NTB: from Zero to Hero?

What a way for Norbert to finish his first season in management! He's done extremely well, and to make Gusev his first signing after securing promotion: a smart move. It's a shame you'll lose players, but that's the risk with being promoted, and Norbert has a HUGE off-season ahead of him.

SEASON REVIEW, SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?

What a season it was! Going from favourites to finish bottom of the league to winning that same league with a 22 point lead! A look at the team that did it and some of the stats:

The Slonim TOTS


The TOTS shows a familiar side, although there is a shout for CB signing alekhnovich and rightwinger Dybin to be in there. As shown by the ratings, pretty much everyone had a great year! More importantly, none of the players that are leaving are in the starting eleven, since Norbert did try to bring in people who wanted to commit their future to the club.

The awards


This is pretty much the Kirill Gusev show isn't it? The man has won loads of awards! Fans' player of the season, young players of the season, goal of the season, topscorer of both the team AND the league, most player of the match awards, highest average rating; the man is a MACHINE!

Norbert also managed to grab his fair share of awards, winning manager of the month in April, July, August and September! He certainly has hit the ground running and it will be interesting to see how far he can take this club, if he decides to stay here that is...
After finishing his National B license, Norbert went to the board and asked for permission and budget to start doing his National A license. As usual the board told them they didn't want to miss him on the training ground and Norbert told them he would just do it in his spare hours, just like he did with the other courses. But then this message popped up in his inbox:


The board weren't allowing him to do another coaching course! No discussion possible, the money just isn't there. A first setback in the career of Norbert, which he didn't see coming, especially with the club doing so well in the league and Norbert managing the wagebill strictly. A bit of a wobble, but nothing to be majorly concerned about right?
The week after Norbert turned up to watch some of the training at the under-19 team training. He wants to stay in touch with everyone at the club, first team players and coaches, under-19 players and coaches, so naturally he visits their training ground from time to time. Upon arriving he saw manager Sergey Traskevich running towards him in excitement: "Norbert, i got some great news for you!" Norbert got excited, was there finally somebody who was developing quickly enough to be considered for the first team? It ended up being something different Sergey was excited about though. Sergey Traskevich, the under-19 manager was allowed to do his national B license! Norbert was furious and immediately turned around and got to his car to drive to the board and discuss this utter madness, leaving Sergey baffled at what he just witnessed. How is it possible Sergey was allowed to do his national B license, but there wasn't enough money for the FIRST team manager to do his?!
The board weren't even willing to discuss anything, they said they had been clear in the last conversation and they wanted to make sure the other managers also got a chance to develop, to keep the club at a high level all around the teams, both the first and the reserves and under-19 teams. On the one hand this seemed fair enough, but on the other hand it felt really harsh, since Norbert brought them so much this year! Norbert certainly wasn't going to let this one slide, he found himself looking at other clubs who might have interest in a young manager who just got a team promoted by winning the league in Belarus! Who knows what might happen!

Meanwhile the board had to invest some money into the ground to comply with the rules in the top division. Everyone is expected to have under soil heating in their stadium and unfortunately Yunost Stadium didn't have that yet, so 1.2 million had to be spend to get that installed.


Should i stay or should i go?
Well, what a year it was! I didn't think my career in management would start with this big of a bang but i'm glad it has! What a team, what a performance and what a future, to play in the belarussian topflight next year! Sure it's gonna be hard, but it is a challenge, one that I want to take on.
But I also want to develop myself further on the coaching front, not only by managing in the top division, but also by doing my courses. Even though it isn't the most fun part of being a manager, it's nice to have some rated courses on your CV.
So even though i'm expecting to stay here and take on the challenge of a proper relegation battle (surely that has to be the case), I also want to test the waters and see if clubs even want to invite me to an interview.

Did he stay or did he go?
Well after reading the thoughts from Norbert, we all now know he did apply for other jobs! All without the board knowing and without expecting much, but maybe hoping to at least get some reactions. So did he get any reactions? Well no, no interviews at all! Although most clubs stated he would've been a good fit to the club and their ambitions, they didn't invite him to an interview. We're talking clubs in the 3. Liga in Germany, the Championnat National in France, Serie C in Italy and 3rd tier clubs in Spain. Also smaller clubs in the top leagues of Switserland, Austria and Denmark didn't want to take the risk on a young up and coming manager. Maybe it is the missing qualifications after all?

Transfer time!
Of course Norbert hadn't been sitting still while waiting to hear back from his applications! With the idea of possibly being at Slonim longer in the back of his mind, he needed to make sure that he made some upgrades to the team. Even though this team may have won promotion with a resounding 22 point lead, there were some areas that needed upgrading. The goalkeepers were decent for the level Slonim was at, but realistically they weren't good enough for the step up. The same can be said for the left back. The CB spot also needed some more depth and experience.

Contract renewals
First things first, a few of the players on the team were nearly out of contract and we decided to renew their contracts. We finally managed to agree a deal with clubcaptain and starting rightback Roman Kozel.
Backup rightwinger Puzach did end up getting a new deal, even though there are some doubts, it's nice to have him as an option.
GK Dmitriy Sai signed a contract extention and agreed to be the backup goalkeeper. With the club being unable to get Shkvarkov on loan for another year, Dmitriy Sai was a good enough option. Shkvarkov simply didn't want to be the backup option in goal and that's fair enough. The search for a first team goalkeeper is still ongoing though!

Players out
As we already knew, Daniil Solodnikov was going to leave for Ryazan in Russia and Alexey Chernodarov was going to Gomel in Belarus after their contracts would expire. Loanees Kopach, Adamchik and Tikhonov aren't gonna be returning. Adamchik and Tikhonov just aren't good enough and not needed with the other players who are already at the club or are coming in. Kopach was one the club tried to get for another year, but as with Shkvarkov, Kopach wanted to have guaranteed playing time and with Baglay being in front of him we just couldn't give him that.
Leftwinger Evgeniy Bal is released after being out on loan last half of the season, he just doesn't have the quality right now, nor the potential in the future to play part in the seasons coming.

