Exit ticket: which RPL clubs can change their coach before the winter break

Dmitry Khokhlov

Moscow Dynamo has become one of the main disappointments of the start of this season. At the end of the last championship, the blue and white made the long-awaited move to the new stadium, and in the summer they carried out massive reinforcement. According to media reports, in total, the club spent about € 40 million on transfers, and the team was replenished by Maximilian Philip, famous for his performances for Dortmund Borussia, talented Pole Sebastian Shimansky, Russian national team defender Roman Neustedter and former Krasnodar football guard Charles Cabore.

However, these acquisitions did not have a positive effect on the results of the team. In the first ten rounds Dynamo scored only 10 points, being only two points from the relegation zone. Given the objectives of the leadership to enter the European competition, this can hardly be considered a satisfactory result. Another negative point is the game of the team, which causes the fans to want to chant offensive language to the players.

The situation worsened the fiasco in the Cup of Russia, where the Moscow team in the first match lost to Luch. Wards Dmitry Khokhlov lost with a minimum score, but could not even impose an opponent from the second strongest division of Russian football worthy of resistance.

Perhaps the reason for this spineless speech was the fact that before this meeting Khokhlov resigned. The mentor realized that he was not doing his job and was ready to leave the position, but the leadership of the blue and white refused to let the specialist go until winter. However, given the defeat from the “Ray” and the complete lack of motivation among the players, it is possible that the dismissal of Dmitry may become real for the Dynamo bosses. In the current state of affairs, the team risks settling at the bottom of the standings before the onset of winter. After this, the only task for Muscovites for the remainder of the championship may be to maintain registration in the Premier League.

Miodrag Bozovic

Unlike Dynamo, Wings of the Soviets did not have the task of getting into the European competition zone, but the results so far do not even allow them to count on a place in the RPL for next year. After a third of the championship, the Samara team closes the standings, having an equal number of points with Tambov and Orenburg - 8 each.

Unlike the RPL rookie and wards Vladimir Fedotov, who lost a number of key players in the offseason, they expected a slightly different result from the Volzhans. Samarians practically did not suffer losses, but they replenished their squad with Dmitry Kombarov, Alexander Gatskan and Nikita Chernov, and one of the best scorers of the current season, Alexander Sobolev, returned from the lease.

At the same time, the start of the season for “Wings of the Soviets” turned out to be more than optimistic, but the home victory over CSKA did not set the tone for the performance of the team in the future. Wards Bozhovic lost in four meetings in a row, and after a sudden victory in the game, “Ural”, again began to lose. So, the Samara team lost to the bloodless Spartak and the Krasnodar, which is not going through the best period, and they took a point in matches with Dynamo and Akhmat.

Of course, failure can well be attributed to a complex calendar. So, in the first ten rounds, they managed to compete with all the leaders, except for Zenit, and in the next five matches they can score the missing points. But this does not explain the failure in the Cup of Russia, where the “Wings of the Soviets” lost the “Torpedo”. As in the case with Dynamo, the less status team looked utterly stronger and rightfully won a ticket to the 1/8 finals.

Thus, it is possible that the upcoming matches will become decisive for Bozovic in terms of maintaining work in the club. In meetings with RPL debutants, Samara citizens need to score six points or resignation may be a logical decision. Unless, of course, the Krylia leadership decides to fire the Montenegrin specialist before the start of the 11th round.

Roman Sharonov

The head coach of Kazan “Rubin” has become one of the most discussed mentors this season. His speech after the victory over Dynamo made a real sensation in the Russian football community, and he immediately became the face of a new generation of domestic specialists. However, subsequently, Sharonov increasingly had to turn to his wards after insulting defeats, which somewhat spoiled the impression of the mentor's work.

As a result, after success in the match of the second round of the RPL, Rubin took just six points and suffered six defeats, four of which in a row. Despite the statements that the team promotes more attacking football, for a third of the championship in his asset there are only six goals, which is the worst result in the league.

The last few days have completely turned out to be a real failure for Sharonov’s wards. First, Rubin was defeated by Zenit in the Russian Championship, and then by Khimki in the Cup with a total score of 8: 0. Moreover, the difference could be even greater if the VAR system did not work at the game with Petersburgers.

