Former Main coach Russian national team and Moscow CSKA Leonid Slutsky got his dream job: - English Hull City announced the appointment on June 9 Russian specialist new team coach. What Slutsky did during the forced holidays and how he ended up in Foggy Albion - in the material.

New project Abramovich

In December 2016, CSKA and Slutsky broke up after seven years of living and working together. During this time, the army club became firmly associated with the name of the coach and vice versa. The specialist brought a lot of positivity to the red-blue game, but lately he has been increasingly criticized, and CSKA’s football has become increasingly bland. After an unsuccessful performance in the Champions League, it was decided to stop cooperation.

Slutsky did not sit idly by and began to make his “civilian” dreams come true (during his “army” service, the executive coach did not have the opportunity to do anything other than football): he visited Antarctica, gained fame in a short but bright commentary career (worked at the Champions League match between Barcelona and Juventus), began to learn English.

According to his admission, a few months ago he did not know a word of English, but once again proved his readiness for new challenges: he learned the language at such a level that he calmly gave interviews to the British media, causing genuine admiration among journalists for his determination.

In this regard, there was active talk that Slutsky could lead Chelsea in London - fortunately, the coach has excellent relations with the Russian owner of the “aristocrats”. But the Londoners got on the winning track (which ultimately led them to the coveted championship), and rumors about Slutsky joining the club faded away.

Photo: Vitaly Belousov / RIA Novosti

But Slutsky still hoped to continue his career in Foggy Albion: information appeared that even if he did not manage to win a club in the English Premier League (EPL), he would definitely get a job in the championship (the second strongest football division in the country) and would not spoil the picture.

Slutsky himself openly admitted that his main priority now is employment in the UK. In one interview, he stated that he was Abramovich's new football project. Without underestimating Slutsky's coaching talent, it is worth noting that with such a patron, a place in one of the British clubs was practically guaranteed for a Russian specialist.

And here is the long-awaited news: Slutsky has been appointed head coach of Hull City. Although the team left the Premier League at the end of the last season, it is certainly not unknown - the Tigers have spent more than one year in the top division and have everything to return there soon. The details of the contract of the Russian specialist with the new club are not specified, but for sure he will be given the task of climbing into the Premier League next season, and the further future of the coach in England depends on this.

Slutsky himself understands the importance of the task of reaching the Premier League: “I really hope that we will return to the Premier League. I know Hull City are... famous club with loyal fans. I can't wait to get to work - it's going to happen next week."

The leaders of Hull City explained the invitation of Slutsky by saying that they like his way of thinking and ambitions. “After a careful selection, seeing Leonid's attention to detail, his ideas about the style of the game and his ambition, we singled him out of all the candidates. The club already has plans for pre-season training, interesting friendly matches, this will be announced next week. Planning preparations for the season together with Leonid is in full swing. Slutsky has enjoyed success both at club and international level and I am very pleased with his intentions to bring the club back to the Premier League,” explained Hull Deputy Chairman Ehab Allam.

Time of the first

Slutsky is the first Russian coach in Foggy Albion, but far from the first abroad. The window to Europe was cut long before him.

At one time, the current coach of the Russian national team worked in Europe. Six years of it football career took place in Austria - the goalkeeper defended the colors of Tyrol. He hung up his boots in Moscow, but soon decided to become a coach. It is logical that he went to his almost native Austria to gain experience and take the first steps in a new field: Cherchesov managed to work with Kufstein and Wacker-Tirol.

Photo: Alexey Vitvitsky / RIA Novosti

After a long Russian stage coaching career Cherchesov again went to conquer Europe: this time, a colorful specialist headed the Warsaw Legia. The Russian mentor was remembered not only for his eccentric communication with journalists, but also for his “golden double” - in the first and last season in Poland, he won the national championship and the Cup with the team.

A true legend of the Spanish Celta, he chose to proceed to coaching activities at home. After several years at the head of the Moscow Spartak, the young specialist left the post and went to Spain - he was assigned to Mallorca, which was vegetating in the second division.

The team under the leadership of the Russian was in a fever: the disastrous start of the championship was replaced by a series of victories, which allowed the fans to hope to participate in the play-offs for the right to enter the top division. But Mallorca went downhill again, and after another defeat, the agreement with Karpin was terminated.

In addition to Cherchesov and Karpin, (AEK, Cyprus), (Yaro, Finland) and Dmitry Galyamin (Palamos, Spain) worked in Europe with varying degrees of success. Well, if you go beyond the Old World, then the main star of foreign championships will definitely become: an experienced mentor declared himself in South Korea, Japan, China, Turkey and even coached the main team of Cameroon.

