KibworthBull

July 2064 A sad day. The MoTM king is no more. 24 awards in 84 games. He deserves to play week in and week out; sadly, that's no longer achievable here. Another month with 2 games, 1 in the cup. Paxtakor in the cup. Not fair really. New keeper Jesse Seda makes his debut, the Kenyan signed on a free at the end of June. We progress and are now massive favourites to retain our trophy. A few complaints from the group that we were lacking in the Midfield has prompted us to nick a player off our rivals Kelvin Tembo gives us the points in the only league game of the month. The league as we approach the midway point.

June 2064 2 games in June. Both at the back end of the month. I've signed a new deal - it will take me past my 90th birthday. When the football returned, early goals from Niyom Yooyen and Abduvohid Ergashev took us on our way to victory over Navbahor, before some late goals ensured we sneak a point in the other match of the month.

May 2064 Doston G'aniev is coming to the boil nicely, a couple more goals helps us see of Samarqand before the biggie. Away to Paxtakor. We were 0-1, then 3-1, before 3-4 and finally 5-4 winners. Not one for people with heart conditions. Shaxboz Ikromov heavily involved with 4 assists. Bunyodkor spoil our fun - we blow a 2 goal lead, miss a penalty and let them score twice after the 90th minute. A difficult cup tie against fellow Superleaguers Neftchi was settled nice and early through Kelvin Tembo's strike and then Junior Kone took over. We are scoring plenty, but also letting in plenty. A 60/40 split at Mettalurg. G'aniev with his first hat-trick. Surxon got promoted last season - they are likely to go down this. The usual suspects at the top.

April 2064 We have games!!! Firstly, it's the Uzbek Cup, at home to some minnows. 10 goals. Evgenii Tsoi with the match ball. Tsoi is at it again as we returned to the league against Qu'qon. The Kazakhistan International has moved to 33 goals - he leads the Europeans currently. We make it 3 out of 3 in the league before we travelled to the side with 0 points from 3... we all know what that means. Yep - Doston G'aniev scores his first goals in the league, that's what. We are top of the league!

March 2064 It's a bit of a non-event month. The season starts with 1 game in the middle of the month, and then nothing until April. Joseph Klidjé has a stormer at Right Back and we win the game. Our Togolese guy is eligible for a Uzbekistan passport in a few months. Which means we can find a foreigner!! And that's all that has happened this month. Dull. Not even a semi-amusing news item to share.

February 2064 It's a new year and a new season. Our first where we compete in the Asian Champions League. That's later, first we need some domestic dominance. We continue our mission to find the best Uzbek talent - or more accurately, the best Uzbek talent that wants to come to us. Davron Karimov is a Defensive Midfielder who should play a key role in our defence of both trophies. Doston G'aniev is a Right Winger that is very highly thought of and is one of two that we've stolen away from Neftchi. Farruh Boymatov is the other, and one of the two Centre Backs we've bought in. Farruh is young and will develop off the bench, and Abduvohid Ergashev is an experienced player who does the basics well - no frills. I imagine he has a moustache. Boburjon Suleymanov is the new back up keeper. In the out tray. Igor Yegorov and Karidioula Ripama were both foreign options, Ripama did an okay job, Yegorov did not. The rest were either too old, too young, or not good enough. In the only game of the month, we don't lift the Super Cup

November and December 2063 A lacklustre performance, but Pirimov scores twice late on and we sneak past Nasaf, and it's also a big moment for the club Paxtakor lose their next match, we make mincemeat of Metallurg, which means it all comes down to the last game of the season. It's our 2nd Cup final. We've never won it. Evgenii Tsoi emphatically corrects the previous statement: We've won a cup in Asia. In the league, all eyes are on the final day, winner takes all. If we win, it doesn't matter what Paxtakor do. Paxtakor lost. Our result becomes irrelevant. Champions of Uzbekistan. We know what we are. I'm also now a favourite person in the club. Final League Table.

October 2063 The long wait for a game. 28 days and then we play the same team twice in four days. Youth Intake day has come and gone. None of them are good enough. Lots of goals and the double is done over Navbahor. 3 games left in the league and a cup final.

September 2063 3 games this month as we look to secure that top 2 spot, and the Asian Champions League. Niyom Yooyen scores 7 but doesn't get the MoTM award - that goes to semi-fit Kelvin Tembo, Yangiyer will probably have the relegation play-off in the future. Victory over Dinamo Samarqand was made even sweeter with the news that Paxtakor dropped two points. We are neck and neck. Our joy is short lived as we finished the month with a defeat. Paxtakor win. We now have 28 days until our next match. 4 more games left.

