FM22 - A Red Star Belgrade Story

[Klippybo]

OCTOBER

UEFA Champions League Group H

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, Topic, N.Petrovic, Mijatovic (J.Mituljikic), Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Stoisavljevic)

Gutted!!! Dont get me wrong Real Madrid battered us from start to finish but we almost escaped with a point until they scored their winner 3min into stoppage time. I am so proud of my players for their performance.

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven*, Erakovic, Ferraresi, Terzic (Rogan), Topic (Cvijovic), N.Petrovic, Mijatovic (Romario), Stojic, Gavric, Ellinton Antonio

WOW!!!!

What a result and performance this was!!!

We were immense here. Ferraresi scoring 2 goals was a rarity but Khellven was the standout player as he assisted 4 of the goals. Gavric missed a penalty when the score was 0-0 while Cvijovic and Romario made their debuts.

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven*, Markovic, Ferraresi (Erakovic), Lykogiannis, Topic, Racic (N.Petrovic), Mijatovic, Stojic, Gavric (J.Mituljikic), Ellinton Antonio

God we struggled here and only got the win thanks to a penalty from Khellven who I admit was a surprise taker.

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UEFA Champions League Group H

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven*, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis (Terzic), Topic, N.Petrovic, Mijatovic, Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Stoisavljevic)

A massive win! This result should put us in pole position for 3rd spot but also gives us a chance to somehow reach the knockout stages! We were lucky though as they had 2 goals disallowed before we scored the winner.

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Lineup - Gavric, Khellven, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis*, Topic, Racic, Mijatovic (N.Mituljikic), Knezevic, J.Mituljikic (Nikolasevic), Ellinton Antonio (Romario)

6 goals with 6 different goalscorers!!!! Not bad at all.

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Kup Srbije 1st Round

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Erakovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, Topic (Romario), Racic*, Mijatovic (N.Mituljikic), Knezevic (Nikolasevic), J.Mituljikic, Ellinton Antonio

We were immense here. We smashed in 9 goals with Ellinton Antonio getting a hat-trick, Racic getting a brace and Romario also chipped in to get off the mark for the club.

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SUMMARY

We had a very good October! Domestically we put 6 past Cukariki and Radnik Surdulica in the league as well as beating IMT and also in the cup we beat Radnicki (SM) 9-2 which was an incredible result.

In the Champions League we pushed Real Madrid all the way as they beat us 3-2 thanks to a stoppage time goal but we then went on to defeat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 to really put us into a healthy position in the group. If we beat PSV at home when we play them a 2nd place finish would not be out of the question.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
KHELLVEN

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SUPERLIGA

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SERBIA

UEFA Nations League Division A Group 1

Lineup - Gordic, Milenkovic, Kovacevic, Pavlovic, Ristic, Ilic, S.Milinkovic-Savic, Kabic (Zivkovic), Stojic (Lukic), Radonjic (Gavric), Vlahovic

Ouch. This one is tough to take. We had the better of the first half and they controlled the second and low and behold they scored with a minute to go which was gutting. My 16y/o AMC Rodoljub Stojic made his international debut here.

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UEFA Nations League Division A Group 1

Lineup - Gordic, Milenkovic, Kovacevic, Pavlovic, Terzic (Kamenovic), Grujic, S.Milinkovic-Savic, Kabic, Ilic, Radonjic (Gavric), Vlahovic (Jovic)

Once again we were battered but we kept ourselves in it and were being a nuisance but a horrendous error from Milos Gordic gifted them their 3rd goal infuriatingly.​

 

[Klippybo]

NOVEMBER

Lineup - D.Petrovic, Khellven, Erakovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis (Terzic), Topic, Racic*, Mijatovic (J.Mituljikic), Stojic, Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Romario)

A nice win. Gavric put us ahead and then they had a man sent-off and kindly gave away 2 penalties which Racic duly converted. Romario came off the bench to score his first goal for the club. Milos Gordic suffered a bad injury in training and wont play until next year so Dorde Petrovic has a chance to impress now.

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UEFA Champions League Group H

Lineup - D.Petrovic, Khellven (Rogan), Markovic, Erakovic, Terzic, Topic, Racic (N.Petrovic), Mijatovic, Stojic, Gavric (J.Mituljikic), Ellinton Antonio

This is a great result that really puts us in a strong position to qualify into the next round. I am actually in 2 minds about qualifying - the extra money would be huge but if we finished 3rd we could get a bit of a run in the Europa League.

I should say that we were extremely fortunate to get this point as they had 2 goals disallowed including one deep into stoppage time.

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Lineup - D.Petrovic, Khellven (Rogan), Markovic, Erakovic, Terzic, Topic, Racic (N.Petrovic), Mijatovic, Stojic, Gavric (J.Mituljikic), Ellinton Antonio

Disappointing. Our first dropped points of the season. We beat Partizan 5-0 away earlier in the season so to struggle to beat them at home is annoying. We were awful in the 1st half and were deservedly behind but we improved in the 2nd half and Ellinton Antonio equalised.

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Lineup - D.Petrovic, Khellven, Markovic, Madzarevic, Lykogiannis, Topic, Racic, Gavric, Stojic (Knezevic), J.Mituljikic (Radulovic), Ellinton Antonio*

A convincing victory with 5 goals rattled in. Ellinton Antonio has been amazing this season - it must have been a different Ellinton Antonio who played the final games for us last season lol.

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UEFA Champions League Group H

Lineup - D.Petrovic, Khellven, Furkan Ekinci, Madzarevic, Terzic, Topic, N.Petrovic, Gavric (Mijatovic), Knezevic (Rogan), J.Mituljikic (N.Mituljikic), Ellinton Antonio

We took the lead early on here with which proved to be our only shot on goal but we made it to half-time ahead even with 10 men after Khellven got sent-off. However in the 2nd half they made their extra man count and ran us ragged and with the score at 3-1 we then had Furkan Ekinci sent-off so it was just a nightmare in the end.

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Lineup - D.Petrovic, Khellven*, Furkan Ekinci, Madzarevic, Terzic, Topic (Roganovic), N.Petrovic (Cvijovic), J.Mituljikic, Knezevic, N.Mituljikic (Nikolasevic), Ellinton Antonio

Despite missing several players we still managed to score 5 goals here to win. Jovan Mituljikic has found his way back into the starting lineup ahead of Mijatovic and he scored twice here.

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SUMMARY

A good month all round. Sure we dropped points in the league for the first time against Partizan Belgrade but overall we were strong. The other domestic fixtures were easiy won and in Europe we got a great draw against Bayer Leverkusen before losing to Real Madrid however with 1 game left to play we still lie in 2nd place in the group so that is exciting.

Thats about it lol

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ELLINTON ANTONIO

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SUPERLIGA

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SERBIA

UEFA Nations League Division A Group 1

Lineup - V.Milinkovic-Savic, Milenkovic, Kovacevic, Markovic (Maras), Terzic (Kamenovic), Grujic, S.Milinkovic-Savic, Kabic, Ilic, Radonjic (Gavric), D.Vlahovic*

This win pretty much secures our place in group A for the next Nations League campaign. We fell behind twice but Dusan Vlahovic was on fire as he scored a hat-trick to propel us to victory.

