Football Season Guide

CSKA Moscow's campaign last year started ever so promisingly, taking the lead at the top of the standings, but things soon started to come off the rails and by the spring the Army Men were left scrambling for a European spot. Yet, they missed out on even that on the final day of the season and have been left with a bit of a reckoning as to where the direction of the club is heading. Any hopes of a more productive and successful off season were quickly dispelled back in June when Ivica Olic, who took over as a manager in April and was planning ahead on being a full-time manager this season, was dismissed after disagreements with the board. That leaves the Army Men without a coach to start the season, with former defender and current coach Aleksey Berezutski is in charge of pre-season. It does not seem like a new name is being hired any time soon for the coaching vacancy and that leaves CSKA in a bit of a vacuum as they look for a better campaign ahead. They managed to bring in a promising young player in Maksim Mukhin while also bulking up the attack with Anton Zabolontyi but it hardly looks like a productive transfer campaign for a side that needs more options, especially in defence. The squad still looks pretty good on paper, with players like Nikola Vlasic, Chidera Ejuke and Fedor Chalov all capable of being real game-changers but, given all the off-pitch turbulence, it could be another pretty rough campaign for the Army Men.