[FM19] Grand Tour

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - Board Takeover Complete

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - Transfer Window

We were able to hugely reinforce our team with top Uzbek talent and also a very good Latvian striker this window as well as start selling off a few guys who are no longer at the level we are at now. We are trying to build a squad that is ready for the Champions League and it's rigours I don't want to be playing a worse team in the Champions League compared to the team we can field in the league. We managed to get back Avaz Odilov who left at the end of the first season.

Umed Abdulkhayev

Rashid Alimov

Avaz Odilov

Marat Abdug'aniev

Alexey Ibroximov

Vitalijs Zuika

Sherzod Mamajonov

Anvar Telyakov

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - 2041 Season Betting Odds

I guess we are finally being taken seriously by the betting companies for the league and are predicted to finish 2nd this season.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - February 2041

An old enemy in Esteghlal comes to town for the opener in the Champions League and much like last season we lose our opener 2-1 at home. They were the better side and deserved their win. We also played a couple of friendlies this month which went rather better for us.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - March 2041

A great month as we recover from our opener loss in the Champions League by winning our next two Champions League games and they were both away against Al Shabab and Al Khor. This gives us great momentum to potentially qualify for the next round of the Champions League. In the league we have been perfect opening up our campaign with three straight wins and we are yet to concede a goal in the league this season.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - April 2041

A big month of football in our calendar comes to an end and we did very well. There was a general reminder of the kind of challenge we were facing in the Champions League as Esteghlal smashed us in Iran 4-0. Apart from that we were great. We won every game in the league and got through in the cup. I can't really complain. We will have to be careful in the Champions League, a loss to Al Shabab could cost us dearly.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - May 2041

Another stacked month and we got through the Champions League group, pretty easily in the end but we were drawn against Iranian opposition in the Second Round, and for a team like ours which is so free scoring, Tractor did a great job of just shutting us down. We were the better team to be honest, but Tractor will be happy with that result. Although 0-0 draws in continental competitions are funny results as a score draw away sends us through, so our job is really to avoid defeat and we can get to the Quarter Finals like last year. In the league we are unstoppable. We are averaging close to 5 goals a game at the moment, there will be no catching us this season, and we haven't even looked like we might drop some points. In the cup much the same as the league this month, Nasaf were no match for us as we advance on in the competition.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - June 2041

I think the first thing that was very clear to me this month, is that we are a very good Uzbek side but someway short of the Iranian sides. Tractor battered us and we are out of the Champions League again. We will be back next year and even if we can't really win it I would like to go as far as possible in it. In the league we had our first draw and I don't know how, we had 30 shots to 0 and they somehow shut the door on us. We did win our other two Superleague games and smashed our way through Bunyodkor to reach the Cup semi final. Another double is looking good value.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - July 2041

We continue are winning ways in the league and the cup as we approach the league title and reach the Semi Final of the Cup.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - August 2041

3 wins and a draw this month which confirmed us as Uzbek champions for the 3rd time in a row. We have continued to be brilliant domestically and really at this stage it is just a matter of getting to the end of the season, hopefully with our unbeaten record intact.

[zethani]

4 ore fa, TerminalPortugal ha scritto:

No it hasn't. I am little surprise because Iran offered huge resistance, I walked away with only one league title there, but Uzbekistan has possibly been the easiest country so far. Pretty sure the Champions League will be difficult to win however.

Kazakhstan was loaded when we were in Russia, and then only been reloaded now.

There have been a few new teams break through the FK Aktobe and Astana dominance recently, but beyond that not noticed too much going on there. Jobs come and go in terms of availability, I don't start to monitor it much until my final season.

Uhm, Shakter Karagandy looks like a bit of a fallen giant and could be interesting to manage. We will see what the future holds

[zethani]

7 minuti fa, TerminalPortugal ha scritto:

FK Olmaliq - August 2041

3 wins and a draw this month which confirmed us as Uzbek champions for the 3rd time in a row. We have continued to be brilliant domestically and really at this stage it is just a matter of getting to the end of the season, hopefully with our unbeaten record intact.

