Representing A Continent

Some major changes in Luke's life. Yeh love is good and all but finding consistency is better imo. I mean, look at those stats!
Also, I really wanna see how Luke will react to arguably the person who trusted him most, leaving. Excited for future updates!

Hopefully Slutsky's departure doesn't result in a swift transition in terms of the landscape of the football club. With the way Luke has been treated by previous clubs and managers, it has to be a concern for the South African.

7th March 2017

“So we have got the scans back Luke and…”

During the winter months in Moscow, temperatures average approximately -7.2°C, stopping any chance of football being played. Therefore a three month winter break, between December and March is imposed upon the league, postponing the seasons play.

For CSKA Moscow, the winter break had been one of change, with the club losing long serving manager, Leonid Slutsky. Having been in charge for seven years, Slutsky left the club following CSKA’s final game before the winter break, a 3-1 loss in the Champions League to Tottenham Hotspur. Replacing Slutsky was former CSKA assistant Viktor Goncharenko. For Goncharenko, his first game in charge was a big one.

Zenit St.Petersburg at home.

Zenit was also a massive game for Luke Hendricks. The South African winger had a long standing rivalry with the opponents. Having signed for the club in 2007, Luke had impressed during his time, even gaining interest from some of Europe’s elite clubs. But an injury at the 2010 World Cup led to the falling out between club and player, with Luke quickly moving on to his current side CSKA Moscow.

Between the two clubs, only three titles hadn’t been won by them in the past thirteen seasons of Russian football. Undoubtedly, the two biggest teams in Russia would face off in a game that was much talked about in the build up, especially with the lack of games before it.

But it wouldn’t be the game itself that was talked about following the encounter, more the incident that led to Luke being sat in the hospital bed he currently resided in. Unlike the challenge in the France game seven years ago, this one was with intent.

Luke was toying with the Zenit back four all game, passing each and every player like they weren’t even there. Once again, Luke had the ball at his feet, drifting past Maurício, on Luke's unfavoured right wing, before passing the former Chelsea fullback,Yuri Zhirkov. As Luke looked to play the ball into the box, lifting his leg to whip another dangerous ball into the area, the challenge came in.

Snap.

The sound of the bone breaking was audible from the third row of the packed out VEB Arena, followed by the screams of the winger. A melee followed with two of Luke’s closest friends in Alan Dzagoev and Georgy Shchennikov sprinting over to defend him, throwing a few sly punches of their own.

It took the officials a few minutes to calm the two teams down resulting in three players being sent off, including the Brazilian Maurício, who had very clearly left his mark on Luke. The Zenit player on replay had clearly tried to kick Luke as soon as the South African beat him earlier in the move, but the winger was too quick for his counterpart. Chasing Luke down, Maurício made sure he didn’t miss the second time. As the winger was about to make contact with the cross, the Brazilian jumped into the air, flying in with the two footed challenge, connecting just below Luke's kneecap.

Everyone could tell immediately it wasn’t good, Luke’s leg clearly broken, and the players who weren’t involved in the melee, squirmed whilst looking over at the player, confirming the seriousness of the injury. Despite the horrific injury the Zenit fans didn’t give their former player any rest, throwing coins, bottle caps and whatever they could get their hands on towards a helpless man.

Having finally been removed from the field of play, Luke was rushed to hospital, and surgery was performed. Having awoken from the surgery, it was explained to Luke that he had suffered a complete fibula fracture as well as a displaced tibia fracture. Meaning very little to Luke, the doctor had explained that the bone running along his calf was completely snapped, whilst his shin bone had fragmented, requiring surgery to realign the bone so it could heal appropriately. Still heavily sedated on painkillers, Luke was told to wait a day or two for tests so that the doctor could give him a recovery plan.

“...it's not good news Luke. You are going to have to think about hanging up your boots.”

The news, no footballer ever wanted to hear.

Replies

Jim: That chance of finding consistency under his new manager didn't last very long at all!
Scott: A concern that lasted all of three months. What could come next for Luke?

That Lukes rough

I hate Maurício so much right now. Poor Luke can never catch a break.

16th September 2018

A little over a year after his career ending leg break, Luke had guided his CSKA Moscow under 21 side to second place in the Russian Youth League, finishing just three points of eventual winners Krasnodar.

