"For the championship, Lokomotiv needs another central defender"

Last Saturday, Khimki hosted the farewell match of the famous football player Denis Glushakov, the former midfielder of the Russian national team, Spartak Moscow, Lokomotiv and Khimki. The 38-year-old announced in the summer that he would soon retire as a player. Spartak and Lokomotiv veterans took part in his farewell match. Glushakov played a half for each of his former teams. In the end, Lokomotiv won 1-0.

Ruslan Pimenov, a former Loko, Dynamo Moscow and the Russian national team striker who played for the Railwaymen in this match, shared his opinion on Glushakov's career, and also appreciated his recent leadership experience at Krylia Sovetov Samara, where he was deputy general director in the first half of this year, and told what the next one needed. the second in the championship to Lokomotiv to win gold.

— You finished your career as a player even before Glushakov made his RPL debut for Lokomotiv. How well do you know him?

— Now he and I are constantly participating in various RFU events together — we travel together to the regions as ambassadors, participate in the Football at School project, and played in several retro RFU matches. And we enjoy the intersection of generations at these events — on the one hand, there are, for example, Egor Titov and Dmitry Alenichev, who were born in the 1970s, then me and my peers, who were born in the early 1980s, and then such as Glushakov, who were already born in the late 1980s.- H. Of course, it's nice to participate in all this and play with them. I am glad that I was invited to Glushakov's farewell match, which was well organized. The stadium is good, and there were a lot of fans, although everything was organized in a very short time.

— What are your impressions of Glushakov and his career?

— The main thing that has always distinguished him is his diligence. It is clear that one victory in the Russian championship as a member of Spartak is worth a lot. Moreover, this is the only red-white championship in almost 25 years, and Glushakov was the captain there and scored a lot of decisive goals that season. Actually, this alone makes Denis a bright personality in our football, although he also had other achievements, in particular, trips to several major tournaments as part of the national team. So it's a decent career as a player. And he has a great future ahead of him too.

"As who?"

— It's up to him to choose (smiles).

— Will he become a coach or a manager?

"It's his choice. I think he has thoughts on how to continue his activities in football. And he'll get what he wants.

— Has he already asked you for any advice on post-career work, taking into account your six months of managerial experience at the RPL level?

— Well, I don't have half a year's experience — before being appointed to Krylia, I worked in the second league at Orel last fall (deputy director for sports work. — Izvestia). Also good experience and serious work. Denis asks me about the nuances that I have seen after working in clubs. I'm sure he's taken all this into consideration and will take it into account when he makes a choice about what to do next.

— You have been perceived by the public as an expert in the media and an ambassador of the RFU for a very long time, and it was unexpected for many when you were appointed to Krylia. Isn't it boring to go back to the work that was before the Eagle and Samara?

— No, it's not boring. The main thing is that there is a job (smiles). It so happened that Robert Ter-Abrahamyan, the CEO of Krylia, with whom I joined the club, decided to leave it in the summer. And I felt it was right to leave with him. But I hope I can apply my experience somewhere else.

— Are you already looking for a job at the club?

— Yes, yes. I send resumes everywhere and wait for suggestions (laughs).

— To the RPL clubs?

— And not only in them. I am ready to work in the second league, as it was in Orel. The main thing is not to sit around. Anyway, you shouldn't be out of work for a long time if you want to become a successful functionary.

— What did this short experience at Krylia give you?

— A lot of things. I've had an inside look at how things are going in professional football. I saw nuances that I hadn't noticed when I was a player. There were a lot of discoveries for me.

— What are the key discoveries?

— You can't even say something specific right away. There are many procedural issues. Working with fans, building a club vertical — from children's football and further up to the transition of young guys to the adult level. Player transfers are a search for people who can strengthen the club. There are a lot of things that I didn't see when I was playing. It is very interesting.

— Is this a completely different job?

- yes. It can even be compared to my work as an expert on television. There you talk from the outside, cover the match from the perspective of your experience as a player, but without knowing what is happening within the teams. Not knowing which of the players is in what mood. And inside the individual club in which you work, you see all this. And you look at certain actions of the players on the field in a different way. As an expert, I have advised and am advising now how the teams should play better, but I don't know the inside story. Working in a club gives you a great understanding of what influences the game of individual teams.

— At the same time, becoming a leader, you remained in communication with the media about the same as when you were an expert.

— Well, I have nothing to hide (smiles).

— Usually, bright experts, becoming club bosses, begin to filter speech.

— Well, they all have certain agreements with their supervisors. And this arrangement can influence the answers you give to the public. But it happens differently for everyone here, depending on the club and the personality of the head.

— You formally left Krylia in July, when the current team was already assembled. What can the team qualify for this season in its current form?

— Yes, but I was already looking at this job more from the outside, because back in June I knew that I would leave after Ter-Abrahamyan. We were fully in charge of the club until the end of last season, and then, by and large, we did not form the team. At the same time, we are on good terms with all the people at the Samara club — with the same Magomed Adiev, the current head coach, for example. There are no problems with anyone. But I can't say what he and the team can claim. I've been out of the club since the beginning of August, and for the grades you're asking for, you have to be inside the Wings. A lot has changed in Samara now. There is a certain crisis at the moment — the club cannot win, with only one win in the last eight rounds. But at the same time they go in the middle of the table. Let's see what happens next. In the next three rounds, games will be played against competitors in the struggle for survival — Orenburg and Makhachkala Dynamo. If they win, everything will be fine. If they lose, they can fall even lower.

— Having been the head of the club, have you become more aware of any actions of the managers of Lokomotiv and Dynamo Moscow since your performance for them?

— No, now the time has changed — everything is completely different. Previously, there was a head coach who recruited the team according to his tactical schemes. And there were no sports directors. And now they have appeared.

— Weren't there any in the Locomotive?

— Well, yes. Yuri Palych Semin, as the head coach, made all the decisions there.

— And what did Valery Filatov as the president of the club and Hasanbi Bijiyev as the sports director do?

— Filatov was engaged in the economic part. And then Bidzhiev appeared as a sports director. It wasn't there yet in 2004.

— At the same time, the current sports director of Pari Nizhny Novgorod, Alexander Udaltsov, the then press attache of Lokomotiv, attributed your departure from the team to Filatov. Allegedly, after the away defeat against Kuban (1:2), when the team was waiting for the plane at Krasnodar airport, Valery Nikolaevich saw that you were drinking beer with friends and smiling.

— These are all epics. But the management could have made such a decision. Filatov could have influenced as president of the club, but Semin still made the final decision.

— If Filatov influenced the decision in this way, can you understand it now that you have worked in the club's management yourself?

— It's harder for young people to explain anything now. But we have worked on this component. And as a result, they gave out a series of five winless matches in the RPL, starting with a 5-1 home defeat of Lokomotiv, which is very significant for Krylia. And it helped to stay in the RPL without transitional matches. It was then that the methods from the old football were applied.

— The methods of Semin and Filatov?

— Yes, you have to learn from the best (laughs).

— And what was there? Monetary fines, sending in a double?

— Being sent off from the team, being suspended from the training process, that was it. We applied this because it damages the image and self-esteem of a football player and motivates him to progress a lot.

— How do you like the current "Locomotive"?

— I like it.

— Are there any chances for the championship?

— They need another central defender for that. And at a good level. If it appears in winter, then yes, there are chances.