Definitely smooth. Now let's push that GD to 100

[TerminalPortugal]

Just now, zethani said:

Uhm, Shakter Karagandy looks like a bit of a fallen giant and could be interesting to manage. We will see what the future holds

All depends whether they have a manager when it is time to look at Kazakhstan. Wouldn't mind reviving them to be honest!

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - Transfer Window

The only real business was that we let Paolo Kurti go, as he has been massively hampered by the broken leg he suffered last week. I have not really replaced him but it just made sense to let him go as his ability had taken a huge dive. Our Head of Youth Development did bring in a youngster but he will never be playing under our tenure, so no point showing him.

[TerminalPortugal]

3 minutes ago, zethani said:

Definitely smooth. Now let's push that GD to 100

Six games to get +14 more, could happen I reckon.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - September 2041

Another perfect month and one that sees us make the Cup Final for the second year running and moves us closer to the double again. We have now hit +101 goal difference, that is made up of 110 goals which is impressive but perhaps even more impressive is that we have only allowed 9 goals against this season.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - October 2041

We do the double again as we win the cup final 3-0, in a game that was a battering from start to finish. We were actually seconds away from losing our unbeaten run against Nasaf, they scored in the 90+ minute, and we somehow managed to pull level even later. The unbeaten run now stands at 94 games unbeaten for the club in the league, which is quite frankly ridiculous. When will it end? Will it ever end?

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - End of 2041 Season

Squad Overview

Team of the Season

All Time Best XI

Manager Profile

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - Transfer Window

Not a huge amount of business but we got players in where we felt they improved the team for our final season at the club.

Robert Belousov

Ravshan Ibroximov

Jamshid Po'latov

Cui Chen

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - 2042 Season Betting Odds

After 3 seasons without losing in the league, the bookies think we are favourites for the league.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - February 2042

A draw to start off our Champions League campaign. Fortunately we will not be facing any Iranian sides in the group stages which is nice for a change.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - March 2042

It's been a great month as we have taken control over our Champions League destiny with two wins and in the league normal service is continued with win after win.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - Milestone Reached

1,000 games in management

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - April 2042

We have been great in both the Champions League and the league. In the Champions League we have assured ourselves of first place with a game left to go, which might give us a route to avoid the Iranian sides at least until the Quarter Finals. In the league we have been pretty much perfect apart from a draw at the end of the month, where I struggle to understand how we did not win, we dominated the game completely but it ended 0-0. We also got through in the cup against lower league opposition.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - May 2042

After the group stage we had in the Champions League I am bitterly disappointed at what happened in the Al Ahli game, we lost 4-0 on aggregate and I am pretty angry that we didn't make a fight of it. In the league it's the same as it has always been the unbeaten streak stretches close to 110 games now, I would be shocked now if we lost a league game to be perfectly honest.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - June 2042

This month has been somewhat farcical. The World Cup has kicked off in Germany and Uzbekistan and China qualified. So 11 of my Uzbeks and my Chinese loanee have been called up to play in the tournament. Suffice to say there is no break here for the tournament. So we have been playing the reserves, and as the results show, you wouldn't really know the difference, we won all our games this month and we we got through both the 3rd and 4th Round of the Cup.

Our unbeaten record now stretches to 112 games, almost 4 years unbeaten in the league. If I was an Uzbek supporter of any other club I would despair.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - Job Offers

We continue to be a wanted man on the international circuit however we are not at this time interested in international management.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - July 2042

Another month is in the books and this month we conceded no goals, won all our games, advance to the cup semi final and are probably a game or two away from the league title again. We are pretty much unstoppable.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - August 2042

The draw against Paxkator confirmed us as champions again, we also are going to get an above 100 goal difference again it would appear this season. Not a lot more left to say really.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - Transfer Window

No real additional transfers that we made. The Head of Youth Development decided to buy in a young Kazakh midfielder, but he will not play so not worth showing him off.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - Resignation Announcement

We let the board know that we intend to leave at the end of the season.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - September 2042

The most important thing this month was booking our place in the cup final, we did continue to win in the league, and with two games to go, we could have come to Uzbekistan for 4 years and never have lost a league game in all that time, if we do not lose any of our next two games.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - October 2042

