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Trebor Mahtal enjoyed a surprisingly strong start to his Football Manager career as he led struggling SK Super Nova Salaspils to four wins and a draw in his first six matches. Super Nova’s solid run of form left them 3 points above the relegation places with 13 games remaining, four of which were against the two teams immediately below them. And Mahtal knew that he either had to survive or face the sack from his first managerial role.
Pivotal Relegation Clashes
Super Nova’s tough run of fixtures continued against 2nd-place in-form Riga, who showed their intent by hitting the bar after 10 minutes. The two sides cancelled each other out only for Riga to be awarded a shocking 77th-minute penalty to nick it 1-0.
Super Nova got back to winning ways by thrashing rivals BFC 4-0 in the Latvijas Kauss quarter-final led by winger Heythem Kerbache’s assist hat trick – but lost 3-0 to holders RFS in the semis. Far more important were two huge away days in the next three weeks. First up, they went to bottom side Grobinas, who were on a 10-game losing streak. Super Nova started brightly as Kerbache seized on a poor clearance and smashed a low drive into the far corner. The winger took advantage of more dire defending as Grobinas left one man back at a corner, he collected the clearance and raced through to finish confidently. And a critical victory was wrapped up with 37-year-old midfielder Olegs Laizans curled home a delicious 25-yard freekick before his looping freekick laid on fellow midfielder Andris Krusatins for his first goal of the season.
Super Nova were a little unlucky to lose 1-0 at home to 3rd-place Liepaja before a massive trip to 9th-place BFC. The hosts had the best of the early stages but Super Nova struck first as Kerbache crossed for 6ft 6in striker Markuss Kruglauzs, aka The Krug, to head in from close range. But they struggled to kick on, missed loads of chances and gave up a late equaliser.
That draw kept Super Nova six points clear of BFC and eight ahead of struggling Grobinas. They fell behind early at Tukums but dominated the game by 12 shots to 4, The Krug got them level, and they settled for a point that moved them 7 points clear of danger. That teed up another massive relegation clash as Super Nova hosted BFC. The Krug had a header well saved as Super Nova dominated the opening period and eventually made it count as winger Lasha Odisharia squeezed home a shot at the near post. And that proved enough for a 1-0 victory that moved Super Nova 10 points above the dropzone with seven games remaining.
Arguably the worst 45 minutes of Mahtal’s reign saw them trail 2-0 to Valmiera, but The Krug gave them a little hope ahead of a crazy second half. Kerbache equalised before Valmiera restored their lead from a corner. Mahtal went attacking for possibly the first time in his career and was rewarded as Kerbache doubled his tally two minutes into injury time. They kept playing and winger Daniil Rudenko was hacked down from a throw-in, giving Kerbache the chance to claim an unlikely win – and he smashed a 95th-minute penalty into the top corner to seal a remarkable 4-3 victory.
That wild win moved Super Nova to the verge of survival. The inspired Kerbache fired them in front at Metta, who came back to win 2-1 with a very dodgy penalty, while BFC somehow earned a 0-0 at RFS. An injury-ravaged side lost 2-0 at RFS as a tough run of games began, getting torn apart 3-0 at home to RFS, 2-0 at home to leaders Auda and 4-2 at Riga. However, BFC lost 3-1 at home to Liepaja and RFS, which saw Super Nova secure survival and guarantee their place in Virslīga for next season with three games remaining. But they snapped a five-game losing streak by beating Grobinas 1-0 on the final day.
Super Nova survived pretty comfortably in the end, finishing 11 points clear of BFC. Having arrived at the club with just 8 points and 2 wins from 17 games, the club took 27 points from Mahtal’s 19 games in charge – winning 8 and drawing 3. They finished 8th with 35 points from 26 games, winning 10, drawing 5 and losing 21, scoring 39 and conceding 59. Furthermore, rivals BFC were relegated, losing 5-4 to Dinamo (R) in the relegation playoff.
A Strong First Half Season In Management
The Krug led the Super Nova goalscoring chart with 12 in 38, but zero assists. Their star man was undoubtedly Kerbache, who had 9 goals and 9 assists, along with Laizans (3 goals and 8 assists) and Odisharia (7 goals and 4 assists).
Mahtal was delighted with how this half season had gone in Latvia, taking Super Nova from relegation risk to a very comfortable survival. However, he was very much aware that he had his work cut out during the winter break, with several players departing, the board demanding a mid-table finish, and the finances not looking overly great.
Could Mahtal rebuild for a shot at improvement in Latvia? Join us on Friday to find out!
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