"It's dangerous to get into the joints: they may not let you into the Premier League"

Last season, the Volgograd "Rotor" fought for the first time in five years to return to the RPL. After the appointment of Dmitry Parfenov, the team rose to fourth place in the first league and reached the play-offs with Tolyatti Akron. Having lost 0:2 at home, Volgograd won 1-0 away, but two of their goals were canceled, which caused dissatisfaction with the refereeing. In an interview with Izvestia, midfielder Alexander Troshechkin criticized the work of the referees, appreciated the support of the Rotor fans and commented on the departure of his former club Pari Nizhny Novgorod from the RPL.

— After the return leg against Akron, the Rotor players and coaches had a tough conversation with the referee. Do you have any big claims against him?

— If we take the play-off games as a whole, not only ours, then over the past two years there have been big complaints about the referees from the teams of the First League. Apparently, this is already some kind of trend. If there is any need for the RPL team to remain in the Premier League, then, probably, it is necessary to modify the system of joints. Because you can feel it from the field, when every goal you score is viewed under a microscope, 90% of controversial episodes are interpreted in one direction. This was the case during both play-off matches. If our defender had fouled in the fourth minute the same way he fouled Rodrigo Eshkoval on Abu-Said Eldarushev in the first match against Akron, then we would not have been pitied.

— In this regard, was there a chance to win the joints against Akron by the sum of two matches?

— There was a chance. It's our own fault anyway. But, apparently, we need to score more goals. When the RPL team scores two, we need to score four. And so on, incrementally. But it's difficult: it's not dummies playing there, after all.

— Why did Rotor make a leap up and move into the transition zone in the spring with Dmitry Parfenov's appointment as head coach?

— It's a little different — a spring or autumn rush. I would like to focus on something else: the whole city lives by football, loves football and dreamed of these play-off games even during the season, when it was already difficult to finish higher. We reached the play—off games, we brought the RPL team to Volgograd - 35 people came to this. human. But in fact, it's like everything is decided a little bit off the field.

— Will Rotor compete for entry into the Russian Premier League next season?

— We will definitely have a task to reach the RPL. But it's dangerous to get into the joints: they may just not let you up.

— In other transitional matches, Ural, who really wanted to rise in the RPL, lost to Dynamo Makhachkala.

— By the way, I also saw a penalty kick in his goal in the return play-off match with Dynamo Makhachkala (0:2) — that's also the case... But if there is a reason, it means the ESC (Expert and Judicial Commission. — Izvestia) recognizes the judges' decision as correct. The ESK often admits that everything is right. But in fact, there must be a desire. If the referee hadn't given the penalty, I think ESC would have recognized the decision as correct anyway. That's how we live.

— In this regard, how did you react to the news about the possible extension of the RFU contract with the head of the judicial department, Milorad Majic?

— I do not know who the problem is, that we have such refereeing, that several judges have been disqualified for taking money, and now the judges are guys who are 10 years younger than me. But I'm not really old yet—I'm only 30. I have big questions about some of the decisions throughout the season. Not even by our connections with Akron, but it's clear that they treat us with mild antipathy.

But just some seasonal moments... Either the person doesn't see the episode, or they just don't understand the mechanics. Unfortunately. Our judges are young, just starting out, gaining experience. We like to say that our players are weak, the quality of football is poor. The RPL is being vacuumed, I don't even think about the First League — they talk about it with a slight irony. But the level of refereeing has dropped altogether in 10 years. And somewhere I heard a representative of the RFU refereeing committee say that the referees' mistakes were our fault.

"Because of who?"

— Because of the players. Due to the fact that the quality of football is poor, that's why there is such refereeing, there are so many controversial episodes. I'm just spreading my arms. Because sometimes, even in moments that do not affect the outcome of the match, you wonder how the referees make such decisions.

— Will it be difficult to compete with Sochi, Pari Nizhny Novgorod, Ural and other potential leaders of the First League?

— It's hard to say. These are the teams that will be rebuilt. According to Nizhny Novgorod, it is not clear at all in what format it will play in the First League. I don't know if it's possible to say that they will definitely enter the RPL and set such a task. But there's always something going on. Unfortunately, with this departure, they came to what they were heading for. There's going to be another shakeup now, another vector change, as far as I've heard. And I think in a year it will go somewhere else again.

—Which way is it now?"

— I have only heard from the media, I have no other information, that there will be a change of vector again, the recruitment of the team and the sports block with one agent, a new coach.

— Are you talking about Agent Pavel Andreev?

- yes. This is another vector change. I'm not saying if it's good or bad. Time will show the results. But when things change frequently, it's just not possible to build something quickly. Plus, when the last vector change took place a year ago, it was just necessary to realize faster that this was the way to nowhere. But this was not done.

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— All together. Everything that has been done at the club over the past year.

— You left Paris NN a year ago, but you came there in 2023 at the invitation of the then head coach Sergei Yuran, under whom the team was in the middle of the table for half a season, then in the spring, after injuries to a number of players, it slipped into the joint zone, but after his dismissal and in many ways remained in the RPL.. Do you have an explanation for why all the managers of the club in recent years have been maniacally trying to get away from Juran's thoughtless but effective style of play to coaches with supposedly attacking football, which has led to his departure now?

— Well, this is all a cliche and a narrow-minded view of football. People just, in my opinion, don't understand the subject a bit. Not very deep. Therefore, there are such expressions. In general, there is one criterion — the result. How it is achieved is already a matter of detail. We won 5-2 in Nizhny Novgorod in a purely defensive mode. Is this defensive football?

— You can sit deep in defense, go on the counterattack five times and score five goals.

— But we scored five. And why run headlong into the attack after that? I repeat, there is only one criterion — the result. It doesn't matter what you call your football — attacking or defensive. It's convenient to just change everything every season. And Nizhny Novgorod is unlikely to play like Guardiola's Barcelona. Well, that's it. If we compare Nizhny Novgorod and Barcelona, then Nizhny Novgorod will have non-attacking football.

— You mentioned how 35,000 people came to the first transition match between Rotor and Akron. Have you already managed to get into how sick people are in Volgograd and how many people go to the stadium?

— Yes, it's something incredible. I'm just shocked.

— Have you seen this anywhere else?

- no.

— Even in Voronezh?

— I played there only once in the RPL at their old Trade Union stadium. Somehow it turned out that I missed visits to them because of injuries. So it's hard to compare.

— And Tula, where you played for Arsenal in the first half of last season?

— It's not the same there either. Moreover, the stadium is already in emergency. And in Volgograd— it's just space. The recognition of the players is higher than when you play in the RPL. People are constantly finding out and wishing you luck. It's a shame and a shame that they couldn't get the Premier League. But it was hard for us when you score three goals in the second leg and only one is counted. I understand that the first uncounted goal was offside — I'm not even arguing. But decisions in favor of the opponent are made instantly, and episodes in our favor are considered for a very long time and under a microscope. I think it's no accident. In general, it is necessary to enter the RPL directly.