Our final month in charge of Olmaliq ends in the way that the rest of the time has gone, winning the remaining games of the season including our third cup in a row. Had Ma'shal not beaten us in the cup in our first season we would not have lost at all in domestic competition, which is frankly ridiculous. Next up we will be leaving Olmaliq, reflecting on Uzbekistan and seeing where we will be landing next.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Olmaliq - End of 2042 Season

Squad Overview

Team of the Season

All Time Best XI

Manager Profile

[TerminalPortugal]

Final Thoughts on Uzbekistan

Well our visit to Uzbekistan ending up being very different to how I imagined it would be. When we got the job at Olmaliq, I was actually expecting it to be a little bit like Iran, where we might do well but we would struggle against the likes of Paxkator, but it was completely different, pretty much from the start we were smashing everyone left, right and centre. What really turned the screw in my opinion for our fortunes, was how the transfer market appears to work in Uzbekistan. Over the seasons we were at Olmaliq our transfer budget went from about £200k, to about £2.9m this year, but actually this ends up being somewhat inconsequential, due to the how lowly valued the players are in the country. The superstar player is probably worth about £7k by a club, especially if they are Uzbek, and since you are only allowed to play 5 foreigners, you are better off getting the best Uzbek players you can get. Season one we were dominant, but by season four, we had stripped the best talent from every other Uzbek club. We were only able to do it as our reputation improved, we had qualified for Asia and we had won trophies, because the main decider as opposed to the transfer fee, is really will the player I am trying to buy allow me to even offer them a contract. That is the other things, I was rolling in wage budget the whole time I was in Uzbekistan, some of foreigners demand up to £3k, but the good Uzbek squad player is on £200 a week and delighted with the package.

Having said all this what we achieved in charge of the club that finished the season in 5th the season we joined, even a modest appraisal would suggest it was amazing. We have never lost in the league under my tenure and 4 games beyond that. 124 games without losing, probably ranks up there with the biggest records going for being undefeated. I think it might even pass the Steaua Bucharest record set in the 1980's. 

Uzbekistan was an interesting place to manage, it had a different feel to Turkmenistan and I don't really know how to describe it better. It would be a huge challenge to try and win the Champions League with a club from the country as we saw, we were no match for the Iranian sides every time we played we got whooped, which nicely contrasted to our invincibility in the league and domestically in general. In many ways I am happy to be moving on because the league was not remotely a challenge we were just going to dominate more and more, but the Champions League looked well beyond us, and it was not even a thing where we could luck our way to it. Four Iranian teams went in every years, even if one went out three would remain, and eventually we would have to play them and get whooped. I thought in year 3, that we might have them, but I was well wrong.

What next? It will have to be Kazakhstan as it is just the obvious route and path of least resistance, and will avoid having to spend 2 years in a country we have already been to. So we will be looking to see what is happening in Kazakh market and see if we can get a job there.

An extract of the region on a map is below

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Astana

Managerial Appointment

We arrive in Kazakhstan after not much of a wait and are announced as the new manager of FK Astana. Their manager got the sack. He was only in the insecure stage, but we applied some pressure via the media and they pulled the trigger on him, and we come in as the new manager.

It's a fair way between Olmaliq (Almalyk) and Astana (Nur Sultan), although these are huge countries the distances could have been much further.

