Alexander beat the leaders of the Premier League, but at home the success of the young coach was not appreciated.
A bright player in the past, and now a promising coach, Alexander Kerzhakov, together with Nizhny Novgorod, beat the strongest teams in the country. However, after a generally good season, they did not renew relations with him, and for some reason other Russian clubs were also not interested in the services of a specialist.
Kerzhakov did not force events and did not take drastic steps for several months. However, he did not want to wait forever when they finally paid attention to him and agreed to lead the European team.
The choice may surprise someone, but experts unanimously say that this is definitely not a step back.
“I could lead any RPL club”
One of the best scorers in the history of Russian football, Alexander Kerzhakov, after the end of his sports career, decided to try himself as a coach. In the new role, he managed to work with the youth team of Russia, “Tom” and “Nizhny Novgorod”. His teams did not show any incredible results, but they showed quite a nice game.
In the Russian Premier League, together with the Nizhny Novgorod team, the young specialist managed to compete with the strongest teams of the tournament, beat Zenit, Spartak, Dynamo. At the end of the season, the Volga players took 11th place, thanks to which they managed to solve the main task – to escape from relegation. However, the club did not renew relations with Kerzhakov. Other teams from the RPL and even the FNL also did not want to see Alexander at home.
Alexander Kerzhakov / Photo: ©
RIA Novosti / Grigory Sysoev– In my opinion, Kerzhakov could lead any RPL club, he has a huge coaching potential. It’s a shame that Kerzhakov is now without a club, he needs a stable practice in order to grow. I hope that this season Alexander will continue his coaching career, at least as an assistant, ”Vlastimil Petrzhela, the former head coach of Zenit, said in an interview with RB Sport.
The hope of the Czech specialist came true quickly. Just a few days later, Kerzhakov continued his career, and in the role of head coach. The Russian headed the Karmiotissa club, which plays in the Cypriot championship.
“This is not a step back”
On Wednesday, the press service of Karmiotissa announced the conclusion of a contract with a 40-year-old Russian specialist. The details of the agreement were not disclosed, but you can roughly imagine the tasks that the coach will face in the near future. The team is in 10th place, getting into the champion group at the second stage of the tournament does not threaten it. This means that Kerzhakov in the rest of the season will fight to maintain a place in the elite of the Cypriot championship. Doesn’t look too ambitious? Football people think otherwise.
No, this is not a step back. He needs to train. It’s a shame that he did not find a job in Russia, I wanted Kerzhakov to work in the RPL. Still, this is one of the legends of our football, so he should be in the Russian championship, should leave his mark here. I hope that he will be able to return to the RPL and train a good team, – quotes Gazeta.Ru ex-player of the Russian national team Dmitry Bulykin.
“I think this is a step forward. Although this is a team without a name, a small one, but it is still a European championship. And here the point is not that he is not in demand in the RPL, but that at the moment there is no team that he could lead with his ambitions, ”football agent Roman Oreshchuk told RIA Novosti Sport.
A similar opinion is shared by the ex-player of the USSR national team Anzor Kavazashvili. The veteran believes that Alexander is able to make a big breakthrough with a new team in Cyprus, and in a few years he will “return to Russia with honor.” I am sure that Kerzhakov will be able to achieve results in the new team and Sergei Yuran.
– The main thing is that Kerzhakov is a person. And the personality of the players is always well accepted. They know that he himself has achieved considerable success in his career, played for the national team, played in European competitions. People will understand perfectly well that a person did not learn from books, but went through a good school. The authority of Kerzhakov will earn quickly. The most important thing is that he be lucky and immediately manage to show the result, – quotes the words of an RT specialist.
I am happy for the ex-player of the Russian national team, the former coach of Astana, Wings of the Soviets and Yenisei Andrey Tikhonov.
– Alexander can only be congratulated. You should try it if possible. I do not know who the president is, for what merits he was taken there. We are very happy. Our trainer will work abroad. We will watch. And we wish him good luck,” Tikhonov said on MATCH PREMIER.
By the way, the president of Karmiotissa is Russian Dmitry Punin, who, before Kerzhakov, invited Belarusian specialist Alexander Khatskevich to the team. There are no Russian athletes at the disposal of the new coach yet, but there is a Slovak Tomas Gubochan, well-known to the former Zenit forward. Has experience of playing in Russian football and another Slovak player Michal Dyuris.
Perhaps all of them will help Alexander quickly adapt to the new conditions. And that everything should work out for him in the new team. No one seems to have any big doubts.