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UEFA Nations League Division A Group 1

Lineup - V.Milinkovic-Savic, Milenkovic (Gajic), Kovacevic, Pavlovic, Terzic (Kamenovic), Ilic, S.Milinkovic-Savic, Kabic, Stojic, Radonjic (Zivkovic), Vlahovic

Meh.

​

 

[Klippybo]

DECEMBER

Kup Srbije 2nd Round

Lineup - D.Petrovic, Khellven, Ferraresi, Markovic, Lykogiannis, Topic*, Racic, J.Mituljikic, Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Romario)

Mirko Topic got his first goal of the season as he put on a fine performance to help us go through with a goal, an assist and the MOM award.

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Lineup - D.Petrovic, Khellven*, Ferraresi, Markovic, Lykogiannis, Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic, J.Mituljikic, Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric (Stoisavljevic), Ellinton Antonio

We absolutely battered Indija here but just couldnt get the goals. Ellinton Antonio had an early goal disallowed before he scored in the last minute while Markovic netted his first goal of the season. Indija sacked their manager after this game.

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UEFA Champions League Group H

Lineup - D.Petrovic, Rogan, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis (Terzic), Topic*, Racic, J.Mituljikic (N.Mituljikic), Stojic, Gavric, Stoisavljevic (Bubanj)

WE QUALIFY FOR THE KNOCKOUT STAGES!!!!!

How we didnt win this game I will never know as we had so many shots on target and dominated possession. We were heading out of the Champions League but Real Madrid scored a last minute equaliser to deny Bayer Leverkusen qualification.

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Lineup - D.Petrovic, Khellven, Markovic (Erakovic), Ferraresi, Lykogiannis (Terzic), Topic, Racic, J.Mituljikic*, Knezevic, N.Mituljikic, Stoisavljevic (Romario)

Jovan Mituljikic scored a hat-trick here as he put on a show. Stoisavljevic netted his first league goal for us here - I had actually meant to have started Romario lol

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Lineup - D.Petrovic, Khellven (Rogan), Erakovic, Madzarevic, Terzic, Topic, N.Petrovic, J.Mituljikic, Stojic*, Gavric (N.Mituljikic), Stoisavljevic (Mijatovic)

Jovan Mituljikic is on fire!!! He scored another 2 here to make it 7 goals in his last 4 league games.

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SUMMARY

2024 is over and we now have our 2 month winter break which really speeds up the season. December was a fruitful month though as we won all of our league matches convincingly, progressed in the cup and more importantly we qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time and have been rewarded with a draw against Barcelona.

Some Serbia news - in the qualifiers for the European Championships we have been drawn against Norway, Bulgaria, Israel and Belarus. A very nice group for us!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOVAN MITULJIKIC

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SUPERLIGA

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[Klippybo]

FEBRUARY

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic, J.Mituljikic*, Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Romario)

JOVAN MITULJIKIC!!!!!

My young winger went into the winter break on top form and he resumed his top form on our return with an incredible solo performance as he netted 5 times here. He now has 12 goals in his last 5 league games!!!

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic (Kovacevic), Ferraresi, Terzic, Topic, Racic, J.Mituljikic*, Stojic, Gavric, Ellinton Antonio

Jovan Mituljikic may only have scored 1 goal here but he also got 2 assists as he yet again ran the show. Ellinton Antonio's 2 goals take him up to 30 for the season.

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic*, J.Mituljikic, Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Romario)

Not one of our best performances but a win is a win. Ellinton Antonio had a goal disallowed too.

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic, Ferraresi*, Lykogiannis, Topic, Racic, J.Mituljikic (N.Mituljikic), Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Romario)

This game was won in the first 24min as we raced into a 3 goal lead. Nice to see Gavric get back in amongst the goals as I would have expected a bit more from him this season tbh.

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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic, J.Mituljikic (Mijatovic), Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio

We gave it our best shot but alas we couldnt find the net. Well we did early in the 2nd half as Jovan Mituljikic scored after a lovely team move but he was offside unfortunately.

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SUMMARY

There is a fair bit to update you on as we had a 2 month break before getting back into action. When we did get back to it we won our league games as usual with the highlight being Jovan Mituljikic scoring 5 goals Radnicki Nis in our first game back. Uros Racic also excelled this month but Stojic and Ellinton Antonio struggled.

In the Champions League we played Barcelona at home and put in a decent performance but alas we lost 1-0. We did have a goal disallowed but I cant see us winning at the Nou Camp to turn things around.

Now for the transfer window.........

I had already agreed to sell Furkan Ekinci as we had a falling out so he went off to Bursaspor for £3.9m which was all profit as I got him for nothing just a few months previously.

Nobody else left but I had to reject offers from Inter Milan and Juventus for Khellven. £10m was the highest bid but I wasnt going to let him go that cheaply. Fortunately he got over the rejection and I actually managed to extend his contract once the transfer window shut!

Lille bid up to £7.5m for Ellinton Antonio and once again I refused that. He wasnt happy but he accepted the promise of us winning the league to make him happy - we are just 18pts clear so we better be careful lol.

I did bring in signing. I needed to replace Furkan Ekinci so I brought Bojan Kovacevic in on loan from Man City for the rest of the season. He is part of my Serbian set up and has a bright future ahead of him so we shall see how he gets on.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOVAN MITULJIKIC

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SUPERLIGA

​

 

[Klippybo]

MARCH

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven (Erakovic), Kovacevic*, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, N.Petrovic, Racic, Mijatovic, Knezevic, Gavric (N.Mituljikic), Ellinton Antonio

6 goals and 6 different goalscorers!!! Kovacevic, Mijatovic and Njegos Petrovic all came into the side and all 3 got a goal which was nice. Ferraresi's goal was a wonderful curling effort from 25 yards.

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View attachment 585317

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven*, Kovacevic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic, J.Mituljikic (Mijatovic), Knezevic, Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Stoisavljevic)

I forgot to restore Stojic into the side here but thankfully Knezevic took advantage of an extra start by scoring the opener from the penalty spot after just 5min!

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View attachment 585318

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Kovacevic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis*, Topic, Racic, J.Mituljikic (Mijatovic), Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Stoisavljevic)

Cukaricki lie 2nd in the table but this win puts us an astonishing 23pts clear at the top of the table!!!

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Kup Srbije Quarter-Final

Lineup - Gordic, Rogan, Erakovic, Kovacevic (Madzarevic), Terzic, N.Petrovic*, Cvijovic, Mijatovic (Radulovic), Knezevic, N.Mituljikic, Stoisavljevic (Romario)

Novi Pazar are in the 2nd division so I played my backups and they ran riot as they fired in 6 goals. Nikola Mituljikic and Romario got doubles which was pleasing while Njegos Petrovic scored a screamer from 30 yards.

