They expect him to “finish the season with dignity”

Kurban Berdyev has been appointed the new head coach of the Russian Football Premier League (RFPL) club Rostov. He replaced Igor Gamula in the coaching position. Mr. Berdyev took over the team at a very difficult time. “Rostov” takes last place in the championship, the team has serious problems with financing and now no one can vouch for the fact that it remains in the RFPL.

Football club "Rostov" announced the second change of head coach this season. Instead of Igor Gamula, who had been working with the team since the end of September, after Miodrag Bozovic left Rostov, under whose leadership the team failed to start the championship, the Rostovites were led by one of the most famous specialists in Russian football, Kurban Berdyev.

Mr. Berdyev spent the most important part of his coaching career - from 2001 to 2013 - at Rubin Kazan, which he managed to turn into one of the leaders of the Russian championship. Under the leadership of Berdyev, the Kazan team became champions of Russia twice (2008, 2009), the team became third twice (2003, 2010), in 2012 the Kazan team won the Russian Cup, and in addition, Berdyev led Rubin to the quarterfinals of the League Europe, and even beat Barcelona in the Champions League. But now he will have to get used to a new reality, in which the question is not about a good performance, but about banal survival.

“Rostov” takes last place in the national championship. In addition to the gaming problems of the team, which quite recently really delighted its fans (in May, the team won the Russian Cup for the first time in its history), financial ones were also added. Moreover, the latter were so serious that there were rumors that Rostov might not resume playing in the championship after the winter break.

However, if you believe the leadership of the Rostovites, then the money issues are being resolved. As Rostov vice-president Alexander Shikunov said this week, the club strives to pay off its debts to its players before the new year. “After all, if we want to communicate with one of the potential trainers, then we must understand that the person comes to a calm environment - without debts, without anything, in order to work calmly,” noted Mr. Shikunov.

However, the Rostov management seems to understand how difficult times Kurban Berdyev took over the team. It is not surprising that at a meeting with the governor of the Rostov region Vasily Golubev, after which the appointment of Kurban Berdyev took place, the coach was given the task of simply “ending the season with dignity.” However, given the hole that the Rostovites have fallen into, it will not be easy for them to retain their place in the RFPL.

Arnold Kabanov

Kurban Berdyev headed Rostov