Not the expected results for the summer

During the summer window transfer campaign, everyone was waiting for Rubin to break the First League, like PSG – French Championship. Due to the class difference, it was expected that Ufa and Tula Arsenal would be somewhere at the top of the table. In fact, the teams are bogged down in the second division – and it’s not a given that they will get into RPL next summer.

Kononov returned to Arsenal, he will lose Despotovich

Tulyaki is the second team in terms of player transfer value. The Transfermarkt portal estimates the total price of the team’s players at € 14.43 million. On top of that, Oleg Kononov was returned, which made Spartak fans hate him. The president of the club, Guram Adjoev, is confident in the choice of the manager:

Oleg Kononov is well known to both Tula fans and many football players. During his tenure in Tula in 2018, Arsenal played perhaps the most brilliant football. There have been many productive memorable victories. I believe he is able to offer quality play to the team and help solve the tasks that Arsenal will have to face in the new season.

Among the other inputs with which Arsenal entered the new season, it is very likely that the team will not be able to keep Djordje Despotovic. According to Adzhoev, the Gunners cannot afford his salary. How much the club needs him is still debatable: the Serbian lost his career after the best 2020/21 season, and in the First League he would have lost all motivation to play. At the same time, there are forwards in the Tula team. Evgeny Lutsenko has already become the team’s top scorer this season, Kirill Panchenko is no exception.

Meanwhile, in the First League, Tula has settled in the middle of the table and, based on the game results with Rodina, Baltika and Akron, they are in no hurry to climb higher. If the club does not return to the Premier League after the results of the current championship, they risk staying in the second division for a long time.

Rubin wants to fire the coach, Slutsky tries to justify himself

It is not clear what the logic of a large-scale transfer campaign was if the team does not dominate the league and give points to Ufa with Neftekhimik. Slutsky, as head coach of Kazan, received everything from the bosses: money for transfers, a huge credit of trust, a team ready to fight.

When the team flew out of the Premier League, the management did not fire Leonid and assured him that the failure was not his fault: the club lost its top players. With the task of returning to the highest levels, they acquired the Fameye pilots, footballers with experience in the game RPLsaved Lisakovich, Samoshnikov, Soltmurad Bakaev.

There is no certainty in the game that the result will be achieved. It all boils down to maximum tactical simplification, serves, in defense Alexander Martynovich is inferior in speed to his opponents. Rubin lost the identity and clarity of the coaching idea and Slutsky himself commented, which are more like excuses – after the defeat of Yenisei, he said that the artificial surface gave Krasnoyarsk an advantage, then drew a parallel with the unsuccessful start of Krylia Sovetov, spoke about the poor implementation and the need for time.

The coach has no time: judging by the latest rumors, Slutsky’s confidence has also dried up on the part of the club representatives who defended him. It is reported that the results of “Rubin” in the matches “Kuban”, Ulyanovsk “Volga” and “KAMAZ” will be decisive for the coach. The first two matches ended with the victory of the Kazan team, although Leonid Slutsky’s wards played with Ulyanovsk until the last for a draw. The duel with KAMAZ will be a real test: Naberezhnye Chelny’s club leads the First League standings with two points clear of their closest rival.

Ufa changed coaches twice and eventually sold Agalarov

Coach Alexei Stukalov left the club immediately after relegation, with which Ufa once beat Spartak. For some time the duties of mentor were carried out by Sergey Tomarovand on August 18 the team was led by Denis Popov. The prospects of the Bashkir team in the second division seem dubious, but the club has always hired managers who were previously not in demand and has achieved a certain result. Maybe it will work this time too.

In any case, the maximum program has been completed: Shamil Gazizov has found a new club for Hamid Agalarov. According to Transfermarkt, Akhmat paid Ufa 3.5 million euros for the striker. With the proceeds from the transaction, UFA residents will be able to avoid debt to players for salaries and live in the First League on their own terms.

You can’t count on more, as the club’s general manager Shamil Gazizov says:

The team is not fully completed. We would like to acquire new players for a new manager, but at the moment the financial situation does not allow us to make transfers.

The region will most likely not award more money and it is extremely difficult to attract additional sponsors in the lower divisions. It all depends on the fact that it is Ufa that will not be able to break in RPL.

The first league sucks like a swamp

Recent trends show that in the event of relegation from the Premier League, clubs have two options: cease to exist or play in the lower leagues with no prospect of promotion. Only “Orenburg” and “Wings of the Soviet” could return RPLand they have done it more than once.

There is an even sadder fact: Amkar, Anji, Tosno, Tambov are examples of the loss of professional teams in the event of relegation. Neither Ufa, Arsenal, nor Rubin are eager for the Premier League: if they get bogged down in the structure of the lower leagues, sponsors may have questions about the need for investment. And then some other examples of how clubs fail after relegation will appear in Russia.