The City of Astana

Founded in 1830 as a settlement of Akmoly or Akmolinsky prikaz (Russian: Акмолинский приказ), it served as a defensive fortification for the Siberian Cossacks. In 1832, the settlement was granted a town status and renamed Akmolinsk (Russian: Акмолинск). On 20 March 1961, the city was renamed Tselinograd (Russian: Целиноград, lit. 'City of tselina') to mark the city's evolution as a cultural and administrative center of the Virgin Lands campaign. In 1992, it was renamed Akmola, the modified original name meaning "white grave". On 10 December 1997, Akmola replaced Almaty as the capital of Kazakhstan. On 6 May 1998, it was renamed Astana, which means "capital city" in Kazakh. On 20 March 2019, the capital again was renamed from Astana to its current name Nur-Sultan in honor of the long-ruling Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The settlement of Akmoly, also known as Akmolinsky prikaz, was established on the Ishim River in 1830 as the seat of an okrug by a unit of the Siberian Cossacks headed by Fyodor Shubin. The name was possibly given after a local landmark—Akmola literally means "a white grave" in Kazakh—although this theory is not universally accepted. In 1832, the settlement was granted town status and named Akmolinsk. The fairly advantageous position of the town was clear as early as 1863 in an abstract from the Geographic and Statistical Dictionary of the Russian Empire. It describes how picket roads and lines connected this geographic center to Kargaly in the East, Aktau fort in the South and through Atbasar to Kokchetav in the West. In 1838, at the height of the great national and liberation movement headed by Kenesary Khan, Akmolinsk fortress was burned. After the repression of the liberation movement, the fortress was rebuilt. On 16 July 1863, Akmolinsk was officially declared an uyezd town. During the rapid development of the Russian capitalist market, the huge Saryarka areas were actively exploited by the colonial administration. To draft regulation governing the Kazakh Steppe the Government of the Russian Empire formed Steppe Commission in 1865. On 21 October 1868, Tsar Alexander II signed a draft Regulation on governing Turgay, Ural, Akmolinsk and Semipalatinsk Oblasts. In 1869, Akmolinsk external district and department were cancelled, and Akmolinsk became the center of the newly established Akmolinsk Oblast. In 1879, Major General Dubelt proposed to build a railway between Tyumen and Akmolinsk to the Ministry of Communications of Russia. In the course of the first 30 years of its existence, the population of Akmola numbered a trifle more than 2,000 people. However, over the next 30 years the city's population increased by three times according to volosts and settlements of the Akmolinsk Oblast. In 1893, Akmolinsk was an uyezd with a 6,428 strong population, 3 churches, 5 schools and colleges and 3 factories.

During World War II, Akmolinsk served as a route for the transport of engineering tools and equipment from evacuated plants in the Ukrainian SSR, Byelorussian SSR, and Russian SFSR located in the oblasts of the Kazakh SSR. Local industries were appointed to respond to war needs, assisting the country to provide the battle and home fronts with all materials needed. In the post-war years, Akmolinsk became a beacon of economic revival in the west of the Soviet Union ruined by the war. Additionally, many Russian-Germans were resettled here after being deported under Joseph Stalin's rule.

In 1954, Northern Kazakh SSR oblasts became a territory of the Virgin Lands Campaign led by Nikita Khrushchev, in order to turn the region into a second grain producer for the Soviet Union. In December 1960, Central Committee made a resolution to create the Tselinniy Krai, which comprised five regions of the Northern Kazakh SSR oblasts. Akmolinsk Oblast was ceased to exist as a separate administrative entity. Its districts were directly subordinated to the new krai administration, and Akmolinsk became the krai capital, as well as the administrative seat of the new Virgin Lands economic region. On 14 March 1961, Khrushchev proposed to rename the city to name corresponding to its role in the Virgin Lands Campaign. On 20 March 1961, the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR renamed Akmolinsk to Tselinograd. On 24 April 1961, the region was reconstituted as Tselinograd Oblast. In the 1960s, Tselinograd was completely transformed. In 1963, work on the first three new high-rise housing districts began. In addition, the city received a number of new monumental public buildings, including the Virgin Lands Palace, a Palace of Youth, a House of Soviets, a new airport, and several sports venues. In 1971, the Tselinniy Krai was abolished and Tselinograd became the centre of the oblast.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the consequent independence of Kazakhstan, the city's original form was restored in the modified form Akmola. On 6 July 1994, the Supreme Council of Kazakhstan adopted the decree "On the transfer of the capital of Kazakhstan". After the capital of Kazakhstan was moved to Akmola on 10 December 1997, the city was consequently renamed Astana in 1998. On 10 June 1998, Astana was presented as the capital internationally. On 16 July 1999, Astana was awarded the medal and title of the City of Peace by UNESCO. On 19 March 2019, president Nursultan Nazarbayev resigned, and on 23 March the city was renamed Nur-Sultan.