Having retired age 31, Luke quickly moved into coaching with the club pleased to give their fan favourite a role as the Under 21’s manager, whilst he completed his coaching badges. A team built around the likes of Danila Yanov, Astemir Gordyushenko and Kristijan Bistrovic, Luke’s side impressed throughout the season, with Luke proving a talented young coach.

Life was settling down in a professional capacity, whilst personally, life was becoming crazy again. Months after Luke retired, he and long time girlfriend, Lada, found out that they were having their first child. The due date given was July 2018, with Anastasia Hendricks born on 14th July 2018. For Luke it was a shock, he was just ending a career that he loved due to an unfortunate injury and was early into his new career, with no guarantee of being a success. It also bought the question of his and Lada’s relationship.

Despite meeting for the first time in May 2013 and being together ever since, the pair had never even mentioned marriage before. The couple were happy and settled living together in their home in Moscow, but the surprise news of a child on the way suddenly meant the pair were evaluating their lives. Change was coming, and they both knew it. The couple were in love and knew that married or not it wouldn’t change the way they lived and how they bought their child up. But Luke decided to pop the question regardless.

On a final holiday, without children, Luke and Lada travelled to Paris, a city Lada had always wanted to visit due to its title as “The Fashion Capital of the World”. But it is also “The City of Love”, which was why it was the perfect place for Luke to propose. On their final night, Luke took his soon to be fiancé to Guy Savoy Restaurant, one of the best restaurants in the world. It was there, overlooking the Paris skyline, with the Eiffel Tower in the distance, where Luke asked Lada to be his wife.

In tears, Lada accepted and the couple set the date for their marriage for 26th May 2019, the same date that Luke won his first Russian Premier League with CSKA Moscow and the day before the couple had met.

Having a career as a football coach, whilst also having a two month old daughter, whilst planning a marriage, Luke’s life was constantly busy, with very little time to sit down and relax. Yet today he managed to find such time. With his team having won 7-0 away from home against Ufa yesterday, he had the day off. Lada and Anastasia were out shopping and Luke had time to relax.

Waking up late, Luke scrolled through Twitter as he did every morning, and was surprised to see both himself and Zenit Chairman Boyra Uys trending.

“Leaked messages show Boyra Uys paid Maurício to ‘take out Hendricks’ in 2017” read one tweet.

Surely not, thought Luke as his breathing became heavier.

“Uys is scum! Paying a man to break another guys leg, DISGUSTING!” another tweet read.

Before he could read anymore, Lukes phone started ringing. Caller ID informed him that it was his longtime agent Vladimir Morozov.

“Tell me it isn’t true Vlad, please it can’t be, surely!” pleaded Luke.

“So you have seen,” said a dejected Vladimir

“The league contacted me in the early hours of this morning when someone sent them through anonymously, telling them they would leak it unless they got paid” explained the agent.

“We believed they were bluffing so I didn’t want to worry you until we looked into it further, but unfortunately it looks pretty legit. The league have contacted Boyra and he has admitted to the whole thing and he is being charged with it in the coming days.” continued Vlad.

“So he paid Maurício to do what he did? All because I called him out as the dickhead he is when he wouldn’t cover my hospital fees?” asked a stunned Luke.

“I am afraid so, just do your best to avoid it if anyone comes asking, I will be around later to see where we go from here” said Vladimir before hanging up the phone.

With the call over, Luke’s Twitter page opened back up with a new video posted, showing Boyra’s face with the Title: “Boyra Uys laughs at allegations between himself and Luke Hendricks, calling Hendricks a fool for ever challenging his authority”

Replies

Syb: Actually an alright one from you.
Jim: It only gets worse!

A new member in the family will surely bring some major changes to Luke's life, so there's one good thing that happened to him.
On the other hand, of course it was that POS Boyra Uys. He just couldn't stand watching Luke having an amazing career, so he had to steal it from him. Really looking forward to Luke dealing with this!

Despite being forced into an early retirement, Luke had seemingly been having plenty of success on and off the pitch. With the latest development to this story though, I'm interested to see what twist this tale will take. A despicable act.

A good reaction from bad news to get into coaching and being successful. But wow. I knew Uys was scummy but I could never have imagined that scummy.

An absolute whirlwind of a career in football for Luke, hopefully he can conquer the managerial stage, and make a name for himself there too!

