A GNK Dinamo Zagreb Story

[Klippybo]

GNK DINAMO ZAGREB

Right so I am committed to this save! Aberdeen got to easy and to ridiculous to quick so after much thought and consideration and editing the database so the Croatian league is up-to-date I have decided to stick my hat on managing in Croatia.

I have been longing for an enjoyable long term save since having a fine time with Red Star Belgrade so I figured managing one of their eternal rivals from a country that used to be part of Serbian (Yugoslavian) football made complete sense.

Since joining the Croatian league in 1991 Dinamo have been the most successful side in Croatian football history and are the only side from Croatia to have won a European trophy albeit back in the 1960's. Domestic dominance is expected and is a must but it is on the continent where progress will be tracked with more scrutiny.

The squad I take over has some fine players with the likes of Petkovic, Livakovic, Majer, Ivanusec and Orsic but they also have loads of quality youngsters and excellent youth facilities so I have to make sure I continue to develop the future stars of both Dinamo and the Croatian national side who I hope to manage in the future also.


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Founded - 1911 (as HSK Gradanski) - 1945 (as FD Dinamo)
Nicknames - Modri (The Blues), Purgeri (The Citizens)
Stadium - Stadion Maksimir
Capacity - 35,123
Fierce Rivals - Hajduk Split, Partizan Belgrade, Red Star Belgrade

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HONOURS
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Domestic (63)
Croatian football league system

• Prva HNL
  • Winner (22, record): 1992–93, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21​
• Croatian Cup
  • Winner (16, record): 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2020–21​
• Croatian Super Cup
  • Winner (6, record): 2002, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2019​
• Independent State of Croatia League
  • Winner (1): 1943​
• Banate of Croatia League
  • Winner (1): 1939–40​

Yugoslav football league system

• Yugoslav First League
  • Winner (9): 1923, 1926, 1928, 1936–37, 1939–40, 1947–48, 1953–54, 1957–58, 1981–82​
• Yugoslav Cup
  • Winner (8): 1938, 1951, 1959–60, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1968–69, 1979–80, 1982–83​

International / Continental (2)

• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
  • Winner (1): 1966–67​
• Balkans Cup
  

  • Winner (1): 1976–77​

​

 

[Klippybo]

SEASON BY SEASON RECORD
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SEASON	LEAGUE	CUP	SUPERCUP	UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
2020-21	WINNERS	WINNERS	WINNERS	Semi-Finals
2021-22
2022-23
2023-24
2024-25
2025-26
2026-27
2027-28
2028-29

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

So I took over Dinamo knowing about several of my players and quite confident that we can meet board expectations of winning everything domestically and crucially reaching the Champions League group stages although that will all depend on the draw. I had a bit of money to spend (just under £5m) and tons of players to select from be it from my reserve side or my U18s.

But - and it is a big but - I am flabbergasted that despite having all this Croatian talent I basically only had 1 of 4 players home grown by the club in my first team after I sold a couple! I am amazed at that and at the time of writing (opening day of the season) I have managed to get it up to 3.

The backroom team needed a bit of changing so that took a while but tbh most of it was about player transfers.............

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PLAYERS OUT

I raked in a fair bit of cash. Not only did I cash in on some transfer clauses but I sold 6 players for just under £4m. Al-Ain of the UAE and Nice of France bought 2 players each! Heading off to Al-Ain was striker Mario Gavrancic (£1.4m) and Marin Leovac (£725,000) while off to France is Ivo Pinto (£1.3m) and veteran keeper Danijel Zagorac (£400,000).

Komnen Andric was dumped to Red Star Belgrade for a cut price £65,000 while also leaving on the cheap was Marko Leskovic to HNK Gorica for £27,500 as I needed to sell a CB to make way for a youngster to get promoted to help fill the home grown by club rule for Europe.

Thats it so far!!!!

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PLAYERS IN

I needed a right winger and moved to sign Petar Bockaj from Osijek for £1.7m. He is a versatile player who has several standout attributes and the fact that he is home grown by the club made it a no brainer!

I am excited about my only other signing as I moved to bring in 20y/o left back Domagoj Bradaric back to Croatia from Lille for a bargain £2.7m. I needed someone in that position so to get a top prospect with decent pedigree for so cheap really is a coup.

I have arranged for a youngster to come in in January and I still have around £3m to spend.

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SQUAD

In goal I knew about Livakovic who is a great keeper but I didnt realise that they had a young backup keeper who could be just as good!!!!!

In defense we have good players for this league but they are probably lacking quality for the European competitions with Bradaric being a top prospect.

In midfield I have a host of quality players and not just in the first team. Misic and Ademi will probably play in the centre of midfield while at AMC Lovro Majer will be key. On the right Bockaj is my most natural player there but Luka Ivanusec is a great prospect and he can play anywhere in midfield. On the left Orsic will have that position but in backup for other positions in the midfield area I have so many decent players like the teenager Bulat, Tolic and Gojak to name 3.

Up front Petkovic will be the main man and tbh we are a bit light in that position with only Duje Cop being a recognised striker in my squad but I do have a few prospects lurking in the youth squads.

I should point out that my B team play in the 2nd division.

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SEASON AIMS

Win everything domestically and reach the Champions League group stages - simple! Tbh if we receive a tough draw I will take a Europa League spot but the money spinning behemoth that the Champions League offers is where our long term ambitions lie.​

 

[Klippybo]

Mislav Orsic


AUGUST

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski (Moharrami), Theophile-Catherine (Peric), Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi (Bulat), Misic, Bockaj (Kastrati), Ivanusec (Tolic), Orsic*, Petkovic

Mislav Orsic was the hero here as my left-winger scored a wonderful hat-trick including a 25 yard strike that flew into the far top corner. Osijek away is a tough opening fixture and with Majer out injured I expected a tight affair but we won fairly comfortably in the end.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen (Peric), Bradaric, Ademi, Misic, Kastrati, Ivanusec, Orsic*, Petkovic

Well now! Mislav Orsic has certainly started the season on fire with back to back hat-tricks! Lokomotiva are actually an affiliated club to us and I can get any of their players for free so basically they are another reserve side for us playing in the top tier! Maybe they should look into match fixing as they certainly didnt put up much of a fight here.

Bockaj was injured but Lirim Kastrati came into the side and grabbed a goal.

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UEFA Champions League Champions Path 2nd Qualifying Round

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine*, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi, Misic (Gojak), Kastrati, Ivanusec (Tolic), Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic (Cop)

We progress into the next round but Omonia made things tricky for us. We got a fortunate lead thanks to an own goal and looked to see the game out but they levelled however Kastrati crashed in an effort moments later to send us through.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi (Bulat), Misic, Kastrati (Menalo), Ivanusec, Orsic*, Petkovic

3 league games played - 3 hat-tricks for Mislav Orsic and he had a goal disallowed here. Unbelievable!!!!!

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SUMMARY

We have hit the ground running this season thats for sure and so has Mislav Orsic with his 3 hat-tricks in 3 league games. We are averaging over 5 goals a game in the league having hit 6 past Lokomotiva and 7 past Sibenik as my side have steamrollered the opposition and you have to remember that with Lovro Majer being out injured I have been missing a key player.

