He was replaced as Dynamo head coach by Miodrag Bozovic

Personnel

Yesterday, after a meeting of the Dynamo board of directors, Andrei Kobelev was fired from the post of head coach of the team. His successor was Montenegrin specialist Miodrag Bozovic, who signed a contract until the end of 2012. Today he will be officially introduced to the players, and on Saturday he will play his first match at the head of Dynamo against the championship leader Spartak from Nalchik.

The dismissal of Andrei Kobelev from Dynamo was reported yesterday by the official website of the Moscow club. “After a meeting of the board of directors of FC Dynamo, it was decided to terminate the contract with Andrei Kobelev. The club expresses gratitude to Andrei Nikolaevich for the joint work that lasted almost four years,” the statement said. The specialist himself noted that he learned about the management’s decision by telephone from Dynamo President Yuri Isaev. Miodrag Bozovic became Andrei Kobelev's successor as the team's head coach. The contract with the Montenegrin specialist runs until the end of 2012, and his debut as head coach of Dynamo will take place on Saturday, when the blue and whites play away against the championship leader Nalchik Spartak.

At first glance, the resignation of Andrei Kobelev was one of the most unexpected in Russian football history. Formally, under him, Dynamo showed very good results. Andrei Kobelev, who has been a member of the blue and white coaching staff since 2004, led the team during the 2006 season and helped Dynamo retain their place in the Premier League. Already the first full season under the leadership of the young specialist turned out to be extremely successful - Dynamo rose to sixth place. And a year later, he almost repeated the club record in the Russian championships, winning bronze medals in the championship with the Muscovites. Despite last year's slight decline (Dynamo finished only in eighth place), the specialist's position looked quite strong. The club, which came under the control of VTB, received serious funds to strengthen its roster, and it was in Andrei Kobelev that the new Dynamo managers saw the coach who would lead the team to the championship this season. Back in the middle of last week, Dynamo president Yuri Isaev claimed that he did not yet see an alternative to Andrei Kobelev as head coach. And the time chosen for the specialist’s resignation does not correspond to Russian football tradition: he was replaced not after a defeat, but after a victory (last Saturday, Dynamo beat Saturn at home with a minimal score).

Meanwhile, one can discover reasons why Andrei Kobelev’s resignation looks logical. After the bronze season, the team under the leadership of the coach deteriorated. The players did not gain any dividends from their participation in European competitions: they did not make it to the Champions League, losing to the Scottish Celtic in the qualifying round, and did not even qualify for the Europa League, losing to CSKA Sofia. The eighth place taken by the club last year was attributed to personnel losses: after the leading player Danny, the Muscovites also lost another key player - Igor Semshov, who, like the Portuguese, moved to Zenit. They never found an adequate replacement.

If the failure in the 2009 season could still be attributed to the team's losses and unclear selection, then before the start of the current championship the coaching staff could not have such excuses. Dynamo carried out the most impressive transfer campaign among all Premier League clubs. The blue and white signed contracts with such well-known players in Russia as Alexander Samedov, Alexander Epureanu, Alexey Rebko, Edgaras Chesnauskis, Igor Semshov returned from Zenit, and Ukrainian national team forward Andrey Voronin was released from Liverpool. However, having received a decent lineup in terms of names, Andrei Kobelev was never able to put the team in a game. “Dynamo” was creakingly gaining points, settling by the seventh round in tenth place in the standings, six points from the leader, “Spartak” from Nalchik.

The decision of the Dynamo leaders to appoint Miodrag Bozovic as Andrei Kobelev's successor looks quite predictable. The logic of the team bosses is not difficult to follow: the Montenegrin specialist worked effectively in Russia with two different teams - Perm Amkar, which he led to the Europa League in the first season and brought to the Russian Cup final, and Moscow, which took sixth place under Miodrag Bozovic . After the liquidation of the capital team, the return of the Montenegrin to the Russian championship was only a matter of time - many Premier League clubs were looking at him, but until recently all the vacancies in them were filled. Another thing that speaks in favor of Miodrag Bozovic's candidacy is that he successfully worked with many of Dynamo's current players in Moscow. Four players of the blue and white main team - Alexander Samedov, Alexey Rebko, Edgaras Cesnauskis and Alexander Epureanu - progressed noticeably last season under the leadership of the Montenegrin coach and, largely thanks to him, they easily found a new team for themselves, moving to Dynamo for promotion ".

Petr Kuznetsov

Andrey Kobelev walked away victorious