The sensational defeat cost the Russian coach his job. We analyze the options in the RPL.
Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV
Ferencvaros under the leadership of Stanislav Cherchesov completed his way to the Champions League qualification already at the first stage. On Wednesday, the best Hungarian team lost to Faroe Islander Klaksvik (0:3) at home. Immediately after the game, the Russian specialist said that he was not going to resign, but the club’s management had a different opinion.
Cherchesov took charge of Ferencvaros in December 2021. Last spring, the club extended the agreement with the coach until the end of the 2023/24 season and will now have to pay a penalty for early termination of the contract. In Hungary, the Russian specialist twice led the team to the championship, but this still did not save him from being fired.
“Field commander” did not want to give up
With the resignation of the former coach of the Russian national team, everything was clear immediately after the final whistle of the disastrous game with the Faroese. After such a fiasco, not a single specialist would have been able to stay in office. However, Cherchesov himself was not going to leave. Here you need to understand the psychotype of the coach, for whom leaving of his own free will is equal to capitulation. So it was after the failure with the national team at the Euro, when he called himself a “field commander” and sincerely believed that he could still benefit the team.
Photo: © RIA Novosti / Nina Zotina
He behaved in much the same way now. Cherchesov took all the blame for the defeat on himself, and after a direct question about his resignation, he was sincerely surprised: “Why should I do this?”
– If the team shows such a game, then the head coach should answer. It’s my fault. The situation is not easy, we have a lot of new players. We didn’t have a balance in the game. I can only be angry with myself. We had similar feelings a year ago after the game with Qarabag, but then we managed to reach the 1/8 finals of the Europa League. I didn’t give up then and I won’t give up now,” the coach said.
Cherchesov added that he was going to train the next day, but his plans were not destined to come true. Within a few minutes, Ferencváros issued a statement about the dismissal of the head coach.
In addition to stubbornness, there may be quite pragmatic reasons for reluctance to resign. If the coach is removed at the initiative of the club, then he is obliged to pay him money for the remaining term of the contract. In the case of voluntary departure, no compensation can be expected. According to media reports, Cherchesov received 500,000 euros a year at Ferencváros. The logic here is clear: why make sudden movements and lose the legal penalty?
Cherchesov won everything in Hungary
The work of the 59-year-old coach at Ferencváros is definitely not a failure. In the domestic arena, the results were in order: Cherchesov won two championships in a row, although the road to gold both times went through potholes. It is clear that in terms of its capabilities, his team was noticeably superior to all competitors, but these opportunities still needed to be realized.
Photo: © Laszlo Szirtesi / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
A year ago, in addition to winning the championship, Ferencváros also won the Hungarian Cup. True, the next season there was an embarrassment in the form of relegation from a team from the third division. Cherchesov was easily forgiven for this trouble. The main criterion for success for the management was performance in European competitions.
It is vital for the club to participate in the Champions League group stage, promising at least 20 million euros – this is more than the annual budget. With an eye to this, Cherchesov was invited. Last summer, we managed to pass two stages of qualification, but Qarabag became an insurmountable obstacle. Then there was no talk of resignation, and in the fall Cherchesov managed to restore his reputation thanks to a successful performance in the Europa League.
In a difficult group with Red Star, Trabzonspor and Monaco, his team took first place. For defeats from the more powerful Bayer in the 1/8 finals, it never occurred to anyone to blame the Russian coach. Before that, the last time a Hungarian club went this far in European competition was 47 years ago.
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Now, even the Europa League does not shine for Ferencváros. There are several rounds of selection to the Conference League group ahead, where revenues are noticeably lower. In this regard, the resignation looks like a logical outcome: if you don’t complete the task, leave.
A bad day can happen in any coach’s career. Unfortunately for Cherchesov, it happened at the most inopportune moment. It is difficult to justify the defeat from the Faroese club – a semi-professional team with a total cost of players of 2.5 million euros did not leave Ferencváros a chance on its field. To justify Cherchesov, it can be noted that Klaksvik, despite its modest status, is a rather prickly opponent. A year ago, at the same stage, he almost knocked out the Norwegian Bodé-Glimt from the Champions League qualification, which managed to make some noise in European competition.
The failure of Cherchesov was not forgiven by either the leadership or the fans. At the end of the game with Klaksvik, the fans chanted: “Russians go home!” Such an attitude towards the coach, who twice led the team to the championship, definitely does not color the fans of Ferencváros. When Cherchesov took gold, the fans for some reason did not remember the citizenship of the head coach, but at the first serious fiasco they could not resist chauvinism.
Time to go home?
Dynamo head coach Stanislav Cherchesov in the match of the 18th round of the Russian Championship with Ufa (3:1). / Photo: Vasily Ponomarev
One failed result certainly does not cross out Cherchesov’s previous achievements. The pretentious demeanor has added enemies to the coach, but even they cannot argue with obvious facts. Nobody will take away the quarter-final of the World Cup from Cherchesov, just like the championship in Poland and Hungary, as well as the historical success for Ferencváros in the Europa League. Among the current Russian specialists, there are only a few trainers of this level.
After leaving the national team, the demand for Cherchesov in the RPL was consistently high. CSKA considered him, there was talk about Lokomotiv, and this spring, after the resignation of Jokanovic, Dynamo was seriously interested in an experienced coach. Obviously, the shares of Stanislav Salamovich in Russia are still high. It will be difficult for Cherchesov to find a job in Europe now, not for sports reasons, so the option of returning to his native championship seems to be almost the only possible one.
So far, all coaching positions in the RPL have been filled, but after the inevitable coaching resignations, Cherchesov’s name will go on the shortlists of many clubs under the first number. A salary higher than what he received at Ferencváros, not only grandees can offer him. Cherchesov is considered to be a man with a huge crown on his head, but this does not mean that he is aimed exclusively at working with tops. For example, after Spartak, he managed to work in the First League, and then headed Terek and Amkar.
If we analyze the options for Cherchesov in Russia in the near future, then three clubs seem to be the most realistic – Dynamo, Sochi and Rubin. Dynamo wanted this coach quite recently, and in the event of an unsuccessful start, Marcel Lichki may return to his candidacy. The positions of Dmitry Khokhlov and Rashid Rakhimov at the start of the season also seem to be not entirely strong. Moreover, the leaders of these clubs did not differ in special patience in previous years.
Also, it should not be ruled out that Cherchesov will take a break for several months, as was the case after leaving the national team, and will not rush to the very first offer. It’s definitely too early to consider him a downed pilot who needs any work. Also, do not discount the option with Saudi Arabia, where they are ready to pour out really big money. Cherchesov himself recently said that he rejected such an offer in early July, but then he was still coaching Ferencvaros.
2023-07-20 05:52:02
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