Volleyball team of Russia was left without a coach

Failure at the November World Cup in Japan, apparently, will cost a lot to the mentor of our men's team Zoran Gayich. The seventh place, won by the Russians under the leadership of a Serbian coach, became one of the items on the agenda at the conference of the All-Russian Volleyball Federation (VEF). As a result, Gayich’s contract expiring next February will not be renewed.

The name of the new mentor of the national team of the VVF is going to announce the results of an open competition.

Journalists were allowed into the conference hall of the Ukraine Hotel only for the first ten minutes. Further, the meeting was held behind closed doors. A few hours after the start, the reddened Guyich came out of the hall - and immediately everything became clear. The conference delegates did not stand on ceremony with the mentor and in their resolution recognized the performance of his wards as unsatisfactory. The next step was the announcement of the competition for the position of head coach of the national team, which will last until February 15, 2007. The Serb contract expires on February 8, but it retains the right to apply and participate in the elections.

“The decision that the contract with Gayich will not be extended was not known in advance,” said President of the Russian Federation of Warfare Nikolai Patrushev to Izvestia. - Still, he brought a lot of benefit to our team. There were, of course, shortcomings that affected the performance of the team. When choosing a coach, we will take into account all these points. I think it’s absolutely unimportant who will lead the team: Russian or a foreigner. The main thing is that he solve the main problems: he won the European Championship, the World Cup and the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

However, Gennady Shipulin, the former head coach of the national team and coach of the Lokomotiv-Belogorye club, has a different point of view. In a conversation with a Izvestia correspondent, he did not restrain his emotions:

“I knew that it would be so.” Gayich created gorgeous conditions, and he scored spare from the Moscow “Dynamo”. And in general, foreigners will not be able to do anything. How can the Serbs understand the players if he was mumbling and stuttering at the meeting ?!

Shipulin also did not hide the fact that he himself was going to participate in a coaching contest. Moreover, according to the coach, he already has a training program for the Olympics. Whether it will be adopted or not, now largely depends on the former General Manager of the Russian Federation of Warfare Stanislav Shevchenko, who was elected the first vice president of the federation at the conference. Until recently, Valentin Zhukov, who held this position, became honorary president.

Maria KUZNETSOVA


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