August 2063 1,500 games into the save. Looking good for 88. A bit of wheeling and dealing before the window closed. In comes a new Right Back - Uzbeki Shavkat Akramov and Turkmenistani DMC, Mekan Khadzhimuradov - both on a good wage and both should feature very nicely in the first team. Both are current internationals. Out goes back up Centre Back Javohir Karimov. Game No. 1500 was an 8-1 win. Lovely. We are keeping up with Paxtakor as we look to secure Continental Football as a minimum, Kone gets injured in the win at Olmaliq. Our old foes Qu'qon are beaten, Shavkat Akramov scoring his first and getting the champagne from Right Back. Despite being second fiddle at Right Wing, Pirimov still knows when to shine, a 23rd MoTM award in 67 games in the Cup. We finished the month with a creaky victory away at Neftchi, Mansur Ismatullayev scoring a penalty. A two-horse race for the title. 7 games remaining. We are outsiders.

July 2063 We have a transfer window opening. And a new right winger, from that ever-reliable source - ASEC Mimosas. He comes in on a free as he was out of contract. We do however have to balance the books. Keong ticked off Singapore but took up the FGN slot, Toshmatov was brilliant last season but we have better options now. Jo was bought in as a promising youngster but never kicked on, and Isabayev was a solid Centre Back that deserves to play every week. On the pitch we strolled through the cup, Kone on debut doing "bits", before a Niyom Yooyen-inspired win against Paxtakor that really puts the cat amongst the title pigeons. Tight at the top

June 2063 A 4 game month. Nasaf Qarshi are having a good season, 4th in the table, the point keeps our unbeaten season going but it's 2 dropped. We are decimated through injuries, international call-ups and suspensions for the Metallurg match, both keepers and several key starts are missing. We were never in the tie. Everybody returns for the Toshkent game and everyone leaves happy, back to winning ways. Just turned 17, it was a MoTM display from Baxrom Meliboyev as we made it back to back victories against the bottom side in the league. Our only league match next month is against Paxtakor, failure to win will mean that we won't catch them.

May 2063 This doesn't count as a break - I was on holiday! A bruising battle first up, but Thailand is ticked off thanks to Niyom Yooyen scoring and getting MOTM, he's 19 and looks rather good for this level, so he's likely to stick around for a bit. Teenager Baxrom Meliboyev sees red. That's how he celebrates his call-up to the U20 World Cup. Our ground expansion has been completed. Before the board congratulated themselves too much, when I arrived we were playing in a 15,000-capacity ground... Improvements eh... We celebrated with a 5-1 victory, which was 0-0 after an hour. Pirimov the usual dominator. Kazkhakstani Evgenii Tsoi scored a double in a less-than-impressive draw at Bunyodkor. He makes it nation no.144 though. A complete reserve side for the Uzbek Cup - 5th tier opponents. Keeper Sergey Andreev plays up front and scores twice to tick off Estonia. #145 All in all a very good month, I should go away more often. Only two teams unbeaten. Us and the favourites. Thailand Estonia Kazhakstan

April 2063 Istiqlol Farg'ona in the league, and the cup. What a place to start. They got promoted last season and currently sit at the bottom of the table Pirimov and Tembo teach them the lessons they need to learn to compete at this level. In the 3 days between the games, they appear to have learnt nothing. 5 more goals and our wingers are tearing it up. Shaxboz Ikromov is a cheat code right now. Singaporean Ng Thian Keong grabs us a last gasp equaliser and it also ticks off the nation. Nicely poised in 2nd, just behind Paxtakor. Singapore:

March 2063 A new league season and another new signing. A Kazakh-born striker called Evgenii Tsoi. On a free and hopeful he can tick that nation off. The dominant force, Paxtakor, is a tough season opener. A point gained, rather than 2 dropped. New boy Shaxboz Ikromov got us going at home, with the only goal of the game, to give us 4 points from two games.

February 2063 Again? Yep, more comebacks than Lampard at Chelsea. First order of business is the end of the international element of the save. Never gives me the enjoyment it needs to. We won 9 of the 18 games. Domestically we start in the Uzbek Cup, away to lower league opponents, and it's as straightforward as you would hope. As it's a new season, we have some new recruits. Meliboyev is a 16 year old Left Back, very highly rated, Ikromov is a Left Winger, 22 and massively improves that side of the pitch. Klidje is a Right Back and again moves us forward, and A'zamov is a young option in the middle of the pitch.

January 2063 It's Asian Cup time. Pirimov (from this parish) is included - on merit, no Uzbeki has more goals and assists than him this season. If he can make the step up then we'll have some real threat on the right hand side. Pirimov makes his debut against Jordan, and lasts 43 minutes before going off injured, and will miss the entire competition. Javlon Farhodov comes in to replace him. Izzatbek Sultonov takes the **** against North Korea and grabs 6 of our 9 - this should help our goal difference if it comes to it. A huge win against Qatar is bitter sweet as Sultonov goes off injured and could miss the rest of our stay in the competition. Time will tell. We should qualify now. Neither Qatar or North Korea can catch us. Right Back Rustam Abdullayev misses the Iran match due to suspension. He's the only right back in the squad (natural) We lose to Iran, but have 8 players booked - this will surely cost us at some point. But we progress AND that's the important bit. Syria, 65th in the world, will be very tough. They always seemed to beat my Ugandan side back in the day. 12 of our squad are 1 booking away from a suspension, so even if we win, it might not be worth it. In the end it wasn't something we needed to worry about.

