Sears — FM11 Rubin: My Transfers + Fixtures 15/16

Hey everyone, welcome back to my FM11 journeyman story. Following a  reasonable start to the campaign with Terek, we found ourselves challenging for a European spot after 11 games. Rubin Kazan then stacked their manager and I became their number 1 candidate to replace their outgoing manager. I told the press that I would be »very interested» in the job and Rubin formally approached me a few days later. Without hesitation, I accepted their offer and immediately became the new manager of Rubin Kazan. Rubin were enduring a disappointing season and they were seating in 8th position.  Despite this, I have the pleasure to look forward to Champions League football although we’ll have to play two qualifying matches if we are to even qualify for the group stages. This update will reveal my transfers and my results thus far. Let’s begin with the exciting part, my transfers!

As previously mentioned in my last post, I fancied selling several of my overpaid unwanted foreign stars. I raised a grand total of around £20 million with the departures of these individuals. Johnny had some good words to say about keeper Giedrius Arlauskis but I located a much superior keeper on a free transfer and Arlauskis left for a tidy sum of £4.9 million (my intial asking price was £5 million). Evgeny Balyaikin services were not required as he did not suit my tactic. At.Madrid happily agreed to purchase him for a cool sum of £3 million. Obafami Martins and Chris Wood departed for £7 million as I signed two more efficient strikers to replace them. Bochum offered £3 million for Anele and I was delighted to see another foreign player depart the club. David Addy had already been signed by the previous regime on a free transfer but I loaned him out as no one was willing to buy him. My last sell was Lamine Koné, he left for Napoli in a deal worth £2.5 million.

My new players arrived for a total very similar to what I received for my departing players, around £20 million. As stated before, David Addy was signed by the former manager and despite my best efforts to offload him, he joined a Stade Rennes FC on loan. In chronology order, here are my new players…

Alexandr Kozlov:

Not the greatest of strikers but the main reason why I signed Kozlov is because he was born in Russia and thus qualifies as a home grown player. This is necessary as Rubin are currently crammed with foreign players. Kozlov seems a bargain at just £750k and possess vast pace and flair. I tried him as a poacher and advanced forward, but his performances in both these roles were unsatisfactory. I then changed his role to »complete forward-support» and he scored :-) Hopefully he can form a formidable partnership with my other new striker, José Luis Gómez.

Matej Delac:

Under unknown but yet bizarre circumstances,  Chelsea released this extremely talented young goalkeeper and I didn’t waste any time signing him. At first, he wanted a mega £50,000 per/week but I was stubborn and refused to meet his ridiculous demands. I successfully persuaded him to reduce his wage demands to £29,500 per/week, saving me an awful amount of money yearly. I began to drool when I casted eyes on his unbelievable attributes. My coaches regard him as one of the best keepers in the Premier Division and a key member of our squad. His current ability is 4.5 stars! Just wait until you see his replacement ;-)

Anton Rakhimov:

Anton joins to add much needed cover to the left flank. Carlos Eduardo was my only recognized left winger prior to Anton’s arrival. I attempted to sign Anton when I was manager of Terek, but he rebuffed my offer. Again, the main reason he joined is because he’s Russian but he’s also a prospective left winger whom should blossom into a quality winger.

Pavel Skoblyakov:

This transfer saga seemed as if it would never end…. At first, Pavel was on loan at Dnipro of Ukraine and the option to sign him wasn’t available. Then Dnipro and Dinamo Moscow agreed a price for him, but I think contract negotiations broke down and Pavel remained a Dinamo player. I then made an offer, Dinamo raised that initial price but I kept reducing the price (I always do this). Transfer talks seem to have come to an conclusion when Dinamo negotiated the price to £3.5 million. I then continued to lower this price (stupid me!) but out of nowhere Dinamo raised the price to around £6.5 million!! I was lived, in a matter of days his value somehow doubled. Anyhow, I returned to playing the waiting game and kept reducing the price. This nonsense continued until we both finally agreed on £4.8 million, and as they say, the rest is history. This youngster has a current ability of 3 stars and a potential ability of 4 stars. Early indications show that he’s going to become a Rubin legend in years to come.

Nikolay Yershov:

Nikolay arrived in a deal worth £1.5 million from Dinamo Moscow. I’m stealing all their bright prospects :-D His potential ability of 3 stars and his versatility prompt me to sign him. He’s arguably one of the brightest Russian talents available and will definitely become an essential player for Rubin in the future. I’m optimistic that more young prospective Russians will join in the next few years. I’d love to create an all Russian starting XI!

