Mike Rogerson

The intro bit.

No patches (laptop at work is not online).

Small database.

Leagues loaded

England Premier Division, Championship, League One, League Two
France Ligue 1, Ligue 2, National
Germany Bundesliga, Second Division
Holland Eredivisie, First Division
Italy Serie A, B
Portugal Superleague, Second League
Russia Premier Division, Second Division
Spain La Liga, Second Division

Mike Rogerson

Saratov is an industrial city on the River Volga some 720km to the south-east of Moscow. The city was founded in 1590 by Ivan the Terrible as a defensive fortress against the Tatar kanates of Kazan and Astrakhan. In 1670 the city was the centre of an enormous peasant revolt led by Stepan Razin in a period of huge social unrest. Saratov is also famous for little more than its Ulitsa Moscovskaya (Moscovite Street) – the longest straight street in Europe, and its 2.8km bridge.

Mikhail Razhazan has arrived at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Saratov having risen to relative prominence as a coach at CSKA Moscow. Having joined the army at the age of 16, Razhazan found himself thrown into the atmosphere of near Civil War that ended with the overthrow of Mikhail Gorbachev’s Communist regime. He served well and was heavily decorated for services at home as well as in Chechnya. After returning from that southern Russian province Razhazan left the military and joined the Russian army side CSKA. Having coached military sides over the previous ten years it was an obvious step to take. Three years later he arrived in the province of Saratov to be met by Chairman Sergey Shuvalov. Razhazan is moving up the ladder.

Mike Rogerson

Diary Entry
Friday 5th March, 2004

This is going to be a tough job. The boss has limited spending to £4k in the first season and, with the financial situation at the club as dire as it is I’ve had to accept the first offer I received for our best player, Aleksandr Nikulin. £425k is a lot of money down here, but how much of it I see is another matter. It’ll keep the club afloat for another year, that’s for sure. Andrey Ryabykh has been sacrificed to the bank manager as well, so we’re down to a threadbare squad. No reserves and no youth side. On the plus side I’ve managed to get an experienced left back and coach in one. Sergey Gorlukovich was unemployed but has what it takes to help us out. Lisma offered Jan Slahor in exchange for Yaroslav Bashlykov as well, and being short of striker’s I’ve had to let the keeper go.

So here’s the team that’ll start the season at Khimki.

GK Platon Zakharchuk
DR Dimitry Bulgakov
DL Sergey Gorlukovich
DC Albert Borzenkov
DC Dmitry Khlestov
DC Alexandr Ionov
MC Beslan Adjindjal
MC Anatoly Baklanov
MC Alexandr Zhidkov
SC Petr Katchouro
SC Jan Slahor

The standard here is pretty low, but it’s going to be a fight to survive. I can’t see much in it to be honest. The lads have battled against superior opposition in pre-season, holding Torpedo Moscow and going down to a single goal at home to my old boys CSKA. I wanted a challenge and this is certainly going to be one.

Mike Rogerson

Saratov Gazyet
Saturday 6th March

New Sokol Head Coach Mikhail Razhazan has today clinched the signing of young Lisma midfielder Volodymyr Bondarenko. The Ukranian is likely to make his non-competitive debut at home to Krylja Sovetov on Sunday. Bondarenko is Razhazan’s third signing this winter and is quickly followed by the falling of the transfer curtain.

CSKA Moscow today thumped Terek to take home the Russian Super Cup. The army club won a decidedly one-sided match 4-0.

Mike Rogerson

Diary Entry
Friday 12th March , 2004

Well that’s gratitude for you. I walk into the club and I treat everybody with the respect they deserve. It’s a hard job here and everybody’s working hard for pre-season. Imagine my disbelief then, when I promote a coach to Assistant Manager, doubling his wages in the process, only for him to take the job and then leave three days later for Rostov-na-Donu. I vow that Dmitry Tyapushkin will cause Rostov defeat should my team ever come across them.

Saratov Gazyet
Saturday 13th March, 2004

Mikhail Razhazan today launched a scathing attack on Rostov-na-Donu manager Sergey Balakhnin. After news leaked to the media suggested that Balakhnin had poached Sokol Saratov’s newly appointed Assistant Manager Dmitry Tyapushkin, Razhazan told the Saratov Gazyet that it would not hurt him in the slightest to see his foe’s club underachieve this season. Razhazan went on to say that this sort of under-hand dealing was beneath what was expected of a professional football manager, but that he should expect little more from a Cossack. “Your people are traitors,” the Saratov boss levelled at Balakhnin. “You have no morals and no respect. You are a disgrace.”

Mike Rogerson

Saratov Gazyet
Saturday 27th March, 2004

Mikhail Razhazan’s first game in charge of Sokol Saratov was a tense affair that produced drama in abundance without ever threatening to give the fans any quality football. Khimki set their stall out early with an attacking approach and were unlucky not to go ahead when Kamalutdin Akhmedov’s header came back off the post. Bu the home side failed repeatedly to put clear cut chances away and with a quarter of an hour remaining former Sheffield United striker Petr Kachuouro, wasteful himself in front of goal, collected a fortunate rebound six yards out to tap home. Kachuouro’s effort looked to have sealed the points for Saratov, but their failure to close down in defence allowed Akhmedov a free header from a corner with only five minutes on the clock. The away side were lucky to come away with anything by the end as they searched for a late winner only to see Maxim Yermak break from inside his own half, but the striker pulled his shot past the post.

