retired_-pearl-

April 20th, 2005

Russian Premier League Cup First Round, Second Leg
Dinamo Moscow (0) vs Zenith St. Petersburg (2)

Zenith(4-1-4-1) : Malafeev; Fuzailov(Flachbart), Mares, Hagen, Krizanac; Sumulikoski(Katulskiy); Bystrov, Sirl, Arshavin(inj Denisov), Radimov(Gorshkov); Hartig.

Did You Know? The Russian Premier League Cup allows you to name a 20 man squad, and to use five substitutes. I didn’t.

Playing in front of less than two thousand people, this game was a bore. Dinamo never seemed like threatening us – and the bane of apparently every team but us, Derlei, was not named for the match squad. I can’t believe this game was televised, and the execs who picked it out must’ve **** a brick when the overnights came in. The only interesting thing that happened was that Arshavin went down with an injury in the 84th minute, after we’d made our three subs. I, of course, made no move to replace him – thinking we’d no more substitutions to make – when my assistant informed me that we actually had five substitutions to use. Man, did I feel sheepish. Of course, we won the tie – so nobodies going to complain about it.

Final : Dinamo Moscow 0(0), Zenith St. Petersburg 0(2); Zenith win 2-0 on aggregate
MoM : Vyacheslav Malafeev, Zenith

Post-Match : Nine Substitute, five substitutions. I need to write that down somewhere.

April 20th, 2005
Checking results for other matches on the way back to St. Petersburg, CSKA Moscow finished their demolition of Alania with a 2-0 home win. Advancing 6-0 on aggregate, they’ll meet up with us in the quarterfinals. Given the rough way we’ve handled them so far, kicking them out of another cup would be delicious.

retired_-pearl-

April 23rd, 2005
Russian Premier League, Match 4
Kuban vs Zenith St. Petersburg

Zenith(4-1-4-1) : Contofalsky; Flachbart, Mares, Hagen, Vjestica; Sumulikoski; Spivak, Sirl(Bystrov), Radimov, Denisov(Hartig); Kerzhakov.

Fuzailov picked up a knock in training, so is unavailable for this match except in the most dire of circumstances. For whatever reason, we haven’t really seemed sharp in recent games – but it’s an awfully small sample size, so I can’t really say for sure. Whatever it was, we played flat today – but we’re just a whole lot better than Kuban. We had a golden chance just fifteen minutes in, when Kerzhakov dipped past his marker on a corner kick to angle a header goalwards – but the Kuban net-minder was up to the task, tipping it over the bar. Kuban began to sit back more in their own half, and hope for a quick counter – but the defense was up to the task of snuffing those out. In the 40th minute, we again looked dangerous from a corner, with Hagen coming forward to level a header at goal. The goalie could only knock down the header into the path of Kerzhakov, who tried to slip it inside the near post. The ball rebounded off the post, right to Vladislav Radimov who just slipped it in to give us a deserved lead. Kuban 0 – 1 Zenith. With the lack of attacking options, I switched to a more conventional 4-4-2 at halftime, but it didn’t seem to make much difference – as both teams played out a boring 1-0 Zenith win.

Kuban 0, Zenith St. Petersburg 1
MoM : Andrey Dikan, Kuban Goalkeeper

Post-Match: I think I’m going to make the switch to a 4-4-2. I went with the 4-1-4-1 because I was worried about our defensive line, but those fears seem unfounded in this league. I’ll partner Kerzhakov with Arshavin, and home they can work their magic and get us out of this little goal drought. More than that though, the general malaise of the want-away players is starting to spread. I’m going to crack down on some of these greedy bastards.

April 25th, 2005
Pavel Mares decided to skip the morning training session today. I requested an immediate meeting with the chairman to iron out these difficulties. The chairman was a little hesitant to do anything really drastic, but I had an ace in the hole. A half-dozen of the early scouting reports from Columbia, which showed a number of players who could easily, and cheaply walk into the first team.

Pavel Mares was fined two weeks wages, and placed on the transfer-list.

retired_-pearl-

April 27th, 2005
Russian Premier League, Match 5
Zenith St. Petersburg vs Alania

Zenith(4-4-2) : Malafeev; Fuzailov, Mares, Hagen, Krizanac; Bystrov, Spivak, Sumulikoski, Radimov(Denisov); Kerzhakov, Arshavin(Flachbart).

