The Red Journey

Great couple of updates, pretty good draw for you in the EL too as I am sure you can beat PAOK

Awesome updates and I think you can beat PAOK too keep up the amazing work

Great update, I guess you'll free up some wage by getting rid of him.

@Pompey - Thanks, PAOK should be pretty easy, but I'm taking nothing for granted/
@Jason - Thanks mate, it means a lot, hopefully we can beat them
@Josh - Cheers, yeah, he was definitely hogging a lot of wage, and for a club of my size that's quite important.

Take PAOK as a team such as Sevilla and try to boost the morale with a big win, if you could do that.

@Pauker - Yeah I will , thanks

A great start to the 13-14 season by Nigerian striker Ifeanyi Onyilo has been rewarded today, as he received third place in the annual African Striker of the Year award. The award was won by ES Tunis front man Yannick N’Djeng, who managed to score 34 times in 34 games for his club, while former Chelsea legend Didier Drogba came third. Speaking at the award ceremony, Onyilo had this to say during his teary acceptance speech.

‘It is a great honour to have come in the top 3 best African strikers. When I first began playing football, it was for fun with my friends, and although I dreamed of being here on his stage, I never imagined it would actually come true. To be recognised alongside Didier and Yannick, who both had superb seasons, and to be above so many talented African strikers is a true honour and I will cherish this moment for the rest of my life. Thank you.’

At the start of the season, the Nigerian was seen by Red Star as their 3rd choice striker, and when Filip Kasalica began the season in scintillating form taking the league by storm, his chances of first team football looked bleak. However, given his chance he took it with both hands and suddenly began challenging the inform Montenegrin for his place. Their friendly rivalry has been the source of Red Star’s great season, with the pair managing 39 goals between them. Of this, Onyilo has contributed 15 in his 17 appearances as well as 3 assists for his side.

To take his place as the third best striker originating from the African continent, the Red Star man has beaten several of the world’s best, in what consider a shock result. The non-inclusion of Samuel Eto’o in any of the awards was a big moment for African football as a whole, as their most celebrated and awarded player in history failed to make the grade, after he was unable to start for his club Chelsea. His teammate, Demba Ba, also failed to make it into the top 3, after subpar performances. Swansea front man Wilfred Bony after his big money move to the Welsh side was something of a let-down, as he has only scored 4 goals to this point. CSKA’s Seydou Doumbia was expected by most critics to get 3rd place, as he leads the Russian club’s goal scoring charts with 14 goals to his name, but the fact that he has made 8 more appearances than Onyilo and still hasn’t scored more than him led to him losing out this season.

Red Star will hope the 23 year old’s form continues, but with this award certainly going to raise his profile in world football. The Serbian club could see interest in him go dramatically up from some big names. For Onyilo personally, he will hope to keep impressing and potentially get his first cap for his country Nigeria soon, so that he can challenge for a place in their World Cup squad.

N'Djeng is QUALITY but Onyilo's not too shabby either An extremely good update mate

Great write up as always, and good to see Onyilo getting the praise he deserves after some very good performances for you

A great update! Onyilo's done well getting 3rd place.

@Jack - Yeah, N'Djeng really had a great year, but Onyilo did well to come in 3rd,
@Popmey - Thanks, Onyilo has really stepped up for me, given me a tough choice about my striking situation
@Josh - Cheers, that means a lot, and yeah, he did

Red Star have completed their second transfer of the January window, by bringing in 32 year old defensive midfielder Dario Damjanovic. The current Jagodina man’s contract expires at the start of January and has been snatched up by the current Serbian league leaders. He will sign a one year deal with Red Star which will see him earn £250 per week. Many see this transfer as a short term replacement for outgoing Paulo Assuncao who will leave the club at the end of the season.

Damjanovic has travelled a lot during his long career, and has had spells with many different clubs. He started off his career in his native homeland of Bosnia, playing for Modrica Maxima. Despite not playing for their first team, he was scouted and picked up by Croatian giants Hadjuk where he instantly fit into their first team. Becoming a key player for the side over his four year tenure, he soon attracted interest from other clubs around Europe. This led to him being signed by Russian First Division side Luch for a fee of around 350K. Unfortunately, he failed to fit into the Russian league and its style of play, and lasted just 6 months at the club, before he was sold to German Second Division side, Kaiserslautern. His three year spell at the club was interrupted heavily by injury, and only played a total of 12 games during his time there. After his contract expired he went back to Bosnia for a season, playing for Celik, before in the 12/13 season made his move to Serbia, signing a contract with Novi Pazar. Even here however, he struggled to fully settle in, and had his contract mutually terminated by the club. In January he signed a two year deal with current club Jagodina, and while he played well, the club chose not to renew his deal.

Speaking on the transfer, caretaker manager, Robert Prosine?ki had this to say during his latest press conference.

‘I am very happy to bring Dario to the club, his experience is something which could help us greatly, and he can still do a great job for us this year. I share a great friendship with him, and he was very excited at the prospect of joining us, so I hope we can now build a strong working relationship for the rest of the season.’

The player also released a statement late last night, minutes after the transfer was confirmed by Red Star’s official website.

‘Red Star are a great team, and they are having a superb season, and I hope I can help them get to where they want to be this year. I would like to thank everyone at Jagodina; I had a great time there, and I made many new friends, but as my career draws to a close, I would like a new challenge, and when Red Star offered me the opportunity, I had to take it.’

The defensive midfielder has been known to play primarily as a ball winning midfielder, but can act as cover for both the central roles, due to his versatility. Although he is not expected to get much game time at the club, with Aleksandar Kovacevic and fellow new signing Nicolas Hofler ahead of him, he can play in the Europa League and is not ineligible like Hofler. Also, he will become the 2nd lowest paid player in the Red Star first team squad, so will not be a financial burden on the club. The fans are excited to see what other transfers the Belgradian side will complete, as they prepare for the 2nd half of the season.

Very good update as always, you've got yourself a good player there too.

Quality update and a good signing as well

@Josh - Thanks, he may not be young, but I still think he'll do decent as backup.
@Pompey - Cheers, and hopefully