Chechen leader blasts football manager, names new coach

Moscow, May 27 (IANS/RIA Novosti)

Former Anzhi Makhachkala manager Yuri Krasnozhan will take charge at Terek Grozny this summer, Chechnya’s regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov said in a sharply worded statement full of criticism for the team’s old coach.

It will be the third job in 15 months for Krasnozhan, 49, who was fired by FC Kuban in January.

He replaces Stanislav Cherchesov, who said he was told his services were no longer required minutes after Terek crushed Krylya Sovetov 4-1 on the last day of the season Sunday.

“Yuri Krasnozhan has been named the new head coach of the team,” said Kadyrov, who doubles as Terek’s honorary president, in a statement on Instagram Sunday.

Kadyrov penned a lengthy critique of Cherchesov’s failings, saying he had committed “serious tactical mistakes” and failed to bring through enough young players from Chechnya.

“He never gave our players the chance to show themselves and prove themselves,” Kadyrov said.

Kadyrov also singled out a case in which he said Cherchesov had insulted a 23-year-old Chechen defender from Terek’s reserve team, and claimed the coach had encouraged players to aim for a top-half league finish rather than European qualification.

“In the game against Mordovia, when our player Murat Tagiev came on, Cherchesov didn’t even give him a hand to shake, insulting him in such a way,” he said.

The player, actually named Murad Tagilov, made his only first-team appearance of the season in last week’s 1-1 draw with Mordovia Saransk.

“And instead of lifting the team’s morale before the game, he told the players that victory wasn’t the main thing, the main thing was to get into the top eight to get a bonus,” he said.

“That’s not how you lift team morale and not how you lead a team to victory! With this, our paths with this coach split.”

Despite his fierce criticism, Kadyrov said he still considered Cherchesov “a good and honoured coach.”

Kadyrov is known for his outspoken ways in connection with Terek, earning the team punishment from the FA for lambasting a referee as “bought” over the public address system during one game this season.

Statements criticizing newly fired managers are part of life at Terek, where the club characterized Cherchesov’s predecessor Gullit as hard-partying and irresponsible in a news release when the Dutchman was fired in June 2011.