In the Champions League we sneaked past Omonia Nicosia and have an awkward tie away to Brondby in the next round.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MISLAV ORSIC

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1. HNL

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[Klippybo]

Bruno Petkovic


SEPTEMBER

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric*, Ademi, Gojak, Kastrati, Ivanusec, Orsic, Petkovic (Cop)

Rijeka are one of the better sides in Croatia so to go to their place and get the win is pleasing. We got 2 early goals with Kastrati scoring in his 4th game in a row.

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UEFA Champions League Champions Path 3rd Qualifying Round

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski (Moharrami), Peric (Sutalo), Lauritsen, Bradaric*, Ademi, Gojak, Kastrati, Ivanusec, Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic (Cop)

Lirim Kastrati scores again while Ivanusec fired in a great goal as we progress into the final qualifying round. Kastrati has no standout attributes apart from blistering pace so his scoring run is certainly surprising.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Peric, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Moubandje), Ademi (Bulat), Gojak (Topic), Kastrati (Majer), Ivanusec, Orsic*, Petkovic

We win against our biggest domestic rivals in the Eternal Derby. Orsic had us in front with his 10th goal of the season but they levelled on the half hour mark only for Petkovic to nod home seconds later for us and Ivanusec sealed the win with another terrific effort. He is actually keeping Lovro Majer out of the side at AMC but Kastrati got injured so he may be moved over to the RW next match.

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UEFA Champions League Champions Path Playoff 1st Leg

Lineup - Livakovic*, Ristovski, Peric, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Moubandje), Ademi, Gojak, Ivanusec (Bockaj), Majer, Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic (Cop)

Disappointing. Bodo/Glimt knocked out Rangers in the last round and they should have won here as we didnt turn up. We didnt have a single shot on target although Majer did have a goal disallowed but so did they but they also hit the post in stoppage time plus Livakovic made a number of good saves and deservedly won the MOM award.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Peric, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi (Bulat), Gojak (Tolic), Ivanusec, Majer (Kastrati), Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic*

A convincing away victory with Petkovic notching a hat-trick although he was helped by the referee awarding us 2 penalties. Bradaric collected his first goal for the club too.

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UEFA Champions League Champions Path Playoff 2nd Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski (Moharrami), Peric, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Moubandje), Ademi, Gojak, Ivanusec (Bockaj), Majer*, Orsic, Petkovic

We reach the group stages of the Champions League as we showed Bodo/Glimt what we were all about after a poor performance in the first leg. I was a bit concerned when they pulled a goal back to give them an away goal but they kindly scored an OG for us and gifted Petkovic the 4th with a poor pass back.

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SUMMARY

This month was all about qualifying for the Champions League group stages and while we were successful after defeating Brondby and Bodo/Glimt it soon became apparent when we were drawn in the groups that we neednt have bothered (apart from getting £14m) as despite being seeded 3rd we have been given the worst possible draw alongside Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and AC Milan!!!!

Domestically everything was a cakewalk as expected and we got a fine win over our biggest rivals, Hajduk Split. It looks at the moment that nobody will be able to compete with us such is our firepower up front.

I forgot to mention last month about the closing of the transfer window. I didnt sign anybody but this month I received an offer from Rennes for my former Cardiff City defender Theophile-Catherine which I rejected but their are clubs looking at several of my star players already.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
BRUNO PETKOVIC

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1. HNL

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[Klippybo]

Dominik Livakovic


OCTOBER

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Peric, Lauritsen, Bradaric*, Ademi, Gojak, Ivanusec, Majer (Tolic), Orsic, Petkovic

This was a fans day for us so it was nice to put on a little bit of a show however Majer was taken off with an injury early on and will be out for a couple of weeks.

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Hrvatski Kup 1st Round

Lineup - Nevistic, Moharrami (Sutalo), Theophile-Catherine, Peric, Moubandje, Bulat, Misic, Ivanusec, Tolic, Bockaj*, Cop

With Rudar being a non league side and with a few players away on international duty I decided to play my backups here and they won easily enough. Bockaj has been a disgrace in training and with his attitude but he popped up with 2 goals here with one being a screamer.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Moubandje), Ademi, Misic, Ivanusec (Bockaj), Tolic, Orsic*, Petkovic

Not for the first time this season we suffocate our opponents so much that they didnt even get a shot on goal! Tolic and Petkovic scored for us from close range as we keep up our 100% record.

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UEFA Champions League Group B

Lineup - Livakovic*, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Moubandje), Bulat, Misic, Ivanusec, Tolic (Majer), Orsic (Bockaj), Petkovic

I am overjoyed about this result as I expected us to get battered - and we did - but we somehow escaped with a draw thanks to a great performance from Livakovic. My midfield was hopeless and my attackers did nothing. It was all down to the defense.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami (Peric), Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi, Misic, Ivanusec (Bockaj), Tolic (Majer), Orsic*, Petkovic

Mislav Orsic was our saviour here as he scored with the last kick of the game to give us the points. We battered Istra but couldnt find the goal until right at the death.

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UEFA Champions League Group B

Lineup - Livakovic*, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Bulat, Misic, Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer, Orsic, Petkovic (Cop)

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!

We go to the Bernabeu and take all 3pts thanks to a terrific performance. For an hour we were all over them and we rewarded when Lauritsen scored a scrappy goal. We just needed to hold on and in the final 30min they finally turned up and bombarded us but we kept them out. They did play a weakened side but for us to go there and take all 3pts is pretty special.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Moubandje), Ademi*, Misic (Bulat), Kastrati, Ivanusec (Tolic), Menalo (Bockaj), Petkovic (Cop)

We werent at our best here but we got the win and yet another clean sheet. Misic put us in front with a great effort from the edge of the area and Duje Cop came off the bench to seal things with a decent individual goal.

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SUMMARY

This month certainly went better than expected!!!! Domestically we werent anything special but we won all 5 games in the league and cup although we werent overly convincing in doing so but in the league we have already built up a massive 11pt lead! When I managed Red Star Belgrade I was always striving to have a perfect season and that is certainly an aim while I manage here.

It was however in the Champions League where we have been pulling up trees as miraculously we got a 0-0 draw away to AC Milan and then we went one better by beating Real Madrid 1-0 at the Bernabeu. The £3.2m in prize money is certainly most welcome but the fact that we have 4pts against the odds means if we can get another point or 2 then a place in the Europa League after Christmas certainly isnt out of question.

I have already spent the prize money as the board have agreed to improve both the training facilities and youth facilities while the youth coaching budget has also been increased.

Regarding my squad, due to the games being crammed in I have a few players who regularly need rested so I have given a few a week off so they will miss the Champions League game against Bayern Munich. Also Petar Bockaj has been an absolute disgrace as his attitude, training levels and constant moaning has meant that he has found his name on the transfer list. I need him though as he is home grown by the club but I am prepared to promote a youngster rather than have this rat around the club.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DOMINIK LIVAKOVIC

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1. HNL

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[Klippybo]

Lovro Majer


NOVEMBER

UEFA Champions League Group B

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Moubandje, Bulat, Misic, Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer (Peric), Menalo, Petkovic (Cop)

Gutted!!!

