Representing A Continent

What a Lada, let's hope he's not Russian into this too quickly, but when he got the offer, he must have said "I Moscow back to my home in the Motherland".

Luke at that, he's back

BigLuke is some man. He has been Putin in the time into studying for his coaching badges I'm sure of it. Mos cows to show how far you can go in the game if you follow that fiery passion right inside your hearth!

Now we are beginning to pick things up a bit!

Luke is going to make Putin his bitch!!!

What a brilliant read this is, this was in it's infancy when I first read it so I had five pages to catch up on and it was a great read. Loved following the Luke's career and look forward to seeing how his managerial one goes.

CSKA have supported Luke in both playing and coaching endeavours after a horrible experience with Zenit. It’s time to repay that with a title!

Maksim Smirnov - Welcome back to the largest CSKA Moscow fan show in the world, “CSKA Army” and today we have some massive news for the club. The return of fan favourite, Luke Hendricks, who has been announced as our latest manager, following the sacking of Viktor Goncharenko. So guys, what are your thoughts on the moves?

Vadik Vassily - We all know just how great a player Luke was for us. He did a lot for us and was apart of those three titles in four years. But I just don’t know if he has done enough to get the role so early on in his coaching career. Yes he won the youth league last year, but the step up is a big one.

Sergei Titov - There isn’t any ‘knowing if’ about it Vadik. Simply he doesn’t have the experience we need. We need someone who has had years in the game, I suggested Guss Hiddink when we first discussed who we’d like. He’s managing the Chinese under 21s or something, are you seriously telling me he wouldn’t come here and do a job for us.

Maksim Smirnov - But Sergei, Viktor had years as a manager, he was at BATE from 2004 as a coach. Maybe it is good to go for someone completely new to the coaching scene. Bring some fresh ideas and something new that nobody has really seen before.

Sergei Titov - Look signing someone whos new to coaching may not be so bad, but he was in this team a couple years ago. One of his best friends in Alan Dzagoev among a few others who he won league titles with are still here. What will happen if they need to be dropped or don’t deserve the contracts they want, is he going to have the balls to do what is needed?

Vadik Vassily - It is unfair of you to assume he won’t make the tough choices Sergei. They could be made easier by having that friendship, less likely to cause real dispute within the team and hopefully the dressing room will be a tight group, which we haven’t really seen since that last title win. I do agree it would be better to have a few years in coaching before he took us on, but it could turn out to be one of the best decisions this club has made in recent times.

Maksim Smirnov - I remember a number of fans being disappointed when we first signed Luke in 2010. Saying he had flopped at Ajax and wouldn't be the same player after his injury. He proved everyone wrong then and has shown throughout his career, he will put in the work to be the best he can.

Sergei Titov - Maybe that is my issue with him joining us now, the fear he destroys his legacy with us. I hope he is able to prove me wrong, I am just very doubtful at the moment.

Maksim Smirnov - Well, Luke hasn’t waited around in making changes.Three of the backroom staff who were here with Goncharenko have now left, with the new boss looking to bring in some of his own staff. Thoughts?

Vadik Vassily - He clearly wants to stamp his mark and bring in his own people. I have no problem with that at all. A freshen up around the club will be good and it should benefit us going forward.

Sergei Titov - I agree. Hopefully he can bring in people that agree with his philosophy on football and we can get a good coaching staff behind us. It looks as though Victor Onopko will stay with us and I am all for that. The pair have worked together as a player and coach and hopefully Onopko will make up for Luke's lack of coaching experience.

Maksim Smirnov - To round this up, any targets you’d like Luke to go after?

Vadik Vassily - Well, there are some areas we clearly need to look into upgrading and improving, depending on what style Luke looks to implement. From his youth sides he likes to play with wingers and for that to work, he will need to get in a right winger as we don’t have anyone who is particularly strong there.

Sergei Titov - Good shout, we also need a new Left Back. Georgy Schennikov is still out of action for a good few months following his broken ankle and with no natural replacement that is a hole that needs filling. We also have one of Luke's closest friends Alan Dzagoev out injured for the season after he did his cruciate ligaments towards the end of this season, so potentially a new central midfielder could be beneficial.

Maksim Smirnov - There are certainly areas that we could improve upon and need some depth in but for now all we can do is speculate whilst Luke Hendricks gets into his new role at the club.

Thank you for watching and we will see you soon!

