Never Mind the Bolsheviks' Russian end of season round-up

Zenit St Petersburg won the Premier League, Welliton scored loads and most people outside of Tatarstan found watching Rubin Kazan rather dull. ThatâÂÂs the season in a nutshell.

HereâÂÂs what else happened over in Russia this year (and Never Mind the Bolsheviks wonâÂÂt mention a certain quadrennial football tournament once, honest).

The you-canâÂÂt-blame-the-Jabulani-for-that-goal goal

During the Worl... summer, the Jabulani was getting blamed for every bizarre goal, but Spartak Nalchik goalie Otto Fredrikson canâÂÂt really use the much-maligned ball as an excuse here.

He probably felt a bit of a wally after conceding this goal against Amkar Perm.

Gift of the year

Shock! Horror! Not all journos are *rseholes (most are).

The chaps over at Sovetsky Sport are a rather nice bunch and have been known to come bearing gifts on the big European nights in Russia.

Jose Mourinho was given a snazzy trench coat when Inter Milan visited last season (he didnâÂÂt wear it at the Luzhniki, the ungrateful sod), but it looks like they were stumped when it came to finding something for Carlo Ancelotti.

That, or they couldnâÂÂt find an eyebrow trimmer in GUM.

A Sovetsky Sport reporter apprehended the Italian after his press conference and presented him with a rather gaudy looking samovar that bamboozled the Chelsea gaffer.

Unless CarloâÂÂs particular about how his hot water is dispensed, a fiver says one of his relatives is going to be pretty disappointed on December 25th.

The Joey Barton sponsored award for good behaviour

Youssef Rabeh is known for his, erm, 'uncompromising' style of play on the pitch, and the Moroccan centre-back wasn't exactly a saint off it during his time at Levski Sofia before joining Anzhi Makhachkala; but hey-ho, a fresh start in Russia and all that...

He joined up with his new teammates in Turkey, but after just one half of a preseason friendly for newly-promoted side, Rabeh went AWOL from their training camp.

He disappeared off the face of the earth for a while, before phoning a Bulgarian newspaper and informing them heâÂÂd quit football.

Rabeh eventually turned up in his homeland, announcing he was joining a Moroccan club, leaving a messy three-way transfer saga in his wake.

The Youtube villain of the year

Thing is, right, Alan GagatovâÂÂs not bad at football, but the first time most fans outside of Russia heard of the lad was when he fluffed his lines from three yards for Lokomotiv Moskva against Sibir Novosibirsk.

He also managed this in the same game, but Gagatov scored a corker for RussiaâÂÂs under-21s a couple of days later.

RussiaâÂÂs strongest man

Oleksandr Aliev has been known to score from his free-kicks, so itâÂÂs not a bad idea to have some kind of a wall in place, which Lokomotiv MoskvaâÂÂs opponents Amkar Perm did on match day 11.

Unfortunately for them, Tomislav Dujmovic had done a super job of ensuring it was nowhere near the flight path of the ball by the time the hammer-footed Ukrainian had let fly.

The silly so-and-soâÂÂs prize

ItâÂÂs rare you get two awful celebrations in the same match.

Maybe thereâÂÂs nothing to do in Chechnya, or perhaps thereâÂÂs some dance craze in the Caucasus this blog missed, because three of Terek GroznyâÂÂs South American contingent performed two rather silly routines against Saturn.

After MaurÃÂcio made a hash of the first, the Brazilian fared a little better with the second that followed HÃÂctor BracamonteâÂÂs goal.

RussiaâÂÂs number one mascot

The finest mascot ever? Never Mind the Bolsheviks thinks so. Meet Ural Sverdlovsk OblastâÂÂs Bumblebee...

Best half-time entertainment

ItâÂÂs Ural, again. Fans over in Yekaterinburg really seem to have a jolly good day out at the football, donâÂÂt they?

This brass band gave supporters a real treat during the break against Khimki.

Worst. Decision. Ever.

He fell mâÂÂlud!

Amkar Perm were livid after Lokomotiv Moskva were awarded a penalty against them. Rightly so, too.

That was a bad decision. Almost as bad as the RFU deciding to switch to a ìwinter leagueî format

Most bizarre moment of 2010

This goal in the Nizhny Novgorod derby has caused a bit of controversy down in the First Division.

Take a look for yourself (hint: keep an eye on the movement of the defender on the line as the initial shot comes in).

Travellers of the year

Sibir played some nice stuff this season and if thereâÂÂs one thing a game involving them had, it was goals.

There were 92 of them in the SibirâÂÂs 30 league games; unfortunately for Igor Kriushenko, 58 of them went in at the wrong end.

ItâÂÂs their travel woes that interest NMTB though.

Sibir took a trip on a commercial airline via Moscow for their fixture with Rostov earlier in the year and their kit went missing en route, but somehow managed a win; they also had to share SaturnâÂÂs charter flight from the capital back to Novosibirsk after returning late from Cyprus.

Champions: Zenit St Petersburg
Cup winners: Zenit St Petersburg
Top scorer: Welliton, Spartak Moskva (19)
Champions League: Zenit St Petersburg, CSKA Moskva, Rubin Kazan
Europa League: Spartak Moskva, Lokomotiv Moskva
Relegated: Alania Vladikavkaz, Sibir Novosibirsk
Promoted: Kuban Krasnodar, Volga Nizhny Novgorod