Travelling across Europe - proving I'm better than Dan!

Not sure he will Dyrim. Dinamo is a hard nut to crack even for Dan. Think I will win some years here

It's going to be difficult but certainly not impossible.


Indeed but I'm sure we'll find some consistent form sometime but I'd be happy to finish at least in the top four.


Dinamo have won the league something like twenty one seasons in succession. They're going to be nearly impossible to crack but they're certainly not unbeatable.

On the back of a short February month, we entered March with the side having six games - four in the league and a Croatian Cup semi final tie against Lokomotiva as we went through the month unbeaten with three draws and three wins in all competitions.


We started the month with a Croatian Cup semi final first leg tie against fellow First Division side Lokomotiva and we took one step into the final following a two nil win as winger Tomas struck the opening goal after only ten minutes before Barisic doubled the lead on seventy seven to give us the advantage.

Our first league game in March was a home affair against Zagreb and could only manage a three all draw in a game that saw us squander a three one lead and that was disappointing to say the least. The game burst into the life with three goals in the space of two minutes as we opened the scoring through Rufino but Zagreb equalised a minute later before sixty seconds later saw Rondinelli regain the lead and then Simic made it three one inside the opening twenty minutes. Second half goals from Alcantana for his second of the game and Bunjevac sealed the comeback.

We made the trip to Slaven Belupo and defeated them two one to secure an excellent three points but it was the home side who took the lead courtesy of Erseg on twenty one minutes but second half goals from Lucas and Simic ensured we headed home with the points.

The return leg in the Croatian Cup semi final against Lokomotiva saw us draw two all on the night as we advanced to the final, four two on aggregate as the visitors took the lead after five minutes but we pegged them back four minutes later through Tomas and then Vukusic turned the game around but we were pegged back with two minutes left but we advanced.

Back to league action and the club made the trip to Rijeka looking to pick up back to back league wins but we came up short in a two all draw with Tomas putting us into the lead on sixteen minutes but Rijeka equalised on twenty two through Esteves and then Apellaniz put is back into the lead before half time but the hosts equalised for the second time with a minute left.

Our final game of the month saw us face our second away game in succession as we arrived at Lokomotiva and picked up a valuable three points as Rufino scored what turned out to be the winning goal in first half stoppage time.


Despite an unbeaten month the side seem unable to move in the league table as we're still in sixth place but we're only there on what looks to be a head to head record with Rijeka. Finishing in third place looks like it's possible as we are six points behind but it's still going to be difficult.

We entered the penultimate month still looking to finish in the top three of the season and we played six games this month with them all being in the league and it was another unbeaten month but once again draws seemed to be a problem as we drew three out of the six games, winning the other three.


Inter Zapresic arrived in Split for a league game and they were defeated two nil with winter loan signing Apellaniz breaking the deadlock on forty one minutes and the points were sealed with twenty minutes remaining as Rufino struck.

Our second game saw us face league leaders Dinamo and it turned out to be a classic as the points and eight goals were shared. We got off to a dream start as Rufino struck inside the opening five minutes and that lasted until the half hour as Erico equalised before Tomas regained our lead but then Marion levelled for the second time and then Bruno turned the game around on sixty four minutes but then we equalised just sixty seconds later through Rufino's second but Bruno's second made it four three Dinamo but we made it four all in the final minute as Tomas' second shared the points.

A third straight home game saw us face RNK Split in the Split Derby and we defeated them three one with Rufino firing Hajduk into the lead on thirty one minutes but Charuto equalised before second half strikes from Rufino and Vukusic sealed three points in our quest to finish in the top three.

We made the trip to strugglers Istra 1961 and slipped to a disappointing two all draw as we conceded in the final five minutes but we opened the scoring on twenty five minutes through Brazilian Lucas but Istra made it one all just after the half hour before substitute Radojcic regained our lead on the hour mark but Strok's second of the game with three minutes remaining rescued a point for the struggling side.

Our second straight away game saw us travel to Zagreb and picked up our second draw in succession against the mid-table side with Kardum putting the hosts into the lead and then things turned worse for us when Vukusic was shown a red card (to yellows) in the first minute of the second half but that didn't hinder us as we equalised on sixty four minutes as Rufino struck. Zagreb struck what they thought was the winner on eighty two minutes through Alcantara but we equalised a minute later through Rufino to earn a point.