Got to love those Russians and their silly ways of blackmail

Maksim Smirnov - Welcome to an end of season special of CSKA Armiya, where we will today discuss the breaking news of Viktor Goncharenko sacking. We will tell you who we as a group would like as his replacement and we will also touch on the news of our Under 21s claiming the Russian Youth League Title.

So guys, Viktor is gone, right or wrong decision?

Sergei Titov - 100% the right move. It was a disappointment to fall short last season by just two points, but to then fall back by 13 points this season, unacceptable. We can’t accept falling backwards and I for one am glad that we have taken these steps.

Vadik Vassily - I have to agree with Sergei. As he said a 4th place finish for this club isn’t good enough and we need to do better. It is the lowest we have finished since 2009 I believe and before that 2001. It is a shame to see him go but it had to be done. Had we managed to get 3rd place in the Champions League group and gone into the Europa League, that might of been enough to keep his job, but finishing bottom, not getting out of the first round of the cup and finishing 4th, there was no other option.

Maksim Smirnov - Well then, that only leads into this question, who do you want as his replacement?

Vadik Vassily - I’d like Sergey Ignashevich to have a go. We know he wants to move into management and he has helped out with our Under 21s and currently with the Russian national team. He has the qualifications and he knows and loves this club. He made 540 appearances for us in all competitions and spent 14 years of his career here. A true club legend and I would love to see him back here.

Sergei Titov - Not a chance. We need someone with experience, someone who knows how to win. I’d like Guss Hiddink in. He has years of experience in management and more importantly has loads of experience in Russian football having coached the national team and Anzhi Makhachkala. I believe he is currently managing the Chinese Under 21s, and I am certain he’d leave them to come and sort us out.

Maksim Smirnov - Personally, I see where the pair of you are coming from and looking for and mine is a combination of both. Someone who has both experience and is held in high regard at the club. Leonid Slutsky. He is the man who oversaw our most successful period in recent memory and someone who we all enjoyed watching. I for one would love to see him back here next season.

Vadik Vassily - I wouldn’t mind that either, Leonid was great for us and as you said guided us through a lot of great memories. My only downside to Leonid is it’s not gone all too well for him since leaving us, spending just six months in a difficult job at Hull in England and just over a year at Vitesse in Holland.

Sergei Titov - So you both want someone who has never done a full time job as manager in Ignashevich or someone who left us when it got tough in Slutsky. We need the experience but what is the obsession with having someone who has a connection to the club previously. Forget that give the job to the person who can take us back to the top, that is all I care about, not history.

Maksim Smirnov - Ok, let's discuss winning then. Our Under 21s yesterday lifted the Russian Youth League title and celebrated it with a 3-0 win over Krylya Sovetov Samara. The league was won a few weeks earlier but the game was a worthy celebration of a great season. What do we think of the youngsters achievements?

Vadik Vassily - They have been great this year, very very good. A league win with ten points between you and second best is a great achievement and therefore they can be proud. A number of those youngsters could make their way into the first team this season. The likes of Konstantin Kuchayev, Lassana N’Diaye and Nayair Tiknizyan all played a massive part last season and we could maybe see them move into the first team this year.

Sergei Titov - They were good and it is great to see a few of them showing real promise as we are a club who enjoy producing our own talents. Maybe one of them will become the next Igor Akinfeev, Fedor Chalov or Georgy Schennikov.

Maksim Smirnov - Also not forgetting to mention that former player Luke Hendricks has continued to impress as the manager, maybe we could see him in charge next year.But that is all we have time for today. Thank you for watching, see you all soon!

*Taken from CSKA Armiya Youtube Channel posted 27th May 2019*

Replies

Jim: Funny you should call him that, as Boyra was the one to call Luke a piece of shit after their disagreement!
Scott: The corruption in football is a well known thing, however, I don't remember seeing such an act on a player before. It is good to see Luke rebounding with the Under 21s league win.
Jack: A horrible act from a horrible man. Hopefully one day Luke will get his revenge.
BigMan:We will see if he can do just that!
MJK: No comment with your nations history with the Russians

Following the sacking of Viktor Goncharenko last week, CSKA Moscow have acted quickly in replacing him with former captain Luke Hendricks.

Fan favourite, Luke Hendricks has today been announced as the latest manager of CSKA Moscow. Having finished outside of the top two for the first time in six years, CSKA sacked former manager Viktor Goncharenko at the end of last season. Just a week later, CSKA have hired Luke Hendricks.