As promised, we began the day with a vanilla 4-4-2. Arshavin and Kerzhakov took a little while to gel, and Arshavin had a tendency to play too deep, as though he were still in midfield. But we got the scoreboard early, as Radimov slipped an incisive through ball for Kerzhakov to run onto – Kerzhakov blasted it at the goalie, but he couldn’t fully stop it, and the ball rolled loose right in front of a charging Arshavin and it was 1-0. Zenith 1 – 0 Alania The rest of the half was spent ironing out the kinks of the formation. Radimov went off at halftime, with a nagging ankle injury and was replaced by Denisov. The youngster immediately made his mark by making a late run into the box onto Arshavin’s delightful tap-back to bend it into the top corner. Zenith 2 – 0 Alania. Things were looking pretty good, until persistent infractor Rahmatullo Fuzailov committed his 6th foul of the game. The ref immediately gave him a yellow card – and Fuzailov didn’t like that one bit – and the ref must’ve spoken fluent Tajik – because he immediately went for the red card to give Fuzailov an early bath. Down to ten men, Arshavin came off for Flachbart. Alania could sense they might get something from this game, as they immediately switched gears and came with a full-on attack. In the 86th minute, Sumulikoski stepped in front of a pass from Alania and then lumped the ball over the top for Kerzhakov. The ball was a little long, so Alex was obliged to control it towards the left corner flag. Finally corralling the ball, two Alanian defenders had recovered and were pressuring him. He deftly blew by one of them, and took the ball at goal. With one defender on his back, and the goalie rushing out at him – he expertly passed the ball inside the post for the Zenith goal of the season. Zenith 3 – 0 Alania. Kerzhakov added a 4th in injury time to pad the victory – but it couldn’t compare to his first.

Final : Zenith St. Petersburg 4, Alania 0
MoM : Alexandr Kerzhakov

Post-Match: Now that the euphoria over that magnificent third goal has died down, I’ve got mixed feelings about the game. Four goals is a great return, but the two late ones really padded the scoreline, and we still lacked something today. Unfortunately, I’ve been told scouts from Barcelona were in attendance today, and I have little doubt whom they were watching. Questioned after the match, I had to admit it would be very difficult to keep a team of Barça’s size from buying him off us.

retired_-pearl-

May 1st, 2005
Russian Premier League Cup, Quarterfinals, First Leg
Zenith St. Petersburg vs CSKA Moscow

Zenith(4-4-2) : Malafeev; Flachbart, Mares, Hagen, Vjestica; Bystrov, Sirl, Sumulikoski, Radimov(Spivak); Kerzhakov, Arshavin.

The 4th time these two teams have met in this young season was an up-and-down affair. Both sides were committed to the attack in this game and the flowing football was indicative of that. Ivica Olic, recently the subject of interest from Middlesborough had the first clear cut chance, as he had a powerful header turned away for a corner in the early going. We immediately struck back, Arshavin curling a dangerous cross to the far post for Bystrov to blast into the side netting. We kept the pressure on, Kershakov going close with a powerful shot, and Radimov shanking a golden opportunity from the top of the box before we finally struck home in the 43rd minute. Arshavin slipped onto a long ball and chipped the defense for Kershakov – the star striker held the ball up, before laying it off to Sirl to hit first time, which left the keeper stranded. Zenith 1 – 0 CSKA. The second half was more of the same, Daniel Carvalho and Vagner Love combining for a nifty move before the former blazed a shot into the stands. We looked to double our lead, when Kershakov slipped his defender – but he didn’t put anything on the shot and Akinfeev saved easily. In the 60th minute, Arshavin hit it wide for Bystrov who controlled it competently and crossed to the far side of the 6yd box – Sirl was unmarked and he took it off his chest and slashed it into the goal. Zenith 2 – 0 CSKA. CSKA sat back after that, protecting their chances in the away leg – and our attack suffered. However, you can’t sit back forever and expect to hold – and in the 86th minute, Kerzhakov tackled the ball off of CSKA’s center-back before lopping the keeper for our third. Zenith 3 – 0 CSKA.