We were hopeless here. Sure we played a half with 10 men so to only lose late in stoppage time would make you think that we did well but no. Not one of my players apart from the imperious Livakovic put in a performance with a rating above 6.7 which shows how dismal that we were.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Moubandje (Brekalo), Bulat, Misic, Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer*, Menalo, Petkovic

Lovro Majer has struggled to get a regular run in the side due to injuries and he finally put in a standout performance here with his 2 goals. My feeder side, Lokomotiva, are bottom of the league so I may look to strengthen them in the winter transfer window.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski (Moharrami), Theophile-Catherine (Peric), Lauritsen, Bradaric, Bulat, Misic, Ivanusec, Majer, Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic

No 100% record for this league season then!

I am raging. We beat Sibenik 7-1 last time and we should have done that again here such was our dominance as we had 35 shots on goal with 18 on target yet we walk away with just a point after conceding late on. Ivanusec also had a goal disallowed. A bad day at the office.

The fact that their equaliser was scored by one of my players out on loan is particularly laughable.

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UEFA Champions League Group B

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski (Mohamarri), Peric, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Bulat, Misic, Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer (Sutalo), Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic (Cop)

Everything went wrong for us here. We had a man sent-off early on so it was all about damage limitation and everything was fine until Cop went off injured with 20min to go which meant we were down to 9 men and then they scored 3 times as they ran all over us.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Mohamarri, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen (Peric), Bradaric (Moubandje), Bulat (Gojak), Misic, Kastrati, Majer*, Menalo, Petkovic

Rijeka will never have a better chance to beat us as we were missing 6 players due to fitness issues so for us to go out and smash in 5 goals is quite something!

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SUMMARY

We struggled a bit this month both on and off the park. Injuries, fitness levels, and suspensions all mounted up and proved costly in some matches none more so than in our 2 Champions League ties against Bayern Munich as we had a defender sent-off in the first half in both games. We almost got an unlikely draw at home to Bayern but we conceded a stoppage time goal.

In the league we dropped our first points of the season thanks to my own player scoring against me but we really should have won that much as we battered them. Other than that we did alright with a 5-2 victory over Rijeka at the end of the month being the highlight.

I cant wait until we get to the winter break to give my players a period of rest!!!!!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
LOVRO MAJER

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1. HNL

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[Klippybo]

Luka Menalo


DECEMBER

UEFA Champions League Group B

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Moubandje, Brekalo, Ademi, Misic (Gojak), Kastrati (Menalo*), Majer, Orsic, Petkovic

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT A WIN!!!!!!!

We went into this game with a makeshift defence yet somehow we came from behind to strike 2 late goals to get the win which secures at least 3rd place in the group. I was off my seat celebrating when Petkovic levelled but when Menalo struck in injury time I was screaming at my laptop!!!! lol. If we beat Real Madrid we will finish 2nd and qualify for the knockout stages but we can afford to lose to Real if Bayern beat Milan on the final day.

Surely we cant qualify from this group???

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Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi (Bulat), Misic, Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer* (Tolic), Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic

We move 14pts clear of Hajduk at the top of the league with this derby victory with Mislav Orsic bundling the ball in from close range. Petkovic needs a rest but my only other striker in the first team, Duje Cop, is injured!

Now for the huge game against Real Madrid.................

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UEFA Champions League Group B

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski (Moharrami), Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Moubandji), Ademi, Misic (Gojak), Ivanusec, Majer* (Tolic), Orsic (Menalo), Barisic

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We went into this match with Bruno Petkovic injured so rookie 17y/o striker, Bartol Barisic, came into the side and he was part of the side that pulled off a magnificent victory against the mighty Real Madrid who once again played a weakened side against us. The pitch was covered in snow so I found it hard to see the goals go in in the highlights but I am reliably informed that we scored 3!!!! lol.

To qualify for the knockout stages from this group will be our greatest achievement this season. In the end we could have lost against Real Madrid and we would have still have qualified. Amazing!!!!!

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Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi (Gojak), Misic*, Ivanusec (Menalo), Majer (Tolic), Orsic, Petkovic (Barisic)

A standard victory with goals from Misic and Manelo yet again who has really made an impression of late. This was a fans day and was apparently a huge success with a bumper crowd of just over 12,000 yet that is just a 3rd of the capacity of the stadium!

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Hrvatski Kup 2nd Round

Lineup - Livakovic, Theophile-Catherine, Peric, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Moubandje*), Ademi (Gojak), Misic (Bulat), Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer (Tolic), Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic

Fair play to Gorica who managed to take my first choice side to extra-time but perversely 3 of my backup players got the goals in the extra-period to take us through into the next round.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen (Peric), Bradaric, Ademi*, Misic (Gojak), Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer (Tolic), Menalo (Bockaj), Cop

Nothing much to say here lol.

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SUMMARY

We march into 2021 delighted with ourselves as we had a fantastic December. Domestically we progressed in the cup and won our 3 league matches including a derby win over Hajduk Split as our lead at the top of the table is now 14pts. With only 7 goals conceded and a ton of goals scored nobody will get near us.

It was in the Champions League where we really shone as we scored 2 late goals to beat AC Milan to have an advantage going into the final matchday and then we went out and thumped a lacklustre Real Madrid 3-0 on a snow covered pitch to secure 2nd spot and a knockout place in the next round. Not only will we get an 8 figure sum for playing in the 2nd round but we have been given the most favourable draw as we will play Shakhtar Donetsk.

We go into January with about £7m to spend but I dont actually think I will spend anything as I have already arranged a signing. If something special comes up I will make a move but I may keep my money until the summer.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
LUKA MENALO

--

1. HNL

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[Klippybo]

Arijan Ademi


JANUARY

Hrvatski Superkup

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami (Ristovski), Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi, Misic, Ivanusec, Majer, Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic*

We return to action after the winter break with a trophy victory as we beat Rijeka to claim the Superkup. Ivanusec and Petkovic got early goals and that was enough for us to get the victory.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Theophile-Catherine (Ristovski), Peric, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Moubandje), Ademi, Misic, Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer, Menalo, Petkovic*

Istra have been the surprise package this season as they lie in 3rd place but we wiped the floor with them here. Petkovic scored twice and with the arrival of my new striker he is now under pressure to score regularly otherwise he may find himself on the bench.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen (Peric), Bradaric, Ademi, Misic*, Ivanusec, Majer (Tolic), Menalo, Petkovic (Arezo)

Slaven Belupo frustrated us here as they defended very well and despite all our efforts on goal and chances created we had to rely on a penalty from Tolic to get the points.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Moubandje), Ademi (Bulat), Misic (Gojak), Ivanusec, Majer (Tolic), Menalo*, Petkovic (Arezo)

A fine victory. Menalo may be a backup winger for me but he has contributed a fair bit this season and his 2 goals here take him up to 7 for the season.

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SUMMARY

We enjoyed our winter break and have come back in decent form as we won the Superkup against Rijeka and won our next 3 games as our domestic dominance continues and with a 19pt lead with 17 games to go I wonder how soon we will win the league?

It seems that the Croatian transfer window is not alligned with the rest of Europe! It actually opened midway through the month and ends I presume in mid February which is kinda weird. I have sold maybe a dozen young players who didnt have a future but have also cashed in on a few.