Until now, Kazan has been justified by the fact that the team is in the process of restructuring and is just beginning its journey into the post-Berdyev era. The team has undergone enormous changes and sold a whole host of players, betting on their students and young people. By and large, Rubin is not interested in getting to the top of the standings, because due to UEFA sanctions they will not be able to play in European club tournaments.

In general, Sharonov has a sufficient credit of trust in order to continue working in Rubin at least until the winter, and possibly until the end of the season. Until the moment when Kazan hopelessly settles in the relegation zone, the club management is unlikely to think about permutations on the coaching bridge. However, it is likely that failures in recent matches may prompt him to reconsider his approach.

Oleg Kononov

Talk about the resignation of the steering Spartak has not stopped since the previous season. After a failure in the match of the final round with Orenburg, which entailed non-participation in the group stage of the Europa League, fans demanded that Oleg Kononov immediately resign. The tension only increased during the current championship, when curses constantly rained down on the specialist, and the action with jackets became one of the most discussed during the first rounds.

At the end of the third championship, everything speaks of the high probability of the resignation of Oleg Georgievich. “Spartak” takes the ninth place in the RPL and lags behind the leader in the person of “Zenith” by nine points, having three losses in a row in its liabilities. To this we can add the departure from the Europa League, where the Muscovites could not cope with the Portuguese “Braga”, losing in both matches of the playoff qualification round.

In the event of a departure from KAMAZ in the 1/16 final of the Cup of Russia, the decision to dismiss could be an obvious decision, but Spartak with great difficulty broke the resistance of the team of the third most powerful league in the country. True, the game demonstrated by red and white in Naberezhnye Chelny once again left much to be desired, for most of the match the hosts did not concede to their counterparts, and the decisive ball was missed in a counterattack.

Departure also could not do without the manifestation of hatred of fans in relation to Kononov. So, on the platform of Spartak a banner was called with a call to resign, and in the course of the meeting, fans repeatedly insulted the specialist.

Given the tense relations with the fans, as well as extremely modest results, for Kononov, each next match can be decisive. In the 11th round, Spartak’s opponent will be the outsider of the Orenburg RPL, which is an ideal moment to interrupt an unsuccessful series. Losing points can make the club owner Leonid Fedun reconsider his own decision to continue working with a specialist.

Murad Musaev

In the summer, one thought about a permutation on the Krasnodar coaching bridge seemed wild. The team has just won the RPL silver medals, and was preparing for its debut in the Champions League qualification, and Sergey Galitsky held the largest transfer company in the club’s history. So, the composition was replenished by seven players, with a total value of about € 30 million (according to Transfermarkt), including Remy Cabella from Saint-Etienne and Tony Villena from Feyenord.

After a triumph in the confrontation with Porto and a confident performance in the first rounds of the RPL, Musaev was ready to carry it at all, but in just a few weeks everything changed. Krasnodar showed its failure at the international level, losing in three games in a row with a total difference of 1:11. First, the southerners lost to Olympiacos in the playoffs of the Champions League selection, and then showed a lack of character in the battle with Basel in the first round of the group stage of the Europa League.

This triggered a chain reaction, pulling failure in Russia. First, “Krasnodar” lost in a fundamental confrontation with CSKA, losing in the course of the meeting with a difference of three goals, and then flew out of the Russian Cup. In the game with Nizhny Novgorod, everything was decided by the stupid mistake of Cayo, who decided to dribble a few meters from his own penalty area.

At the moment, Krasnodar is clearly experiencing its not the best period. Failures in European competitions deprived the team of confidence and this may affect the results. In addition, the defeats of Olympiacos and Basel showed that the bulls did not learn how to break the course of the meeting, which is often evidence of gaps in the tactical achievements of the mentor. The situation is complicated by the fact that Musaev cannot be present on the coaching bridge in the matches of the Europa League. On the one hand, this relieves him of responsibility for reported failures, and on the other, raises the question of the advisability of his being at the helm of the team.

Krasnodar is unlikely to fire Musayev after the recent results, but they may well become an alarming bell for Galitsky. Perhaps the president of Krasnodar will disbelieve in the candidacy of a young specialist and decide that to move to another level the team needs a more experienced mentor.