*Taken from CSKA Armiya Youtube Channel posted 3rd June 2019*

Replies

Scott:Luke has repaid their faith as a player by helping them too those titles, now he has to do it as the Head Coach. Lets see how that goes!
Justice:Was wondering when the puns were returning...
Syb:Luke at that, another Syb pun.
BigMan:oh ffs not more...
Griffo:Starting to get going now!
MJK:No more Russian slander, never know what could happen to us!
Imagine:Thank you for catching up and I am glad to see you enjoying it so far, hopefully that will continue throughout Lukes managerial career.
Jack:That has to be the aim for Luke in his new role with the club.

I see the CSKA Army has mixed feelings about his appointment as manager. Oh well, time for Luke to prove people wrong once again.

It seems to me that some of the CSKA Army are over-Luke-ing what Hendricks is bring to their team

Apprehension is natural, I think. Luke has to go in and get results to settle any nerves supporters may have, I'm confident he can do that.

Really great update, still my favourite story on the forum, keep up the good work!

To begin, I am sorry that it has taken so long to get into the actual FM side of this story as I am sure many of you reading are here for just that. This is the first story I have aimed to add a bit more of a storyline to it, so I am still learning the best way of doing that. As it has taken quite a while for this story to get going fully, I thought it would be best to do a quick refresher for everyone or for any new readers to catch up to where we are now, with our main character Luke Hendricks set to take the reigns at CSKA Moscow.


The story begins in the city of Cape Town, South Africa in 1981, deep into the dark days of Apartheid in the country. We meet Grace (then Adams) who is with her long term partner George Petersen, as they sing to their only son Jacob, in celebration of his birthday. Having sung to Jacob for his 13th birthday, George decides to finally get down on one knee and proposed to Grace, who accepts his proposal and the pair look ready to marry.

The wedding is planned for October 13th 1982, 17 years to the date they had first began their relationship. But disaster strikes for the family. On a winter's night, the town of District Six is swept through with Police officers arresting the family members in order to transport them to an area known as the Cape Flats. Yet only Grace and George make it to the Cape Flats, with Jacob being abused by his arresting officer. The couple have no idea where Jacob is and after finding a bloodied shirt that he was wearing, the young boy is presumed dead.


The story progresses by thirteen years and we find out that a lot has changed in Grace’s life in particular. For starters, her and George never married, with the pair finding the loss of their son incredibly difficult to deal with. George falls into depression and starts drinking whenever he is able to. Grace, who is struggling with the loss of her son and the emotional loss to George, finds comfort in neighbour Liam Hendricks. The pair briefly has an affair with until breaking the news to George. George moves to Johannesburg, and Grace and Liam are married in 1985. Just a year later, Grace gives birth to their son, Luke Hendricks. The update ends with Luke wondering why his mum was speaking to a tree, wishing it a happy birthday and calling it Jacob. But the most important thing to Luke was getting to his football training.


Luke starts his footballing career at Ajax Cape Town, after the club merges together with two Capetonian sides. He makes his first start for the club in 2005 and having impressed, Ajax Amsterdam enquire about his signing, with a move taking place in the summer of that year.

Luke shows glimpses of class at Ajax despite the club struggling in the league going through two managers in the two years Luke is at the club. Luke wins the Johan Cruijff Schaal in his debut for Ajax, but that is one of the only success of his time there. With Henk ten Cate not seeing any space in his plans for Luke, the South African is sold to Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg.


With a move to Russia, Luke had the opportunity to make a name for himself, with very little knowing much about him from his time at Ajax. Make a name for himself, he did. Having won the Russian Premier League inside his first six months at the club, Luke took part in the Europa League Final against Rangers in 2008. In that game he set up the winning goal in the dying seconds of the game. Then, in the Super Cup final against Champions League winners, Manchester United, Luke scored the second in his sides victory.

Showing class in the European games, Luke struggled to receive consistent game time and despite flashes of class, he was very rarely a starter for Zenit. That was until Andrey Arsharvins sale to Arsenal in 2009. Again, given a chance, Luke took it, making the starting berth his own. Off the back of an incredible 2009 performance, where his side finished 3rd, Luke again took that into the 2010 season and an incredible start to the season ensured his place in the South African 2010 World Cup squad.


The 2010 World Cup was supposed to be Lukes chance to get a move to one of Europe's elites. He had impressed through the first two games, setting up the opening goal of the tournament in a 1-1 draw against Mexico, and despite a 3-0 loss, he didn’t look out of place against Uruguay. Then came France. Luke stunned the former World Cup winners, scoring two inside the first half. Going out for the second half, Luke was after his hattrick, instead he suffered his first serious injury of his career.