And our month concluded with Rijeka travelling to Split and we defeated them two one, with the first half looking like it would end goalless Lucas opened the scoring on forty two minutes but we were pegged back early in the second half but then we picked up three points through substitute Diogenes.


A second straight unbeaten month has finally saw us climb the league table and we're now up to fourth place and just three points behind rivals RNK Split and four points behind second place Osijek. I thought third place looked impossible, now finishing runners-up looks possible but I still don't think it'll happen.

Good run the last two months! Runner-up is getting near but still 7 points (and goaldifference) in only 5 matches is very hard.

Not abad couple months since the winter break, nice to see you will win the cup

We'd need to remain unbeaten throughout May to even have a chance of coming second and that won't happen, I can guarantee it.


If I could turn some of those draws into wins then I'd be laughing but I'd be happy if we'd come third. We could win the cup but face Dinamo in the final and that will be extremely tough.

Sure you can apply your usual tactic to beat them

I only have one tactic fella and that's the 4-2-3-1 formation that I always apply.

Same here only I always use 4-4-2 flat.

We entered the final month of the season still within a chance of finishing in the runners-up position but it is near impossible as we'd need to go through the month unbeaten and hope the teams above us slip up and I can't see that happening regularly. May saw us play five league games to conclude the First Division campaign while we also had a two-legged Croatian Cup final against Dinamo as I look to wrap up my first trophy in Croatia.


The final competitive month of the season started with a trip to Osijek and they defeated us four goals to two with the hosts breaking the deadlock on twenty four minutes but two minutes later Wanderson, who is leaving the club in the summer, equalised but Novakovic restored Osijek's lead. Krizanovic struck five minutes into the second half to make it three one before substitute Diogenes pulled one back but Novakovic's second sealed the points for the hosts.

Our second away game in succession had us make the short journey to RNK Split and picked up a valuable and needed four one win as goals from Rondinelli and Principe in the first half had us two goals up before Rufino and a Sablic penalty late on made it four but we were unable to keep a clean sheet as Grgic struck a consolation.

We then faced Lokomotiva in Split and defeated them two nil as Rufino struck in each half to seal back to back wins.

We then had the Croatian Cup final first leg against league champions Dinamo and the first leg was in Split and the tie was level heading into the return leg following a one all draw as Vukusic headed us into the lead on forty nine minutes but were unable to hold on as Erico pegged us back just seven minutes later.

A trip to Inter Zapresic awaited us as we returned to league action and the penultimate league game saw Hajduk run out four one winners with Rufino breaking the deadlock in first half stoppage time and then Sablic struck on fifty nine to double the lead, Inter pulled one back through Konjevic but Wanderson and Rufino struck his second to seal a big away success.

Our league season concluded with a home game against Slaven Belupo and we were defeated two one as I'm sure we had one eye on the Croatian Cup final second leg. Slaven had a goal lead at half time with Mba striking on twenty eight minutes before Val doubled the lead on seventy eight but we pulled a goal back a minute later through Rufino but we were unable to find an equaliser.

The final competitive game of the season was the second leg of the Croatian Cup final against Dinamo and I picked up my first trophy since arriving in Croatia following a two one win on the night and win three two on aggregate and we had to come from behind as Romac struck on nine minutes but second half goals from Principe from the penalty spot on fifty minutes and Vukusic on seventy six ensured my first trophy in Croatia was won.


A solid final few months in the First Division has seen us finish in third place and qualify for next season's Europa League and that deserves so much credit as the club were eighth and clearly underachieving before I took the reigns. The only downside was the amount of draws we picked up this season (thirteen) has seen us finish nineteen points behind Dinamo but I hope next season it'll be a lot closer.

Congratz with the cup win! Good league ending too. I had a lot of draws too with Gomel in the season before I won Belarus. I am sure your players will perform better next year when they are used to you, your system and each other. This is very important in FM2013 and many times this effect is underestimated. Good luck next season.

Magical

Well you beat Dimano in the cup, so they are beatable! And the gap was "only" 19 points, they seem a very hard nutt to crack.