Final: Zenith St. Petersburg 3, CSKA Moscow 0
MoM : Radek Sirl

Post-Match : Still showing a few defensive frailties, but offensively wereally clicked. Arshavin’s slotting in perfectly with Kershakov and acts as a fantastic link-up – allowing Kerzhakov to stand on the defender’s shoulder where he does his best work. With another comprehensive victory over a title-challenger, even if not in the league, things are definetly looking up for Zenith!

retired_-pearl-

May 4th, 2005
Russian Premier League, Match 6
Zenith St. Petersburg vs Rotor

Zenith(4-4-2) : Malafeev; Flachbart, Mares, Hagen, Vjestica; Bystrov, Sirl, Sumulikoski, Denisov(Spivak); Kerzhakov, Arshavin.

Fresh from our demolition of CSKA, we play host to relegation candidates Rotor. Continuing the bright play from the previous match we shredded the defense to free up Kershakov in the 13th minute to slot in the opener. Zenith 1 – Rotor. Expecting the floodgates to open, we kept pushing forward, hoping to kill of this team early. The attack sputtered though, and Rotor’s goalie was playing well enough to deny our impotent strikers. It wasn’t until late in the second half that substitute Spivak buried a free-kick from the edge of the area to finish the game off.

Final: Zenith St. Petersburg 2, Rotor 0[/b]
MoM : Alexandr Kerzhakov

Post-Match : This was a definite trap game. Coming off a big win, in the middle of a homestand – it’s easy to let your effort slide and we clearly did. We got the victory due to our superior talent and we’ll gladly take three points no matter how they come about. We’ve got another game like it coming up, and we need to up the effort considerably.

May 7th, 2005
Russian Premier League, Match 7
Zenith St. Petersburg vs FC Moscow

Zenith(4-4-2) : Malafeev; Flachbart, Mares, Vjestica, Krizanac; Bystrov, Sirl(Trifonov), Sumulikoski(Gorshkov), Denisov; Hartig, Kerzhakov.

If the team learned anything from the last match, they didn’t show it here. Lazy passing, careless shooting, selfish play in front of goal. Right before the half-time whistle, Kershakov nodded home a corner for the only goal of the game. We’re a much better team than FC Moscow, but we had a funny way of showing it. Kershakov was the victim of an ugly tackle late in the game, but it didn’t affect his play too much.

Final : Zenith St. Petersburg 1, FC Moscow 0[/b]
MoM : Alexandr Kerzhakov

Post-Match: A disappointing match for the home faithful – and the last thing we needed before headed out on a road trip.

May 7th, 2005
Just when I thought I was in the clear. After the adrenaline and endorphins from the match had worn off, Alexandr’s ankle swelled up like a grapefruit and he had serious trouble even walking on it. The physician’s tentative diagnostic, later confirmed back at the stadium, is an ankle sprain – and two weeks without playing.

retired_-pearl-

May 2005

Our next match was an important test against mid-table Shinnik. We got of to a flyer of a start, as Vladislav Radimov converted an early rebound. The advantage was short-lived, as we conceded straight off from a corner kick, and then a deflected free-kick five minutes later. In a hole for only the second time this season, and missing our talismanic striker we couldn’t muster up that next chance. Shinnik finished us off when a lazy backpass was intercepted and the damnable striker rounded Malafeev for the death blow. Arshavin grabbed a goal late on, but it wasn’t even consolation.
Final : Shinnik 3, Zenith St. Petersburg 2

We returned home, solemn and glum. Three days later, we took the field against Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast. Tipped to be mid-table, they were currently languishing in the relegation zones. After Hartig’s limp performance in the previous fixture, I brought on Cadikovski to see if he could muscle us a goal or two. Again, we opened up the scoring, as Arshavin completed a mazy run with a well-taken shot just inside the far post. Unfortunately, again we conceded from a deflected free kick within minutes. We should’ve had the advantage, but we lacked any sort of cutting edge, and for the first time Arshavin looked lost up front. When Valery Yesipov curled in a shot from 25 yards, the air let out of the team and we meekly rolled over for an embarrassing defeat.
Final : Zenith St. Petersburg 1, Saturn 2

We only had one game before our big Cup Final, an away tie at Rubin. I scrapped the 4-4-2 forever and ever, and went back to the proven 4-1-4-1. After all, boring 1-0 victories are infinitely superior to 3-2 defeats. I also recalled Olexandr Gorshkov to the squad. The veteran Ukranian hadn’t featured much in the past few weeks, as I went to the younger players. However, we find ourselves at the beginning of a losing skid. I needed the classy Ukranian in the middle to calm the midfield down a bit. I also played him in one of the two central midfield positions, instead of as the leg-breaker in front of the defense. This was apparently a stroke of genius, as he was brilliant orchestrating the attack and added another layer to the defense. Vladimir Bystrov and Igor Denisov were clearly steadied by his presence and it allowed them to bomb forward more often. Bystrov responded by setting up three goals, and finishing one himself – and Denisov had a sensational brace and we ran out easy winners.
Final : Rubin 0, Zenith St. Petersburg 5