The disgrace that is Petar Bockaj has been loaned out to Osijek and he will sign permanently in the summer for £525,000 which is over £1m of a loss but just to get him out of the club was a bonus. Udinese signed my 3rd choice keeper for £650,000 and my back up left back, Moubandje for £700,000 while Kristijan Jakic joined Osijek for £600,000. The others all left on frees or for paltry fees.

Incoming was my new striker Matias Arezo! Just like my Red Star Belgrade save I made my move to sign the Uruguayan but he will not be guaranteed a start as Bruno Petkovic has hold of the jersey but he is going to be a top player and should excel here.

I now have to find a replacement left back for the first team squad while I have promoted 17y/o RW Ivan Saranic to replace Bockaj for that position and be my 4th home grown by club player.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
BRUNO PETKOVIC

--

1. HNL

​

 

[Klippybo]

Luka Ivanusec


FEBRUARY

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine (Sutalo), Peric, Brekalo, Ademi, Misic, Ivanusec, Majer*, Menalo, Petkovic

Lokomotiva have really kicked on and have hit form and steered themselves away from the relegation scrap but we put a dent in their run of form by beating them here despite being short of defenders.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Pajac, Gojac, Misic, Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer*, Menalo (Orsic), Petkovic (Arezo)

Sibenik are bottom of the league but are the only side to take a point off us this season in the league. Lovro Majer scored a hat-trick to double his tally for the season. Marko Pajac made his debut here. This was another fan day for the club.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Theophile-Catherine, Peric, Lauritsen, Pajac, Ademi, Gojac, Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer (Tolic), Menalo (Orsic), Petkovic (Arezo)

Matias Arezo's first goal for the club rescued a point for us as we drop points for the 2nd time this season. We fell behind early on and then battered them but we couldnt find the goal until Arezo bundled the ball home late on.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Pajac), Ademi, Gojak, Ivanusec*, Majer (Tolic), Orsic, Petkovic (Arezo)

We bounce back with a derby victory over Hajduk Split. Petkovic and Ivanusec struck the goals for us and although they had a goal sandwiched in between we were comfortable winners.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen (Caceres), Bradaric (Pajac), Gojak, Misic*, Ivanusec, Tolic, Orsic, Petkovic

A convincing away victory as we put 5 goals past Gorica. We were irresistible in the first half as we scored 4 and got a fortunate 5th goal immediately after half-time. Caceres came off the bench to make his debut.

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen*, Bradaric, Ademi, Misic (Bulat), Ivanusec (Kastrati), Tolic, Orsic, Arezo

A fantastic win as we surely have booked our place in the quarter-finals. Petkovic was out due to injury but Arezo struck to give us the lead. Bradaric doubled our lead just after the hour mark and moments later Lauritsen netted the 3rd for his 3rd of the competition and is our top scorer in the competition this season!

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi (Bulat), Misic (Gojak), Ivanusec, Majer, Orsic, Arezo*

5 goals for Arezo!!!!!!!!! This was his first league start so for him to smash in 5 goals is certainly something! Everything he touched went in with one goal even being a defender clearing the ball off him only to see it spin into the net!

--

SUMMARY

We did drop another 2pts in the league this month bot overall we did pretty well with the highlight not being the 7-0 win at the end of the month but our 3-0 victory in the Champions League over Shakhtar Donetsk. We have one foot in the quarter-finals which is unthinkable really especially when you take into consideration the group that we qualified out of!

I made 2 more signings. Moubandje's replacement is Marko Pajac who joined us from Brescia for £375,000. The Croat was fairly cheap and while he wont be a long term option he should do a decent job for us.

Then on deadline day I added another CB by signing 21y/o Uruguayan Sebastian Caceres. He looks a decent young player and I will most likely loan him out next season.

Annoyingly Matias Arezo is ****** off with me because apparently I didnt follow through with my promise to strengthen the defense despite me signing 2 defenders!!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
LOVRO MAJER

--

1. HNL

​

 

[Klippybo]

MARCH

Hrvatski Kup Quarter-Final

Lineup - Nevistic, Moharrami, Peric*, Caceres, Pajac, Bulat, Gojak, Kastrati (Saranic), Tolic, Menalo (Cop), Arezo

I played my backups here and they got us through to the semis where we will play a non-league side so my backups will get another run out then too.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi, Misic (Gojak), Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer (Tolic), Orsic (Menalo), Arezo*

The goals continue to come for Arezo as he struck twice here and he has hold of the strikers jersey ahead of Petkovic at the moment. Kevin Theophile-Catherine got off the mark for the season too.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine (Petric), Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi, Misic, Ivanusec, Majer*, Orsic (Menalo), Arezo

This was a fans day at the club and it was a great success as we scored 5 goals with Arezo collecting another 2 goals and he also had a goal disallowed to deny him his hat-trick. Ivanusec also struck twice while Ademi scored his first goal of the season.

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg

Lineup - Livakovic*, Ristovski (Moharrami), Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Bulat (Gojak), Misic, Ivanusec, Majer (Tolic), Orsic, Petkovic (Cop)

We go into the quarter-finals but it was a lot closer than it should have been. They surged into a 2 goal lead and although we pulled a goal back they went into half-time 3-1 up and needed another 2 goals to knock us out but as it was we managed to keep them out and Duje Cop struck for us in stoppage time to seal a 5-3 aggregate win. I rested Arezo and Ademi here.

--

Lineup - Livakovic*, Ristovski (Moharrami), Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi (Bulat), Misic (Gojak), Kastrati (Menalo), Majer, Orsic, Arezo (Petkovic)

Our 3rd draw in the league this season and this is the first time that we have failed to score so it was a bad day at the office for us.

--

Hrvatski Kup Semi-Final

Lineup - Nevistic, Moharrami, Peric, Caceres, Pajac, Bulat, Gojak, Kastrati, Tolic, Menalo, Petkovic*

My backups see us cruise into the final where we will play Rijeka. Petkovic scored a hat-trick while Kastrati could have had one also as he scored 1 and had 2 disallowed all in the first half!

--

SUMMARY

We head into the penultimate month of the season in fine fettle as we are 22pts clear at the top of the league, have booked a place in the Croatian Cup final and are in the Champions League quarter-finals where we will play Man City having knocked out Shakhtar Donetsk. I dont for one minute think that we will beat Man City over 2 legs but then again I was even more convinced that we wouldnt get out of our group earlier in the season.

We will play Rijeka in the Croatian Cup final and so we will be naturally favourites for that final.

As for the youth intake I got 2 decent looking strikers and a centre half who look like good prospects.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MATIAS AREZO

--

1. HNL

​

 

[Klippybo]

APRIL

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine (Arezo), Lauritsen, Bradaric, Gojak (Tolic), Misic (Bulat), Ivanusec, Majer*, Orsic, Petkovic

CHAMPIONS!!!!!

What a way to seal the title as we hit Sibenik for 7 for the 2nd time this season. I stuck with Petkovic after he scored a hat-trick in our last match and he responded with 4 goals while Majer scored 2 from distance and Tolic even had one disallowed late on. When they had 2 men sent-off within 2min I changed formation to a 3-1-4-2 in order to really pummel them.