Players in
Now to the fun part, the players in! And there has been quite a few players signed, which was partially needed to get some upgrades but also needed for depth. Let's get right into it:
Although not technically a new player, the loan for Dmitry Khizhnyak has been extended. He has been a solid CB who actually is more of a CDM. This versitality made him a good option to have on the bench to fill in where needed, so we decided to extend the loan, without having to pay any wages, win win!
Now onto the actual new players:
- Arseniy Bondarenko: a 26 year old CB who can bring some much needed experience in the centre of our defense. He is definately an upgrade on what we had there last year and has quite a few years of experience in the Vyšejšaja Liha, the level we are gonna play at now! Let's hope he can be the rock in defense and he can teach the other boys some leadership.
-Vladislav Savchik: a 21 year old CDM, well rounded and determined. A great backup to Antonov with loads of potential, picked up on a free, knowing he will be in and around the team but not regularly starting. A win win in my books.
- Mikhail Kovalevich: a 19 year old CM/CAM, although not quite at the level of our current midfielders yet, he is quit the talent and we hope he can fulfill his potential to be a Vyšejšaja Liha player. And to take the gamble on a free transfer like this isn't anything scary.
- Egor Barsukov: a 21 year old CM who is at the level of our current midfielders but could become a really solid player for the Vyšejšaja Liha. A really well rounded midfielder who can do pretty much everything! We managed to get him after his contract at Lokomotiv Gomel expired, another cheap deal!
- Daniil Podberezny, another CM/CAM, on loan from Shakhter Soligorsk, for free. A decent deal at the time, but with the next transfers in mind, maybe one we didn't need. He's an 18 year old midfielder with loads of potential, more of a creative mind. We'll see if he gets any game time, but if not, it's free anyway!
- Vladislav Bubnov: a 21 year old goalkeeper who actually played for Slonim before! He isn't quite the level we want yet, but he can play in the reserves for a bit to fulfill some of his potential and he might be able to take over from the other GK we brought in. On top of that, he is homegrown at club which might help us down the line!
- Ilya Branovets: a 31 year old first choice goalkeeper, finally we found what we were looking for! He came in on a free after his contract at Slutsk expired. He has loads of Vyšejšaja Liha experience and we hope he can be a good keeper for us and can teach some of his tricks to the likes of Bubnov!
- Kundai Benyu: The first player we spend actual money on! Yes, it might only be €950, but still we did spend money on him! He is also our first foreign signing, coming in from Vestri in the Icelandic league and himself being Zimbabwean, it's quite an interesting combo. He did want quite a lot of money (€525 a week), but we took the gamble, since we wanted a good backup at leftwing. He seems to be quite decent and nearly at Vyšejšaja Liha level already, so we might have a lot of fun with this one!
- Ivan Veras: Last but not least, we signed another striker! After signing Gusev permanently we wanted to make sure to have a proper cabapable backup. Sure, we did have Konechnyi, but he didn't show too much in the gametime he got last season. Ivan Veras is a 24 year old striker who has shown that he knows how to score goals, something we need when Gusev will be out injured or simply out of form. Yet again, Ivan Veras knows he won't be the started so that's awesome and who knows, maybe he will be outscoring Gusev this year, a tough task but who knows!

The transfers



A lot of transfers, but mostly players who are gonna be options to rotate with the players already at the club. It's hard to find players from a higher caliber who want to join the club, especially with the club being in financial difficulty! We are only spending 4k a week on wages where we are allowed 9k a week, but the club is already losing money as it is and Norbert really want his shot at the next course so the club will need money for that as well. If things don't work out, at least there's still plenty of room in the wagebudget!
All the transfers added the squad depth is looking as follows:




The midfield and attack look solid, with a lot of options and a lot of talented players! At the back we managed to get a better goalkeeper and CB, but we didn't manage to sign an upgrade at LB. Youngster Baranovskiy has been performing well in friendlies and has good potential, so he might get a chance this season!
The squad looks pretty alright, but we are still favourites for relegation and with the board expecting us to get into the promotion/relegation play off, this season might be a struggle! Let's see if Norbert can do a madness again and secure survival for Slonim against all odds. Surely then he will be able to find a move elsewhere right? We start the season soon with the opener against a big team in Rukh Brest!

Reactions
@Tango: This season is gonna be one heck of a challenge, we got a lot of young lads in the squad so plenty of room to grow, but we have to make sure we do get of to a good start!

@J_ames: The fact we managed to pull of the signing of Gusev still baffles me! It was a no brainer, 30 goals in 30 games last season, surely he can do something at this level as well! The off season was super important but also super hard, having to try to get better players but also keeping an eye on the finances! Let's so how all the signings bed in.

I don't know how realistic the game will be about this, but if you have a team of kids you may have to wait up a little longer for them to develop chemistry and to be fully comfortable playing in high pressure

Great season, very impressive! Going to be interesting to see if/how it rolls over into next season!

I can understand your frustration with them rejecting your coaching course, and it only adds to the realism that you then went and looked at potential jobs: I do the same thing! The squad that you've built should hopefully be able to keep you up, though as Tango suggested: young players may take time to settle.

The good thing is that you've got plenty of money in the wage budget to make any free agent signings, and what I noticed when I managed Gomel was that I was able to sign players from England, Scotland, and Spain if they'd been free agents for 6-months or more. Sometimes even sooner. It meant that I was able to get some really good players, and that helped me get some good results.

Good luck for the season ahead

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

After not finding any club wanting to even interview him, Norbert knew there was a challenge ahead, surviving in the Vyšejšaja Liha. The media weren't so sure about them surviving, which is saying it lightly, with them having us at 1000-1 to win the league... Playing Rukh Brest on the first day of the season isn't gonna help, but you have to play everyone eventually. Let's see how this goes!

April
The league starts with a long month with 6 games, with the likes of Rukh Brest and Shakhter Soligorsk, two teams who are high up the predicted table.
First game, as said earlier, is away against Rukh Brest, one of the bigger teams in the league. This one was a calculated loss, but boy did the team think otherwise! In the 30th minute it was CM Gavrilov who opened the scoring. The defense was just so determined to not concede, with new boys Branovets in goal and Bondarenko at CB. With the clean sheet and no more goals we managed to beat Rukh Brest and get of to a great start!
Game number two was a must-win already, at home against Smorgon, one of the other teams predicted to struggle, so we have to make sure to get the result. After the surprise in game 1, the team once again showed a solid defense performance with a clean sheet. With the addition of the 3 quick goals by Bondarenko, Gusev and Baglay, it was a solid game!
Next game was away against Minsk, a game we dominated chancewise, but we just weren't able to find the net. Luckily the solid defense performances continued and Branovets kept another clean sheet, 0-0.
Torpedo Zhodino was the next opponent at home, with a quick start by Gavrilov and Gusev once again. Gavrilov scored in the 11th minute and Gusev scored in the 12th minute, and yet another clean sheet meant a 2-0 win.
Game number 5 was away against Vitebsk, where the players just went to town! 5 goals with 5 different goalscorers! The only downside to the game is the fact we conceded a goal, but still a 5-1 win is very solid!
Last game of the month was against one of the favourites to win the league, Shakthter Soligorsk. We didn't expect to win, but with the form we were in, surely there was in a chance? Well, the difference in quality was pretty obvious with us getting next to no chances. We had our goalkeeper Branovets to thank it 'only' finished 2-0. So now it will be interesting to see how the players react to a minor setback, especially with the squad being pretty youthfull.