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, Topic, Racic, J.Mituljikic*, Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric (N.Mituljikic), Ellinton Antonio (Romario)

This was another show from Jovan Mituljikic as his 3rd hat-trick of the season takes him up to 18 goals in all comps in just 18 starts!

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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, Topic, Racic, J.Mituljikic (Romario), Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric (N.Mituljikic), Ellinton Antonio

For an hour we were on the verge of pulling off a huge shock as Ellinton Antonio had put us ahead but defensive errors cost us dearly and we ended up conceding 4 goals as we just collapsed disappointingly.

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Lineup - Gordic, Rogan (Erakovic), Markovic, Kovacevic, Lykogiannis, Topic, Racic*, J.Mituljikic (N.Mituljikic), Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio

Radnik Surdulica proved to be awkward opponents here as they quickly equalised after we opened the scoring and even when we went 3-1 up they pulled a goal back to make things edgy.

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SUMMARY

Our European campaign came to an end here as Barcelona beat us 4-1 to go through 5-1 on aggregate. It was much closer than that over the 2 legs however and that is very promising as we can only get better after all!

Domestically we just turn up and beat teams lol. Our lead at the top of the table is an astonishing 25pts and we still have 8 games to play!!!!! So surely that means we are champions? Maybe there is a game that I am missing out lol.

As for the youth intake it wasnt outstanding but we did get one player who looks really promising but it was at AMC where all my eggs are in the Stojic basket so Pandurovic may struggle to get game time.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
UROS RACIC

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SUPERLIGA

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SERBIA

UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Group H

Lineup - V.Milinkovic-Savic, Milenkovic, Kovacevic, Pavlovic (Markovic), Terzic, Ilic, S.Milinkovic-Savic, Kabic (Zivkovic), Stojic*, Radonjic (Gavric), Vlahovic

We get our qualifying campaign off to a great start as we thump Bulgaria in their own patch. Rodoljub Stojic has struggled for form recently but my teenage AMC assisted 3 goals here! Dusan Vlahovic is now the top scorer ever for Serbia.
​

 

[Klippybo]

APRIL

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis (Terzic), Topic, Racic (N.Petrovic), J.Mituljikic*, Stojic, Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Mijatovic)

CHAMPIONS!!!!

We wrap up our 3rd title in a row with this win and it was secured before we headed into the split!

We fell behind here but recovered to score 4 goals with Jovan Mituljikic scoring one and assisting 2.

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic, Ferraresi (Kovacevic), Lykogiannis (Terzic), Topic, Racic*, Mijatovic, Stojic, J.Mituljikic (Nikolasevic), Ellinton Antonio

With the league over I could easily play my backups but my first team is full of young players anyway! Tbh my top stars start usually although I might give Cvijovic a few opportunities before the season is over as he is the next cab off the rank I think. Anywho we won lol.

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic (Erakovic), Kovacevic, Lykogiannis, Topic, Racic*, Mijatovic, Stojic (Knezevic), J.Mituljikic, Ellinton Antonio (Romario)

We win the derby!!!!! This was our biggest threat to going the league campaign unbeaten but despite falling behind we fought back to win thanks to goals from Racic and Jovan Mituljikic.

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Kup Srbije Semi-Final

Lineup - Gordic, Rogan (Madzarevic), Erakovic, Kovacevic, Terzic, N.Petrovic (Roganovic), Cvijovic, N.Mituljikic, Knezevic (Pandurovic), Nikolasevic*, Romario

Not a bad way to get into the final! My backups got another run out and they hit Metalac for 6. Nikolasevic scored his first 2 goals for the club while Pandurovic, my latest prospect in the youth intake, came off the bench to make his debut and he scored a stunning goal.

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, Topic, Racic (N.Petrovic), J.Mituljikic, Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric (Mijatovic), Ellinton Antonio*

2 goals for Ellinton Antonio as we brush aside Cukaricki. My old pal Mirko Ivanic got sent-off in the last minute which was nice to see.

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SUMMARY

We head into the final month of the season with 2 aims - win the cup against Partizan Belgrade and go unbeaten in the domestic season.

With the league won the performances admittedly dropped a touch this month apart from when my backups rocked up for the cup semi-final as they put 6 past Metalac G.M. We will face Partizan Belgrade in the final.

So we head into the final month of the season with the sole aim of remaining unbeaten.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
UROS RACIC

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SUPERLIGA

 

[Klippybo]

MAY

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis*, Topic, Racic, J.Mituljikic, Stojic, Gavric (Mijatovic), Ellinton Antonio

Another game is chalked off as we beat 9 man Javor-Matis. 5 different goalscorers is pleasing to see also!

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Lineup - Gordic, Erakovic, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic*, J.Mituljikic, Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Romario)

This was a fans day at the club and my players duly responded with a 4-0 win and it was apparently a huge success. Racic scored twice as he nears the 30 goal mark for the season.

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Lineup - Gordic, Erakovic, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic, J.Mituljikic*, Stojic, Gavric (Mijatovic), Ellinton Antonio (Romario)

This win puts us on 106pts and 133 goals - a new record.

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Lineup - Gordic, Erakovic (Rogan), Markovic (Madzarevic), Ferraresi, Lykogiannis, Topic, Racic, J.Mituljikic, Stojic, Gavric, Ellinton Antonio*

We wrap up the league campaign by going unbeaten - winning 36 and drawing 1 game. Ellinton Antonio scored a hat-trick to take him up to 40 for the season.

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Kup Srbije Final

Lineup - Gordic, Erakovic, Markovic, Ferraresi, Lykogiannis (Terzic), Topic, Racic (Cvijovic), J.Mituljikic*, Stojic (Knezevic), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio

We clinch yet another double as we put 5 past Partizan Belgrade. Jovan Mituljiic scored a hat-trick as he ends the season on 28 goals while Ellinton Antonio and Mirko Topic chipped in with the others.

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SUMMARY

We had a fine end to the season as we scored at least 4 goals in every game to finish off the season in fine style. The aim of the final month was to be unbeaten in the league and win the cup and we did just that with the highlight being our 5-2 victory over our bitter rivals Partizan Belgrade in the cup final.

36 wins and 1 draw in the league - so close to a perfect season!!!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOVAN MITULJIKIC

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SUPERLIGA

​

 

[Klippybo]

SEASON REVIEW

What can I say? We won 36 out of 37 league games (getting 37 out of 37 is the next target), scored a record breaking 138 and earned a record 109 points plus had a whopping goal difference of +114!!!!!

The Kup Srbije was won as expected and we swotted Partizan Belgrade aside 5-2 in the final which further emphasised our dominance and in Europe we broke new gorund by actually qualifying from our Champions League group stage and although we played well against Barcelona in the next round we were eliminated.

Player wise Ellinton Antonio was superb in front of goal, Khellven and Lykogiannis are just dream full backs, Jovan Mituljikic came in a quarter way through the season and just went crazy with goals and assists while Uros Racic nearly netted 30 goals from central midfield.

