Russian To The Top?

not a great two months at all.....

POOR....POOR.....POOR....

It's not so bad, still only a point behind 4th... and certainly much higher than you were predicted to finish!

You just need a few wins to pull yourself back into them!

Still within touching distance mate...you can do it!

MJK & Griffo - I certainly hope so guys!

Live - Definitely not the best stretch of my short career mate

Justice - Yeah mate, that's what I keep having to remind myself. Great effort just to be in the discussion!

Scott - Yep, we wont go down without a fight that's for sure!

mgriff - Cheers man, gotta stay positive!

Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated

Choking on the Gravy

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What a frustrating month April turned out to be. We did the hard yards, dispatching of Arsenal Tula & top of the table Orenburg, in 2 displays of the highest calibre but then went on to be beaten by the 2 sides you would perhaps expect us to beat, Shinnik & Volgar.

Our final match against Volgar was the real killer. We lead that match 2-0, then 3-1, but somehow conspired to throw it away in the final 15 minutes. An unacceptable lapse in concentration that could prove very costly at the end of the day.

Table

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Amazingly, we'll head into the final month of competition with our destiny in our own hands. It seems everyone is struggling for consistency at this time of year &, as a result, the race for those playoff spots is tighter then ever.

At the very top, its a 2 horse race for the title between Tom & Orenburg.

Stats

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Not a lot of change here, although our balance is starting to worry me a little. I have no idea what kind of prize money we'll be looking at but I assume it wont be a lot considering the level of competition. I really wouldn't want to slip much further into the red is my point I guess.

Awards

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What can I say about Azamat Gonezhukov!? He has just been sensational all year & it is little wonder he's been mentioned as a candidate for player of the year. I think he's only missed out on the team of the month once & won the player of the month twice, a career defining season for the 29 year old!

May Preview

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So this is it, our final 4 matches! With our destiny in our hands, we face 3 sides who are either in the race for relegation or have already been confirmed as relegated. A magnificent chance to finish on a high & book our spot in the playoffs! You cant ask for much more then that!

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Edit - BTW, I think I will do our match against Tom as a stand alone match report as it may ( ) prove vital & was wondering if people would like to see that continue next year with a match of the month report before each months overview, much like I did in Azerbaijan?

Good luck next month for getting a playoff spot. It's really hard to win them if you are a second division side but, you weren't expected to be that high up the table so who knows

Great stuff fighting your way back in, best of luck in the final month of the season!

Just need a few wins to wrap them up as a slip now could be fatal.

Oooo crucial month ahead mate but you are more than capable of doing it!

Still a chance of making the play-offs, I believe in you!

This is the end

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So, 2 wins, 2 losses to wrap up the season. We were in a fantastic position before the loss to Tosno, which bought us back to the pack. A further loss to champions, Tom, put us behind the 8 ball but we did our part on the final day with a 5-3 win over Luch. But, was it enough?

Table

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Unfortunately not. Arsenal Tula were not to be denied, winning their final game & denying us a place in the playoffs.

Regardless, when you consider our pre season prediction of 18th, its been a marvelous year for the club, despite disappointment being the prevailing emotion at the moment.

At the top, Tom take home the title by a staggering 10 points, with second placed, Gazovik Orenburg, limping over the line in terrible form to finish the year. Torpedo Armivir & Arsenal Tula will now enter a 2 legged playoff against Premier Division opposition in an attempt to win their promotion.

Stats

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So, in the end, we feature quite heavily in the overall team stats, scoring the most goals, having the most possession & committing the most fouls.

The first 2 stats are extremely encouraging moving forward, however our perceived over physicality may need to be reigned in a little.

On the team front, Dmitry Kortava tops our goal scorers with 17, good enough for 3rd position in the league overall, Vadym Leschuk tops the assist with 7 & Azamat Gonezhukov takes home the highest average rating & the most player of the match awards.

Its also worth noting that Leschuk accumulated 13 yellow cards over the course of the season, that number from roughly 25 games! While he was quite good going forward, that record is a little concerning.

Awards

Evidently, Ive forgotten to SS it but I can inform you that Azamat Gonezhukov took home his second straight player of the month award & was joined in the team of the month by striker, Dmitry Kortava. Apologies.

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Miscellaneous

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So, Zenit do the league & cup double, triumping over CSKA in both competitions.

Meanwhile, with barely 6 weeks separating the end of this season & the beginning of next, the board have been quick to throw out some ambitious numbers in an attempt to push further forward next season.

For my liking, they may be over ambitious &, as we are only expected to avoid relegation again next year, I have decided to limit our wage expenditure to 10K in the hope that the money saved can be used to improve the clubs facilities.

My next post will be a combined post/pre-season wrap as, with the small gap, they tend to kind of merge in together a bit.

Overall, its been a fantastic year for the club &, despite the disappointment we're all feeling now, I cant wait to get back on the park & show everyone that it was not a fluke!

Thanks for reading all, we'll be back before too long!

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AHHHH !!!! Lippo.. that sucks, still a great season though!

Next year will be better