The report of the head coach and a vice-president of Kazan FC Rubin handing in his resignation came as a surprise only to those who didn’t pay much attention to the inner developments in the club. The tense nature of the relationship between Kurban Berdiyev and Rubin’s new president Dmitry Samarenkin was well-known in the football community.
Three past years were triumphant for Rubin: Berdyev’s team won the Russian title in 2008 and 2009 and came third in 2010. However, for now the team is only in fifth – but it managed to beat its main rivals – CSKA and Dinamo. So this resignation can’t be explained by the president being discontent with the team’s performance. Of course, there was a failure in the Champions League, but this tournament is most unpredictable. And this failure was blaimed on Rubin’s ex-president Alexander Gusev, who had to resign. It is rumored that the true reason for his resignation, however, were two too expensive player purchases (Martins and Carlos Eduardo) that didn’t pay off. Dmitry Samarekin, the president of Kazan Dinamo hockey club and the head of the director board of the ‘Kazan fat production’ took his place.
The new president reduced Berdiyev’s powers and that led to a conflict between them. The board of the club’s custodians will have to make an uneasy decision: whether to trust the new president who promised to put the club’s affairs in due order, or to stick with the experienced and successful coach. Berdiyev is literally the maker of present FC’s success, and it seems unwise to loose such an experienced coach right on the eve of a new season – Spartak and Lokomotiv, who once lost their faimous coaches, still can’t return to level of performance they used to demonstrate.
Berdiyev himself sure understands that he can’t be fired right now, so his resignation paper is a sort of warning to the club’s owners, saying that he doesn’t want his powers to be reduced. Sources within the team tell that in case his resignation would be accepted, Berdiyev wouldn’t leave the clubs administration system anyway, waiting for a right moment to come back – on his own terms.
Not many experts, however, believe that this scenario is possible. Valery Nepomnyashiy, ex-coach of FC Tom, who was rumored to take Berdiyev’s place in case of his resignation, demounced this rumor saying that Berdiyev is unlikely to leave Rubin any time soon.
As it has just became known to VK, the board of guardians of the FC Rubin didn’t accept Berdiyev resignation, as was widely expected.