At the end of the season the board offered me a new contract plus due to our increased financial stature they cleared off some debts and with a bank balance of £53m they have offered me a £45m transfer budget in the summer which is absolutely insane!!! Alas due to the registration restrictions I am hampered by the foreigners rule so it is not like I can go and blow it all at once. I have to box clever.

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SUPERLIGA

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SQUAD

My Player of the Season - Uros Racic
My Young Player of the Season - Jovan Mituljikic
Must Do Better - Rodoljub Stojic
Donkey of the Season - Viktor Rogan

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SERBIA

UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Group H

Lineup - Gordic*, Milenkovic, Kovacevic, Pavlovic, Ristic, Ilic, S.Milinkovic-Savic, Kabic (Zivkovic), Stojic (Lukic), Radonjic, Vlahovic (Jovic)

We struggled here but got their in the end. Nemanja Radonjic scored the only goal of the game and that was the only noteworthy moment of the match.

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UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Group H

Lineup - Gordic, Milenkovic, Kovacevic, Pavlovic, Ristic, Ilic (Lukic), S.Milinkovic-Savic, Kabic (Zivkovic), Stojic, Radonjic (Gavric), Vlahovic*

This was billed as Haaland v Vlahovic and it came out as a draw as both players scored a hat-trick in a crazy 4-4 draw.​

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

There has been many changes to my first team squad and tbh I think I have over strengthened in some departments but at the same time we are not going to win the Champions League anytime soon!!!

With a £45m budget I have went out and spent £17.5m so far and recouped £7.5m to offset that slightly. My defence has had a serious overhaul which wasnt really required domestically but in Europe it will help. I am really torn between signing an established AMC for instance to replace Stojic but due to registration rules I have to be careful with my foreign players.

Here are my transfer dealings......

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PLAYERS OUT

The highest fee I received was £2.8m for Gavin Bazunu who I signed on a free, loaned him out and sold for a profit straight away.

The next biggest fee was that of Charalampos Lykogiannis. My Greek LB joined Ajax for £2.2m and the 31y/o was a star for us and will surely go down as the best free agent signing that I have made. In 123 apps he scored 19 goals and also assisted 51 which is no mean achievement!!! His departure also opens up a foreigners spot.

Romario is gone as he has joined Cukaricki for £1.3m. He will be immense for them but it is a £1.6m loss for us and that represents a bad deal in all honesty but it is nice to see another Serbian side splashing the cash a bit.

The Mituljikic brothers have also been split up as Nikola Mituljikic is off to Italy to join Bologna for £1.1m. He made 110 apps and scored 23 goals which is not bad for a backup winger. He is nowhere near the level of his brother but he has got a good move and I wish him well.

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PLAYERS IN

Basically you could say that I have signed a whole new defence!!!!

My most expensive signing was that of Strahinja Pavlovic from Monaco for £7.5m. He is part of my Serbia set up so this is quite a coup for us. At 24y/o he still has a bit of development left in him and it was a no brainer really.

Now I had in mind to make Erakovic my new backup RB and then my scout found a player that I just had to sign and it was a 19y/o Argentinian who blew me away. Agustin Darroquy is his name and while I would love to play him at RB (because of his height) I cant because Khellven is too good so I may play him at CB which is harsh on Markovic and Ferraresi but I love the look of this guy!

Another defender and the replacement for Lykogiannis was the signing of Mihailo Ristic who joined us from Montpellier for £3.5m. Another member of my Serbian squad (I have the two best Serbian left backs in my squad now) he returns to the club where it all started for him. The choice between him and Terzic will be based purely on form.

Lets keep the defenders coming!!!! This one was a pre-arranged deal. When I got the Serbia job I looked at players with Serbian nationality but also qualified for other countries and bizarrely I found Lyano of Southampton! How he qualifies for Serbia is beyond me but I got him on a pre-contract however at over £30k a week and being my 5th choice CB having made my other signings it seems a bit of a waste of money.

My last signing for the first team was a loan deal. Filip Stevanovic comes in on loan from Manchester City. He is a terrific winger and should probably be part of my Serbia squad and should also probably start every week for Red Star but Mituljikic and Gavric have those spots just now.

The only other signing was a free transfer to loan out to sell and also a newgen prospect.

--

SQUAD

I still have an extremely young squad full of promising talent. I promoted Milinkovic and Sokolov up to the first team to get some minutes and aid their development while the new defenders have certainly given us more strngth and depth at the back.

Nikolasevic, Rogan and Madzarevic have all been demoted to the B squad - Graficar.

There still may be more movement however!​

 

[Klippybo]

JULY

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Darroquy (Ferraresi), Pavlovic, Ristic, Topic, Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic*, Gavric (Stevanovic), Ellinton Antonio

A decent start to our campaign!! Hopefully the 2 goals from Stojic is a sign of things to come! Ellinton Antonio scored one and had one disallowed while Racic also netted. Darroquy, Ristic and Stevanovic all made their debuts.

--

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

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Ristic (Terzic), Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic, Mituljikic*, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio

A huge win but it could have been double that as we scored 7 of our goals in the 2nd half after we battered them in the 1st half too! We had nearly 50 shots on goal, Gavric and Ellinton Antonio helped themselves to hat-tricks and it was a good day all round.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Darroquy, Pavlovic (Ferraresi), Ristic, Topic*, Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Milinkovic)

This match is most notable for the debut and the goal for our young prospect Aleksandar Milinkovic.

--

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

Lineup - Gordic, Erakovic, Markovic, Lyanco, Terzic, N.Petrovic (Roganovic), Cvijovic*, Mijatovic, Sokolov, Stevanovic (Nikolasevic), Milinkovic

I played my backups here and they ran riot against 9 men Levadia Tallinn. Cvijovic scored a brilliant hat-trick including 2 astonishing long range strikes.

--

SUMMARY

Forget about the 2 league games - our Champions League performances were what it is all about. Tbh the fact that we are starting at such a low level is a joke but on the other hand it gives me a chance to play my backups and rack up a load of goals which a 15-0 aggregate win proves.

There was a bit of movement in the transfer window as I let Nikola Knezevic join Bologna (where Nikola Mituljikic went) for £1.4m. He did well for me - 117 apps, 23 goals - but in Sokolov and Pandurovic we have 2 top prospects coming up through the ranks so the money was well received.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ELLINTON ANTONIO

--

SUPERLIGA

​

 

[Klippybo]

AUGUST

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven (Ferraresi), Darroquy, Pavlovic, Ristic (Terzic), Topic, Racic*, Mituljikic, Stojic, Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Milinkovic)

Macva decided to try and kick us off the park which didnt work despite their 1 red card and 8 yellow cards. We only scored 2 goals though.

--

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

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven (Ferraresi), Darroquy, Pavlovic, Ristic, Topic, Racic (N.Petrovic), Mituljikic (Stevanovic), Stojic, Gavric*, Milinkovic

We were rocked before the game with the news that Ellinton Antonio broke his leg in training and will be out for 5-6 months so a frantic search for a new striker is underway! Milinkovic stepped into his plate though and got a goal but it was Gavric who stole the show.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven (Ferraresi), Darroquy, Pavlovic, Ristic, Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic*, Gavric. Milinkovic (Stoisavljevic)

Rodoljub Stojic seems to have picked up his game this season as he scored another 2 goals here. If my teenage AMC continues to develop and improve then we will have a real player in our hands.