FK Astana History

On 27 December 2008, football clubs from Almaty Megasport and Alma-Ata announced they would merge to found a new club. The club was named "FC Lokomotiv Astana" as the National Railway Company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy became a general sponsor. Kazakhstan Temir Zholy in cooperation with City Council of Nur-Sultan decided to move the club to the new building stadium in the capital of Kazakhstan. Vakhid Masudov became the first head coach in the club's history. The club has benefited from a high salary role which has enabled them to attract players of status to the club. Andrey Tikhonov and Yegor Titov first of all came from the Russian Football Premier League. Several more followed such as Patrick Ovie and Baffour Gyan. Maksim Shatskikh later arrived from Dynamo Kyiv in the Ukrainian Premier League which was again a very high-profile capture for the club. The majority of their other players have arrived from other clubs of the Kazakhstan Premier League, mostly on free transfers from the clubs which were absorbed to make the club and several which went into bankruptcy.

On 8 March 2009, Lokomotiv played in the league's inaugural match against Kazakhmys in Satbayev. In March 2009, Vakhid Masudov was replaced by Vladimir Gulyamkhaidarov. However, only two days after his appointment he was replaced by Russian specialist Sergei Yuran. The club earned silver medals in their first season of play. On 14 November 2010, Holger Fach guided Astana to their first Kazakhstan Cup success. However, they were ineligible for a UEFA license since they had not yet existed for at least three years. So they were not able to start in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. On 2 March 2011, Astana beat Tobol 2–1 and won the Kazakhstan Super Cup for the first time. In 2012, Miroslav Beránek led Astana to win their second Kazakhstan Cup. In July 2013, the club made a debut in Europe playing in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League against Botev Plovdiv. Astana lost both matches, 0–1 at home and 0–5 away. On 4 July 2013, Astana officially joined to newly created Astana Presidential Sports Club, the organization supported by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna to combine the main sports teams in Astana.

On 22 June 2014, the club announced that former Botev Plovdiv manager Stanimir Stoilov was appointed as new head coach. In 2014–15 European campaign, Astana played four ties in the UEFA Europa League qualifying stages. In the first round they beat Pyunik 6–1 on aggregate, then raised more than a few eyebrows in the second round, beating Hapoel Tel Aviv 3–1 on aggregate thanks to a convincing home leg win. The third qualifying round saw Astana cruise past AIK, with a 4–1 aggregate score. In the play-off round, Astana was defeated by Villarreal. On 1 November 2014, Astana became Kazakhstan Premier League champions for the first time in their history, securing the championship with a 3–0 home win against Kaisar.

On 1 March 2015, Astana won the 2015 Kazakhstan Super Cup, beating Kairat 3–2 in a penalty shoot-out after the match ended with the score 0–0. On 26 August 2015, the club became the first team from Kazakhstan to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, after beating APOEL 2–1 on aggregate in the play-off round. They were drawn in Group C alongside Benfica, Atlético Madrid and Galatasaray, where they managed to obtain four points in six games after four draws and two losses. On 8 November 2015, Astana clinched their second Kazakhstan Premier League title beating Aktobe 1–0 at home in the last tour game. On 9 December 2015, the club extended their contract with Stanimir Stoilov for the next two years.

In the 2016 season, Astana was eliminated from UEFA Champions League after two stages, being defeated by Celtic in the third qualifying round 3–2 on aggregate. However, the club qualified for the UEFA Europa League group stage, beating BATE in the play-off round. On 26 October 2016, Astana won their third straight championship under Stoilov's rule. On 19 November 2016, the club won the 2016 Kazakhstan Cup, defeating Kairat 1–0. Their 2017 Champions League bid was stopped short once again by Celtic, this time in the playoff round. Following an embarrassing 5–0 rout in Glasgow, they failed to reach the group stages in an 8–4 defeat on aggregate. However, Astana reached another milestone by reaching the knockout phase of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League after finishing second in the group phase. Astana extended further its domestic dominance by winning fourth consecutive title in the 2017 season. On 8 January 2018, Stoilov signed a new contract with Astana, but left the club on 1 March 2018 to take over the vacant Kazakhstan national football team's manager position.