May 27th, 2005
Russian Cup Final
Kuban vs Zenith St. Petersburg

Zenith(4-1-4-1) : Malafeev; Fuzailov, Mares, Hagen, Vjestica; Sumulikoski; Bystrov(Spivak), Sirl, Arshavin, Radimov(Gorshkov); Kerzhakov(Denisov).

Finally, Kerzhakov was back. It took him 37 seconds to make an impact, as he blew by the inferior Kuban defensive line before crossing for Arshavin who headed home a superb opener. Kuban 0 – 1 Zenith The rest of the half he controlled play, but despite the sterling opening moment the rust on Alexandr clearly showed. We went into halftime with a deserved lead, and opened the second half by extended it. This time, our beloved and greately missed striker converted an excellent cross from Radek Sirl to give us a commanding lead. Kuban 0 – 2 Zenith. With a solid lead, Kerzhakov came off to a round of applause from the faithful. Arshavin moved up into the lone strikers role and capped off a scintillating performance with a piece of magic to score a third goal. Kuban 0 – 3 Zenith.

Final : Kuban 0, Zenith St. Petersburg 3
MoM: Andrey Arshavin

The Cup win was only the third major honor won in Zenith’s club history – joining the 1944 Soviet Cup, and the 1984 Soviet League title on the mantle. I should feel pretty good about this – but I took over with the cup already at the Quarterfinals stage. And I can only claim to have beaten one top-notch foe en route to the silverware. Still, in twenty years, when they talk about the 2005 Russian Cup Winners – no one’s going to give a good god-damn the situation under which it was won – just that I was in charge when they brought that trophy home.

Russian League Round-Up

With Zenith capturing the Russian Cup, it caps off an impressive start for the Second City club, as they find themselves only one point off the pace set by early leaders Spartak Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow and Dinamo Moscow. The co-favorites CSKA find themselves merely two points from top, and will be hoping that the summer transfer window and squad depth will see them to victory.

Other, Less Important Leagues

There are, of course, other leagues in Europe.

Ukraine : Our neighbors saw Shakhtar’s plans for world domination continue apace as they just edged Dinamo Kiev for the Ukranian High League title. The also captured the Ukranian Cup to complete a domestic double.

Turkey : Fenerbahçe also have reason to celebrate as they completed a similar double to Shakhtar as the Turkish club slipped by Galatasaray at the death to claim the Turkish League title, and dominated Besiktas to lift the Turkish Cup.

Germany : [b]Wolfsburg fans were in heaven all last season, as behind the play of Andres D’Alessandro they captured their first league title in history. They also captured the Liga-Pokal after a penalty shoot-out against HSV. Schalke 04 won the DFP-Pokal. I don’t know which one of those was more important.

Italy : Internazionale celebrated their first Scudetto in nearly fifteen years, as behind a stingy defense, the brilliant Adriano and a nine match unbeaten streak to start the season, they led wire-to-wire. Their embarrassing elimination from the champion’s league to Manchester United, 7-2 on aggregate no doubt helped ease the work-load of key players. Bologna came from nowhere to win the Italian Cup - eliminating Inter, Milan and finally Roma in the final. Juventus are conspicuously absent from this report, doubtless they were too busy winning the Champion’s League to take back the Scudetto. Milan, meanwhile, won a fat load of jack ****.

[b]France :[b/] Playing en memoriam to their departed Prince, Monaco won the Ligue 1 in dramatic fashion over defending champions Lyon. Down three points going into the final weekend, they produced a solid win over Paris St. Germain ,as Lyon choked the title away at Auxerre. Monaco’s superior Goal Differential saw the title head to the principality. The Coupe de France was won by Montpellier, and Marseille hoisted the Coupe de Ligue.

Holland : Finishing the season 19 games unbeaten was enough for Ajax to wrest the Eredivisie title from PSV Eindhoven. The Amstel Cup, presumably used for Amstel Beer, was won by De Graafschap.