May
Only 3 games this month, but pretty tough ones against Dinamo Minsk and Dinamo Brest.
First game was against Krumkachy, who went up with us as they won the play offs. Despite dominating the game and Dybin scoring in the 38th minute we weren't able to get another goal and get the result over the line. When you leave the door open, your opponent might just burst through and that's exactly what Krumkachy did in the 90th minute by scoring the equalizer. Yet again no clean sheet for Branovets unfortunately and yet again no win with two difficult games to come!
Game number two, away against Dinamo Brest, we started of great with Gusev and Baglay bagging goals in the 18th and 28th minute to put us 2-0 up at halftime! A great reaction after the last game where we just didn't manage to get that 2nd goal. In the 82nd minute Dinamo Brest managed to pull one back, making Norbert a little nervous and rightfully so, because they scored in the 90th minute. Once again we lost the win in the 90th minute, so frustrating!
The last game of the month was at home against Dinamo Minsk, a game where the whole team just weren't up for it. After Dinamo Minsk went 2-0 up, Norbert decided to bring on his new striker Veras, who did manage to score, but unfortunately he messed up a big chance at 2-2. Yet another game where Slonim didn't manage to win and slowly we're going down in the leaguetable.

June
With 4 games without a win you would love an easy opponent to go ahead and smash. Well as most you know, Bate Borisov isn't quite that, it's actually the opposite! As was the case against Shakhter Soligorsk, this game the lads just weren't good enough, with loads of them getting a 6.4 or lower. A hopeless 3-0 loss made Norbert really think on how he was going to turn this around. Was it the players, the formation or just the tough schedule, something needed to change!
Next game at home against Energetik-BGU Norbert did decide to change something, he was gonna play a 4231 gegenpress instead of the 433 tiki-taka. He did think about bringing in Veras instead of Gusev but he decided to give his star man another chance and luckily he did! With a spectacular hattrick Gusev ended the critics from his manager. A solid 3-1 win with Branovets back to his start of the season form, scoring a 7.8!
Game number 3 was away against Gomel, a reunion with Chernodarov, who left on a free the summer just gone. After an eventless first half it was Gomel who opened the scoring in the 46th minute and to make things worse rightback AND captain Roman Kozel managed to get himself send off in the 55th minute. Ilya Baglay did though managed to grab an equalizer in the 57th minute, but hope was soon crushed with Gomel yet again scoring in the 64th minute. A shame the players weren't able to get back to back results, but important to bounce back next game!
Next game was at home against Slavia Mozyr, a team struggling in the league, so a great opportunity to bounce back. And bounce back the players did, with 3 goals in the first half by Dybin (15th and 41st minute) and Baglay (28th minute). After Barsukov scored in the 61st minute, Slavia managed to grab a consolation goal in the 68th minute. Gavrilov did come on and managed to grab himself another goal to make it 5-1 and show his ability to the coach after being dropped because other players were complaining about not having gametime.
Last game of the month was agaubst Neman Grodno, a team predicted to finish 7th but struggling in lower-midtable. The game was a close tied affair with them opening the scoring in the 21st minute but Gusev managing to equalize in the 51st minute. After that CB Bondarenko managed to get himself sent off in the 58th minute and that turned the game around. They scored in the 59th minute to go up 2-1 and even though Ilya Baglay managed to equalize in the 70th minute, things went downhill quickly after that. Egor Zubovich grabbed a hattrick between the 79th and 90th minute and his teammate Pasevich also scored. Alexander Puzach did grab a goal, but a horrific 6-3 loss was a fact. Bondarenko truly cost his team the game there!

July
Last game of the first half of the season is against Dnepr Mogilev, a must win with them being in 15th and predicted to be in and around the relegation places as well. Despite Norbert being more than clear to the team with his intentions and the importance of this match, Dnepr Mogilev did open the scoring in the 13th minute... Kirill Gusev, who was finally able to play against Dnepr Mogilev, after not being eligible last season, scored the equalizer in the 22nd minute. After halftime it was Dybin who gave Slonim the advantage and the chance to grab the o so important win. Pavel Markov had other ideas though as he equalized in the 65th minute and then Kabyshev turned the game around and put Dnepr Mogilev 3-2 up! Norbert was pacing around his coaching spot and shouting to the players to give more. Kirill Gusev did step up and grabbed the equalizer in the 84th minute, but that wouldn't be enough for Norbert. Sometimes luck does go your way, and it surely did for Slonim in the 96th minute when Dnepr Mogilev scored an own goal! Whether it was luck or just simply the shear pressure by Slonim that made it go in, they did manage to win which is HUGE!
Let's hope the results can get a bit more consistent and not constantly winning then losing, but with the difficult games ahead again the likes of Rukh Brest.

The results


The league table


Despite the not great form in May and June we still are in 5th, something Norbert could only have dreamed of! With Gusev grabbing his goals again and the switch to 4231 seeming to treat the boys well (especially Kundai Benyu playing at CAM), surely Slonim won't be troubled in the second half of the season right? Let's see about that in the next update!

The stats


Reactions
@Tango: The team went off to a great start, probably because of last seasons form, but recent results have shown a lack of consistensy which might as well be because of the young age. Let's hope the consistency comes in the second half of the season and maybe we can even challenge for the european spots!

@jxgsaw_ Welcome and thanks for your comment! I surely was doubting my summer, but despite the wobbly run of form last months, we still are 5th which is great. Let's see if we can stay this high up the table because we still are profiting from our great start at the moment.

@J_ames: It's incredibly frustrating, especially when there's loads of people actually getting to do coaching courses, just because it's kind of automated in FM. Now it's time to build up more of a reputation by managing in the top division and then Norbert might be able to look for another club!
With the signings, i most of the times just look at what my scouts give me or what my director of football suggests, so i doubt i'll get those players as i don't use player search typically.

That's a much better start to the season than I expected! The only properly disappointing result would be the loss to Neman Grodno, but that happens occasionally. Over-performing with this squad will definitely put Norbert on the radar of other clubs, which is always a good thing.

Keep it going

I'm positive that eventually the kids will come around. In the meantime it might be interesting to use this experience to see exactly where you're lacking depth in your squad so you can assure yourself that your future is not as wobbly

STUMBLING ACROSS THE FINISH LINE!

After starting the season great, things weren't going as well as Norbert had hoped, but he had to stay realistic. Being in 5th position after half of the games is a massive overachievement, yet still Norbert wasn't too sure whether his team would be able to find the form they had at the start of the season.

Important announcement!
Not gonna lie, i've got no clue how this happened and it's probably a glitch, but Norbert Theodore Brandt just got this message in his inbox:

How did he manage to get German coach of the year? I've got no clue, but looking at the stats from the other managers, it seems to be some type of a glitch. But we will take it and hopefully it might even give us a reputation boost!