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg

Lineup - Livakovic*, Ristovski (Moharrami), Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi, Misic (Gojak), Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer, Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic (Arezo)

WHAT A ******* RESULT!!!!!!!

We edge out Man City here thanks to a goal from Lovro Majer - his 10th of the season. Man City were the better side but by no means were we playing poorly as we were always in it but out of our 9 efforts on goal the only one that hit the target found the net.

We are still not favourites to go through though as they will be a different beast in their home leg I would expect.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski (Moharrami), Theophile-Catherine (Peric), Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi (Bulat), Misic, Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer*, Orsic, Petkovic

I have ****** up big time here. Seeing that my players were almost all 100% fit I just picked the same starting XI but with the league having already been decided I really should have played my backups for the 2nd leg of the Man City game. So what happens? Ivanusec gets injured and will miss the 2nd leg.

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski (Moharrami), Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi (Bulat), Misic (Gojak), Kastrati, Majer (Saranic), Orsic, Petkovic

THE DREAM CONTINUES!!!!!!!!!!!

What a result. Man City battered us from start to finish but wasted a load of chances and then we had a 10 minute spell in the 2nd half when Kastrati had a goal disallowed and we got the lead when Petkovic converted a penalty to get his 30th goal of the season. I immediately went ultra defensive and although they pulled a goal back they never looked like getting the 3 that they needed.

Man Utd are up next in the semi-finals.

IN THE SEMI ****** FINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Theophile-Catherine, Peric, Bradaric (Pajac), Ademi, Misic (Bojak), Kastrati*, Majer (Tolic), Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic (Arezo)

Kastrati to the rescue!!! He struck in the last minute to give us the win in the pre-cursor to the final of the Croatian Cup final.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Theophile-Catherine (Caceres), Peric, Pajac, Gojak, Misic (Bulat), Kaistrati, Majer (Tolic), Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic*

A fine victory and I am especially pleased with this victory as this fixture on paper was our toughest one left so an unbeaten season is certainly on the cards. Petkovic had a goal disallowed to deny him his hat-trick while their goalscorer also suffered the same fate.

We have now scored 99 league goals in the league this season which is a new record and we have 4 games left to play.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Rostovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Pajac, Gojak, Misic, Kastrati (Menalo), Majer (Ivanusec), Orsic, Petkovic*

2 more goals for Petkovic. He was dropped when Arezo couldnt stop scoring and he has forced his way back into the side and is now on fire and keeping Arezo out! We are now on 93pts - a new record.

--

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi (Gojak), Misic, Kastrati (Menalo), Ivanusec (Tolic), Orsic (Cop), Petkovic (Arezo)

The miracles keep on coming!!!!!

Somehow we come away with a score draw. They had 18 shots, we had 5 but we were given a very soft late penalty and converted it to give us the lead and a vital away goal. Infuriatingly they levelled moments later and went on to miss so many chances and we are one good home performance away from the final.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Theophile-Catherine (Caceres), Peric (Sutalo), Pajac, Ademi (Bulat), Gojak, Kastrati (Saranic), Ivanusec (Tolic), Orsic, Petkovic*

We have really hit top form. We scored another 6 goals here with Petkovic scoring a hat-trick but Ivan Saranic came off the bench for his league debut to score twice which was really pleasing.

--

SUMMARY

This month was near perfect!

We wrapped up the title first of all with a stunning 7-0 away victory over Sibenik and we went on to win our next 5 league games with a 6-0 win over Hrvatski Dragovoljac at the end of the month bookmarking it very nicely. With 2 games left to play we are 28pts clear of 2nd place which is just remarkable. I dont think as Red Star Belgrade manager I had a winning margin so big.

We now just have to remain unbeaten in our final 2 games to have an undefeated league campaign.

As has been the case this season our European exploits continue to amaze me. We beat Man City at home in our first leg of our quarter-final tie thanks to a Lovro Majer goal but I didnt expect to draw the 2nd leg 1-1 to get into the semis! Then we played our first leg of the semi-finals and somehow came away from Old Trafford with a 1-1 draw so that means we are at home for the 2nd leg. We are far from favourites going into the tie but we are probably the most in form tie in Europe.

Perversely if we went onto win the Champions League it would probably ruin the save 1 season in so I will be both gutted and delighted if we do do the unthinkable.

To put it into perspective my Red Star Belgrade side was about 5 times better than this side and the best I got was a runners-up spot so for this side to even get to the quarter-finals has been ridiculous.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
BRUNO PETKOVIC

--

1. HNL

​

 

[Klippybo]

Lirim Kastrati


MAY

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski (Moharrami), Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi (Bulat), Misic (Gojak), Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer, Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic

The dream ends and I can accept that but for it to end in the 2nd minute of stoppage time is heart-breaking. We were actually the better side and it was probably our best attacking performance in Europe this season but in the end it was not enough. I am so proud of my players but I am so gutted at the same time.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski*, Caceres, Peric, Bradaric, Ademi (Bulat), Misic (Gojak), Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer (Saranic), Menalo, Petkovic (Arezo)

We are 1 game away from having an unbeaten season in the league now. Petkovic scored again and now he has scored 13 goals in our last 7 league games!!!!

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski (Moharrami), Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ademi, Misic, Ivanusec, Majer*, Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic

WE ARE THE INVINCIBLES!!!!!!!!!

We wrap the league title up with a decent win and have completed the season with an unbeaten record and we have racked up 102pts, scoring 113 goals and finishing 34pts clear of Hajduk Split in 2nd place!

--

Hrvatski Kup Final

Lineup - Livakovic, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Peric, Bradaric, Ademi (Bulat), Misic, Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer (Tolic), Orsic*, Petkovic (Arezo)

We complete the domestic treble with a steady performance against Rijeka here. Orsic struck twice to take his final goal tally of the season up to 23 which is pretty impressive for a left winger.

--

SUMMARY

We wrap up the season by completing the league season unbeaten and winning the Croatian Cup by defeating Rijeka 2-0 however it was our Champions League semi-final 2nd leg against Man United that meant the most.

In the end we played our hearts out and were the better side but it wasnt enough as we lost 2-1 thanks to a stoppage time goal from Marcus Rashford. To get to the semi finals is a magnificent achievement and I am gutted to go out like we did.

End of season post to follow.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MISLAV ORSIC

​

 

[Klippybo]

END OF SEASON POST

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that we would have the season that we did. Going into the season sure I thought a domestic treble was possible but I didnt think that we would beat records ***** nilly and have an unbeaten season in the league. As for Europe I thought if we reached the Champions League group stages we would be happy and if given a kind draw we might be able to sneak into the Champions League but in the end we got the toughest draw we could have had and ended up losing in the semi-finals!!!!!!!!!

In the league we were imperious with 33 wins and 3 draws. We set records galore and only needed 1 more goal to have a final goal difference of +100!!!!! There were so many standout results yet laughably one of our 3 draws was against the relegated side Sibenik when my own player scored the equaliser against us!!!!!

We cruised to the Croatian Cup final as a semi-final against a non league side proves and I largely played my backups in the competition and in the final a Mislav Orsic double was enough to give us the victory while we edged out Rijeka in the Superkup.

