Representing A Continent

Just caught up on a weeks’ worth of updates! Devastated to see you sold Vlasic, but the price that you got for him, and the replacement you got makes a bit easier to accept. Matko looks like a hell of a prospect, and you’ll do well to keep him at the club long-term. The signings of Passlack and Vallejo are good deals, with them immediately able to do a job, whilst still having room to develop to become better players too.

A shame to have been knocked out by Spurs, but what’s more concerning is the lack of scoring from Chalov. How long will Luke persist with him!? Hopefully Sobolev can come in and hit the back of the net, he's got the added bonus of being 6’5” too. The two players you highlighted from the youth intake look very promising for the club, I'm looking forward to seeing how they progress in years to come.

Keep up the good work mate!

Everything is in your favour, should close this out!

CSKA Moscow have today secured their first Rosgosstrakh Chempionat Rossii in five years after beating Spartak Moscow, 3-0 away from home. The Championship win is also the first for manager Luke Hendricks in just his second year of management.

A total of 4,428 CSKA Moscow fans made the short trip to Otkrytie Arena to witness their side defeat rivals Spartak Moscow 3-0 in the game that secured them the league title. Going into the game, CSKA knew they needed just a point from their final four games to secure the title and had high expectations that could be secured against Spartak who have struggled of late.

Having won just four of their thirteen games since the return from the winter break, Spartak had fallen off the pace. Their jobs were made easier however, with the knowledge that key man Jesús Vallejo was out injured. The defender was a clear miss early on as Spartak had a golden opportunity to take the lead just two minutes in however, Igor Akinfeev made a stunning save to keep the game goalless.

That was changed just moments later, however, it was CSKA who got the goal. Ivan Oblyakov, who had a breakthrough season last year and only continued to impress this season, fired a long range effort into the top right corner. The goal swung the game in Luke Hendricks’ sides favour and they never looked likely to lose from then on.

With halftime approaching, Arnór Sigurðsson doubled the lead for his side, a goal that saw a number of Spartak fans leave the stadium in disgust. Pressure is certainly building on manager Oleg Kononov, who just last season was lifting the league title himself. A horrendous run of form has seen Spartak drop off from CSKA closest contenders to battling for a European place.

The second half was much more of the same with CSKA dominating proceedings and never giving Spartak a chance to get back into the game. As time wound down, the game was put to bed with five minutes to play with Chancel Mbemba heading home from an Ivan Oblyakov freekick.

Adamant that he wouldn’t celebrate until it was confirmed, the goal gave Luke Hendricks his first burst of joy. The South African manager who took over the role as CSKA manager two years ago was seen fist pumping the air and high fiving the numerous members of his backroom team. As the final whistle blew, the manager dropped to his knees and let out a huge build up of emotion.

Having lost both of his parents to in a horrific double murder in December, Luke was clearly emotional pointing his fingers to the sky in a tribute to his late parents. Picked up by his good friend Alan Dzagoev, Luke embraced his players as he composed himself with the trophy celebration to occur in their final home game of the season against Zenit St. Petersburg.

Following the game, Luke was quizzed on his visible outbreak of emotion.

Luke Hendricks:

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“I’m not normally one who shares his emotions in public but today was a day where a whole flood of emotions hit. Winning this title is a massive achievement for us and on a personal note with everything that happened in the last few months I let it out. I am delighted that we have managed to do what we have done this season but it’s not over yet and we still have a lot to play for. We want to be a team that holds records and we have our eye set on a number of them.”

CSKA could well beat a number of records including the most number of wins in a season that was set by Zenit in the 2011/12 season. That record currently sits at 24 but was won in a season where 44 games were played. CSKA can also beat the highest number of points won in a thirty game season, beating Spartaks record of 73 from last year. Goals scored and goals conceded are a further two for the record chasing side.

Spartak will have their chance at revenge in the Kubok Rossii Final in two weeks time with the two Moscow sides facing off. CSKA, who last won the competition in 2014, could match the current record number of Kubok Rossii, that currently sits on eight from Lokomotiv Moscow. Whilst Spartak will be looking to win their fourth, having last won the competition in 2003.

For now though, CSKA will celebrate their first title in five years, before preparing for their next match against Sochi on Wednesday.