July
A week after the massively important, yet not very convincing, win against Dnepr Mogilev, the next challenger came to Slonim, Rukh Brest. In a close tied game with not much between the teams but also not very many highlights it was Rukh Brest who took the victory by a goal from Kontsevoy in the 52nd minute. Back to the wobbly form it is...
The game against Smorgon away from home surely was a good chance to get a win again, they were rockbottom and completely out of form. This game the new loanee Aniskovich came into the starting eleven at leftback to hopefully prove to be an upgrade to Spasyuk. Aniskovich did well by getting an assist to who else then Gusev who scored a goal in the 82nd minute! Only problem is the fact that Smorgon managed to score three, yes THREE goals before that! A devastating 3-1, with the defense and mainly GK Branovets to blame, meant form seemed to be slipping away even more.
Next game was one at home against Minsk, a team trying to get in the tophalf, where Slonim were. The one team going towards tophalf, the other seemingly sliding away to the bottomhalf. This time the start of the game was a lot better with Dybin scoring in the 25th minute and things seemed to be going well defensively with the teams going into the break at 1-0. The 2nd half wasn't all too spectular up until the final few minutes, two goals in the 90th and the 92nd minute made sure that Minsk won the game! Norbert was devastated at the result, yet again his defense gave away the goals too easily. The CB's seem to be the problem, with Shubko out injured and Alekhnovic totally out of form the options are few. And when Branovets hasn't kept a clean sheet in ages, losses are inevitable.
With the league not going too great, the cup might be a welcome distraction and also a good game to see how the team fares against another competitor in the league, Gomel. With Branovets being horrificly out of form, Norbert decided to give back up Dmitriy Sai a chance with Shubko also coming back from injury. And defensively that definately did work out! The defense was solid as a rock and didn't concede a goal, finally a clean sheet with Shubko bossing the defense and Sai making the saves where needed. Unfortunately we also didn't score, which was a shame because of our sheer dominance chancewize. Veras who got a chance at striker didn't play well at all and Benyu and Dybin weren't doing much on the wings. It was substitus Gusev, Baglay and Puzach who grabbed the game and tried to take it home in regular and extra time. Penalties were needed, but we ended up victorious! All our penalties were scored and it was their third penalty which was missed. Finally a good result again after switching back to the 433 and bringing in Shubko and Sai, onto the league we go!
The final game of the month was in the league against Torpedo Zhodino. And given the fact he kept a clean sheet last game, Dmitriy Sai was back in goal in the league as well. With him between the sticks and Gusev back up front, we managed to take away the 3 points from Torpedo Zhodino! Gusev with two goals in the 19th and 33rd minute before they pulled one back in the 36th minute with Kozlovskiy. Substitute Kovalevich however grabbed a third goal to secure the victory in the 87th minute.

August
We kicked off August with a homegame against Vitebsk, a team in a midtable position. With our new deadline day signing of Francis Narh, a rightwinger who previously was at Slavia Mozyr and had scored a few goals in the league already, we hoped to continue the decent form from the end of July. It was yet another solid defensive display, with another clean sheet for Dmitriy Sai and Bondarenko coming back into form as it seems. Unfortunately attackingwize we didn't create too much and Gusev didn't manage to find the back of the net, 0-0.

Norbert totally didn't see this one coming, Gomel manager Gevorkyan let him know that he recalled Khiznyak back to Gomel. No reason added whatsoever! He had been playing regularly and been doing well in those matches, so that could've been it. This leaves a gap in the squad at CB, without Norbert being able to fix it because new signings can't be registered anymore!

The next game was always gonna be a difficult one, away against the team running away with the league, Shakhter Soligorsk. Despite the expected loss, our start was horrific! After 10 minutes we were already 2-0 down and in a third goal in the 35th minute sealed our faith. Luckily we managed to keep the gates closed in the 2nd half, but attackingwize we totally didn't create anything. A 3-0 loss, which hopefully doesn't upset the players too much!
The third game of the month was yet again a cupgame, this time at home against Slavia Mozyr, in theory an easier opponent than Gomel. We rotated a bit compared to the Shakhter game and gave the likes of Alekhnovich and Shubko another chance to impress. And impress they both did! Shubko managed to get a 7.5 matchrating and Alekhnovich grabbed a late 91st minute equalizer to get the game to penalties once again at 2-2! It was Francis Narh who opened the scoring against his old club in the 16th minute and after a 21st and 35th minute goal it seemed over for Slonim until Alekhnovich grabbed the late equalizer. Unfortunately this time around we didn't win the penalty shootout and we are now knocked out of the cup but still it was a decent performance from the lads after the disappointment from last week!
Last game of this month is another huge one, against Krumkachy who came up with us and are struggling against relegation. A few changes were made after the cupgame against Slavia Mozyr: Branovets was back in goal after the rather unconvincing performance from Sai the last two games and striker Ivan Veras got a chance from kick off, with Gusev being on the bench having not scored for a few games already. Ivan Veras asked Norbert for a proper chance and he decided to give him that. In the first half not a lot seemed to happen, until the 45th minute where Kozel crossed the ball in for Ivan Veras who managed to score and repay the faith shown in him by the manager! 1-0 at halftime and a good defensive performance yet again, which continued into the second half with Branovets making a few good saves as well! It was Shubko who scored a penalty to go 2-0 up in the 57th minute and Gavrilov sealed the deal in the 86th minute, 3-0! A solid and important win against a team we want to keep below us!

September
September was looking to be a tough month with games against Dinamo Minsk, Dinamo Brest and Energetik-BGU. The latter one being the easier game, but also being the last game of the month.
We started off against Dinamo Brest, who scored in the 37th minute to go 1-0 up and it was Branovets to thank for the fact it stayed 1-0 up until the 85th minute. Ivan Veras obviously got another start after scoring in the last game, but this time around he didn't convince and it was supersub Kirill Gusev who scored in the 85th minute to take a draw. A decent result against one of the better teams in the league!
Next up, Dinamo Minsk, one of the financial powerhouses in Belarus. After a so-so start, they managed to climb up to 4th place and were doing solid, being part of a group of teams who were running away from the rest of the league. The difference in financial power showed on the field, with quick goals in the 5th, 8th AND 13th minute to go 3-0 up. All hope was lost at halftime with them scoring in the 30th minute as well. The defense who had been doing so well simply lost it and conceded another in the 77th minute. A miniscule highlight from the match was Gusev continueing his goalscoring, by grabbing a goal in the 66th minute. But a 5-1 loss is humiliating, yet not unexpected against this big of a team. Now it;s all about the reaction in the next game against Energetik-BGU!
The reaction from the defense was solid to say the least! Another clean sheet and a good performance from GK Branovets, who knew he had to redeem himself if he didn't want to be benched for Dmitriy Sai again. The midfield was also solid, but the attack just couldn't seem to finish it. The biggest problem? Kirill Gusev could only come on from the bench, with him getting injured in training... Ivan Veras just isn't it as a striker, even though he might think different himself, he just hasn't shown the ability or consistency yet. A 0-0 draw to end a tough month and to make things even worse, we play BATE Borisov at the start of next month!

