MOSCOW, March 16, Alena Sulizova. Former USSR national team footballer Vladimir Ponomarev, in a conversation with, called the dismissal of Serbian specialist Vladimir Ivic from the post of head coach of Krasnodar a great stupidity.
Krasnodar dismissed Ivic on Wednesday. On Thursday, the club announced Murad Musayev, who led the Bulls from 2018 to 2021, as the head coach of the team. The agreement with the 40-year-old specialist runs until the end of the season.
““They did a big stupid thing, because you can’t change the coach right away. I said before that “Krasnodar” would crumble, just like “Krylya Sovetov”, which were at the top. With a new coach, even more so, the team will crumble, well, maybe they will show some new game, run into the moral and strong-willed, and then there will be a decline — they will slide to fourth or fifth place,” Ponomarev said.
Ivich has worked for Krasnodar since January 2023. His agreement with the club ran until December 2024. Under the leadership of a specialist, last season the team reached the final of the Russian Cup, where they lost to CSKA Moscow in a penalty shootout.
Krasnodar, after 20 rounds, is in second place in the Russian Premier League (RPL) standings, gaining 39 points and one point behind Zenit. On Tuesday, the “bulls” were eliminated from the Russian Cup, losing away to Khimki near Moscow with a score of 0:2 in the first stage match of the 1/4 finals of the regional path.