Football Season Guide

Nizhny Novgorod went perilously close to a disastrous relegation at the end of last season, having endured a dismal run in the spring. They ended up in the play-offs and their time looked over after a 2:1 home loss to Arsenal Tula in the first leg. Yet they managed to pull themselves together for the return game and a 2:0 win secured them a fourth consecutive season in the top-flight. Serbian coach Sasa Ilic came in as an emergency option for the final few games of last season and while he hardly did too well, he now starts afresh and will be motivated to make this team more than just a perennial battler for survival. There have been some good additions made in the summer, most notably in Israeli midfielder Dan Glazer and a good and reliable defender in Stanislav Magkeev, who has been plagued by injuries for a while. That said, the lack of real quality up front remains a major issue and while Ognjen Ozegovic is an experienced striker who can get some goals, he is hardly the answer. The squad still needs some additions in the wide areas and the loss of a good goalkeeper like Arthur Nigmatullin is a real blow. Moreover, a couple of important midfielders in Mamadou Maiga and Konstantin Maradishvili are out until New Year and overall the squad looks quite bare and devoid of too many genuine options apart from 12 or 13 players. Thus, Ilic will have his work cut out in trying to make the SkyBlues a solid mid-table outfit.