On the same day as Stoilov was announced as the new manager of Kazakhstan, 1 March 2018, Grigori Babayan was announced as the Astana's interim manager. On 1 June 2018, Astana announced Roman Hryhorchuk as the club's new manager. On 17 August 2018, Hryhorchuk left Astana on compassionate leave with Grigori Babayan again stepping in as Caretaker Manager. Astana announced on 3 January 2019 that Hryhorchuk would return to lead the team after missing the second half of the 2018 season due to family reasons. On 14 January 2019, Paul Ashworth was announced as the new executive director of FC Astana.

Stadium

The Astana Arena (Kazakh: Астана Арена) is a football stadium in Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana), Kazakhstan. The stadium holds 30,000 and has a retractable roof. It serves as the national stadium for the Kazakhstan national football team. Astana Arena is the second largest stadium in the country and it was built from 2006 to 2009 at a cost of $185 million, and was officially opened on 3 July 2009. It is also a home ground for FC Astana of the Kazakhstan Premier League and FC Bayterek of the Kazakhstan First Division. The stadium hosted the opening ceremony of the 7th Asian Winter Games on 31 January 2011. Astana Arena was one of the venues to bid to host UEFA Euro 2020 matches.

Construction of the Astana Arena began in 2006. The stadium was designed by leading sports architects Populous in association with Tabanlioglu Architects. The general contractor was Sembol Construction. It was opened with the Lokomotiv Astana match against the Kazakhstan national under-21 football team on July 3, 2009. Match judged famous Italian referee Pierluigi Collina, the symbolic first blow at the ball under his whistle struck the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. As part of each team, in addition to their regular players, were invited on two "stars": in the youth national team of Kazakhstan – the Georgian defender Kakha Kaladze and Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko, and in the Lokomotiv Astana – Turkish players Hasan Şaş and Hakan Şükür.

On January 31, 2011, Astana Arena hosted the opening ceremony of the 7th Asian Winter Games.

he 30,000-seat stadium was conceived as a large amphitheater with a distinctive and instantly recognizable form when viewed from a distance and from close proximity. Essentially a two·tiered structure, the lower terrace, accommodating 16,000 seats, encircles the playing area while the upper stand on the east and west sides seats a further 14,000 spectators. There is effective separation of VIPs, spectators and players to ensure smooth access. All spectators are seated and have a clear sight line with an unobstructed view of the field of play. The playing surface is covered in high quality grass surface specified to meet FIFA and UEFA criteria. The grass can be covered for other events.

The stadium, designed on an elliptic form, is constructed on a 232,485 m² (330m x 704.5m) rectangular site. The design introduces innovative solutions adopting high technology principles for operational management, interaction with the environment and especially with harsh climatic conditions of the geography.

Current Position

Astana have finished second for the last four seasons. They are a huge club in Kazakhstan and at one point the most dominant, but it has been quite a few years since they won their last league title. We are here with the aim of changing that and putting them firmly back on their perch.

Squad Overview

Our best player is Alexandr Shukurov, and he looks way better than any player I have had worked with for about 8 years so that is nice.

League Changes

Full updated map is below

click to enlarge

In terms of league changes, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are gone and Kyrgyzstan and Russia are added. We will see Kyrgyzstan again, Turkmenistan is likely gone forever.