October
As said, we start off against BATE at home, a difficult game in the best of times, but even more difficult when you haven't won a game in a month! Despite all odds being against us, the first half was very solid, defensively we stood firm and we even scored a goal! Norbert was jumping up and down, until he realised it was not gonna stand... Still, going into the halftime teamtalk at 0-0, Norbert was really content and told the boys there might even be a chance we could sneak a result here. The 2nd half started as the first one ended, with both teams going for the win and either one being able to grab the first goal. It was Nechaev who grabbed the first goal in the 59th minute and that one hurt real bad. We were really in the game up until that point but after that the heads dropped and we lost 3-0 with them scoring in the 69th and 79th minute. Alekhnovich and Branovets yet again barely getting a 6+ rating is a little worrying but it is against BATE after all.
Next game at home against Gomel, we didn't get off to the greatest of starts with them scoring in the 12th minute, but Dybin and Gusev put things back in the right order by scoring in the 27th and 34rd minute. We were 2-1 up at halftime and deservedly so! They managed to equalize in the 53rd minute and to top it all of they also grabbed another goal in the 73rd minute to win the match, against all odds. We had the better chances but Branovets had another bad game and let in 3...
We dropped down to 10th and despite not being able to get relegated anymore, Norbert still wanted to finish the season on a high, to start the new season with confidence. Three games were left and all against beatable teams as well! Norbert decided to get the team together to talk to them and give them a confidence booster.
First up Slavia Mozyr away from home, a team battling against relegation. We got off to a great start with Kirill Gusev scoring his 16th goal of the season in the 18th minute. It was 1-0 when we went into the break and the fact it remained that way in the 2nd half was mainly thanks to Branovets, who got back into form at the right time and saved shot after shot. First win of a possible 3 in the bag!
Next up the hardest of the three games, a home game against Neman Grodno, who we lost 6-3 to earlier in the season. This time around we were determined not to let in 6 goals and Branovets made sure nothing got past him! It did take until the 71st minute for one of the teams to open the scoring and luckily it was our rightwinger Dybin who scored! We won the game 1-0 and deservedly so, with Branovets, Kozlov and Shubko being solid in defense, but yet again we are searching for a good partner to Shubko after the departure of Khiznyak.
Last game of the season then, up against 14th place Dnepr Mogilev and it was time for Ilya Baglev to shine. With goals in the 8th, 24th and 62nd minute he grabbed a hattrick and single handedly won Slonim the game, 3-1 it ended. We end the season on a high with 3 back to back wins and solid defensive performances!
This last win meant we jumped back up to 9th and comfortably finished midtable, a huge overachievement with the media considering us favourites for relegation!

The results


The final league table


With us finishing 9th and avoiding the drop, Norbert now has to think about his future, his contract is up at the end of 2022 and the club are yet to offer him a new deal. It seems like the club is at its peak and it's gonna be hard to take them further, especially with the board cutting the wage budget in half, from 9.1k to 4.6k a week. Luckily Norbert already was underspending by a longshot so the squad is already at 4.6k a week total, but there's next to no room for improvement. Also the fact there's no possibility for him to do coaching badges is another reason to leave. Norbert is definately gonna be on the look-out for another job, but will clubs offer him an interview or will it be rejections only, like last summer? Let's hope Norbert isn't stuck and he can either change clubs or change Slonim for the better!

NEW SEASON, NEW CLUB?

As said last update Norbert is planning on searching for another club, but in the meantime he obviously won't leave Slonim as it is. In case he doesn't get the job, Norbert tried his best to strengthen the squad and get rid of dead wood where possible.

Transfers out:



Alexandr Puzach was getting less and less gametime and he just wasn't up to the level needed anymore.
Konechnyi was in the reserve squad for most of last season and needed to go out on loan for experience. Getting a 1.1k fee is a nice bonus!
Although one that happened later in the season, Francis Narh came to Norbert at the start of the season, telling him he wanted to explore his options at the end of his contract, so Norbert was glad the club could get some money for him!

Transfers in:



The squad needed strengthening in a few places, mainly at CB and LB but also some depth for the GK spot and better midfielders. A lot of business to be done and Norbert had a busy time looking at trialists and trying to get them to accept the little money Slonim were able to pay them.

First transfer was a GK who got signed as a backup but may even battle to be the first-choice with Branovets. Maxime Belov is a young 23 year old GK who has plenty of potential and is fine being the back up, a good upgrade to Dmitriy Sai who was released after Belov signed.
Next up was Sergey Volkorezov, an experienced 28 year old LB who seems to be a lot better than the options Norbert had previously. At minimumwage and a one-year deal, this was a no brainer.

For CB Norbert wanted at least two options to be battling with the 3 defenders already at the club (Shubko already had been signed for another year on loan).
Dmitriy Denisenko is the first option, coming in on loan from Gomel. A decent squad option with 2.5 start current ability and 5 star potential. No fee or paying for wages which makes it an ideal one to take a gamble on.
Patrick Stanic is a 22 year old Croatian CB who is gonna be battling for a starting place and seems really solid! His €220/week contract is on the high side, but for a player of his caliber it seems like a steal! He has 4 star ability already and a full 5 star potential, exciting stuff!
Lastly another loan, Egor Parkhomenko from Neman Grodno, yet again for free. Another one who is gonna be an option in depth, with 3 star current ability and 5 star potential.
To get some more quality in midfield, Norbert signed Marco Cirillo, a 24 year old German CM on a €210/week contract. With 3.5 star current ability and 4.5 star potential he certainly brings enough quality and quite a bit of experience.
Norbert also decided to let Ivan Veras go, who simply was too expensive for what he brought. As a replacement he got in Pavel Gorbach for free, no fee or wage contribution, win-win!
The last signing was one for the future, with Norbert thinking of moving on Benyu because of his high wages. Nikolay Dovydenko is a 20 year old leftwinger, with 2 star current ability and 5 star potential. He is on minimum wages (€120/week) and will be in the reserve squad to start of with, since Benyu hasn't left yet.

With all the new additions even the media thought Slonim's chances of surviving for another year were bigger, even though they were still expected to finish bottom.
So now back to Norbert trying to find another club.

Norbert's hunt for another club.
Not gonna lie, Norbert was kind off certain clubs would be more tempted to take a gamble on him, now he managed to overperform for a second year in a row. First year he managed to get Slonim promoted without anyone expecting it, last year he managed to get them miles ahead of a relegation spot with nobody expecting it. Despite him sending out loads of applications to clubs in the lower european league (3.Liga, Serie C, League Two, Primera Division (3rd tier in Spain)) none of the club came back with an interview! What he feared might become the truth, him being stuck at Slonim, not being able to get any further with his coaching courses and not getting any offers from other clubs.

