On Thursday, the metropolitan Lokomotiv announced the resignation of head coach Slavolyub Muslin "because of unsatisfactory team results." By Sunday's match against “Zenith” the team will be prepared by Oleg Dolmatov, who recently left the Yaroslavl “Shinnik”. It is impossible to say that this news sounded like thunder from a clear sky: a Serbian specialist has been harshly criticized in the press recently, especially after the team left the UEFA Cup. “I have no comments, all questions are for the press service,” Muslin responded on Thursday to a request to explain what was happening. Meanwhile, Izvestia correspondent Chermen Dzgoev most recently spoke with him at the base in Bakovka. And since the coach talked not only about the upcoming game with Zenit, but also on more fundamental topics, including the conflict with club president Filatov, it was decided not to refuse this interview.
I read somewhere that even when you were working in Serbia, then some fans who thundered into the police were bought from the station ...
It was.
And here, in Moscow, have such stories already happened?
No, although I am also very friendly with Lokomotiv fans. Recently we played a cup match in Makhachkala, and one girl who came to support us had health problems. Actually, we don’t take anyone on a plane, but since such a thing, we decided to make an exception. And she flew with us to Moscow. In general, the “Locomotive” the best fans that I have ever seen. Patient.
After the match with Warragham, you promised several players to put up for transfer, because of which you had a conflict with the club’s president Filatov. At least he spoke rather sharply about the fact that you are not doing your job ...
In principle, I can now repeat the same thing. What were my words? I said that I will discuss with the club management the opportunity to put some players on the transfer. If people don’t want to play for Lokomotiv, then why are they needed here, right? Here is my logic. But, as far as I know, I was wrongly transferred. Allegedly in Russian, it sounded like I put players on a transfer. Well, the president then told me that this is not the task of the head coach - to buy and sell players. And I do not argue with that. I do not buy players. And I do not sell. I don’t participate in the club’s transfer policy at all. But if I believe that someone is not ready or does not want to play in the “Locomotive”, why can not I say this?
As a result, you and Filatov understood each other, and can we assume that this story is in the past?
My answer is: I'm in the team doing what I love, and this is the most important thing for me.
There are different ratings regarding your working methods. Someone says that you hold liberal views, someone calls a dictator. How do you position yourself?
I train a team of adults who make good money. Therefore, it seems to me that dictatorship is not the best management method. I would divide my relationship with the team into two parts. During the training process and especially the game requires strict discipline. The rest of the time, I’m a friend of the players. At least I would like them to perceive me like that - as a friend or as a father, if we are talking about players very young.
You mentioned the earnings of the players. How does this even affect work? Indeed, in the “Locomotive” for sure there are those who earn more than you ...
This happens in any club. A high salary is not a problem in itself. The details are important here. A player who received only money on Thursday, and tomorrow, going to a more serious club, immediately began to earn several times more, passes a certain test. He has more opportunities, it is important that at such a moment he does not lose his ability to enjoy playing football. Another problem: it seems to the football player that since his salary has risen three times, he has become three times better at playing football. This reduces the demands on yourself. Well, these are the kind of difficulties that a coach has to solve. And a football player who has long and successfully played at a high level has no problem for the coach, even if his salary is higher than mine.
That is, you do not think, like many of your colleagues, that the salaries of players are inflated?
I would, if it were my will, change the payment scheme. This, of course, is not the coach’s business, but since you ask me ... The football player’s income consists of salary and bonus money. So, I would have made less salary, and bonus more. The bonuses that a player receives depending on the outcome of a particular match are sometimes too small against a background of constant income. That is, the player does not always perceive bonus as an incentive. But, on the other hand, there is no universal proportion. Some football player will tell you that a high salary is an incentive for him, it gives a feeling of stability.