Replies

Scott: And now a second hand!
tedbro:Thankfully we secured it at the first attempt!
Justice: Glad I caught the pun second time around. Luke seems to be enjoying his time at CSKA but Luke always wanted to prove himself on the biggest stage as a player, maybe he will have to do it instead as a manager.
Eoin:Just glad we kept our bottle
Jack:Fuming!! Thankfully we didn't slip up...
James:Firstly thank you for taking the time to sit through it all, quite a bit to get through I was gutted to lose Vlasic but I always knew I would end up losing him and in all honesty was surprised I held on to him for a season and a half. Matko is great, he needs time to develop still but I think he could become some player! Chalov has certainly been a frustration this season, a very inconsistent player, hopefully he will turn it around next year.
Griffo:Should and did!

Job done and to do it without Vlasic makes it even sweeter! You should enjoy this moment and see it as a landmark for more to come if you are to stay at CSKA.

Congratulations to Luke and his players. It has been a tremendous season of great emotion. Zenit certainly spent big in their bid to win the title but it simply didn't compare to the project in Moscow.

Always a great feeling to win silverware, and hopefully this is the start of something special for Luke. The hardest part is defending the title though, so you're going to have a big off-season ahead of you

Job done! BOOM!

To win against your local rivals and to be able to celebrate trophy success in front of them must be sweet! With all the records that could be broken, it is fair to say that Luke will go down as a legend in Russian football!

What a way to win the title against your local rivals. Guess we will have to wait and see if Luke stays in Moscow or can be tempted away to another league now if the right job offer comes his way

Very nice that you took the title against your biggest enemy, I wish i could do that too haha

8th May 2021

“Sergei, what time are you leaving?” Natasha asked

“The game kicks off at 5pm,” I replied “We want to film a piece outside of the stadium before kick off at around 3pm so I will probably leave at about 2pm, have a drink or two and then get going” I explained to my wife.

It was the day CSKA Moscow fans had been waiting for, for five years now, the day we saw our side lifting the Rosgosstrakh Chempionat Rossii once again. The title had been won a week before having beaten Spartak Moscow 3-0 away from home, but today was our final home game of the season and we would be lifting the trophy.

The only way today could be any better is if we won and beat a side that we had come to blows with numerous times over the last decade. Zenit St. Petersburg. The clashes between the two sides were often heated, throwing in the fact that Luke Hendricks has a personal issue with Zenit. Racial abuse from Zenit fans towards the manager wasn’t uncommon. This was a game we loved to win.

As it was still just hitting midday and I had two hours to kill before leaving for the stadium, I flicked on the sports channels to see any early news about the teams. What I was greeted by was the familiar face of Zenit chairman Boyra Uys.

He was a well known figure in Russia, a man whose face was plastered across many news sites and newspapers for his business dealings. Since his takeover of Zenit he had also made his way into the sports coverage and was seen at almost every Zenit home game. But he wasn’t a man who spoke on camera all too often.

“They got lucky this year, no doubt in my mind that’s what it came down to,” Boyra began “A lucky lucky side led by a lucky lucky manager. Once this team begins to gel we will take back control of the country's domestic trophies, you can mark my words. We are unbeaten since the return and that just proves how good we can be.” continued the Zenit chairman.

The rant was something you’d expect of a bitter man like Boyra but one thing didn’t make sense to me. I knew the voice. He didn’t do enough public statements for me to immediately recognize him but it was as if I had heard his voice countless times before. I just couldn’t pick out how I knew it.

“I very much look forward to putting them in their place and seeing my team rise to the top once again. That will start today when we ruin their party.” finished Uys.

“It’s him,” I exclaimed louder than I had wanted to.

“Who?” Natasha replied

“Sorry, was thinking out loud, he’s the Zenit chairman” was the best excuse I could come up with on the spot.

But deep down I knew I had just heard the voice of the “man behind the phone”. The man who had been watching my family and having me follow Luke was Boyra Uys, the chairman of Zenit St. Petersburg.

Replies

Jack:The loss of Vlasic was one that made me slightly worried but as soon as we got back we were brilliant and I am very pleased with the league win.
Scott:Zenit spent a crazy amount in the summer, so glad to put them in their place and taking the title rather comfortably.
James:A big year for sure coming up next year. We have a target on our backs now!
Griffo:Loving the Klopp reference
Justice:Only thing that will make it better is shutting up Uys!
tedbro:It'll be interesting to see if Luke is tempted by a bigger league or if he stays loyal to a club that has done so much for him.

That voice..... dun dun dunnnnnnn!!!!

Time to make him disappear, Sergei.

Time to make the most poisonous journalistic vendetta against Uys I think. Superb update by the way.

oh be interesting to see if the voice comes back after this game