But then Gomel came in and offered him an interview! Norbert was kind off surprised to see them coming in for him but he jumped at the chance and talked with them. He saw it as a chance to take a step sideways to then make a step forward, with them willing to pay for his next coaching license. He pretty much already had his bags packed, when the club called him back a week later. Norbert was so excited, until the Gomel representative told him the job was given to someone else, Vyacheslav Levchuk, who was at Dnepr Mogilev before. His day was ruined and he knew he had only two options now: staying at Slonim or resigning and taking a chance on finding another club. But with nobody offering him interviews he thought it would be wise to stay at Slonim.
When Slonim then finally offered him a new contract, Norbert wasn't too impressed. Sure it was a 2 year contract, but they wanted loads of money in case a club wanted him and weren't prepared to lower their demands. So Norbert told the club he wouldn't sign the new contract, but he was prepared to stay on a month to month deal, which the club agreed to.
So basically Norbert is now stuck, but he will keep looking for other clubs and keep trying to outperform the expectations to impress other clubs!

April
Rukh Brest (H): The league once again started with a game against Rukh Brest and after beating them last year on the first day of the season, Norbert was hopefull. Slonim weren't playing well in this game though and to make things worse, Benyu, who started because Baglay was up front instead of the injured Gusev, scored an own goal. And that goal was all there was in the match, a 1-0 loss.
Isloch (A): The next game was against newly promoted Isloch, realistically a must win game, but yet again Slonim failed to do so. Rochev scored for Isloch in the 30th minute and bar a lot of yellow cards, Slonim had nothing to show for.
Shakther Soligorsk (H): To make things even worse, next game was at home to last seasons champions. Last year we lost twice against them. Somehow Slonim started of great, scoring at the end of the first half! To make things even better it was Baglay again with a goal in the 78th minute to get them 2-0 up. Norbert started to believe they could sneak a win, but then it was Shakther Soligorsk who turned into a higher gear and after some great defending they eventually scored in the 89th minute to make it 2-1. And to make things even worse they equalized in the 94th minute! Beforehand Norbert would've taken a draw but after being 2-0 up it's a real shame to lose 2 points!
Dnepr Mogilev (A): Another must win game, where yet again the players didnt turn up after their great performance against Shakhter Soligorsk. Despite having a load of chances, the ball just wouldn't go in the back of the net. They must've hit the woodwork at least 5 times and when Fedosov scored pretty much Dnepr Mogilev's first chance, the game was lost, 1-0 loss.
Energetik BGU (A): Another match which should be winnable, and the squad must've been thinking the same! After only 8 minutes it was CB Shubko who scored the opening goal and Norbert was really happy! That moment was shortlived though, because Energetik equalized the minute after and then scored in the 34th minute to go 2-1 up. Norbert slammed his team in the halftime teamtalk and the team didnt look to happy. To make things worse, 2 golden opportunities weren't taken in the 2nd half: Benyu did score, but his goal was disallowed and then in the 84th minute it was Shubko to step up for the penalty but he hit the woodwork! We have some weird relationship with the woodwork this season and I don't like it! 2-1 loss, with Branovets not able to do one better than Belov who he replaced.
Dinamo Minsk (H): To end the yet winless month it was Dinamo Minsk who came to visit, one of the bigger teams in Belarus and 4th placed at that moment. Despite Branovets not keeping a clean sheet last week, he got the nod over Belov once again and this time he showed his quality! Despite the teams being very evenly matched (which surprised Norbert), it was Kirill Gusev who finally managed to grab a goal! With Branovets in goal, Slonim managed to keep a clean sheet for the first time this season which means they also won for the first time this season!

May.
Torpedo Zhodino (A): First game of May was against Torpedo Zhodino, who weren't doing too great and barely ahead of Slonim. Vladislav Savchik managed to grab the opening goal from a free kick in the 21st minute and yet again it was a solid defensive display from the boys. Until the 84th minute when Pushnyakov scored a penalty to equalize and take away 2 more points from Slonim.
Krumkachy (H): If there was ever a must win game, this was it! Krumkachy have been struggling as much as Slonim and in front of their homefans, surely Slonim can take something from this game! After a first half with chances at both sides, it was Vladislav Dybin who managed to open the scoring! Krumkachy just wasn't able to find an answer to the energy Slonim took into the game and it ended 1-0 although it could've been much more!
Dinamo Brest (A): A tough fixture away against a team 5th in the league. The difference in quality was clear and they had a lot of shots, but this time Branovets was having none of it. Save after save he made to make sure the clean sheet was taken back to Slonim. We even had a small chance of scoring but it wasn't to be, but overall we can be really happy with the 0-0 result, an unbeaten month!

June.
Minsk (H): The unbeaten run must've given the lads wings, we went up 4-1! Narh scored what was to be his one and only goal for the club, Baglay scored two with Savchik assisting both and then they turned the roles around and Baglay assisted Savchik for the 4-1! The lads were flying and Norbert was glad but he also tried to keep them with both feet on the ground. He failed in doing that and between the 78th and 92nd minute they conceded 3 goals to give away a certain victory! Yet still we played incredibly well attackingwize and that hasn't happened in ages.
BATE Borisov (A): The wings weren't broken after conceding 4 last game, Kirill Gusev scored in the 16th minute to give Slonim the lead against 2nd placed BATE. At halftime they still didn't concede so Norbert tried his best to calm the lads down and keep the expectations low. The opposing manager must've gone wild on his players at halftime because BATE came flying out of the blocks in the 2nd half, with Nekhaychik scoring in the 51st minute and Ibai Gomez scoring in the 68th. To put everything beyond doubt it was Ibai Gomez from the penalty spot in the 92nd minute to make it 3-1. But despite losing, Norbert had seen lots of positives.

Interviews!
Krumkachy came calling and Norbert decided to go for the interview. He knew they were financially more stable and were able to gift him the coaching course he wanted for so long now, so he told them he would be happy to make the step. Eventually they came back to tell him they found somebody else, which was fine.
A few more interesting jobs became available though, with Torpedo Zhodino and Dinamo Minsk, both teams with loads more money than Slonim and in theory much better squads. Norbert decided to apply for both jobs and see if they would react. And react Torpedo Zhodino did, they invited him for an interview and Norbert had a great time, they granted his wish for a coaching course, the wage budget was massive and he had €1.9 MILLION to spend would he be chosen to be the manager. THAT'S NUTS! Norbert knew he would go there in a heartbeat, but he also remembered the Gomel scenario, where another manager got the job.

