Difficulties of translation: why Cherchesov may leave the national team of Kazakhstan

Russian coach Stanislav Cherchesov may be fired in the near future. This was reported on Monday, December 23, famous Kazakh commentator Yermukhamed Maulen. According to Sport-Express, the federation's legal staff have already started to consider the issue of early termination of the labor contract. There are several reasons for this, but the most important is the change of leadership of the local federation.

New helmsman

Judging by the available information, such a step - entirely the initiative of the new president of the Kazakhstan Football Federation Marat Omarov. The 36-year-old functionary took office recently - elections were held December 20. Omarov won them with an overwhelming 94% of the vote.

The previous KFF president, Adilet Barmenkulov, who invited Cherchesov, left the post in November of his own volition. He did not participate in the elections, but according to some reports, he tried to promote his own man, Yerlan Dzhamantayev, as reported by VseProSport. Dzhamantayev eventually withdrew from the race a few days before the vote.

Barmenkulov was a supporter of Cherchesov and repeatedly stood up for the Russian coach. By mid-October, when Kazakhstan had already suffered four defeats in Division B of the Nations League and was in last place, the former KFF president noted the team's progress.

- The guys themselves like the soccer that they are now showing. And I liked how the team looked against Slovenia and Austria. And this game is already building up. It's not a shame to concede with such a game. And we should have scored. It should come with time," Barmenkulov said.

Cherchesov didn't worry about the election.

- Meetings with the candidates? No. The presidential election will be on December 20, the candidates have been decided. I don't know any of them personally. Excitement? Why should there be excitement? Elections are a normal process, - Stanislav Salamovich told Sport-Express in mid-December.

However, KFF vice-president Rochus Schoch in a conversation with "SE" did not confirm or deny the information Maulen: "I do not comment on rumors".

And here is the opinion of Kazakh sports journalist Anuar Abdrakhmanov.

- Omarov is a new man in soccer, and it's clear that he will assemble his own team," Abdrakhmanov told Izvestia. - But in addition to him, Sayan Khamitzhanov, an experienced functionary who achieved excellent results in his time with Astana, has returned to the Kazakhstani soccer federation. About the news about the possible dismissal of Cherchesov I think that at this point in the Federation itself is not yet a final decision.

Probable reasons

The period in Kazakhstan was not the best for Cherchesov in his career. Under his leadership, the team played six matches in the Nations League, losing five of them with a total score of 0:15 and one ending in a nil-nil draw at home against Norway. By mid-November, Kazakhstan had already lost even a theoretical chance of staying in Division B and were relegated to Division C.

In addition, Cherchesov has repeatedly been caught up in so-called language scandals - several times the local media were outraged by the coach's jokes at press conferences. Thus, in October, one of the journalists addressed Cherchesov in Kazakh, to which Stanislav Salamovich interjected: "Are you speaking French now?"

Although the joke was later explained (the journalist was wearing a PSG shirt), the scandal could not be avoided. The coach was fined 150 thousand rubles. "There are mistakes, we just talked about it yesterday with journalists. Cherchesov's humor, of course, is out of bounds. I personally had a word with him, explained the relevance and priority of the state language. We had a conversation, work. He was fined," Barmenkulov said at the time.

Cherchesov took charge of Kazakhstan's national team in June 2024. Prior to that, Stanislav Salamovich worked at Hungarian Ferencvaros, with which he took two championships and the country's Cup, as well as leading the club to the spring stage of the European Cup for the first time since 1975. Before that there was a successful period in the Russian national team, with which the specialist reached the quarterfinals at the home World Cup. In addition, Cherchesov has worked in Polish Legia, with whom the Russian specialist made a golden double, Spartak, Dynamo and many other RPL teams.

It should be noted that talks about Stanislav Salamovich's return to the RPL have been going on for a long time. However, the last time he worked in the top division of Russian club soccer was back in 2015.

- If you were to take over a Russian top club now, where the coach has left, who would you hire - a foreigner or a Russian? It all depends on the tasks at hand," Ilya Herkus, ex-Lokomotiv Lokomotiv manager, said in a conversation with Izvestia. - In a top club they will surely be high, so you need an experienced specialist who can win, work under pressure, with top players. We don't have many of them. There are few of them at all - both good and bad. But for top clubs, there are probably 5-6 people. Semak, Slutsky... Cherchesov, of course, is a top coach - you can trust any team. Fedotov? Yes, second place with Sochi and CSKA are serious achievements, he has character, style, charisma. Perhaps Goncharenko as well, he also has enough qualities. And no one else comes to mind right off the bat.

Right now, three Russians (Semak, Musayev, Galaktionov) and two foreigners (Stankovic, Licka) are leading clubs from the top five of the RPL.