--

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

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven*, Darroquy, Pavlovic (Ferraresi), Ristic, Topic (Cvijovic), N.Petrovic, Mituljikic, Sokolov, Gavric, Milinkovic (Stoisavljevic)

We saunter through into the next round. The only good thing about playing these qualifiers is the fact that they are so easy we get to rack up the goals!

--

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Erakovic), Ferraresi, Markovic (Lyanco), Terzic, Topic, Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic (Sokolov), Stevanovic*, Signorelli

Maximiliano Signorelli had a decent debut here as he grabbed 2 goals. He prefers to play as a poacher but I am going to play him as an advanced forward. Lyanco and Ferraresi - my 2 backup CBs - popped up with goals too. Stojic got injured and will be out for about a month.

--

UEFA Champions League Champions Path Playoff 1st Leg

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Darroquy, Pavlovic, Ristic (Terzic), Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic, Stevanovic (Mijatovic), Mituljikic*, Gavric, Signorelli

With Stojic injured I have decided to play Mituljikic in AMC for the first time as a support striker and put Stevanovic out on the RW and it worked a treat as Mituljikic struck twice, Stevanovic also scored as did Signorelli. One foot in the group stages.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven (Ferraresi), Darroquy, Pavlovic, Terzic, Topic, Racic (N.Petrovic), Mijatovic, Mituljikic (Sokolov), Gavric*, Signorelli

I was forced to drop Stevanovic here as I needed to field an U21 Serbian player so in came Mijatovic in his place. We won comfortably enough with Gavric notching another 2 while Signorelli had a goal disallowed but Khellven went off injured and is out for 4-5 months!!!!

I will now move Darroquy to RB and play Ferraresi at CB.

--

UEFA Champions League Champions Path Playoff 2nd Leg

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy*, Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic (Ristic), Topic, Racic (N.Petrovic), Stevanovic, Mituljikic, Gavric (Stoisavljevic), Milinkovic

We make it into the group stages with a nervy draw against AEK Athens who led twice in the match. Milinkovic scored his 4th goal of the season before Darroquy scored a late equaliser which made up for the penalty that he gave away.

--

Lineup - D.Petrovic, Darroquy (Markovic), Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic*, N.Petrovic, Racic (Cvijovic), Stevanovic, Sokolov, Gavric, Milinkovic (Stoisavljevic)

Despite the result this was a very even game. Gordic, my keeper, was added to the injury list while I had a few players unfit so a few backup players came in. Sokolov scored a screamer.

--

SUMMARY

The results were good this month despite having some horrible injuries as Ellinton Antonio, Khellven and Stojic all got long term injuries while Gordic also picked up a knock and that meant I made moves in the transfer market.

In the league we won all of our games including a great derby victory over Partizan Belgrade and we already have a 6pt lead at the top of the table and we have only conceded 1 goal while scoring an average of 3.

However it was reaching the Champions League group stages that was the main aim of the month and we were successful there as we knocked out Qarabag and AEK Athens to reach the glory land of mega riches again. Last season we qualified for the knockout stages for the first time but it is safe to say that that aint going to happen this season as we are up against Bayern Munich, PSG and Shakhtar Donetsk so I think 3rd place is the more realistic aim.

Now to introduce you to my new striker - Maximiliano Signorelli.

With Ellinton Antonio injured for several months I needed a replacement and after agreeing a deal with Malen of Borussia Dortmund on the day that I was going to sign him my scout found a striker in Argentina that blew me away and that obviously was Signorelli. He had a £6m release clause which I activated (I delayed the Malen deal) but then Chelsea and Juventus went in for him so I gave him a bumper contract with many incentives and he signed for us!!!

He will be a superstar I am sure...............

Poor Ellinton Antonio did nothing wrong last season at all but will struggle to get back into the side now when he is fully fit.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ZELJKO GAVRIC

--

SUPERLIGA

 

[Klippybo]

SEPTEMBER

Lineup - D.Petrovic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic, Topic, Racic*, Mituljikic, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric (Stevanovic), Signorelli (Milinkovic)

After last seasons goalscoring exploits Jovan Mituljikic has struggled for goals this season so far but he did pick up one here which was pleasing. He has had plenty of assists though!

--

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic (Ristic), Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic, Stevanovic, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric, Signorelli

Meh.

Success here was never really on the cards and Shakhtar lost 6-0 to Bayern Munich so we take it on the chin and move on.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic, Topic, Racic*, Mijatovic, Sokolov (Pandurovic), Stevanovic, Signorelli (Milinkovic)

Uros Racic was on fire here as he helped himself to a hat-trick while Stevanovic continues to impress as he scored twice. Mijatovic wants to leave the club and handed in a transfer request just before the match but he still came into the side to score.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic, Topic, Racic, Stevanovic*, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric, Signorelli (Milinkovic)

Another convincing victory but I am getting worried about the lack of goals from Signorelli. After 3 goals in his first 2 games he hasnt scored since!!!!

--

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Markovic, Terzic (Ristic), Topic (Cvijovic), N.Petrovic, Stevanovic, Stojic, Gavric*, Signorelli (Milinkovic)

IMT got lucky here. We absolutely battered them and should have scored 6 or 7 but only ended up with 2 annoyingly thanks to a brace from Gavric.

--

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Erakovic), Ferraresi, Markovic, Terzic, Topic, N.Petrovic, Mituljikic, Stojic (Sokolov), Stevanovic, Signorelli (Milinkovic)

A bad day at the office. Enough said.

--

SUMMARY

Domestic results good. Continental results bad. That about sums it up!

As I said above I am worried about the form of Signorelli who came in with much promise and despite a promising first 2 games has done absolutely nothing since then. However when Ellinton Antonio got his chance in the first team he was hopeless too before scoring a ton of goals after pre-season.

The problem is that Signorelli doesnt have a pre-season coming up anytime soon....

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
UROS RACIC

--

SUPERLIGA

--

SERBIA

UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Group H

Lineup - Rajkovic, Milenkovic, Kovacevic, Markovic, Terzic (Ristic), Ilic, S.Milinkovic-Savic, Kabic (Mituljikic), Lukic, Gavric (Radonjic), Vlahovic*

We blew Bulgaria away in the first half with 3 goals but in the 2nd half they fought back and scored twice. When Lukic went off injured to put us down to 10 men I was extremely worried but thankfully Vlahovic struck in stoppage time. Jovan Mituljikic made his international debut.