Finally there was our Champions League campaign and that is where the magic happened!!!!! We started in the 2nd qualifying round and as we progressed we knocked out Omonia Nicosia, Brondby and Bodo/Glimt to reach the group stages. We were then drawn against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and AC Milan so there was no chance of us even getting 3rd place but **** me we finished 2nd!!!!! Bayern beat us home and away as we had a CB sent-off in the first half in both matches but we took 4pts off of AC Milan and beat Real Madrid home and away to reach the knockout stages.

If our draw for the group stage was a nightmare then our draw for the knockout stages was certainly in our favour as we were drawn against Shakhtar Donetsk and we edged them out 5-3 on aggregate. Next up was Man City and after beating them 1-0 at home we somehow managed to get a 1-1 draw at the Etihad to reach the semis but alas that was where our run ended. We got a great 1-1 draw away to Man Utd but although we were the better team in the 2nd leg we lost 2-1 thanks to a goal deep into stoppage time which sent us packing.

Our achievements were unbelievable but in a way I have to write this season off as a one off as there are a few mitigating factors. The covid schedule is one thing, my updated database is another and the fact that hardly any transfers happen in the first season is the final factor. I dont expect to reach the Champions League semis next season that is for sure.

My reserve side won the 2nd tier by 18pts so they stormed it while my affiliate club Lokomotiva ended up in mid table in the top division so they had successful seasons.

--

1. HNL TABLE

--

FIRST TEAM SQUAD

Goalkeepers - Dominik Livakovic had a stand-out season as he had 6 MOM awards in a side that dominated throughout the season. He was magnificent and he has just been offered a bumper new contract to keep his suitors at bay. Ivan Nevistic is a quality young keeper but only got 3 token appearances in the cup.

Defenders - My defenders played well despite being by far the weakest part of my side. I did bring in Domagoj Bradaric from Lille for £2.7m and he made the left back spot his own and contributed 2 goals and 10 assists. On the right hand side Stefan Ristovski was the main man but Sadegh Moharrami also got plenty of opportunities. My CB pairing of Kevin Theophile-Catherine and Rasmus Lauritsen were superb. Lauritsen was the more impressive and he scored 3 goals in our Champions League campaign and while neither are world beaters both performed admirably. Dino Peric was the main backup there.

Midfielders - At CM my partnership of Ademi and Misic was pretty solid. Ademi was the more defensive of the 2 with Misic offering more going forward as he scored 6 and assisted 14. Gojak when called upon never let me down as backup but the young and talented Marko Bulat was very disappointing when called upon.

Luka Ivanusec basically played the entire season out of position on the RW so I will forgive him for his average rating dropping below my minimum acceptable level of 7.00. He scored 15 goals and got 7 assists and I expect him to improve in the future as he is still young. On the left wing Mislav Orsic started the season on fire as he scored 3 consecutive hat-tricks in our opening 3 league fixtures and he ended up with 23 goals and 11 assists. As for AMC Lovro Majer was amazing. He struggled for fitness at the start of the season but when he got going he was imperious as he scored 11 goals and assisted 24 as he was the main creative force in the side.

My backups for the attacking midfield options all did well apart from the ***** Bockaj. Kastrati scored 11 goals while Menalo and Tolic scored 8 each.

Forwards - Bruno Petkovic had a standout season as he scored 40 goals in 50 appearances and he really hit top form towards the end of the season. He had no competition for his place until January when I signed Matias Arezo. My young Uruguayan striker managed to force him out of the team with a spell as he scored 5 goals in one match and 9 in 3 but Petkovic managed to force himself back into the side and those 2 will have some battle for the one spot next season!

My Player of the Season - Lovro Majer
My Young Player of the Season - Luka Ivanusec
Must Improve - Marko Bulat
Donkey of the Season - Petar Bockaj

--

SUMMER PLANS

Its all about strengthening my first team squad with the defense being my main focus I would think. When I joined the club the bank balance was £14m but with all the reward money for our Champions League we are now sitting on £33m and I have been given half of that for my transfer budget so I have a decent budget to spend. In midfield and attack I am fairly happy but I will also scour Croatia for some top prospects.​

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

This will be a short pre-season post as tbh I havent done much and my squad is actually weaker than it was at the end of the season. I have only signed 1 player for the first team but sold 3 and loaned out 2. Frustratingly we are in the 1st qualifying rounds for the Champions League which is ridiculous considering we reached the semis last season so our season is starting on the 7th of July which is when I am typing this.

Thankfully Croatia have been eliminated from Euro 2020 so I have those players back!!!!!

--

PLAYERS OUT

Gangzhou City bought 2 of my players as they shelled out £2.3m for Kevin Theophile-Catherine and £1.8m for Stefan Ristovski. Both did well for me last season but I felt that I had to strengthen in the defensive area and with them being the oldest 2 they were the first out the door.

Petar Bockaj completed his move to Osijek for £525,000 so good riddance to him and he will be joined by Josip Sutalo who I loaned out to them.

Duje Cop left to join OH Leuven for £450,000 which could rise up to £600,000 and all the rest of the deals were players in my reserve side although Sebastian Caceres was loaned out back to Nacional of Uruguay for the season.

I should add that I have rejected several bids for Majer, Petkovic, Ademi, Bradaric, Gojak, Ivanusec and Orsic. Most of the bids came from Chinese clubs although Bayern Munich were the side sniffing about Lovro Majer.

--

PLAYERS IN

My only signing for the first team was unsurprisingly a defender and I paid £6m which is a new club and national record for a transfer fee to land him. In from Lokomotiv Moscow is Tin Jedvaj. He can play at RB or CB and tbh I dont know where he will play at the minute although he wants to play at RB. He started his career with Dinamo so he will count as a home grown player by the club which is a bonus.

My only other signing was a prospect from Varazdin - Karlo Lusavec - on a free.

Thats all folks!

Expect more signings before the deadline ends!!!!!​

 

[Klippybo]

JULY

UEFA Champions League Champions Path 1st Qualifying Round 1st Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Jedvaj, Lauritsen (Peric), Pajac, Ademi, Gojak, Ivanusec (Saranic), Tolic, Orsic*, Petkovic

Our season gets underway with an easy victory over the Albaniain side. Petkovic struck twice, Jedvaj scored on his return to the club while Mislav Orsic scored 1 but assisted 3.

--

UEFA Champions League Champions Path 1st Qualifying Round 2nd Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Peric (Franjic), Lauritsen, Jedvaj*, Bulat, Gojak, Saranic, Tolic (Kastrati), Orsic (Menalo), Arezo

I rested a couple of players here knowing that we were safely through. They decided to help us out further by having a man sent-off in the first minute so I immediately changed to an attacking mentality and we then put them to the sword and we scored an incredible 12 goals!!!!! Arezo helped himself to 5, Saranic struck with 2 free-kicks but it was Tin Jedvaj, playing out of position at left-back who took the MOM award with a goal and 2 assists.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Peric, Lauritsen, Jedvaj, Bulat, Gojak (Baturina), Saranic (Kastrati), Tolic (Ivanusec), Orsic, Arezo*

A decent start to our league campaign as we win 4-0. I plumped to go for Arezo up front after he scored 5 in our last match and he was one of only 4 first choice players who started here so to win so convincingly was quite impressive.

