The only intrigue of the season

Let’s talk about the main thing in the championship of Russia after refereeing – the struggle for survival. It is already difficult to pass off the championship race as the main thing, no matter how professionally the leader treats to defeat all his rivals and not let the gap shrink. And the distribution of commemorative medals and diplomas is very traditional, very Olympic, but the vice-champions and bronze medalists themselves do not celebrate anything, and they do not give us a reason.

The main battles of the tournament take place at depth. There, at the junction of the best league in Russia with the “best league in the world”, all life and genuine movement: the last four clubs in the table this season have already had eight coaching resignations. Also, dozens of new players arrived in the clubs fighting for survival (Ural was among them in the fall) in the winter.

Photo: © FC Pari Nizhny Novgorod

The intrigue is complemented by inevitable junctions, in which the 13th and 14th clubs of the top division are told, as it were, “You look suspiciously like the teams of the First League. Play a couple of matches with them and prove that you are still different for the better. The joints are perceived by the RPL teams as additional stress, but you can look at them from the other side: there is a chance to stay in the game, even losing in the first match. In addition, your fate is decided in the confrontation with an obviously less classy opponent.

Departure is no longer a sentence

This season, we are closer than ever to that normal state when relegation is not the end of the world. How the light is fading now, for example, for Ufa, which has left the elite division. She is already going to fly out of the First League! This club has always predicted an inglorious demise in the event of parting with the Premier League. Too unequal forces in the struggle for regional budgetary support among football players and hockey “Salavat Yulaev”.

Now Khimki, for example, have clearly outlined plans for themselves that do not rest on the 30th round. A five-year contract was signed with Andrey Talalaev, according to which, regardless of the final result of the team, he must develop football near Moscow. Personally, as a native inhabitant of the Moscow region, I would prefer to see this development in Orekhovo-Zuevo, historical for all our football. But I understand that it is more correct to do such a long and difficult job on the basis of a good stadium located in the heart of a huge agglomeration.

The same is true for Torpedo. The promising Clotet was clearly taken with an eye similar to Orenburg: there, having passed the hardening of the First League, Marcel Lichka shone. Moscow car manufacturers, it seems, intend to grow their strong coach by repeating this path. Yes, and Clotet makes it clear with his statements that he does not exclude work in the First League.

Marcel Lichka / Photo: © FC Orenburg

Relegation should not be and will not be the end for the club if it accepts the possibility in advance and lays the groundwork for survival and return. And these basics are simple: a system coach, competent preparation of the reserve, an understandable scheme of monetary support. The latter is the foundation of everything. If the investment prospects are vague, then what should such a club do in the RPL? Teams with vague and unsustainable sources of funding will not develop youth and engage fans, and this is the most important thing.

First League – no longer a place of exile

The development of the First League itself also helps to make relegation a continuation of football life. It no longer looks like a place from which no one returns. Previously, we only had a cultured, prosperous and well-television top division, and beyond it – a dense forest of obscurity. Now the First League has its own corporate identity, it is very fun and aptly highlighted by social networks. There are regular broadcasts, and some matches from this season even have video assistant referees.

It is important to show that the First League is not a place of exile and not a form of punishment, but a tournament that you go to if you are a little tired or have not coped with something. The lights are on there too, it’s warm there, and there are friendly people around who know how to play football. Akron’s fairy tale in the Russian Cup is a great advertisement for the First League as a tournament where serious guys have gathered.

Open video

In general, the First League is the place to invest in basic football things. In the same Togliatti there is a school and a promising coach. In Kaliningrad and Kazan, there is infrastructure that you want to show and see in broadcasts. And all this should pay off already at the top, in the RPL, which, with a new telecontract, offers participants unprecedented income for our football. However, the system of their distribution should be honest in football: an additional “talent” is received by those who already have ten “talents”, because they worked hard and invested in the main thing.