The winger suffered a Grade 3 achilles tendon rupture and was immediately sent for surgery. Despite his contract with Zenit stating he would have all surgeries covered by the club, new chairman Boyra Uys refused to pay for it. Luke felt betrayed by the club and let his feelings known to Boyra who sold him as soon as he could.


The story then progresses to Lukes third year at CSKA Moscow, with the winger struggling with a heavy hangover. The day before Luke and his team had just secured the clubs first league title in seven seasons and they had partied sufficiently. It also becomes apparent that Luke had met a woman by the name of Lada, who had given the South African her number.

Lada, a Russian teacher in the city of Moscow moved in with her boyfriend in 2015 with the pair happy together. Luke finally felt settled and happy having moved to Europe almost ten years earlier. But that settled feeling took a massive knock in 2017 when long time CSKA manager Leonid Slutsky left the club. The manager who had made him feel at home and taught Luke a lot about what it takes to be a great manager, lessons we are yet to see if they will be put to use.


CSKA Moscow played Zenit in their first game of 2017 following a long winter break. Luke determined as always against his former team started brightly. On yet another attack, Luke had broken past a number of players and as he was about to put in a cross, Brazilian, Maurício jumped in two footed. The challenge left Luke with two broken bones in his leg and on doctors orders he cut short his career.

It was later revealed that the tackle from Maurício was due to the offering of a ‘bonus’ for ‘taking out’ Luke. Leaked messages showed that Boyra Uys, still the chairman of Zenit, had offered his player the extra money if he took the winger out of the game. Boyra admitted to it immediately showing zero remorse, both player and Chairman were fined and Maurício was banned from football for six months.


Luke's career ending injury, allowed him to turn his focus onto the coaching side of the game, something he had become interested in a few years earlier, thanks in part to Leonid Slutsky. Luke took charge of the CSKA Moscow under 21s side and led them to runners up of the Russian Youth League in 2017/18 before winning it in 2018/19.

In his personal life, Luke and his now wife, Lada married on 26th May 2019. The couples daughter, Anastasia born 14th July 2018, followed her mother down the aisle as the flower girl. The three happy and in love as they lived in their Moscow home, Luke once again feeling settled in life.


Coming towards the latest updates, we see the arrival of the ‘CSKA Armiya’ a Youtube Fan Channel of CSKA Moscow. This will be a feature the story will see a lot of, so be prepared to get to know Maksim Smirnov, Vadik Vassily and Sergei Titov. The three all have differing opinions on who should be the new manager of the club with channel host Maksim wanting former coach Leonid Slutsky in charge, Vadik wanting Sergey Ignashvich, a former player and Sergei looking for Guss Hiddink.

When it is revealed that Luke will take charge of the club, all three men are surprised and despite some worry they wish the new boss well.

All caught up, Hopefully you have enjoyed up to this stage and will continue to follow Lukes career as he takes on the world of management.

Replies

Jim:It does feel like a bit of a theme for Luke, having to prove people wrong! Lets see if he does it this time!
Syb:Just going to have to accept these are going to happen every update aren't I. I am sure in the future they will 'Luke' back and admit they were wrong to ever doubt him
Scott: Pre-Season is going to be big for Luke to get both the fans and the players to believe in him and his future plans.
Griffo: Thank you mate! Means a lot that. Hopefully it can continue to impress you.

Maksim Smirnov - Welcome back to CSKA Armiya where today we will look back on our opening Pre-Season friendly game against Futbolyj Klub SKA-Khabarovsk, we will also have a look at the latest transfer news. .

So let's get underway, a 2-0 victory over our affiliate side Futbolyj Klub SKA-Khabarovsk, who currently play in the Futbol'naya Professional'naya Liga, the league below ours. What did we think of the game?

Vadik Vassily - A good first test for the boys in my opinion. It was clearly a very makeshift side as a number of those we assume will be in the starting line up, are still away on International duty. But a 2-0 win in the first game is always a good start, I thought we looked good for sure.

Sergei Titov - We certainly impressed. I was slightly surprised that we started out with a DM in that midfield three as Luke showed with the under 21s he prefers a more attacking style, but I think part of that was down to those available. Some of the youngsters were very impressive, especially Lassana N'Diaye who scored a nice goal, and Ilzat Akhmetov continued his good form from last season. It was an impressive start so let's hope it continues.