Edited January 8, 2020 by TerminalPortugal

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Astana - 2043 Season Betting Odds

The odds are out for the upcoming season and we have been made favourites for the league. We haven't won it for a fair few years, but the money is on us stopping the rot.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Astana - February 2043

We make a winning start to our competitive debut with a 1-0 win over Aktobe, who are one of the better teams in the division. We also had some friendlies and generally I was pretty happy with how we did. We did lose to former side Krasnodar but we were a little unlucky I would say to lose the match.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Astana - March 2043

It's been a good start to the season as we extend our winning run to 5 games, although a lot of those wins were pretty tight, although the general balance of play favoured us in all the games we have played. Atyrau and Aktobe are already well off the pace, so that could our main rivals not challenging us. So far so good in Kazakhstan

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Astana - Transfer Window

Kazakhstan have a long winter transfer window that goes until April and it has now shut, and to be honest, one scout watching one game was what decided our transfer policy as we bring in three Ivorian youngsters from ASEC Mimosas to improve in key areas. We are allowed 8 foreigners to be registered for the league and 5 can play in any game, but since the UEFA Champions League has no such restrictions, we are best off at the limit. We got rid of a few older foreign players who were not going to play and just taking up a quota spot, so they were released and another sold to PAOK.

Moussa Ouattara

Yannick Kouasi

Bassory Diarrassouba

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Astana - April 2043

A good start has quickly become a great start to the season as we make it 10 wins out of 10 so far this season. We have already opened up an 11 point lead over the chasing pack and so far things are looking very good for us.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Astana - May 2043

Another good month for us, but a month in which we suffered out first defeat of the season away to Shakhter Karagandy by 1-0 scoreline. Elsewhere we have been very good and picked up all the points. Our lead remains at 11 points over Karagandy, although it was at one point 14 earlier in the month.

[TerminalPortugal]

FK Astana - June 2043

Wins across the month, including what was probably our best performance of the season as we took Irtysh Pavlodar apart at home 8-0. The gap is now 13 points to Ordabasy Shymkent who now sit in 2nd place behind us. There are 15 games to go and we look like we should be able to win the league this season, although a bad turn could bring the chasing back towards us.

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FK Astana - July 2043

This month the Europa League qualifying kicked off and in we first drawn against Finnish outfit FF Jaro, who posed very little threat to us as we swept them aside. Next up was Polish side Jagellonia and they were beaten 4-1 on aggregate to qualify us for the 3rd Qualifying Round, where we will face Serbian side Radnicki Nis. In the league this month we have continued our imperious form and won every game, and extended our lead at the top of the league to 21 points now, which I think realistically means it's curtains for the teams chasing us. I don't think we will be caught now.

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FK Astana - Transfer Window

A bit of business this month and good business when it concerns the players coming in. Nestor Perez looks like a player to build this whole team about, very happy when the scouts managed to find this guy in Argentina and Nyoni, was expected to be a bit more of a finished article but Smulders had to be sold as Zenit had come in for him, so we needed another striker really. Besic is still deliberating a move to Akhmat Grozny, and I expect him to go, he is the highest paid player at the club and really not deserving of them.

Nestor Perez

Said Nyoni

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FK Astana - August 2043

Another unbeaten month confirms us as Kazakh champions for the first time in 7 years, as we move on to 74 points and sit 25 points ahead of the chasing pack with 6 games to play. We also did well and got to the Europa League group stages, with wins over Radnicki Nis of Serbia and Chaves of Portugal. Our group is a little difficult for me to judge I would presume we could get the better of Sporting Braga and BATE Barysaw but you never really know. A good month as we confirm our first trophy in Kazakhstan.

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FK Astana - September 2043

A short September as we win two in the league and beat BATE at home to put us top of Group F in the Europa League.

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FK Astana - October 2043

The league season ends with all wins as we amass 92 points and 31 point gap to Taraz, which is a domination of the league. The Europa League has continued and will continue beyond this month. This month, we had a superb win in Portugal 6-0 against Sporting Braga and then went to Marseille and got a 1-1 draw, I think we have a huge advantage now to not only qualify but also win the group now.

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FK Astana - November 2043

We have done the job in the Europa League. A 3-0 win against Marseille and BATE Barysaw 5-1 has secured us top spot in the group, with a game against Sporting Braga still to come next month. We played a friendly in between just to keep fitness up.

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FK Astana - Season 2043

Our season ends with another destruction of Sporting Braga as we put the cherry on our Europa League campaign for this year.

NB: I have found a bug in Kazakhstan with the database, it is exactly the same as when we were in Iran, the cup is only played by the teams from the 2nd Division and below, therefore we will not be able to participate in it.