Hardly anyone guessed that behind the noisy the return of Kurban Berdyev to Russian football will be followed by only five matches and a hasty resignation. So what happened to Berdyev in Sochi and what will happen next with the coach?
Probably, there is no more mysterious team in the spring part of the championship of Russia than Sochi. Confidently beat favorites CSKA and Dynamo (with the same score 2:0) and immediately fly into Orenburg (0:4), Voronezh Fakel (0:3) and Samara's Wings of the Soviets (1:2) – how can this be explained? And it would be fine if, after the departure of the young Vadim Garanin, the team was accepted by some inexperienced specialist, his age. But such instability does not stick with the name of Berdyev at all.
Is Kurban Bekievich obsolete? In recent years, he practically did not work at a high level. We do not take into account the period of advisory assistance in the Iranian «Tractor» — it even sounds too specific. But it is important that Berdyev in Russia was not forgotten and was waiting for him, nostalgic for the championship “Rubin” and no less pretty “Rostov”. Taking into account these inputs, the next arrival of Kurban Bekievich could be expected at any moment. And such a move was made by Sochi.
In recent years, the team from the south of Russia finally got rid of the cliches of the Zenit farm club and began to seriously compete in the top 5 RPL. The 2021/22 season was generally a breakthrough, because it was then that Sochi won silver medals.
A targeted transfer policy (with the exception of a loud failure with the French world champion Adil Rami), a stake on promising coaches and huge infrastructure opportunities — all this made the Sochi club one of the most interesting and most promising in the league. But flirting with perspective is not always good. Having trusted the young Garanin, the club's management fell into a trap — either wait for the result from a pretty but unstable team, or break the whole concept in the name of the result. After all, the role of the silver medalist of the Russian championship must be consistent. In this regard, they chose the second option for the development of events, and they entrusted the legendary Berdyev to correct the situation.
It was clear that Kurban Bekievich would have time and all possible leverage to solve problems. He enlisted the full support of the head of the club, Boris Rotenberg, who, despite financial sanctions, continues to support Sochi. It is clear that the ninth place after the first part of the season did not suit anyone, but one could expect that Berdyev would be given time to settle down, remember the past and show the result. Only now they just didn’t give him time. Why?
How did it happen that the management of Sochi so quickly became disillusioned with the eminent specialist? In a situation where Russian football is under sanctions and when any place in the RPL, except for the first, is just a line in the history of clubs, chasing the top 3 and even the top 5 is not seen as a paramount task. Yes, I want to be high, but everything takes time. And during the appointment, the impression was created that they were ready to give it to Berdyev. Only now everything looks different, and it's very strange. It is unlikely that such throwing club will give even a short-term exhaust in the short term.
But what if the coach himself wanted to leave? It was not in vain that much was said about his specific character and manner of influencing intra-club affairs. In Sochi, they were probably ready for the fact that at some point Berdyev would want to build an internal empire with his own staff and vision of the situation. And, probably, they were partly ready to share power with him. However, it is hard to believe that the specialist formed and announced the Napoleonic plan only three months after the appointment. It's shortsighted and doesn't look like him at all. Moreover, this could hardly have become a cause of discord between the parties, it is obvious that they knew what to expect from each other.
The last assumption remains — Berdyev wants to go to Kazan again. Not just in recent days, the media «fired» Yuri Utkulbaev from Rubin, who confidently leads the team to return to the RPL. A comeback to the native harbor, even if it is a living place, is now probably the main option for Kurban Bekievich.
This is another chance to revive the winning traditions in Rubin, repeating the incredible path of the beginning of the 2000s, and such a scenario will be of interest to many. Moreover, Rustem Saymanov is no longer in Kazan, who at one time did a lot for Berdyev's departure. Now there are other people in charge who may well be as nostalgic for the victory at the Camp Nou as a huge number of Kazan fans. So soon the miracle worker with a rosary may enter the same river for the third time.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors