Month: November 2016

LOOKING AT FOREIGN COACHES IN RUSSIAN FOOTBALL

In Russia, head coaches are usually natives. Only a handful of clubs are willing to employ foreign tacticians to lead teams. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was the first club president to break such unspoken rule 16 years ago. He gave Boris Bunyak, a Serbian, the privilege of being the first foreign coach. However, the fairytale ended in a disappointing note as Bunyak could only help the club – Uralan – garner two points after 16 matches.

Yugoslavians were employed next with Slavoljub Muslin and Miodrag Bozovic leading in popularity in Russian fooball. Bozovic won the Russian Cup leading FC Rostov all the way. He reached a final with Amkar. There have been Italians in Luciano Spaletti, Nevio Scala, and Massimo Carrera. Romanian managers have tried their best even though it might not have been as successful. Continue reading “LOOKING AT FOREIGN COACHES IN RUSSIAN FOOTBALL” →

LUIZ’ TACKLE AGAINST UNITED STILL HUGELY DEBATED

Chelsea defender David Luiz was very lucky to avoid getting sent off when they thrashed United 4-0 in a Premier League game last week.

The Brazilian made a studs up challenge on Red Devil star Marouane Fellaini but the referee, Martin Atkinson refused to send off the player for the rough challenge. United fans and Pundits are still debating the actions of the referee. If the Brazilian had been sent off, it would have influenced the game in no small way even though the hosts were 2-0 up.

Atkinson handling of the affair raised eyebrows as it makes the third time in seven years that the referee had not ruled fair at Stamford Bridge when they hosted United.

“I know what you know. I know what everybody knows. Even when I was speaking to Sky, it was one of their questions, so we all know that. But in the end, it’s the result that stays, and when you lose 4-0, to come and speak about the referee, it looks like you are trying to get excuses,” Jose Mourinho said to Manchester United Television.

Manchester United went on to suffer one of their heaviest defeats. It added to the worrying situation at Old Trafford regarding their poor run despite the strong start this term under the Portuguese.

“I just hope that the press does the job in terms of analysing that situation but it’s not for me to speak about,” said Mourinho and the press definitely did that. Almost any verdict supported the notion that the Blues player should have seen a red card as against the yellow he received.

Atkinson made major errors in the 1-0 victory over Chelsea when they met in 2009. In 2011, Ferguson spoke strongly against the action of the same referee. The Scot was given a ban by the FA for describing the penalty Yuri Zhirkov won as ‘soft.’