--

UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Group H

Lineup - Rajkovic, Milenkovic, Kovacevic, Markovic, Terzic (Ristic), Racic, S.Milinkovic-Savic*, Kabic, Jovic (Stankovic), Radonjic (Mituljikic), Vlahovic

We got a shock here as we fell behind in the 2nd minute but we bounced back with 6 goals plus 2 that were disallowed. I was a bit cheeky tbh as Lukic needed to be replaced so I called up my old player Nikola Stankovic who is at PSG but is leaving on a free and this international appearance gives Red Star Belgrade an extra £1m...........​

 

[Klippybo]

OCTOBER

Lineup - Gordic, Erakovic, Markovic (Lyanco), Pavlovic, Terzic (Ristic), Topic, Racic*, Mituljikic (Mijatovic), Stojic, Stevanovic, Signorelli

Another win but still no goals for Signorelli..............

--

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Markovic, Lyanco, Terzic (Ristic), Topic, Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic (Sokolov), Stevanovic, Signorelli (Milinkovic)

Signorelli is having a shocker. Did absolutely nothing here. 7 league games without a goal now.

--

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy. Markovic (Lyanco), Pavlovic, Terzic, Topic (Ristic), Racic, Mituljikic*, Stojic, Stevanovic (Mijatovic), Signorelli

What a win!!!

3rd place is definitely in our hands after this superb win. Mituljikic scored twice and even Signorelli played well - except he didnt score.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Erakovic), Markovic, Pavlovic, Ristic, Topic, Racic*, Mituljikic (Mijatovic), Sokolov, Gavric (Stevanovic), Signorelli

Still no goals for Signorelli!!! This was a tough match. We fell behind early on and so it remained until the 64th minute when Pavlovic netted for us. Thankfully we got a late penalty which was converted by Racic to win us the match.

--

Kup Srbije 1st Round

Lineup - Gordic, Erakovic, Markovic (Madzarevic), Lyanco*, Ristic, N.Petrovic, Cvijovic, Mijatovic, Sokolov (Pandurovic), Stevanovic (Nikolasevic), Milinkovic

Zemun are one of my feeder clubs and it seems as though my backups went easy on them. Ristic scored a penalty and then Milinkovic popped up with a goal.

--

SUMMARY

The highlight of this month was our brilliant 5-2 away victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League which sets us up for 3rd place and a Europa League spot after Christmas.

Other than that it was a case of winning our games but with my striker Signorelli not contributing one bit. To go into a side who scored nearly 140 league goals last season and not being able to get at least 1 a month is quite something.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
UROS RACIC

--

SUPERLIGA

--

SERBIA

Friendly

Lineup - Gordic (V.Milinkovic-Savic), Milenkovic, Kovacevic (Markovic), Pavlovic (Maras), Terzic (Ristic), Ilic, S.Milinkovic-Savic, Kabic, Stojic (Lukic), Gavric (Radonjic), Vlahovic

I honestly couldnt be bothered with this firendly so went on holiday for the day and we won so happy days lol

--

UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Group H

Lineup - Gordic, Milenkovic, Kovacevic, Pavlovic, Ristic, Ilic, S.Milinkovic-Savic (Racic*), Kabic, Lukic, Gavric (Stevanovic), Vlahovic (Lazetic)

Not bad. Vlahovic put us in front but it wasnt until Racic came on that we imposed ourselves further as he got a goal and an assist. Lazetic and Stevanovic came off the bench to make their international debuts.​

 

[Klippybo]

NOVEMBER

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Ristic (Terzic), Topic, Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic*, Gavric, Signorelli

SIGNORELLI SCORES!!!!!!!

However that was overshadowed by the performance of Rodoljub Stojic as he scored 2 long range screamers to help us on our way to a 5 goal victory. Uros Racic has scored more league goals than games played this season now!

--

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi*, Pavlovic, Ristic (Terzic), Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric, Signorelli

This win pretty much secures 3rd place in the group. We are level on points with 2nd placed PSG but I cant see us getting anything against them or Bayern but we shall see.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Erakovic, Ferraresi (Lyanco), Markovic, Terzic, N.Petrovic, Cvijovic, Mituljikic*, Stojic (Sokolov), Stevanovic (Mijatovic), Signorelli

Sure I was missing several players but this performance was pitiful. Mituljikic scored the only goal but he also missed several chances.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Markovic, Terzic (Ristic), Topic, Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric (Stevanovic), Signorelli*

Signorelli put in a great performance here as he scored 2 and assisted 2. He needs to do that more often!

--

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Markovic, Terzic (Ristic), Topic, Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic, Stevanovic (Mijatovic), Signorelli (Milinkovic)

I am disappointed at our collapse in the 2nd half but we are nowhere near Bayern Munich in terms of ability. Not even in the same galaxy as them.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Lyanco), Erakovic, Markovic, Ristic, N.Petrovic*, Cvijovic, Stevanovic, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric (Mijatovic), Signorelli

This was a dismal performance. We are really struggling at the minute and not really impressing at all! We were without several players though.

--

SUMMARY

We did have a couple of stand out performances this month with the key win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League being the main highlight however towards the end of the month we labored and with my players struggling for fitness the 2 month winter break cant come quick enough!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOVAN MITULJIKIC

--

SUPERLIGA

--

SERBIA

UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Group H

Lineup - Gordic*, Milenkovic, Kovacevic, Pavlovic, Terzic, Ilic, S.Milinkovic-Savic (Racic), Kabic, Stojic, Gavric (Stevanovic), Jovic (Radonjic)

This win all but secures our place at the World Cup. It was an even match but when they had a man sent-off it was vital that we took advantage of that and we did thanks to goals from Gavric and Stevanovic.

--

UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Group H

Lineup - Gordic, Milenkovic, Kovacevic, Pavlovic (Markovic), Ristic, Ilic (Racic), S.Milinkovic-Savic, Kabic*, Mituljikic, Gavric (Stevanovic), Jovic

We only needed a draw to confirm our place at the World Cup but we went out and won 5-0 instead which was pleasing.

​

 

[Klippybo]

DECEMBER

Kup Srbije 2nd Round

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Khellven), Erakovic, Markovic*, Ristic, N.Petrovic, Cvijovic, Mijatovic, Sokolov (Pandurovic), Stevanovic, Signorelli (Milinkovic)

I put out a largely backup side here and we got the job done. Khellven finally returned from injury here.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic (Ristic), Topic, Racic, Mituljikic*, Stojic, Gavric (Stevanovic), Signorelli (Milinkovic)

I have never seen a team have 4 players sent-off before! To only get 4 goals is a bit disappointing although Signorelli did have an effort ruled out. Mituljikic scored a fine hat-trick. He isnt scoring as regularly as last season but he is still doing well.

--

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Khellven), Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic, Topic, Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric (Stevanovic), Signorelli

We didnt do a bad job here and kept things respectable. Thats about all I can say!

--

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Khellven), Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic, Topic (N.Petrovic), Racic, Mituljikic (Stevanovic), Stojic, Gavric, Signorelli*

A huge win as this is our toughest fixture in the domestic season. They had a man sent-off before Stojic put us in front however we annoyingly conceded an equaliser. Just after half-time they went down to 9 men and we took advantage of that when Signorelli struck the winner.