December 2062 One game left. A dead rubber. We are secured in 3rd place. Our opponents need a win to stay up. Pirimov was not in the mood to allow that to happen. Paxtakor won another league title. We were much better going forward than defending Next month is the Asian Nations Cup and our first competitive matches for Uzbekistan, we have a tough group. Iran are the holders, Qatar beat us a few months ago and North Korea, who knows what they are like.

November 2062 We sign 3 of our intake. It's the best we've had but there isn't much to right home about. 2 of them are AMCs and we don't use that position. We go again with the International side - now I've worked out having over 4,000 players in the national pool might impact the performance.... who'd knew... Dilyaver Toshboyev and Laziz Rahimov are new names, both Paxtakor kids. Toshboyev is a regular at 19, Rahimov is 16 and is yet to feature. El Salvador will prove to be a challenging tie, and in true fashion, we are unable to lay a glove on them. Dilyaver Toshboyev made his debut. The Maldives was like a holiday. Laziz Rahimov netted 5 times on his professional (and it was also his international) debut. 16 years old. On the domestic scene, we have 4 injuries and 4 suspensions for our first league game. We are very nearly just playing for pride. And we are very proud. Kelvin Tembo with a treble. Mathematically we cannot get into the top 2 now, but that's okay. We are proud. Before we travelled to Qu'qon and 2 injury time goals stole a point.

October 2062 I asked the assistant manager to name the squad for the next friendlies as the screens in the national pool are so incredibly slow. International Management is a pile of crap within this game. We storm into an early lead against Qatar before everyone realises where we sit in the grand scheme and they fly back and condemn us to another defeat. Surely though we can beat Bangladesh? Yes, we can. Convincingly. Domestically Navbahor took revenge on us for killing off their unbeaten record earlier in the season, before Kelvin Tembo resues a point in the other match this month. 3 games left. Looks like 3rd is where we finish

September 2062 Before we can enjoy the international window, we play relegation-threatened Olmaliq - the point does no one any favours. Both New Zealand and Bolivia are close enough in the rankings to suggest we have a chance. However slim. Or not.. We slip to 103rd in the world. The league returns and Kelvin Tembo puts us top - because the other sides around us didn't play, but I'll take it Karidioula Ripama puts in a brilliant defensive display to ensure a clean sheet and three points against Neftchi Farg'ona, before we grabbed a draw when we deserved nothing at Nasaf. 5 games left, 3rd place Navbahor next.

August 2062 2 more squad players have departed. Both did a good job to get us into this level, but we've moved on, and so have they now. Paxtakor finally demonstrates why they are the dominant side historically. They move above us in the table. A shed ton of goals - 8 actually - as we return to winning ways, Tempo and Pirimov both on the double. It's almost impossible to keeper Pirimov out of the goals, another couple sees us past Dinamo Samarqand We were the runners-up in the cup last year, but fell a long way short this year, a poor performance and result. Back to the league and Pirimov. You know the rest. 2nd place and well in the mix Next month Uzbekistan face New Zealand and Bolivia - we name the standard squad, with one new name - Sandro Mihalić as 3rd choice keeper.

July 2062 I didn't need a striker, but Niyom was too good looking to resist. Only 18 as well. It's a nation I don't have in my collection. Ariel Angeles is a fantastic player - he's not, he's dreadful, but he was the best I could find from the Northern Mariana Islands - one of the harder nations to tick off in the challenge. He does the biz in the cup and it's nation #141 We had an unhappy Estonian (that's the worst isn't it) so have bought another one in - Centre Back Ivar Suppi was signed on a free. He can also cover the DMC role and we had people complaining about that as well. Northern Mariana Islands

June 2062 Just the two games this month break the mid(ish) season break Mansur Ismatullayev gets the only goal of the game in the opener before we renew rivalry with Qo'qon who are having a tougher time than us. We are a different beast this year. Victory, and it was sweet. Navbahor lost so we close the gap at the top. Paxtakor are on our heels but we've beaten them already so we don't fear anyone. The transfer window is about to open, out go 3 foreign slots, in come a Centre Back from Russia - Igor, and 2 defensively minded Uzbeks.

May 2062 Kelvin Tembo is a new face, someone who should do very well with us. He can't do much until the transfer window opens in July. But once that comes, boy we should pick up the Tembo... But let's focus on the ones that can play for now. A dull 0-0 kicks off the month, before we repeat with another 0-0 before a frankly ridiculous results against Navbahor. For context they were 8 wins from 8 before we smashed them all over with 4 unanswered goals. Javier Torres with a double. Kelvin Tembo can play in the cup, and it took him 19 minutes to open his club account. We disposed of lower league opponents again. Pirimov with a double and yet another MOTM award. We almost made it through a month without conceding but in the 91st minute, we let Bunyodkor Toshkent score. Everything is awesome