wolves, 11th), Terry (Fulham, 5th in Championship), Lindegaard (Sheff Utd, 16th) and Sturridge (Bolton, 19th).

Spain – Real Madrid (Emery), Atletico (Simeone), Barcelona (Allegri). Top-3 returned to its normal condition.

Germany – Dortmund (Graf), Leverkusen (Wolf), Schalke (Kohfeldt). Current reserve team managers will rule the Bundesliga in 10 years  

Italy – Roma (Ancelotti), Milan (Schmidt), Inter (Low). Milan held the top position before the last matchday but somehow lost to Udinese at home and gave another title to Roma.

France – PSG (Mourinho), Bordeaux (Vieira), Monaco (Guegan)

Netherlands – Ajax (Fonseca), Feyenoord (van Bronckhorst), AZ (Kooistra)

 

Biryukov and Skokov were quite unexpected call-ups. Hope this time Russia will at least advance from the group.

[john1]

So unlucky to go out on away goals against Real Madrid

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2028/29

Transfers out

Year after Ricardo departure we needed to find right wing-back again. Oetling requested to leave and his release clause was quite low. Duarte wanted a new challenge, so I let him go after 11 seasons in the team, same for Yamlikhanov.

Transfers in

Fernando – decided to improve our defence, he is young but already second best center-back in our squad behind Larsson.

Facundo De Olivera – right midfielder with decent defensive abilities, think he would be good ad CWB.

Nikolay Borisov – cheap deal for a very promising Russian attacker.

Michael Munn and Sam Jabateh – another Australian and first Liberian in our squad, continue to explore the football world            

 

Euro 2028 – England

Groups A-C | D-F

Brilliant performance from Switzerland, eliminating four very strong teams on their road to the cup. Scotland surprised as well, reaching semi-final. Russia finally managed to get past group stage, the biggest downside though was Frolov's injury, so our key striker will miss starting games of the season.

 

U-19 Euro – Russia reached the final with nine our players in the squad, lost to France but still that’s a great result.

Olympics – Germany won the title, Brazil (Fernando) lost to eventual winners in quarter-final, Argentina (Espindola) couldn’t even qualify from the group.

 

July-August 2028

Very confident game after two early goals. Krasnodar responded with a lucky deflection shortly before the final whistle, but that couldn’t change the result. Always nice to start the season with a trophy.

Even better start in the first league game against top tier newcomers. Sergeev was obviously the most notable player there, scoring twice and then getting a red card  

And another big win, the schedule is very easy for us at start.

Amkar started the season with two wins, but had absolutely no chances against us.

Way too poor finishing and dropped points as a result.

Impressive and confident win, Zenit couldn’t even take a shot till the last minutes. Fernando finally joined the team after returning from Olympic squad and managed to score on his debut!

Interesting start as Anji and Fakel appeared in top 3, and Krasnodar so far are bottom without a single win.

 

Young Boys went to the last group. We'll have Juve as our strongest opponents once again.

[Koetzer]

September 2028

First goal was crucial, Fakel defended well using the same formation with us so a long shot from Espindola helped us a lot to get the result.

Without our best strikers Mangena and Kabiru, both injured while playing for national teams, we couldn’t threat Juventus defense as effectively as in previous years. Neculai had some chances, but obviously he need more experience to play confidently on this level.

Frolov finally recovered from his injury and scored first goal of the season, the decisive one in this game.

Orenburg managed to equalize after our first early goal, but then we responded with four. Confident start of the cup.

We haven’t conceded in the league before this game, faced currently bottom team without a win, had huge advantage in shots, but… football and FM logic is sometimes difficult to understand. Last minute equalizer from Radovac didn’t allow us to get 3 points here.

That wasn’t an interesting match at all, the only goal was scored in a perfect counter played by Frolov and Antonio after opponents’ corner, and then we controlled the game. Our first European win this season.

Spartak had zero shots on target and almost won this game. Madness.

Those dropped points in latest games didn’t allow us to lead comfortably, but still we’re ahead.

[noikeee]

Fun stuff here, clearly Rostov's gone way into the path of being a new force. You seem to have a talent for losing Champions League finals though. 

[Koetzer]

October 2028

Took us a whole hour to break Kuban defense, but then we quite easily scored two more.

Poor finishing made this game very hard for us. Kabiru missed the most real chance in first half when his penalty was saved by goalkeeper. Only when we went all out attack with three strikers up front, the result was achieved. Jay Stewart scored his first European goal after De Olivera’s cross.

Once again big advantage was converted to the only goal when Petrenko headed the ball after a corner.

Stewart was the best in this cup game, his two long shots went directly into the net, and one more was deflected by defender.

Mangena finally returned after injury, and lack of practice surely affected his performance with some real chances missed. But at least he won that penalty converted to the only goal by Frolov.

An early goal from Kabiru, and this game became much easier for us than it was in Austria. Leading with 2 points gap from Juventus, so can make it all clear in the next game.

[john1]

Perfect month  

[Koetzer]

November-December 2028

Two attacks, two shots, two goals. Not even surprised.

Was important to score before half-time, that gave us an opportunity to play more confidently in second half.

Similar to what we saw in Turin, the game was tight, without many dangerous attacks but in the end our bench strikers made the difference. Stewart headed the ball to Frolov, and Mikhail fired it past Rajkovic. With that win we secured top place in the group!

Two long shots gave us a win against closest title rivals, and the gap between us expanded to 9 points. 

Once again we dropped points after having a huge advantage over a far weaker team. I completely can’t understand the logic of this game  

Still a good lead at halfway. Krasnodar already moved up to 5th place, that’s an impressive change of form after awful start.

Bordeaux still had a chance to qualify, but they needed Juve to drop points against Rapid at home. Anyway, even without any motivation we played much better and finished with a minimal but confident win.

Didn’t notice it at first, but we haven’t conceded at all in this Champions League season!

Avoided the hardest options like PSG and Chelsea, but when only Inter, Besiktas and PAOK remained I surely hoped for better.

Our youth team also topped the group.

[Koetzer]

I feel the time has come now to end this career. We easily won the league title with four games remaining, then repeated success in the cup, Frolov finished both competitions as top goalscorer. But speaking about continental games, the result and quality of our play wasn't so encouraging. We easily could go out in the first round against Inter, but a late injury time goal from a corner put us through. Then we faced PSG, the defending title holders, couldn't do anything at home, the return leg was a bit better but despite that goal from Frolov we went out. After that I felt the team reached its maximum. We lifted the Champions League trophy five years ago, twice lost in the finals, and in overall secured our place among European top teams, but lack of any competition inside the league made my interest to this career lower and lower with each year. I'm not sure if I'm going to leave this save for good or return to it later (maybe with moving to another team, though I don't like it usually, it hurts a lot when AI manager ruins everything you have done  ). Anyway thanks everyone who followed and commented this thread, hope to return here soon with FM18.

[kidthekid]

It's been a fun ride.