--

Lineup - D.Petrovic, Khellven (Erakovic), Markovic*, Pavlovic, Ristic, Topic, Cvijovic (N.Petrovic), Mituljikic (Mijatovic), Sokolov, Stevanovic, Signorelli

I had a goalkeeping crisis before the game as Gordic was sent home with the flu, Dorde Petrovic had picked up a knock and was still slightly injured, my U19 players were away on holiday and my B side werent eligible so I had to play Dorde Petrovic despite his injury.

--

SUMMARY

We head into the 2 month winter break in a strong position as our victory over Partizan Belgrade means we have opened up a 16pt gap at the top of the table and the perfect league campaign is still on!

In Europe we lost to PSG unsurprisingly so have been demoted down to the Europa League where we will play Polish side Lech Poznan.

There will be some transfer activity by the time we return as I have already agreed to sell 1 player in the squad.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
SVETOZAR MARKOVIC

--

SUPERLIGA

​

 

[Klippybo]

JANUARY & FEBRUARY

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Darroquy, Pavlovic, Terzic, Montero (Topic), Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric*, Signorelli (Ellinton Antonio)

Ellinton Antonio returned from injury off the bench to score here and now I have to decide who to play up front! Gavric scored the other 2 goals and Racic missed a penalty. Montero made his debut while Radnicki 1923 sacked their manager immediately afterwards.

--

Lineup - Petrovic, Khellven (Ferraresi), Darroquy, Pavlovic*, Terzic, Montero, Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric, Signorelli (Ellinton Antonio)

Ellinton Antonio to the rescue!!!!

My Brazilian striker came off the bench to score the only goal of the game as we struggled to defeat TSC. They have actually been taken over by a tycoon recently so could prove to be tough opponents in years to come.

--

UEFA Europa League 1st Round 1st Leg

Lineup - Petrovic, Khellven, Darroquy, Pavlovic (Markovic), Terzic, Montero, Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric*, Signorelli (Ellinton Antonio)

We win but it should have been by much more and their late goal has given them a chance in the 2nd leg frustratingly.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Darroquy*, Pavlovic, Terzic, Montero, Racic (Topic), Mituljikic, Stojic, Gavric (Jovic), Ellinton Antonio (Signorelli)

A decent enough win although it took us until the 52nd minute to make the breakthrough. Jovic came off the bench to make his debut.

--

UEFA Europa League 1st Round 2nd Leg

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven (Ferraresi), Darroquy (Markovic), Pavlovic*, Terzic, Montero, Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic (Sokolov), Gavric, Signorelli

We win easily enough to go through into the next round. Gavric is actually my top scorer in all comps with 20 while Mituljikic and Racic have 18.

--

SUMMARY

We won all of our matches this month including the 2 matches in the Europa League against Lech Poznan but all the news is regarding the transfer window as I sold 2 players and brought in 3.

Leaving the club was Njegos Petrovic who signed for Union Berlin for £4.4m. He made 110 apps for me and scored 29 goals so he did well but he wanted to play every week and I couldnt promise him that. Lyanco is also away as he joined Rennes for £800,000. He was on a big wage and was hardly playing so I cashed in.

My first signing was a pre-contract deal that I lined up a year and a half ago as I signed 18y/o Colombian midfielder Pablo Castro for £600,000. He is a terrific young player but in all honesty I brought him in to sell him on quickly but we shall see.

Now you could say that Castro was the replacement player for the departing Petrovic however I went out and splashed £6.75m on Argentinian wonderkid Ariel Montero from Racing Club. He has just turned 19 and looks like a top notch player already but he has so much more development left in him! Already he is ahead of Topic in terms of starting.

Finally I paid Manchester City £8.25m to bring Nemanja Jovic back to Serbia. The left winger is a decent player and will certainly push Gavric for the spot on the LW. At 23y/o he can still improve so this is a good signing.

I also had several other offers for my players. Man Utd bid £15m for Uros Racic while PSG were in for Cvijovic and Samardzic while Sokolov also attracted interest.

The final bit of news is that Nahuel Ferraresi has taken up Serbian citizenship so is no longer counted as a foreign player. That leaves Khellven, Signorelli, Ellinton Antonio, Castro, Darroquy and Montero as the foreign players.

Youth intake next month!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ZELJKO GAVRIC

--

SUPERLIGA

​

 

[Klippybo]

MARCH

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Darroquy, Pavlovic, Terzic (Ristic), Montero, Racic, Mituljikic*, Sokolov, Gavric (Jovic), Signorelli (Ellinton Antonio)

Remember when we were scoring nearly 140 goals in a league season? Those days seem to be over as my strikers dont seem to want to score. Racic has also stopped scoring and he missed another penalty here. Sokolov scored a screamer however.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven (Ferraresi), Darroquy, Pavlovic, Terzic, Montero (Topic), Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic*, Gavric, Signorelli (Ellinton Antonio)

ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC!!!!!

Atrocious. We drop our first points of the season and therefor will have to wait another year to get a perfect league campaign. Signorelli and Khellven were awful but so was everyone apart from Stojic and Gavric really.

Raging.

--

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Pavlovic (Erakovic), Terzic, Topic (Castro), Racic*, Mituljikic, Stojic, Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Signorelli)

Thats a bit better. At least one of my strikers got on the scoresheet and Racic remembered how to take a penalty too lol. Castro came off the bench to make his debut.

--

UEFA Europa League 2nd Round 1st Leg

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Khellven), Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic, Montero, Racic*, Mituljikic, Stojic (Stevanovic), Gavric, Signorelli (Ellinton Antonio)

What a result!!!! We were excellent here and deserved our win. Racic put us in front and we were in control but they equalised with their only shot on target but Ellinton Antonio came off the bench to head home the winner.

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven (Erakovic), Darroquy, Ferraresi, Ristic, Castro, Topic* (Cvijovic), Mituljikic (Stevanovic), Sokolov, Jovic, Signorelli

I rested a few players for the upcoming Spurs match and we duly struggled to win here. Jovic opened his account for the club and had one disallowed but I expect better.

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UEFA Europa League 2nd Round 2nd Leg

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Khellven), Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic, Montero (Castro), Racic, Mituljikic, Stojic (Jovic), Gavric, Ellinton Antonio

Gutted!!!!

When Ellinton Antonio scored early on to put us 3-1 up on aggregate I thought that we were going to pull off a real shock but alas Spurs fought back and got the decisive goal with just 2min to go.

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Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi (Markovic), Pavlovic, Terzic, Montero, Racic, Mituljikic (Stevanovic), Stojic, Gavric, Ellinton Antonio (Signorelli)

HEADS WILL ROLL AFTER THIS RESULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having went 95 games unbeaten in the league we suffer defeat here at home as Cukaricki, a team filled with my old players - come and destroy us 4-2. We had only conceded 9 league goals before this game this season and never 2 in a game so to concede 4 is unacceptable.

Ivanic, Romario (who also had a goal disallowed), Pankov, Filipovic and Pavkov have certainly done a number on me here.