Hendricks began his career at Ajax Cape Town, in his birth country, South Africa. He made his professional debut in December 2004 before making his first start, against Kaizer Chiefs, in March 2005. It was an impressive first start for the winger, setting up one and scoring the equalizer in the 2-2 draw.

The impressive debut is said to have alerted affiliate side, Ajax Amsterdam and Luke made his initial move to Europe in the summer of 2005. A Johan Cruijff Schaal title being won in Luke's debut was one of the few highs for him and the club that year, as Ajax slipped to a 4th placed finish. The following season, under Henk ten Cate, Ajax missed out on the league title by a single goal, with PSV once again taking home the crown. Despite missing out on the title, Luke was seen as a developing prospect putting in some good performances at times, mainly from the bench. But ultimately, Ajax saw Luke as surplus to requirements and the South African was sold to Zenit St.Petersburg in 2007.

Luke's move to Russia brought with it a lot of intrigue, with the club making a number of moves following their buyout from Gazprom. Moves that paid off almost immediately, with Luke winning his first league title at the club. He then won his first European titles, defeating Rangers in the 2008 Europa League Final and a few months later, playing a vital part in the Super Cup win over Manchester United. The sale of Andrey Arsharvin to Arsenal in 2009 gave Luke further opportunity to make a name for himself at Zenit. Finishing 3rd in a much improved 2009 season, and an incredible start to the 2010 season, Luke was filling the boots left behind by Arsharvin.

Luke continued his form from the start of the Russian season into the 2010 World Cup, hosted in his native South Africa, assisting the opening goal of the tournament and also netted a brace in his sides famous 2-1 win over France. However, Luke's memories of the France game will be off him suffering his infamous ankle injury. Having gone into an aerial challenge with Bacary Sagna, Luke landed awkwardly causing his Achilles tendon rupturing.

The injury caused further issues for Luke, as it caused the breakdown of his relationship with Zenit, seeing him leave the club a few months after the incident. Joining CSKA Moscow, Luke was in need to prove himself and under the guidance of Leonid Slutsky, he did just that.

Falling short of Zenit in 2010, to the title, a disappointing 3rd place finish wasn’t how Luke would of wanted to start his time at CSKA. Then in 2012/13 the Moscow based club, secured their first league title in seven years, with Luke playing a major role. CSKA then went on to claim their second in a row the following season, before a third in four years in the 2015/16 season.

Following some massive highs in the previous few seasons, Luke's career came to a sudden end, in what turned out to be a very dark day in Russian football. In March 2017, Luke faced former side Zenit St.Petersburg in a league match built on dislike from both sides. With the match being their first since the winter break, the game got off to a slow start, until Luke received the ball on the halfway line, 20 minutes in. As he was preparing to cross the ball into the box off, Maurício, a Zenit midfielder, came from behind diving in with a two footed challenge landing on the wingers calf. With Lukes leg planted, it snapped immediately, with a brawl ensuing after it.

The tackle ended Lukes career but leaked messages between Boyra Uys, Zenit’s chairman, and Maurício later showed the action was premeditated. Uys, the man Luke had fallen out with at Zenit, had organized a ‘bonus’ to be paid for to the Brazilian for successfully, ‘taking out’ Luke. A heavy fine was given to Uys whilst Maurício was banned from football for six months, with many fans around the world feeling the punishments weren’t harsh enough.

Following Lukes career coming to an early close, aged just 30, Luke moved into coaching and received a role with CSKA under 21s. Impressing early on, with a second place finish in his first season with the under 21s, Luke and his side lifted the Youth League title in May.. The youth sides showings were the opposite to a disappointing season for the first team and with Goncharenko sacked, Luke stood out as the number one option for the clubs board and he will take charge of the team for their upcoming pre-season.

With a two year deal signed, only time will tell if the move is one that will work out for both parties, but it is a move that will please fans, seeing a fan favourite in the manger seat.

So it begins! Let's see how Luke will fair in his first season as a professional manager. Hope he brings home one title at least.

Luke's relationship with CSKA has been very strong since he made the switch from Zenit. They welcomed him into the coaching setup following his injury and therefore it isn't too surprising to see them take the gamble through installing him as first-team manager. It's certainly somewhat merited after his success with the U21 side.