--

UEFA Champions League Champions Path 2nd Qualifying Round 1st Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Peric (Borevkovic), Lauritsen, Jedvaj*, Gojak, Misic (Bulat), Saranic (Kastrati), Tolic, Orsic, Arezo

Not bad. I expected a result like this against the team from Cyprus. Gojak bundled the ball home to give us the lead while Arezo and Tolic both scored from outside the area. Borevkovic made his debut here off the bench.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Jedvaj, Borevkovic, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Moharrami), Ceballos, Misic (Gojak), Ivanusec, Majer*, Orsic (Menalo), Arezo

I had more of a recognizable first choice team out for this match and gave a debut to Dani Ceballos who picked up one of the goals as we put 6 past them. Majer missed a penalty also.

--

UEFA Champions League Champions Path 2nd Qualifying Round 2nd Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Jedvaj (Moharrami), Borevkovic, Lauritsen, Bradaric*, Gojak, Misic, Ivanusec (Saranic), Majer, Orsic, Arezo (Petkovic)

We took a while to get going here but once Bradaric scored a screamer to put us ahead the barricades were open and we ended up with 5. Ivan Saranic has certainly impressed me so far and he came off the bench to head in twice.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Jedvaj (Moharrami), Borevkovic, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ceballos, Misic (Gojak), Ivanusec, Majer, Orsic*, Arezo (Petkovic)

The goals continue to flow as we put 5 past Istra 1961. Orsic and Ivanusec helped themselves to 2 apiece while Lovro Majer also picked up a goal. Very pleasing.

--

SUMMARY

Jeezo. Where to start??

We had 7 games this month and at the end of it we scored 42 goals which is an average of 6 goals a game - quite incredible. But that doesnt tell even half the story!!!!

I will start with the results. We have had 3 league games and won 4-0, 6-0 and 5-2 so that was all fairly simple but in the Champions League we played the Albanian side Skenderbeu and after winning 7-0 away from home we humiliated them 12-0 at home with Arezo scoring 5 to end up winning 19-0 on aggregate!!!! AE Limassol of Cyprus were up next and we beat them 3-1 away and 5-0 at home so we sailed into the next round where we will play the Romanian side Universitatea Craiova.

Now for the transfer news. Bear with me...............

Firstly I had a deal already in the pipeline in my last post and it was then confirmed as I signed Toni Borevkovic from Rio Ave for £2.7m. The CB started his career with the club but never made an appearance (so another home grown by the club player) but I brought him back to compete for the CB spot.

My captain, Arijan Ademi has gone as Dalian Pro bid an initial £10m (£12.5m) so with him being poor technically and being quite slow which was counteracted by his superb mental statistics I decided to let the 30y/o go. He still managed to score a goal for us before he left though.

His replacement is Dani Ceballos. He was transfer listed by Real Madrid for £11m but I couldnt get near his wage demands so I negotiated a deal where they would pay £70k a week which boosted up the transfer fee up to £14m. He should stroll the Croatian league and is a few levels above Ademi so this is a big improvement and to see him scoring a goal on his debut was extremely pleasing. He does have a £21m release clause though.

Now for the transfer saga of the summer. I kept getting bids for my main players as I said last month but when Napoli bid £10m for Ivanusec my board went above my head and accepted it. I protested to no avail and it looked as though that it was going to happen and I was then worrying if the likes of Majer, Livakovic, Gojak etc were going to be sold on the cheap too. A Chinese club then bid £12m and I told the board to negotiate a better deal and the club pulled out and all of a sudden the Napoli deal was cancelled!!!!!

I had actually dropped Ivanusec for a couple of games and Ivan Saranic came in and took his chance but it seems as though he is going to stay but I went through with the Ceballos deal thinking I was going to get another £10m to spend in a few days so now I am not entirely happy with my squad with little money to spend!!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MATIAS AREZO

--

1. HNL

​

 

[Klippybo]

AUGUST

UEFA Champions League Champions Path 3rd Qualifying Round 1st Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Jedvaj, Borevkovic, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ceballos (Gojak), Misic, Ivanusec, Majer*, Orsic (Kastrati), Arezo (Petkovic)

A good result with 3 away goals but we were actually rather fortunate here as the Romanian side hade several chances to get level at 2-2 before Kastrati scored a stoppage time goal for us.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Borevkovic, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ceballos, Misic (Bulat), Ivanusec (Saranic), Majer* (Tolic), Menalo, Petkovic

A narrow victory. Menalo had an early goal disallowed and Rijeka were defending very well but Petkovic managed to find a way to goal thankfully.

--

UEFA Champions League Champions Path 3rd Qualifying Round 2nd Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Borevkovic, Lauritsen (Peric), Bradaric, Ceballos, Misic, Ivanusec (Kastrati), Majer (Tolic), Menalo, Petkovic*

I dont know what happened here but we were absolutely terrible for an hour and were in danger of getting knocked out as we were 2-0 down but then Bruno Petkovic decided to take things into his own hands and he smashed in a hat-trick to win us the match. Not impressed overall though.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Hrvoj, Borevkovic, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ceballos (Gojak), Misic, Ivanusec (Saranic), Majer*, Menalo (Kastrati), Petkovic

Another win but another poor performance. We fell behind and offered absolutely nothing until Lauritsen headed in from a corner just before half-time. Petkovic fired in from the edge of the area to put us ahead and Lovro Majer made things safe when he headed home.

--

UEFA Champions League Champions Path Playoff 1st Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Jedvaj, Borevkovic, Lauritsen, Bradaric (Peric), Ceballos, Misic (Bulat), Saranic, Majer (Tolic), Orsic, Petkovic*

Going to sound like a broken record here. Good win, a decent amount of goals but our performance level was far from the required standard. Tolic missed a late penalty which would have put more gloss on the scoresheet.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami (Hrvoj), Borevkovic, Peric (Franjic), Jedvaj, Ceballos*, Misic, Saranic (Kastrati), Tolic, Orsic, Petkovic

Osijek will never have a better chance to beat us as with our recent performances coupled with me missing several players through a lack of fitness we went into this match far from being in our best shape. In the end we won fairly comfortably but having been 2-0 up and being up against 10 men I am disappointed that we didnt score any more goals in the 2nd half.

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UEFA Champions League Champions Path Playoff 2nd Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Borevkovic, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ceballos, Misic (Bulat), Ivanusec*, Majer, Orsic, Petkovic (Arezo)

Luka Ivanusec scored a stunning hat-trick to seal our place in the Champions League group stages. The 3 goals here mean in our 8 qualifying matches we have scored a staggering 39 goals!

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Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami (Peric), Borevkovic, Lauritsen, Bradaric*, Gojak, Misic (Bulat), Kastrati, Majer, Orsic (Menalo), Petkovic

On paper this fixture - our away derby match against Hajduk Split - is our hardest of the season so I am quite happy with this result.

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SUMMARY

Another hectic month with fixtures coming every 3 days. We won every match so that is obviously good but for a large portion of the month our performance levels were just not up to scratch. Due to the sheer amount of football being played we struggled with injuries and players fitness levels so that obviously hampered our performances and I suppose it gave me a chance to play some young players like Hrvoj who made the odd appearance.