July.
Vitebsk (H): A game against a team only 2 places above Slonim in the table, a must win for both of the teams and it showed. In a quite boring affaire it was both keepers who got the highest ratings and it ended 0-0.
Gomel (H): Gomel, the team that went for another manager in the end. Norbert would love to beat them and he made sure the players knew as well. On top of that, this was one of the winnable games and Gomel were only 3 points ahead of them. The players showed a lot of desire to win the game and it was loanee pavel Gorbach who played out on the wing who scored the opening goal, before Gusev added another in the 45th minute to go into halftime with a 2-0 lead. The defense was solid as always and just before the final whistle Gusev scored another to make it 3-0 and put everything beyond doubt, Slonim are now up to 9th in the table! Things are definately looking up now!

The results


The league table


After a truly horrific start to the season, form is picking up now and we are in 9th position after 13 games.
For the eagle-eyed reader; yes this is a kind of weird spot to end this update, 13 games played so not halfway through the season yet, only 2 games played in July so also not through the month yet. Well why end here then?

JOB OFFER:
Yes, it's finally time to move on! Torpedo Zhodino have offered me the job! We managed to get them to even pay a little more a week, getting it up to €875/week, which is only €50/week less than at Slonim. But the opportunities are so much bigger here, looking at the sheer money that is in the transfer and wage budget and the fact we can FINALLY start another coaching course! Things are looking up for Norbert, let's hope he can get Torpedo Zhodino from 15th up the table to were they belong. They started the climb themselves already, by beating Bate Borisov 1-0 at home! Exciting times ahead!

The contract offer


See you in Zhodino for the next update!

Reactions:

@J_ames: Last season started great and ended poorly but we managed to outperform our expectations. As seen in this update it still was quite hard if not impossible to find another club, at least outside of Belarus to even give Norbert an interview. Hopefully this step up within the league will get Norbert the reputation boost needed, combined with his next coaching course!

@Tango: I surely think Norbert thought he fixed the problems in depth by bringing in some great quality players and after the horrific start form was looking a bit better now, so i guess we'll never know if he truly fixed the wobbly form. Now it's time to fix some straight up bad form elsewhere though!

Well, it's a lot more pressure in an environment that seems to be struggling. Bold move

It's a strange decision from Norbert to move to another club for less money, especially when you consider their transfer budget is HUGE. It should be an option to say "how about you give me less transfer budget, but a bigger wage" tbh.

The next transfer window will be so crucial for you [and interesting for me!], but I think the squad will get sorted, and then you'll climb up the table as a result.

Good luck

A NEW START!

Welcome to Zhodino! We now officially left Slonim and, technically, dropped down to 15th placed Torpedo. A bold move as some might say, but when you want to get somewhere, you have to take risks sometimes! This team is too good to struggle much longer, as Norbert said a few weeks ago. Let's take a look at the club!



A club that is bigger in everything compared to Slonim and a club that has been active in the highest league for ages, so surely Norbert can save them. Especially when you have 1.9 million transferbudget and plenty of wagebudget to spend! After meeting the squad, Norbert talked to the assistant to see the problems in the squad. With a few players wanting more playing time and some other players wanting to move on, Norbert decided to let some of them leave as they simply weren't good enough to get thrown into the team. We want players who really want to play for the team!

Transfers:

IN:


As Norbert said, this squad in itself is good enough to do way better without any signings. Only three people joining the club now:
Stanislav Krymskiy: A 17-year old who already was on the radar when Norbert was at Slonim. Back then there just wasn't enough money for the talented rightwinger. 6.75k is a steal for one of the most talented Belarusians, a 3 star rightwinger with 5 star potential!
Ivan Brkic: One position that definately needed strengthening was the goalkeeper, and with Ivan Brkic, Norbert got his solid goalkeeper hopefully! 90k, up to a possible 110k, might be a lot of money, but we have a lot of money on our hands and a good goalkeeper is a must, with two 2.5 star goalkeepers at the club now. Brkic comes in at 3.5 star ability and should be an upgrade!
Yuriy Kendysh: This one is a case of: 'If you can't beat the best, join them'. Well not exactly, but we got Kendysh from champions Shakhter Soligorsk for only 12.5k (up to 24.5k) which is a steal for a midfielder who has played in the champions league and nations league this past year!

OUT:


A lot of departures, some of them for free, some of the end of contract signings joining their new club early. As said earlier, Norbert wants players to really want to be here and play for the badge, so if players aren't willing to fight for their chance they were able to leave. Luckily, all the players that wanted out were easily replacable within the squad!
As these players mostly won't come back to feature, I won't write anything extra on them.

Gametime!
July
Minsk (A): Norbert took his 433(DM) from Slonim and tried to implement it as quickly as possible at his new club. Biggest decision was who to play at striker and Norbert decided to play topscorer Denis Koslovski there, even though he only got 5 goal up until now. The team started of great after the surprising win against BATE Borisov last week. Two goals by wingers Abdumannopov and Antilevskiy got us a 2-0 win, with the defensive being outstanding!
Vitebsk (A): Right back down to earth, yet again with the 433(DM), but this time around we conceded early in the 28th minute and just didn't get going attackingwize. A 1-0 loss away from home isn't great but we are only expected to avoid relegation for now!
Neman Grodno (A): Neman Grodno are one of the surprises of this season, they are 2nd in the table and flying! We are on the other side of the table, now back in 15th and looking for a win. This game it was Brkic who made his debut and he did great in the first half, after us scoring in the 11th minute with our CB Klopotskiy hitting a freekick into the goal! In the second half things turned around with Neman Grodno scoring three times to go 3-1 ahead, and a goal by Potapenko was only one for the statistics. We didn't play bad, but once again we just don't seem to create enough offensively!

August.
Baranovichi (H): The draw in the cup had been kind to us, giving us a smaller club at home in Baranovichi. The difference in quality showed with us scoring 3 goals between minute 30 and 33! Lipe Veloso, our brazilian CAM who played up top this game got one and CM Berezkin got the other two. Then in the 48th minute Berezkin managed to grab his hattrick from CM to make it 4-1 after Baranovichi scored in the 41st minute. The defense kept things tight at the back and we won comfortably!
Gomel (H): Back to the league then and another game with Lipe Veloso up front, grabbing another goal! He scored in the 16th minute and we managed to keep the lines closed in the first half, 1-0 at halftime. Unfortunately we didnt manage to create a lot in the 2nd half and this is getting a bit concerning to Norbert, especially with us conceding in the 48th minute to end the game 1-1.
Slavia Mozyr (A): After last game, Norbert decided it was time for a change in formation, with Lipe Veloso able to now play in his natural position in a 4231. And boy did it seem to work, a massive 5-0 hammering! Goals for Klopotskiy (2x), Bessmertnyi, Kozlovski and debutant Kendysh!
Rukh Brest (H): A tougher opponent, so a test for the 4231 and one we smashed! Another 4-0 win with goals for Berezkin (2x), Yashin and young striker Barkovskiy. And yet another clean sheet for Brkic who seems to have settled well now!
Slavia Mozyr (A): Another game against Slavia Mozyr, now in the cup and yet again we managed to get a solid win, 3-0 with Kozlovskiy, Kendysh and Antilevskiy scoring. This time it was the younger of the Antilevskiy brothers scoring which is nice!
A month without a loss and only one draw, which is fantastic and definately gets us closer to where we want to be!