Maksim Smirnov - I agree with both of you, we looked good and full of energy for this point in pre-season. I believe the standout was certainly Lucas Santos, who opened the scoring. To come in on loan from Vasco Da Gama, in Brazil and to show early signs that he will adapt well is certainly encouraging. I think it’ll be highly interesting to see who starts on that left wing this season between him and Arnór Sigurðsson.

Sergei Titov - At this point I’d imagine it will be Arnór, but if Lucas can continue the form he showed this evening, then there will be a great battle for it. The game did show just how much we need a right winger, with our only back up being a more natural central midfielder in Astemir Gordyushenko.

Maksim Smirnov - Well that moves us on nicely to what we need to add to this squad and first up is the news that we have reportedly had an offer for Francisco Trincão accepted, however, he has declined to talk to us due to the amount of interest in him from some of Europe's elite.

Vadik Vassily - It is a shame, Trincão is a highly talented player who can play on both wings as well as the more central attacking areas. But it is understandable, we aren’t currently the biggest side in Russia let alone one of the names he is being linked with. He is supposedly wanted by Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and AC Milan to name a few so maybe we were just being slightly too ambitious with that one.

Sergei Titov - But that’s what it is going to take, Vadik. We need to show some ambition as for far too long we have just sat back and accepted being second best. We had our run and we are happy with it, no we should always aim to be the best and that is exactly what Luke is doing it seems. I like the early ambition, that’s what it will take.

Maksim Smirnov - Along with Trincão we have been linked with a move for Eugene Khacheridi, the Ukrainian center back. He has 52 caps for his nation and is known for his power and physicality. Would he be a good addition to the side?

Sergei Titov - Simple answer no. We have enough depth at the back with the likes of Vasin, Magnússon, Diveev, Nababkin and if needed that youngster in the youth sides Karpov. I would rather we go out and fill the areas that we need to sort first.

Vadik Vassily - He is the sort of player that you sign when the squad needs a couple extra additions for depth, not when you need to add some first team players. I hope it is just reports and we don’t really go in for him.

Makism Smirnov - In terms of players we need, one area we have spoken about here a lot is the central midfield area. Volodymyr Shepelev and Victor Kovalenko are two names being linked with us.

Vadik Vassily - It seems Luke is looking at the Ukranians quite a lot. Both of these two players who would become key players for us. I would love to see us sign either of them. Both are hard working players who have a lot of experience at both club and international level.

Sergei Titov - Go all in for Shepelev in my opinion. He is younger, would probably be cheaper and I worry about Kovalenko’s injury history, he seems to be a bit injury prone. However, if we didn’t get Shepelev and fell back on Kovalenko I wouldn’t be disappointed, as long as he stays fit.

Maksim Smirnov - Another two players we have been linked with are Nuri Sahin, the former Liverpool and Real Madrid player. As well as Nicolai Müller on a free. Müller’s deal however, reportedly fell through with the club unable to meet his wage demands.

If true, I don’t mind us not pursuing a deal that would put us in any trouble financially, it just isn’t worth it. We have seen on a number of occasions that being the downfall of clubs in this country, most memorably FC Anji Makhachkala. Sahin would be an interesting deal, but again I wouldn’t want us to put ourselves into financial trouble.

Sergei Titov - I agree with the thoughts we shouldn’t put ourselves in any trouble, but I am excited about these names being linked with us. We are chasing some big names that will be standout players in this league. It shows the ambition of the club.

Maksim Smirnov - The final name we will discuss today is that of left back Josip Pivaric, from Dynamo Kyiv. He is reportedly transfer listed and valued at around £1,400,000, would you guys like to see him here?

Vadik Vassily - I think he would be good enough to start for now whilst Georgy Schennikov is out injured. He’s another player with experience and would bolster the squad. He shouldn’t be too expensive and therefore I am all in for him.

Sergei Titov - I think he would be a worthwhile addition, yes. But I am worried about the lack of Russian players Luke seems to be looking at. Not a single one of those have been Russian so far, so here’s hoping we not moving away from the local talent we have to offer.

Maksim Smirnov - It is a very valid point Sergei, and one that we will leave you all to think about. Thank you for watching see you soon.

*Taken from CSKA Armiya Youtube Channel posted 15th June 2019*

I quite like this style of update you're producing. It's an interesting yet effective style. Trincao's decision to snub CSKA is no surprise given his quality. He will certainly have bigger suitors to the Russian side in pursuit of his services. As for the other names being touted around, I'm intrigued to see what comes of them. With regulations in place to limit the foreign names on the teamsheet, Luke ought to start his search into domestic talent, also.