We qualified for the Champions League and this year we got a decent group as we will face Real Madrid again, Club Brugge and Rangers. Having got to the semis last season I would like to think that qualification from this group is well within our grasp!

We didnt sign anybody before the end of the transfer window. I did sell several U23 players for a total of around £1.1m which is not bad considering they were never going to get a chance with the first team. I could have sold several players with Real Madrid offering me £16m for Petkovic and Man City offering me £17m for Orsic being the 2 standout ones. All my key players are on long term contracts so unless the board accept an offer for a player I am quite happy with how things lie just now.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
BRUNO PETKOVIC

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1. HNL

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[Klippybo]

SEPTEMBER

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Jedvaj, Lauritsen, Bradaric*, Ceballos (Bulat), Gojak, Ivanusec, Majer, Orsic, Petkovic

Not for the first time this season we play half a match against 10 men and fail to score against them which is hugely disappointing. The job was done beforehand however with 3 goals and Orsic missed a penalty to deny him his hat-trick which was a shame.

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UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Jedvaj, Lauritsen*, Bradaric, Ceballos, Gojak, Ivanusec (Kastrati), Tolic (Saranic), Orsic, Petkovic (Arezo)

What a crazy game this was!!!! We played very well going forward but our defensive play was shocking. We went behind early doors but equalised immediately and thats how it was at half-time and then the crazy 2nd half started. Ceballos put us in front but they levelled through Bas Dost but again we scored immediately afterwards. Then we collapsed as they scored twice to go 4-3 up and we were staring defeat in the face but they gifted us 2 goals for us to win as Arezo pounced on a short passback and they scored a stoppage time own goal!!!

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Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami (Gubijan), Jedvaj, Peric (Franjic), Pajac*, Ceballos, Gojak, Kastrati (Saranic), Tolic, Menalo, Petkovic (Arezo)

I discovered in this match that you can actually still use up to 5 subs in Croatian football matches!!! I thought it was just for the covid season but not so it appears.

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Hrvatski Kup 1st Round

Lineup - Nevistic, Moharrami (Gubijan), Franjic, Peric (Hrvoj), Pajac, Bulat, Gojak, Saranic*, Tolic, Menalo, Arezo

My backups were on fire here as they put 9 past non league side Orijent 1919. Ivan Saranic had an amazing game as he scored a perfect hat-trick and in addition to this he also assisted 3 goals. He is the only man at the club who is annoyed that Ivanusec is staying!!!!!!

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Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Jedvaj (Tolic), Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ceballos, Gojak (Arezo), Ivanusec (Saranic), Majer*, Orsic, Petkovic

Cibalia are bottom of the league and they made things very easy for us here as they had 2 men sent-off in the first half. In the end we scored 4 but since we had over 40 shots on goal I think we should have scored more.

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UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Livakovic, Moharrami, Jedvaj (Borevkovic), Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ceballos, Gojak (Misic), Ivanusec, Majer, Orsic (Saranic), Petkovic

We actually matched Real Madrid according to the statistics in gameplay - other than the goals column of course - but individually my players let themselves down. We beat Real Madrid home and away last season so they got their revenge here.

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SUMMARY

Our performance levels picked up this month as we played some good stuff. Domestically we easily won our 3 league matches and after 10 games we already have an 8pt lead at the top of the table so you might as well give us the title now although you should just give it to us before the start of every season tbh!!!

I played my backups in the cup match and we won 9-1 away from home so that was nice lol.

In the Champions League we came through in our thrilling match against Club Brugge as we beat them 5-4 in a match with goals galore but Real Madrid defeated us in our final match of the month.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DOMAGOJ BRADARIC

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1. HNL

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[Klippybo]

OCTOBER

Lineup - Livakovic, Jedvaj (Gubijan), Borevkovic, Peric, Bradaric (Pajac), Ceballos (Bulat), Misic, Ivanusec, Majer (Saranic), Orsic*, Petkovic

We struggled here!! lol. We were ruthless in front of goal as 8 of our 11 shots on goal found the back of the net. Orsic grabbed a hat-trick as his excellent start to the season continues while Misic scored twice which is unheard of!!!!!!

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Lineup - Livakovic, Jedvaj, Borevkovic (Peric), Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ceballos*, Misic, Ivanusec (Menalo), Majer, Orsic, Petkovic

I am seriously beginning to be convinced that we could have the perfect league season here as once again we go away to one of the tougher sides in the league and win fairly easily.

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UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Livakovic*, Moharrami (Gubijan), Borevkovic, Lauritsen, Jedvaj, Ceballos (Bulat), Misic, Marin, Majer (Gojak), Menalo, Petkovic

I am delighted with this win not only because it was against Rangers but we had such a depleted squad that I didnt think we would get a result. Marin came in for his debut and he scored a clinching 2nd goal just before half-time. Petkovic missed a penalty in the 2nd half.

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Lineup - Livakovic, Jedvaj (Moharrami), Borevkovic (Peric), Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ceballos, Misic*, Ivanusec, Majer (Tolic), Orsic, Petkovic

Its not often a player scores a hat-trick in a 4-0 win and doesnt get the MOM award but that is what happened to Luka Ivanusec here as Josip Misic got the gong as he scored a long range screamer and assisted another.

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Hrvatski Kup 2nd Round

Lineup - Livakovic, Jedvaj (Moharrami), Borevkovic, Lauritsen, Bradaric, Ceballos, Misic, Ivanusec, Majer, Orsic, Arezo*

This time the hat-trick scorer against Istra does get the MOM award as Matias Arezo came in for the rested Bruno Petkovic and scored 3 goals. Ivanusec obviously likes playing against Istra!!!

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Lineup - Livakovic, Jedvaj, Borevkovic, Peric, Pajac, Ceballos (Bulat), Misic (Baturina), Ivanusec, Tolic, Menalo*, Arezo

We very nearly had another hat-trick scorer here but Menalo missed a late penalty to deny him one. Once again I was without half a dozen players because they needed resting. I dont mind resting them for domestic games as we should be good enough to beat everyone but when it hampers our European campaigns that is a big worry.

We had kept 8 clean sheets in a row in the league before conceding here.

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SUMMARY

Another successful month despite having to constantly chop and change my side. Domestically we kicked off the month with a stunning 8-0 away victory over Hrvatski Dragovoljac and then we won our other games easily enough including a double header against Istra 1961 in the league and cup while also beating Rijeka and Osijek.

We only had one game in the Champions League though but that was a fine victory away to Rangers with a depleted team out. Club Brugge also beat Real Madrid so we are right back in contention to win the group now.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOSIP MISIC

--

1. HNL

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[pgsonline]

Interesting read. I started a career game in Croatia also. With no money for league or domestic cup, it's hard to get money into the club. I started in a lower league, but after several years, I (Inter Zapresic) can now win the league easily and am about equal in standing with Dinamo now. But I cannot make that leap in Europe. I'm still 4th seed in the groups stage and only once got into the group stage. What tactic did you use? I'd be interested to see if if you have it for download anywhere? I've tried a few - but can't make my mark in Europe. My players are of a reasonable standard now - but certainly not world beaters I guess.