Contact without a contract

At a meeting of the Council of the Russian Hockey Federation, contrary to previously spread information, a new coach of the Russian national team was not appointed. As Izvestia managed to find out, the mentor of Kazan Ak Bars Zinetul Bilyaletdinov, who is the main contender for this post, has still not given his consent. The president of FHR Vladislav Tretyak held preliminary negotiations with another candidate - Vyacheslav Bykov from CSKA. However, his appointment is still excluded: these days an army specialist and his family are resting in the south.

“It’s premature to talk about my consent to become the head coach of the national team,” Bilyaletdinov categorically told Izvestia. “Last week, Tretyak and Tatneft’s general director Shafagat Takhautdinov discussed this topic in Kazan, but I haven’t made a decision yet. Therefore, I’ve even made hypothetically I don’t want to talk about how I will build relations with candidates for the national team and whom I would like to see as my assistants. Much will depend on the nuances of the contract. I don’t want to leave Ak Bars and I hope that combining posts will not hurt It’s a common cause. As for the rotation of the national team’s head coaches at the stages of the Eurotour, this idea, in my opinion, is interesting, but it also needs to be discussed. "

Thus, the current FHR council will most likely come down to a discussion by its members of the list of candidates for the coaching post. Now seven people are applying for it, in addition to Bilyaletdinov, they are Boris Mikhailov, Vyacheslav Bykov, Evgeny Popikhin, Sergey Nemchinov, Valery Bragin and Valery Belousov. The participants in the meeting - and these are the heads of the regional branches of the federation and representatives of the country's leading clubs - will express their opinion, but they will approve the mentor later. According to a survey conducted by our newspaper, most of them are in favor of Bilyaletdinov. True, with reservations.

“The national coach should be released!” Mikhail Titov, general manager of Dynamo Moscow, said. “Otherwise, we will step on the old rake once again. Bilyaletdinov is a worthy candidate, our club’s sympathies are on his side. If the leadership of the federation really wants to see him at the head the national team, Tretyak needs to buy a mentor contract from Ak Bars. I think in our rich country you can find good money for one good coach. "

The caution of the functionaries is understandable. Two years ago, Bilyaletdinov already combined work at Ak Bars and the national team, drove the national team to the World Cup and won the Moscow stage of the Eurotour. However, at the urgent request of the club management, without waiting for the end of the season, he resigned as the coach of the national team. In that force majeure situation, Vladimir Krikunov saved the situation by urgently taking the reins of government into his own hands. No one wants a repetition of this situation.