MOSCOW, March 12, Andrey Vasilchin. Rumors surrounding the change of head coach of the Moscow football club «Spartak» do not subside day by day. The departure of Spaniard Guillermo Abascal already seems inevitable; more and more candidates to replace the disgraced specialist are appearing in the press. According to Sport Express, in the event of dismissal, the club will pay the coach 1.8 million euros. Sports talk about new problems in the camp of Muscovites.
The New Year 2024 started badly for the “red-whites”. The first two rounds of the Russian Premier League (RPL) after the break, and only one point scored:
- zero draw in the away match with Zenit. Abaskal, by the way, did not fly to St. Petersburg — yes, the coach was serving a disqualification, but the fact that the helmsman decided not to attend the most important match of the 2023/24 season led many to bewilderment;
- sensational home defeat from Fakel. On the Luzhniki scoreboard it is again 0:2 — a similar score was in the first round in Voronezh.
Moreover, the coach is still under pressure from the scandal that erupted around team leader Promes. The Dutch representative was first sentenced to six years in prison by a court in Amsterdam on drug smuggling charges and was later detained in the UAE for a local offence. It is not surprising that with such a negative background, “Spartak” with 31 points dropped to sixth place in the Russian Championship standings and is now nine points behind the leading “blue-white-blue”.
“It’s strange that only now everyone is talking about Abascal’s departure. Read my statements from a year and a half ago. Then was it possible to give the Spaniard a discount? It should be given to football people, and not to those who accidentally ended up in the profession. I was always surprised when, after Abascal’s defeats, he said that he was still just studying. They come here to earn money and to study. And no one needs us all our lives in our own country.»
Alexander MostovoyEx-footballer of “Spartak” and the Russian national team
According to RBC Sport, citing sources in the club, the day before the management of Spartak held a working meeting with the participation of general director Oleg Malyshev, member of the board of directors Pavel Zhdanov and sports director Tomas Amaral. The functionaries recognized the team's performance against Fakel as unsatisfactory and discussed possible candidates for the post of head coach. One of the candidates was the ex-coach of the Russian national team Stanislav Cherchesov, who had previously worked with Spartak, and in 2018 led the national team to the quarterfinals of the home world championship.
Shortly before this, journalist Ivan Karpov wrote, that Abaskal will be fired from Spartak after the Russian Cup match with Orenburg, which will take place on Thursday. Current Krasnodar helmsman Vladimir Ivich and ex-head coach of Lokomotiv Marko Nikolic are also considered as potential replacements for Abascal.
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“What should be the ideal coach for Spartak?” Probably Russian after all. Everyone is sneezing at Sashka Mostovoy. What did he say? “I played in Spain and I don’t know coach Abascal.” The man arrived, it feels like he is studying at Spartak. We need some kind of Russian coach who understands our football well. These are two candidates — Stanislav Cherchesov or Valery Karpin. Two coaches who could pull it all off.» (Match TV)
Evgeniy LovchevVeteran of Spartak
The “red-whites” are also looking at the coach of the Portuguese Braga, Arthur Jorge. According to A Bola, the Portuguese Amaral can facilitate the 52-year-old specialist’s move to Moscow. The person of the head coach of the Russian national team Valery Karpin does not go unnoticed. Thus, sports commentator Konstantin Genich confidently wrote on his Telegram channel that the former helmsman of the “red-whites” will reunite with Spartak and called on subscribers to “screen” his post.
Abaskal himself reacts to rumors of resignation in a very ambiguous way way. On Tuesday, he posted a photo in one of his messengers with a herd of sheep and a shepherd dog. Signature in the best traditions of “boyish quotation books”:
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"Wolf. A dog pretends to become a wolf, but it will always remain a dog. Don’t forget about this.”
* * *Note that Abaskal, who worked in the Greek Volos and the Swiss Basel, headed Spartak before the start of the 2022/23 season. In the last edition of the RPL, Muscovites under the leadership of the Spaniard came third in the Russian Championship.