Spain : Real Madrid captured La Liga in dominating fashion, winning seven games on the trot to clinch the championship. They nearly missed out on a fantastic double, losing the Champion’s League final to Juventus – equalizing in injury time, only for Allesandro Del Piero to break their hearts thirty seconds later. Barçelona will have something to show for this season, flattening Atletico Madrid to win the Spanish Cup.

Portugal : Porto were nigh on unstoppable in the Portuguese Superleague, as they simply ran and hid from the rest of the pack – winning ten games in a row from December on. They only missed out on the Portuguese Cup as Benfica denied them after a tense penalty shoot-out.

England : Manchester United celebrated another Premiership title as they won 91 points and finished well-clear of Arsenal and disappointing Chelsea. Arsenal did beat Manchester United to claim the Carling Cup. Chelsea were bitterly denied even the tiniest bit of hardware as Aston Villa claimed a famous victory at Millenium Stadium, Juan Pablo Angel scoring two goals to fire the Villians to the FA Cup title and Europe. Newcastle’s unlovable misfits won the UEFA Cup, as Alan Shearer’s header in the 67th minute was enough to see off Dortmund. West Ham returned to the Premiership, followed by Wigan and Derby. Going the other way were West Brom – and south coast rivals Portsmouth and Southampton.

retired_-pearl-

June 2005

Another round of international games kicked off, with no doubt the biggest one being Russia hosting Latvia from Lokomotiv, Moscow. Russia got off to a slow start this qualifying section, and needed to take three points from the surprising Baltic upstarts. Russia easily prevailed, thrashing Latvia 3-0, with my own Alexandr Kershakov bagging a goal. Russia only played one competitive game this time around, so Latvia passed them for second with a 2-0 victory of Liechtenstein – but it leaves Russia with a game in hand and only one point back in the standings for 2nd.

With teams that make more from some home games than I’ll make all season started sniffing around my prize striker, I began to line up a few replacements. A few were realistic, most probably not. One of my pie-in-the-sky targets, former punch-line Bosko Balaban, agreed to a £4.7M move to Middlesborough, joining about thirteen other former Aston Villa players.

Rather than strengthen them, the summer transfer window will instead weaken on of my title rivals - Aston Villa, on the heels of their FA Cup triumph, announced they’d agreed a fee with CSKA Moscow for a good Croation striker, Ivica Olic. Olic wasted no time in signing the contract.

According to reports, both will earn in excess of £30k a week.

retired_embartl

so many reasons to like this story - Russian - I love the language and culture, it's enjoyable - congrats on the FA Cup success and Villa have won the FA Cup! We'll gladly take Olic from your rivals too Good luck bringing more success to Zenith in the league :thup:

retired_embartl

*congrats on the Russian Cup obviously :p

retired_-pearl-

Thanks for the nice words. I like playing this game, because I have no idea about Russian football, so every week you learn something new. Winning the cup was nice, but winning the league would be an accomplishment that's well and truly mine.

I hope Olic does better than Villa's last Croation striker, and he can do as well as he likes since it's no longer against me. If only someone would kindly take Vagner Love, Daniel Carvalho and Cavenaghi from those pesky Muscovite teams, my life would be oh so much easier.

More June 2005

Our first match after players returned from internationals was a home match against Amkar. We again nabbed an early goal, as Vlad Rad passed it in from fifteen yards after only four minutes. We struggled the rest of the game to add onto the lead, as Arshavin and Kerzhakov both had sub-par games and I took them both off early in the second half. Risky, but Amkar never looked like getting a goal, and Lukas Hartig mananged to nod home a second only minutes before time. All in all it was a solid three points.
Final : Zenith St. Petersburg 2, Amkar 0

June 15th, 2005
Russian Premier League Cup, Quarterfinals, Second Leg
CSKA Moscow (0) vs Zenith St. Petersburg (3)

Zenith(4-1-4-1) : Contofalsky; Fuzailov, Mares, Hagen, Vjestica; Sumulikoski(Gorshkov); Spivak, Sirl, Arshavin, Denisov(Radimov); Kerzhakov(Hartig(Bystrov)).

