George Yartsev arrived to meet with the team a minute and a quarter before the start. Seeing in front of him just one photographer who blinded him with a flash, the trainer asked:
“Don't take me off.” What other time will you have?
The phrase could be considered the first official statement by Yartsev at the new post. In principle, no one expected anything else.
Slowly, the players began to gather. Dmitry Borodin, Sergey Budylin, Konstantin Zyryanov passed - players who, according to various sources, are full of invitations from the Premier League clubs.
- Yes, I will play in the Torpedo for now. I have a contract with this club, ”the goalkeeper of the Russian national team explained.
- So you met with Vladimir Aleshin to terminate the contract ...
- I met. But while I'm at Torpedo.
- And everyone thought that in Rubin or Dynamo.
- A lot of things are written, do not pay attention to it.
- Do you seriously intend to spend this year in the first division?
Borodin thought a little and suddenly disavowed everything that had been said before:
- The question is still open.
- It will be more difficult for you and the national team to get out of the first league ...
- But there Buffon is in the national team, although he plays in series B.
Journalists respectfully shook their heads.
Sergei Kormiltsev was not at the general meeting, although he entered the stadium.
- Where will I spend the next season? he thought. - I don’t know yet.
- And who are you going to the training camp with?
- With anyone, I will train with a torpedo double. I ended the contract with the club. I am looking for options.
“Torpedo, for example.”
- Yes, I ... well, I ... Ask this question to the management.
The leadership has already gathered in the press center and prepared to talk with the players.
“Turn off the light,” ordered Vladimir Aleshin, chairman of the board of directors.
- And what are the players back in the back seats? - asked the press attache Angela Biryukova of the players .- For whom did they leave places ahead?
“For us, probably,” answered Alyoshin frowningly.
The meeting did not drag out. They guessed to close the doors after the team was presented by the coaching staff (Yartsev, Dasaev, Mironov) and the new leadership (Tukmanov, Gruzdev). Immediately the task was set for the season. She was worthy. Not just to save a place in the first division, but also to break into the Premier League.
But the press conference turned out to be strange.
“You know, I'm going to be very open,” Yartsev began hopefully. - But at one time I, from you, journalists, have suffered. Words appeared in newspapers that I did not say. And the like. That’s why it’s better to talk to me now when I get in the know.
It turns out, “Torpedo” will be closed even more.
“I want to ask you a question, journalists,” Vladimir Aleshin began suddenly. - Can?
- Ask, - waved his hand. There was time before the deadline.
- So why did you write at the beginning of last season that Torpedo is the main contender for relegation from the Premier League?
All thought. Thoughts, it turns out, are indeed material.
Alexey Shevchenko