I hate drawing games, especially after you seem in control. I don't mind drawing if I have to come from a goal or two down. It doesn't seem as bad but in my 539 career games, I have drew 113 of them. I hope they're cut down drastically this season and I'm confident they will be as I'm sure the players will be used to each other.. or at least I hope so.


Lucky.


We were very lucky to win the cup against them though as they were the better side. I hope this forthcoming season we can beat the "smaller" teams in the league and attempt to close the gap at the top as nineteen points is staggering.

The forthcoming season is nearly upon us and the seasonal expectations were announced for the 2027/2028 season and my first full one since arriving at Hajduk as I attempt to beat last season's third place finish and close the gap on the champions Dinamo.

I haven't been that backed this season as the board have only given me a transfer budget of £1.3 million and that's not good as I have several positions that need strengthened so don't expected "extravagant" signings this season but some rubbish ones who will fill the squad and hopefully do a job when called upon.

Our minimum expectation is that we qualify for the Europa League through our league position so the board clearly don't think I can challenge Dinamo... yet.


Six games have been arranged but I do expect at least half of them to be cancelled due to our Europa League qualification games. We start with three tough testing home games against Russian giants Spartak Moscow and Rubin Kazan with a game against German club Wolfsburg in between.

I then take the club on the road to possibly play three more games as I travel to feeder club Primorac, Mosor and then face my former club Slavija Pleternica.

Great work with Hajduk so far, keep it up!

Guarantee you win the super cup against Dinamo! shit budget though

Cheers. This is going to be my first full season in charge of Hajduk and I don't know how it's going to go.


We'll see. The transfer budget is woeful but I've no choice but to work with it.

good luck mate !

With a poor budget I struggled to bring in new players as I looked to make the squad stronger/add depth to the ranks as I purchased five players and let nine depart this summer, five on pre-contract terms. Due to Europa League qualifying rounds, just the four friendlies were played and they weren't the most morale boosting results bar one.


The capture of Antonio was my first signing of the summer as the right back arrived on a free transfer and should only be back-up this season and possibly play just the few times while another back-up player Edson has also arrived on a free and another player who I don't expect to see much game time this campaign.

Our third signing has seen another right back arrive at the club due to last season's first choice being out long term. Spaniard Cruz has become the third player to arrive on a free and he'll be the current first choice for the forseeable future. Central defender Yilmaz has joined the club from Dutch side AZ (well, their reserves) for a quarter of a million pound and I could have him as first choice.

Joao Francisco is my last signing to date as he's arrived from the reserve team of Corinthians for a cut back five thousand pounds due to him being on the transfer list. With my other left back being muck, the Brazilian will be first choice and I hope he'll do a steady job.

Marcel, Biliskov and Tolic have all been released from the club following the expiry of their contracts.

Back in the winter transfer round-up I announced that five players would be leaving the club in the summer - the moves were confirmed the day the transfer window opened up. Wanderson has headed to En Avant de Guingamp in France while Blazevic is heading to England to ply his trade with Norwich, Saric has joined Gradino while Samsunspor have captured keeper Franjic and Dugopolje completed the signing of Basha.

Only one more player departed the club in the summer and that was Jairo who has joined Portuguese club Boavista for three hundrethousand after I made him surplus to requirements.


Our pre season programme saw us play four games all at home as we faced giants Spartak Moscow, Wolfsburg, Rubin along with Croatian non-league side Primorac.

We did very well against Spartak but could only secure a point as Lucas scored our goal in the first minute of first half stoppage time before Wolfsburg picked up an underseved single goal victory in Split.

Another Russian team were next, Rubin Kazan, they defeated us two one with Rondinelli netting our goal on sixty eight minutes. Our last pre season game was against non-league Primorac and we defeated them eight nil with Barisic, Lucas, Rondinelli 3, Vukusic and Simic putting us seven up at half time before Rufino added one more, and our eighth of the game in the second half.

Decent pre season so far. Having a net transfer spent of -45k, you still can bring in some players. A hopefully give Dinamo atleast a little fight.

I'm still looking for more players but I don't want to make anymore panic buys.

Decent start and good transfers. Good look with the start of the season.