September.
Isloch (A): Young rightwinger Abdumannopov had a great time again, scoring twice, in the 46th and 52nd minute to secure another solid win with our defense keeping yet another clean sheet!
Shakhter Soligorsk: Now onto the first of two big games, both big for different reasons! Shakther Soligorsk are yet again running away with the league and are the ones to beat. After working at Slonim and not managing to win against them yet, Norbert was really interested to see how his team would do! Klopotskiy got the team off to a flyer by scoring in the 2nd minute and the team seemed to be cruising against the reigning champions! A 1-0 score at halftime was nice, but was nothing as we know how much Shakhter can fight back in the 2nd half. And fight back they did, creating a lot of chances and showing the difference in quality by scoring in the 68th minute to equalize and it was Brkic to thank for it staying only 1-1, until the 91st minute were it was Kozlovski who managed to grab the goal and win US the game! We won against 1st place, reigning champion Shakhter Soligorsk! Norbert was buzzing!
Slonim (A): Possibly the most important game of the season, wanting to show the people he was right to move on and he is at the better team now. After beating Shakhter Soligorsk, this should be easy, but Norbert made sure his players had no room for complacency! With Kozlovskiy and Abdumannopov scoring in the first half without reply it was 2-0 at the break and Norbert was a bit more relaxed but told his lads to remain focussed. And remain focussed they did, after Lipe Veloso scored a third in the 74th minute Slonim were down and out, until the 92nd minute were good old Vladislav Savchik hit another one of his bangers and left everyone in awe! Nonetheless a nice 3-1 win against his old team and Norbert showed the world he made the right decision!
Energetik-BGU (H): Yet again the defense was unbelievable this game. Not that Energetik had any chances, but the defense just kept them from ever getting any close! Another clean sheet added and if it wasn't for Energetik's goalkeeper, it would have been a month with a sea of green, only wins! Unfortunately he decided to have a blinder and, despite an XG of 2.16, Torpedo didn't manage to score, 0-0.

October.
Dinamo Minsk (A): A tough matchup against a team, just like us, struggling despite having the financial backing needed. We got of to a flying start though, with Kozlovskiy scoring in the 4th minute and Brkic keeping the ball out of the net! That all changed after the 80th minute when Dinamo Minsk equalized and then they went ahead and won the game in the 93rd minute, a bitter pill to swallow after not losing for so long!
Underdog (H): To make sure the heads didn't drop, Norbert decided to plan a friendly and we beat the poor lads 5-0, but at least our players liked it!
Krumkachy (H): After a difficult fixture in the last leaguegame, this time around we had one we should easily win. Krumkachy are rockbottom and, to be honest, just not very good. A comfortable 3-0 win, with the oldest of the Antilevskiy brothers scoring and Kozlovski grabbing a brace.
Dnepr Mogilev (H): A team that had been doing surprisingly well after being promoted together with Slonim last year. Currently in 7th while we're in 8th so a win could put us above them! And win we did, an emphatic 4-1 win with Kozlovskiy grabbing a hattrick to show Norbert he belongs at striker! The other goal was grabbed by leftwinger Antilevskiy once again from the penaltyspot.

November.
Dinamo Brest (A): A tough fixture to start a tough month. After not doing too great, Dinamo Brest have climbed up the league and are looking to grab some points off of us to continue that climb. Luckily we managed to grab and equalizer after they scored in the 30th minute. It was Abdumannopov who scored in the 59th minute to make sure we got a decent point, although we deserved way more, looking at the matchstats!
Minsk (H): We did beat Minsk at the start of our reign with the 433(DM) setup, but can we beat a Minsk in red hot form with our new 4231? The answer, simply put is yes we can! Despite not really being able to finish our dinner, we luckily had substitute Potapenko who came to the rescue in the 85th minute and got us the deserved win!
BATE Borisov (A): This one is an interesting tie, the side who we beat just before Norbert joined and also our opponent in the quarter finals of the cup! BATE did look determined to make sure they would take revenge for the loss earlier in the season, with them shooting out of the blocks and scoring in the 10th and 28th minute to go 2-0 up. Our lads didn't seem to have an answer and were a bit baffled when walking into the dressing room. Norbert did have none of it and made sure the players knew he wasn't happy and wanted them to fight for the badge. And fight they did, with a much better 2nd half and a 2-2 result after goals by Potapenko and Antilevskiy. A bad first half but we did get things right in the 2nd half with a probably fair 2-2 result in the end. Despite it being a tough month, once again we didn't lose!

December.:
Vitebsk (H): Our last game of the season then against Vitebsk, who we lost to earlier in the season, so Norbert made sure to let the lads know there was a possibility for revenge! Potapenko grabbed another goal, showing the boss he was still a player to be reckoned with and that was it! A 1-0 win, nothing too fancy, but a winning end to the season nonetheless!

The results:


The league table:


Much to the delight of the board and everyone connected to the club, we managed to get into the top half of the league! Despitse having a horrific start to the season, Norbert managed to turn the ship around and only lost 3 games this season with Torpedo! A solid start to build upon with the board looking for him to finish top half again, building towards a european place finish later!

End of season awards.


Next seasons budgets:


Despite already spending a bit of money, the board decided to give me even more! Money doesn't seem to be a problem at all here, with it just magically appearing at the end of the season. I guess we just have a rich owner who puts in his own money to make sure we can challenge for those european spots as soon as possible!
And with the club having this much money, yes, it FINALLY happened!


Live is good here in Zhodino, although it is getting pretty hard to drive 3 hours back to my home in Slonim, so this summer I might have to look for a new place to live!

Ractions:
@Tango: You are very correct about it being an environnement with a lot more pressure, but there's also a lot more opportunities here with all the money! And for now the move seemed to have worked out great!

@J_ames: Yeah, not gonna lie, Norbert was a bit confused looking at those figures but he wasn't bold enough to ask for way more than the initial offer. After having spend half a season here and showing what he is capable of, surely his next contract will have a big payrise in it as well!
The transferwindow just gone was huge for one reason only, i needed a better goalie and i'm glad i found him. This transferwindow coming up is HUGE though, we still have a lot of money and if we want to make that step up towards the european places, we have to strenghten! Let's see where this goes!