Emanuel Diaz:

This gem arrives in Russia for £2.7 million and a profit can easily be made if things don’t work out for him here. Following the signing of Anton, I was intending to buy a right winger. Unfortunately I couldn’t locate a suitable target and decided to turn my intentions back to the left wing. Emuanel was bought for a reasonable price considering his potential and attributes. He’s kinda quick, has splendid dribbling skills, great first touch and magnificent technique. My coaches reckon he’ll turn into a quality player :-)

José Luis Gómez:

My marquee signing! I spent a gigantic £7 million on this regen which to be honest is a big risk so hopefully he won’t flop. José is unique and is already one of my best player, he’s current ability is rated 4 stars! Much similar to Kozlov, he flopped when given the role »poacher» as he missed some guilt edged opportunities. When I switched his role to »advanced forward», he scored his first and only goal thus far. (he’s only played 3 games) I’m astounded by how inconsistent most of my forwards have been since my appointment as manager. Anyhow, Gómez’ attributes suit an »advanced forward’‘ more than a »poacher», although I would much prefer to exploit his pace, finishing and off the ball with the »poachers» role as I think he would score more goals. Ah well… I’m positive Gómez will settle in soon and score loads and loads of goals for me!!

Chisamba Bamfuchile:

If you thought Delac was good, wait until you see this gem… Even at the tender age of 18, he’s one of the best keepers in the Russian Premier Division and I purchased him on deadline day for £1.3 million. I suggest you take a long deep breath before enlarging the image below, you’ll be astonished by what you’re going to witness. I don’t think any introduction is required thus I’ll let the picture do the talking on my behalf, just bear in mind he’s only 18 yrs old!!

Here’s my much sought after team report, the majority of the starting XI is 3 stars are more. Unsurprisingly Delac is my most influential player, closely followed by Gómez. I’ll be searching for a new center back, left back, central midfielder, attacking midfielder, and right winger therefore any suggestions (preferably Russian) will be appreciated.

Fixtures (Russian Premier Division):

My Premier Division results as followed, nothing spectacular. My team were enduring some squad transactions as I was left with a lot of mediocre individuals. I’m content with my start as we defeated two of Russians top clubs, Zenit + CSKA Moscow. The game against Lokomotiv Moscow was shocking, I must admit I did make some tactical mistakes prior and during the game. The defeat to Dinamo Moscow was tough to swallow, and the draw away to Rostov was also poor. Note how my strikers contributed just 5 goals during these 9 fixtures. This issue will have to be dealt with immediately or else we may be in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification.

Russian Premier Division:

We somewhat fortunately find ourselves occupying the last Champions League spot, although anyone from 8th position or above are still in contention to secure 3rd position. Terek are having a fantastic campaign and are amazingly just 1 point behind us in 4th spot. I regard Spartak Moscow are main rivals for the final Champions league position, and ironically we play them next, away! Lokomotiv look dangerous as well, and Dinamo Moscow may lead a late challenge as well. There’s no room for mistakes or lapses of concentration now, were in the midst of a battle and must perform at our maximum ability from here until the end of the season.

Russian Cup:

Not much to report here, we comfortably defeated Dinamo Bryansk 4-1 after extra time. They had 3 players sent off too!

Uefa Champions League:

Rubin finished in 3rd spot last campaign, consequently earning themselves a ticket for this years Champions League. Last season, they only reached the Best Placed Playoff as a superior Inter Milan team shattered their European dreams for another season. Fast forward another 12 months, would Rubin suffer similar fate? The answer is no! A comfortable 2-0 home victory against Greek AEK all but assured us a spot in the Best Placed Playoff stage. We lost 1-0 away but that didn’t matter. My heart dropped when we were pitted against Italian giants Roma in the playoff. We drew 1-1 at home but in the 2nd leg, supposedly »born leader» Daniele De Rossi received his marching orders after just half an hour and we scored twice to book our place in the group stages.  Btw, Roma have an amazing central midfield regen, here’s a picture:

I’d love to sign him! He’d be a phenomenal deep lying play-maker…

Anyhow, I guess you’re eager to see who we’ll entertain in the Champions League. Without further a-do, here are the group stages:

I remain extremely skeptical with regards to my Champions League group.  Albeit we should be able to pick up two wins against Steaua, I’m weary of the threat Lyon pose. I hate playing them, and they’ve an incredible team boasting players like Gervinho, Gourcuff, Jovetic, and Yannis Tafer. Man Utd are struggling in the Premier League but have still got a quality team. I’m unsure whether if we can sneak 2nd spot, hopefully we’ll beat Steaua home and away, beat Lyon at home, and gain a point from Man Utd at home. That will leave us with ten points,  we’ll probably need twelve to qualify. Hopefully Lyon will implode or something :-D

Above are our remaining fixtures for the campaign. The game against Spartak will be massive, although win, lose or draw, it won’t determine who’ll finish in 3rd spot, that’s for sure. Tbh, I’m pleased with our run in. Zenit, Spartak and Lokomotiv will be huge tests, but I’m hoping to prevail in most of my other league fixtures.

Well folks, thanks for reading and feel free to express your opinion or vent your antagonism in a structured manner. See you soon :-)