1. Vladimir Fedotov
The prestige of the post of head coach of Moscow “Spartak” is associated with high professional competition. If there is a sports director Stanislav Cherchesov who has been disrupted from work in Austria, this makes Fedotov’s position very precarious. The preparation for the new season to the Spartak coach was greatly complicated by the club leaders - Vladimir Grigorievich for the first time independently pre-seasoned with the team. And in such a situation, the owners of the team aimed at gold are obliged to fulfill the wishes of the coaching staff to replenish the players who can strengthen the team. Rinat Sabitov, with all due respect to his age, prospects and a Russian passport, is more correctly regarded as a purchase for growth. All other rumors of loud transfers turned out to be soap bubbles.
Market passivity of one of the most financially stable clubs in the country looks ambiguous. Leonid Fedun’s desire to spend money economically is quite justified, and the sale of two expensive forwards (Pyanovich and Cavenagi) is fully in line with him. However, the unresolved problem in the goalkeeper position and the obvious deficit of the kicking forward have not disappeared. You can solve these problems either by rummaging in a scam, or by requiring the trainer to come up with something himself. So far, Fedotov’s imagination was not enough to continue the fight in the UEFA Cup and win the Russian Super Cup. The team’s game in comparison with the samples of last silver autumn looks wretched. It is necessary to correct quickly. Otherwise, the first serious waste of the leadership of “Spartacus” will be a contract with a new steering.
2. Andrey Kobelev
Among its advantages, we attribute the excellent career of a football player, the status of a Dynamo patriot and, as a result, the trust of fans. The disadvantages are a little experience as a head coach and a lack of real achievements in this field. However, if it weren’t for Kobelev, perhaps the slogan “Fuck you!” That accompanied Dynamo in the midst of last year’s torment would have acquired the sound of an obituary.
Kobelev has been working in the club for quite some time, including since the summer of 2004 - in the main team. Despite this, until recently, the club owners perceived it as a spare and secondary figure in relation to the next light in the window. And from the fact that from the middle of the 2006 season Andrei nevertheless became the main thing, little has changed.
The current coaching staff of Dynamo would surely have options to strengthen the composition. However, the club's leaders squandered the offseason to complete a divorce with their former owner - Alexei Fedorychev. This somewhat exciting procedure had an obvious negative connotation: the millionaire squad, once one of the strongest in the Premier League, was almost completely dispersed. Today, Dynamo is more modest than any other club in the capital.
Managing a team without athletes with stellar manners is somewhat easier. But the absence of eminent masters can turn into pressing gaming problems. Kobelev may well be blamed for a bad start (and in the very first five rounds to play against Dynamo, Spartak, CSKA, Lokomotiv, and Zenit). The head coach is always the first in a row of extreme ones.
3. Leonid Slutsky
Last year, he was already near the line that separates "Russian Mourinho" from the status of unemployed. Therefore, there is considerable reason to believe that in the coming season, getting “Moscow” into a difficult situation will be an occasion for Yuri Belous to cross the Rubicon.
In this case, everything that is not adequate to the considerable ambitions of the head of the club will be considered a difficult situation. Large (not only financial) efforts to select staff, attract fans and establish infrastructure, if that happens, cannot be laid on the altar of one, even a promising coach.
4. Sergey Balakhnin
His situation is quite simple: “Rostov” missed a lot of indecentness last season, allowing only the sad fate of “Shinnik” from Yaroslavl to surpass himself in this regard. If the Rostovites who regularly scored last year lose their sight, defense problems can become critical. However, “Rostov” replaced both goalkeepers and signed the strong, but frankly middle arm of the defenders of Vieshtitsa, Gorak, Omelyanchuk. Maybe it will help. But if the loss of Tanasevich, who is now defending at Dynamo, outweighs these acquisitions, then Balakhnin’s position may become unsafe. Moreover, Rostovites are not the first to demolish it from the head coaches
5. Anatoly Byshovets
One of the most experienced league coaches (Byshovets’s career started in the early 80s with the USSR youth teams) will not be at the very head of Lokomotiv, who has taken the habit of changing two coaches a year. On one side of the scale - a team with ambitions, which twice did not reach the champions' heights. On the other - a specialist who has not regularly worked in Russian football recently. Rescue “Tommy” from relegation in the 2005 season can be left in brackets - Byshovets will definitely not have to solve such problems.
For the first time in many years, he is conducting a preseason with the Russian team. The last time this happened in the last decade, and during that time valuable skills could have been lost. A couple of unsuccessful matches at the start of the championship - and the impatient leadership of the club will get excited.
The situation is also unique in that the board of directors has a ready-made replacement at hand. Yuri Semin, despite being absent from the Russian national team and Dynamo, has unquestioned authority in Lokomotiv. What is the fact that now he is on the alternate, presidential path? Most players, of course, perceive him as a practicing coach and, it is possible, they will have the opportunity to be sure of this.
6. Sergey Oborin
In some ways, an analogue of Byshovets. To join a team led by a specialist respected both in the team and in the city for a number of years is not the best option from a career-political point of view. And while Haji Hajiyev settles in the trench of the head coaching joker-2007, Oborin will have a rather risky journey with the former Hajiyev “Wings”. On the one hand, the rookie coach, of course, has already earned the right to practice at a level that exceeds the humble claims of “Amkar”. On the other hand, any failures can be perceived as arguments in favor of the predecessor. The shadow of Haji Muslimovich, who left Samara, according to many, not for sporting reasons, may well conceal Oborin with his head.
7. Yuri Krasnozhan
The conditions in which the head coach of the Nalchik Spartak starts the season are at least unenviable. The massive sale of leaders made the team completely unfamiliar. The piquancy of the situation is that in the current squad it is not too familiar even to the head coach.
However, blaming Krasnozhan will never come to blame Krasnozhan for anyone. Another factor that strengthens his position is local roots. Hardly any of the well-known eminent specialists even has a burning desire to close a vacancy in a provincial team that is experiencing the classic situation of "second season syndrome."
8. Vladimir Weiss
The fate of foreign coaches in Russia, with few exceptions, is rather sad. In addition to gloomy statistics, his football addiction can lead to the dismissal of a Slovak specialist. Not inclined, by the will of the coach, to adventurous football “Saturn” last season stood out brightly with the minimum (24) number of goals conceded (with only 29 goals scored) and the maximum (16) indicator of draw results.
Accordingly, in order for the Weiss model in its last year's version to stop working, you need to start skipping. This is simple and may well happen given the injury leading defender of the club Petrash. Weissu's stability could be supplemented by qualitative changes in the attack line. But Kirichenko and Karjaka joined the team at the last moment and radically change the team’s performance by playing from the sheet, it will be difficult for them. However, in the eight coaches reviewed, it is Weiss who seems to be the most secure. The leadership of “Saturn” in recent years more than enough of the layoffs and, it seems, does not intend to deprive the Slovak of the opportunity to work with eminent players acquired “under him”.
Alexey Bilyachenko