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SUMMARY

We had a horrible March!

Not only did we drop points for the first time this season but we also lost in the league for the first time after 95 matches unbeaten and to make it worse we were at home, conceded 4 goals in the game and Cukaricki fielded several players that I used to have and 3 goals were scored by them!!!!

Add to that the fact that the youth intake was poor and we were knocked out of the Europa League then it is definitely a month to forget.

We did beat Spurs 2-1 at home I suppose.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
UROS RACIC

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SUPERLIGA

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SERBIA

Friendly

Lineup - Gordic, Gajic (Erakovic), Kovacevic, Markovic, Ristic, Ilic, S.Milinkovic-Savic*, Kabic (Maras), Mituljikic (Lukic), N.Jovic, L.Jovic (Lazetic)

Decent enough. The first half was unacceptable but the 2nd half was much better as we netted 3 goals with Milinkovic-Savic striking twice.​

 

[Klippybo]

APRIL

Kup Srbije Quarter-Final

Lineup - Gordic, Khellven (Ferraresi), Darroquy, Pavlovic, Ristic, Montero (Castro), Racic, Mituljikic (Stevanovic), Stojic, Gavric*, Signorelli

We March into the semis with this win. Gavric scored a hat-trick to move 2 goals clear of Racic in the battle to be our top scorer this season. Mituljikic got injured and will be out for around a month.

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Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Ristic (Terzic), Montero, Racic, Gavric, Stojic*, Jovic (Stevanovic), Signorelli (Ellinton Antonio)

We win but we didnt perform. I really am flummoxed at how our levels of performance have dropped significantly compared to previous seasons. Maybe having a 17y/o captain in Stojic doesnt help but he was captain last season when we were magnificent.

We now head into the split.

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven, Ferraresi, Darroquy, Ristic (Terzic), Montero, Racic*, Gavric, Stojic (Sokolov), Jovic, Signorelli (Ellinton Antonio)

CHAMPIONS!!!!

We win the title by beating our bitter rivals coming from behind to win 2-1. They took the lead but Racic converted a penalty to level and then Jovic scored a screamer from 20 yards to seal the win and the title.

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Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Pavlovic (Markovic), Ristic, Castro, Racic (Topic), Gavric, Sokolov (Mijatovic), Jovic, Ellinton Antonio*

I just want this season to end. We have dropped so many levels despite having some of the best young talent available. Ellinton Antonio scored a hat-trick here to rescue a point. My old player, Petar Stanic, scored twice against us here.

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Kup Srbije Semi-Final

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Markovic), Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic, Montero, Racic*, Gavric, Sokolov (Stevanovic), Jovic, Signorelli (Ellinton Antonio)

We reach the final. The performance wasnt great and I still long for the end of the season.

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Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Khellven), Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic, Montero*, Racic (Topic), Gavric (Mituljikic), Stojic, Jovic, Ellinton Antonio

We get revenge on Cukaricki with a victory here. Stojic scored 2 superb goals, including a free-kick, and this performance is much more like what I expect!

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SUMMARY

I just want the season to end to be honest. This season is not a write off by any means as we can still win the double but I am not happy with how we are playing as the performance levels have dropped big time.

With the likes of Darroquy (Argentinian wonderkid now capped by Argentina) and Montero (wonderkid) we should be stronger and then you add in Signorelli who is another Argentinian wonderkid but it doesnt seem to be clicking on the field.

In the latest top 50 youngest players of the year we had our first entrants in my time here with Castro 4th (huge surprise), Montero 12th, Stojic 32nd and Milinkovic 37th.

The talent is there we just need to get the performances!!!!!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ELLINTON ANTONIO

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SUPERLIGA

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[Klippybo]

MAY

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Khellven), Ferraresi, Markovic, Terzic, Montero, Racic, Gavric (Mituljikic), Stojic (Sokolov), Jovic, Ellinton Antonio*

Now thats more like it!!!

IMT were the side who stopped us from getting the perfect league campaign and we gained revenge by putting 6 past them here. Ellinton Antonio scored 4 goals in a terrific individual performance from him.

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Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy, Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Terzic, Montero (Topic), Racic, Gavric, Stojic*, Jovic (Mituljikic), Ellinton Antonio (Signorelli)

Stojic scored 2 here but missed a penalty to deny him his hat-trick unfortunately. Signorelli hadnt scored for 13 games before netting here.

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven (Darroquy), Ferraresi (Markovic), Pavlovic, Terzic, Montero*, Racic, Gavric, Stojic, Jovic (Mituljikic), Signorelli

We got shocked here when we fell behind to 10 man Spartak Subotica but we bounced back to win with 2 goals from Signorelli. Jovic also had a goal disallowed.

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Lineup - Gordic, Khellven (Darroquy), Ferraresi, Pavlovic, Ristic, Montero, Topic, Mituljikic (Stevanovic), Stojic, Jovic, Signorelli (Ellinton Antonio)

My players should be embarrassed with themselves. To lose is bad enough, to lose at home is worse, to not score is pitiful but to not even have a shot on target means every single player deserves to be shot.

Absolutely pathetic.

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Kup Srbije Final

Lineup - Gordic, Darroquy (Khellven), Markovic, Pavlovic, Ristic, Montero (Topic), Racic*, Mituljikic (Jovic), Stojic, Gavric, Signorelli

This was a thrilling cup final which fortunately we came out on top of in this 5 goal thriller. 4 goals were shared but we got the winner when Stojic crashed in a free-kick from distance.

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SUMMARY

Well I am glad that this season is over! We ended the league season with a dismal defeat at home to Metalac G.M. and that result has made me think of changing formation for next season as it wasnt working this term. We did win the cup final by beating Partizan Belgrade 3-2 but tbh I was just wanting to get to the summer and the World Cup with Serbia.

Part of the overhaul has already taken place as I received an offer for Aleksa Terzic from Al-Ittihad worth £2.7m and so he has left the club immediately. Compared to Lykogiannis he was not in the same league and we have certainly missed the assists from full back this season.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
RODOLJUB STOJIC

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SUPERLIGA

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[Klippybo]

SEASON REVIEW

This was not a good season at all as although we won the domestic double as expected the football we played was just not good enough. We lost 2 league games and scored nearly 35 goals less in the league such was the regression of the club which baffles me as we spent nearly £40m to strengthen the squad.

I have some top quality players but they arent playing like it. My strikers werent scoring and I think I missed about 25 goals in that position alone!!!!

In Europe we got to the group stages in the Champions League before getting dumped into the Europa League where we beat Lech Poznan before getting eliminated against Spurs.

I go into the summer with a plan to play with a new formation and will need to shape the squad accordingly. I do have the World Cup to manage in with Serbia but I have even ****** that up as I have accidentally called up 4 goalkeepers!!!

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SUPERLIGA

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SQUAD

My Player of the Season - Uros Racic
My Young Player of the Season - Rodoljub Stojic
Must Do Better - Maximiliano Signorelli
Donkey of the Season - Khellven

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