Thanks Benniewijs. I should have two updates (July and August) out later today, or so I hope.

We kicked off my first full season at Hajduk with five games in July - three Europa League qualifying games, a Croatian Super Cup tie against league champions Dinamo and one league game against Zagreb. It wasn't a bad month as we suffered the one defeat throughout the month.


Our first competitive game of the season was a second qualifying round first leg Europa League tie against Shkendija and we took the advantage into the return leg in Split following a two one win. Central defender Vukusic broke the deadlock with the first half coming to a close before Lucas doubled the lead on fifty four minutes but the home side halved the deficit through Nastevski on sixty eight.

We then entertained league champions Dinamo in the Croatian Super Cup and I secured my second trophy in Croatian football thanks to a three two win as Simic got us off to a flying start by scoring on five minutes but Dinamo pegged us back on twenty two minutes but we regained the lead on thirty nine through attacking midfielder Rondinelli. Dinamo were reduced to ten men on forty four minutes as Prskalo was shown a second yellow card but Dinamo still equalised from the spot in first half stoppage time through Krklec's second, we won the game five minutes into the second half courtesy of Vukusic.

The return leg against Shkendija saw us advance thanks to a two one win on the night and a four two aggregate success despite falling behind on the night as Krasniqi struck inside the quarter hour but goals from Nwaogu and Lucas turned the tie around and ensured we advanced.

We kicked off the league season with a home tie against Zagreb and we started with maximum points following a two one victory as winger Tomas opened the scoring on thirty two minutes but a couple of minutes later Poljak equalised but we picked up the victory with a goal in the final minute through Rufino.

July came to an end with a Europa League third qualifying round first leg trip to Anorthosi and we were defeated two one on the night as Mavroudis struck on three minutes but we finally equalised on thirty five minutes through Brazilian Rondinelli, the home side won the game with a goal ten minutes from time, Anstokleous striking.


Just the one league game was played in July as we're in second place due to our two one win over Zagreb.

He's done it again! Wow! still not lost a super cup tie!

With the opening month of the season behind us, I entered August with us playing five games - four in the First Division and the other being a third qualifying round second leg Europa League tie against Anorthosi. We played Inter Zapresic, Osijek, Zadar and Dinamo in the league.


A trip to Inter Zapresic started the month and the points were shared in a two all draw but things didn't look good as Guilherme and Hassen had put the home side two goals up inside the opening twenty three minutes but Hart's own goal three minutes later halved the score and then Lucas' goal on seventy one minutes resuced us a point.

Our Europa League third qualifying round second leg game against Anorthosi was one to forget, despite us winning four three on the night we crashed out on away goals, finishing five all on aggregate and the visitors took the lead on twenty four minutes through Milovanovic but goals from Rufino and Lucas turned the game around before half time but Kouloubris equalised but two goals from Lucas, that saw his complete his hat trick turned the tie around but Anstokleous' goal saw Anorthosi progress.

We returned to league action following our disappointing Europa League exit as we hosted Osijek and we defeated them four two as goals from Lucas, Rufino 2 and Vukusic saw us four goals up after fifty five minutes but late goals from Misic and Ereiz saw the visitors score two consolation goals but it didn't make a difference about who was winning the game.

We made the trip to Zadar and defeated them one nil with Lucas scoring the only goal on fifty five minutes.

And the month concluded with a trip to league champions Dinamo and we picked up an excellent three one away victory. On a dry day were it was thirteen degrees, Dinamo took the lead on nine minutes through Marlon but we equalised on twenty nine minutes as Rufino found the net before two second half goals in as many minutes from Tomas and Rufino's second saw us pick up a sensational win.


With the second month finished we are top of the table but only on goal difference from Rijeka who are second while RNK Split are third and last season's league champions Dinamo are currently fourth but it's still very early days and I refuse to get carried away. I'm pleased we're scoring goals as we've struck twelve times in five league games and that's not bad at all and I hope it continues.

Jealous much?

I'm just an extremely talented manager, you're not.

Dinamo seem to had a bad start, 3 draws besides losing to you. Go and capitilize on that.

Aren't Supercup just friendlies only the revinues go to the FAs?