Khinki 1 (Akhmedov 85)
Sokol Saratov 1 (Kachuouro 76)

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Wednesday 31st March, 2004

If Petr Kachuouro had been wasteful away at Khimki, he set about putting the record straight with a once-in-a-lifetime performance in Mikhail Razhazan’s first game in charge at the Lokomotiv Stadium. Before five minutes had been played Kachuouro found himself in space on the edge of the box and the striker delicately curled the ball into the top corner from 18 yards. Ten minutes later he wriggled his way past two Neftekhimik defenders to fire his side into a two-goal lead and there were only seventeen minutes on the clock when Jan Slahor fed the Belorussian, who crashed the ball low beyond the keeper for his hat-trick. If the goal scoring had stopped their Razhazan would surely have declared himself satisfied with the three points. It did not. On the half hour mark Oleg Fomenko pushed Alexandr Zhidkov in the box and saw Kachuouro punish the foul with his fourth of the game from the spot. The away side were helped little by the sending off of Alexandr Kolitiko just before half time for a second booking, and when Kachuouro lashed in his fifth of the match 45 seconds into the second half Alexandr Yefremov in the away dugout would have been forgiven for thinking that the rout would never end. It did, however, as Kachuouro rounded off a memorable evening in Saratov, placing the ball under Andrey Paukov after a fantastic through ball from full back Alexandr Cherkes.

Sokol Saratov 6 (Kachuouro 5, 15, 17, pen 30, 46, 60)
Neftekhimik 0 (Kolitiko s/o 40)

Mike Rogerson

Saratov Gazyet
The April Round-Up

Terek 1 (Terkhnin 67)
Saratov 3 (Slahor 43, Adjindjal 69, Katchouro 87)

Saratov 3 (Katchouro 3, Cherkes 65, Oreschuk 68)
Lokomotiv Chita 1 (Skachkov 27)

Metallurg Lipetsk 1 (Chumachenko 90)
Saratov 0 (Adjindjall s/o 80)

Saratov 3 (Bliznyuk 47, Baklanov 71, Slahor 85)
Chernomorets 1 (Oleinik 81)

Saratov 3 (Oreschuk 26, Slahor 55, Borzhenkov pen 76)
Spartak Nalchik 3 (Kovalenko pen 17, Kumizhev 30, Yenin 77)

Metallurg Kuzbass 0 (Yegunov s/o 33)
Saratov 2 (Zhidkov 9, Bugakov pen 65)

Uralan 3 (Veretennikov 39, Ulyundjiev 79, Temryukov 90; Shvets s/o 11)
Saratov 1 Oreschuk 89)

Mike Rogerson

Saratov Gazyet
The May Round-Up

Sokol Saratov 0
Tom Tomsk 0

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The Game against Tomsk was followed by a longest away trip that Saratov would face all season. At 5000km, Vladivostok Luch posed a challenge in logistics as much as football, and by the end of the game Mikhail Razhazan was wishing that he’d forfeited the game rather than take the 36-hour trip along the Trans-Siberian railway.

Vladivostok Luch 2
Sokol Saratov 2

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Unable to name a full squad for long journey to Khabarovsk because of injury, Mikhail Razhazan had to push three up front to cover for the lack of available midfielders in his side. SKA dominated a tense first half without really creating anything clear-cut and were hit on the break just after half time, Roman Oreschuk sliding in to score form close range. The home side continued to press and but for an inspired performance from Platon Zakharchuk in the Saratov goal the result could have been very different. Zacharchuk’s display in the away goal was reward when Nizar Al-Taravna settled the game for Sokol with fifteen minutes remaining.

SKA-Energia Khabarovsk 0
Sokol Saratov 2 (Oreschuk 46, Al-Tavarna 72)

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Gaz-Gaz visited Saratov in the middle of May. With both teams fighting to a place in the 2 promotion places at the top of the table, a close match was on the cards. Sokol had other ideas however. Roman Oreschuk chipped the home side into a 26th minute lead before lashing a superb strike into the top corner of the net eight minutes later to make it 2-0. Just after half time Maxim Tyurin popped up on the edge of the penalty area to drill an Oreschuk lay-off in off the post and Jan Slahor broke free five minutes from time to round off a resounding victory with a crisp effort in off the bar.

Sokol Saratov 4 (Oreschuk 25, 34, Tyurin 49, Slahor 85)
Gaz-Gaz 0

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Travelling to Saransk for the game against Lisma, Mikhail Razhazan knew that his team had to keep up the pressure on the top sides. Level second and a single win from the top spot he decided to field an attacking line-up, playing three strikers and leaving two in midfield despite having a full squad fit. The 30 minutes were open and either side could have taken the lead. As it was Sergey Red’kin drew first blood for the home side, placing a penalty into the bottom corner after Red’kin himself had been tugged back in the box by Maxim Tyurin. Razhazan stuck to his guns convinced that the Lisma defence would be unable to cope with sustained pressure and he was rewarded in spectacular fashion within quarter of an hour. That is all the time it took for in-form striker Roman Oreschuk to tap, blast and place his way to a first half hat-trick to send Saratov in 3-1 up at the break. Ten minutes into the second half Jan Slahor curled a beautiful cross onto the head of Petr Katchouro, who nodded his team into a 4-1 lead before striking an unstoppable shot beyond the despairing dive of the home keeper on 64 minutes. With quarter of an hour to play Alexandr Zhidkov rounded off the scoring, seeing his 30 yard piledriver deflect off a defender and trickle into an unguarded net.

Lisma-Mordovia Saransk 1 (Red’kin pen 29)
Sokol Saratov 6 (Oreschuk 32, 34, 42, Katchouro 54, 64, Zhidkov 74)

BobBev

Great start Mike, and some terrific results.

Mike Rogerson

Cheers Bob. I'm amazed. I had no wingers at the start (and no money) so I've squashed play into the middle and played through teams. When it works it destroys them. May be my best tactic ever!