The long hard Yekaterinburg winter of 2042 had given Russian manager Vladimir Latunov plenty to think about as his FC Ural side led the Russian Premier League going into a mid-season break.
Soviet Surge | Part 42 | FC Ural #2: Surprise Record-Breaking Season
Vladimir Latunov's first season managing in his Motherland hadn't exactly started superbly as a stuttering campaign saw his Ural Yekaterinburg side languishing eighth in the Russian Premier League.
Soviet Surge | Part 41 | Ural #1: Heading Home to the Motherland
After 20 years of football management, Vladimir Latunov had successfully collected national titles in Poland, Turkey, Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia, Serbia, Slovenia, Belarus and, most recently, Bulgaria. All that meant just one country remained on his Soviet Surge. The Motherland. Russia.