Kerzhakov and Arshavin came out determined not to repeat the mediocre performances they had last time. Barely ten minutes in Arshavin hit a low pass to Kerzhakov, who controlled before hitting a back heel into space for Arshavin to run onto. With no one within two meters, Arshavin hammered it into the far post for a superb opener. CSKA 0(0) – 1(4) Zenith. CSKA was rocked by the early goal, and we grabbed this game tightly by the scruff of the neck and wouldn’t let go. Half an hour into the game Arshavin released Spivak down the right wing who then crossed in for Kerzhakov to volley home for a stunning second goal. CSKA 0(0) – 2(5) Zenith. All over but for the crying, CSKA just didn’t have the heart to fight back. They added a consolation in the 80th minute, but not even that lasted as Hartig lumbered into the path of a Radimov cross to steal any happy feelings the Army Men might take from this game.

Final: CSKA Moscow 1(1), Zenith St. Petersburg 3(6); Zenith win 6-1 on aggregate
MoM : Andrey Arshavin, Zenith

Post-Match : After the match I was asked about Arshavin’s chances of being on the team next season, and I had to be honest – a few more performaces like that and I couldn’t see being able to fend off the larger teams in Europe from securing his services.


A few days after the match, I noticed Arshavin seemed a little down in practice – I figured this wasn’t the kind of thing a manager needs to ask personally, so I had Hagen have a few words with him to see what the problem was. I literally had to pick my jaw up off the floor when the Norwegian told me that Arshavin was upset that his manager thought his future might be away from Zenith. The second most talented player on the team, whose been turning his game up a notch under the bright lights – and he wants to stay. Praise be.
Thanks for the nice words. I like playing this game, because I have no idea about Russian football, so every week you learn something new. Winning the cup was nice, but winning the league would be an accomplishment that's well and truly mine.

I hope Olic does better than Villa's last Croation striker, and he can do as well as he likes since it's no longer against me. If only someone would kindly take Vagner Love, Daniel Carvalho and Cavenaghi from those pesky Muscovite teams, my life would be oh so much easier.

More June 2005

Our first match after players returned from internationals was a home match against Amkar. We again nabbed an early goal, as Vlad Rad passed it in from fifteen yards after only four minutes. We struggled the rest of the game to add onto the lead, as Arshavin and Kerzhakov both had sub-par games and I took them both off early in the second half. Risky, but Amkar never looked like getting a goal, and Lukas Hartig mananged to nod home a second only minutes before time. All in all it was a solid three points.
Final : Zenith St. Petersburg 2, Amkar 0

June 15th, 2005
Russian Premier League Cup, Quarterfinals, Second Leg
CSKA Moscow (0) vs Zenith St. Petersburg (3)

Zenith(4-1-4-1) : Contofalsky; Fuzailov, Mares, Hagen, Vjestica; Sumulikoski(Gorshkov); Spivak, Sirl, Arshavin, Denisov(Radimov); Kerzhakov(Hartig(Bystrov)).

Kerzhakov and Arshavin came out determined not to repeat the mediocre performances they had last time. Barely ten minutes in Arshavin hit a low pass to Kerzhakov, who controlled before hitting a back heel into space for Arshavin to run onto. With no one within two meters, Arshavin hammered it into the far post for a superb opener. CSKA 0(0) – 1(4) Zenith. CSKA was rocked by the early goal, and we grabbed this game tightly by the scruff of the neck and wouldn’t let go. Half an hour into the game Arshavin released Spivak down the right wing who then crossed in for Kerzhakov to volley home for a stunning second goal. CSKA 0(0) – 2(5) Zenith. All over but for the crying, CSKA just didn’t have the heart to fight back. They added a consolation in the 80th minute, but not even that lasted as Hartig lumbered into the path of a Radimov cross to steal any happy feelings the Army Men might take from this game.

Final: CSKA Moscow 1(1), Zenith St. Petersburg 3(6); Zenith win 6-1 on aggregate
MoM : Andrey Arshavin, Zenith

Post-Match : After the match I was asked about Arshavin’s chances of being on the team next season, and I had to be honest – a few more performaces like that and I couldn’t see being able to fend off the larger teams in Europe from securing his services.


A few days after the match, I noticed Arshavin seemed a little down in practice – I figured this wasn’t the kind of thing a manager needs to ask personally, so I had Hagen have a few words with him to see what the problem was. I literally had to pick my jaw up off the floor when the Norwegian told me that Arshavin was upset that his manager thought his future might be away from Zenith. The second most talented player on the team, whose been turning his game up a notch under the bright lights – and he wants to stay. Praise be.