It will be valid for two years and will come into force from the next season. In the meantime, the team will be trained Frank Fraser, under whose leadership she is now sixth in the Dutch championship. Contract Fraser with the Arnhem club is calculated before the end of this season, respectively, his departure will not burden Vitesse with any obligations.

Assistant Slutsky his new team will have , with whom he worked in , and in , and in , and in .

For the first time that Slutsky can lead Vitesse, the Dutch media started talking in late November - early December 2016, after it became known that the coach would leave CSKA. However, the specialist left for England, where he accepted Hull, which he left in December 2017. On January 28 this year, Slutsky was seen at an FA Cup match - sitting on the podium next to the leaders of Vitesse - the general director Jost de Wit and technical director Mark van Hintum.

WHAT THEY SAID AT VITESSE

Van Hintum today he was not stingy with his compliments to the 46-year-old Russian coach.

"Leonid is known for his tactical ingenuity, attention to detail and a clear understanding of what the style of play should be. His arrival is an opportunity for Vitesse to reach new level. I am glad that a person with such qualities will work in our club. He has rich international experience - in particular, he was the head coach of the national team," he said. van Hintum official website "Vitessa".

“These qualities were our priority in the search; they are much more important than nationality,” he emphasized.

WHO RUNS THE ARNHM CLUB

The owner of "Vitessa" is a Russian businessman Alexander Chigirinsky, who was among the top 100 richest people in the Russian Federation in the 2000s. He purchased the club in 2013 from a former Soviet football player Merab Jordania.

According to Dutch media reports, Slutsky’s good friend is involved in the leadership of Vitesse. In 2010, when Jordania came to Vitesse, information appeared that Abramovich was the true owner of the club. The Georgian did not confirm this, but at the same time he did not hide his friendship with the owner of Chelsea. Informal cooperation between the Arnhem and London teams does exist - more than 20 Blues players visited Vitesse on loan, for example, a Serb who now plays for Manchester United.

WHAT DID "VITESS" ACHIEVE

The yellow-blacks have been in the Dutch top division continuously since 1990. However, they did not rise above third place. If we talk about the last three championships, then in the 2014/15 season Vitesse took fifth place, in the 2015/16 season - ninth, and in the 2016/17 season, in which they won the National Cup - fifth again. In the current championship, as mentioned above, the Arnhem team is in sixth place.

According to transfermarkt.de, the total value of Vitesse's core players is 27.3 million euros. For comparison: the composition of CSKA, where Slutsky worked for a long time, is estimated at 101.68 million, and Halla - 65.3 million.

In "Vitesse" there are Russian football player- defender, well known to Slutsky from CSKA. For the Dutch team, the ex-army man this moment played four matches. Recently I was in "Vitesse" and another Russian player- striker, who returned to Lokomotiv in the summer of 2017.

CSKA Moscow head coach

Russian football coach, head coach of the Moscow football club CSKA since October 2009. Previously, head coach of FC Krylya Sovetov (2007-2009), head coach of FC Moscow (2005-2007).

His father, a master of sports in boxing, died when Leonid was six years old. According to Slutsky himself, he was raised by his mother, a teacher, and later by the head of a kindergarten, an honored worker of public education. “Mom put into me everything that made me work so well with young people,” the coach later noted.

Since childhood, Slutsky was interested in sports, in particular football, and in the third grade he enrolled in football school at the Spartak stadium in Volgograd. He graduated from high school with a gold medal, after which he entered the Volgograd State Institute physical education. At the same time, the athlete became a goalkeeper in the Zvezda team (city of Gorodishche, Volgograd region). However, his career as a football player was quickly interrupted as a result of a domestic injury: when he fell from a tree (“he went to pick up the neighbor’s cat”), Slutsky crushed knee-joint. As part of the team, he spent only 13 matches,,.

The athlete graduated from the Institute with honors in 1993. Then he entered graduate school and was invited to the position children's trainer Volgograd football club "Olympia". Subsequently, among the students of Slutsky, the press named Roman Adamov, Denis Kolodin, Andrey Bochkov and Maxim Burchenko - football players who played in the teams of the Russian football premier league. "Olympia" under the leadership of Slutsky has repeatedly become the winner of tournaments at various levels, including the winner of the Russian Cup among non-professional physical culture groups (1999). The media talked about the KVN team “Third Son” created by Slutsky at Olympia: the coach, who “was always outraged that many consider athletes limited,” not only took part in creating the first productions for the team’s performances, but also sang and danced on stage. . . .

In 2001, Slutsky headed the reserve team of the Uralan club (Elista, Republic of Kalmykia). In the reserves tournament in 2001, his players took fourth place, and a year later they took second. After Uralan dropped out of the Premier League in 2003 and returned to the first division, Slutsky received an offer to take the position of head coach of the main team. However, as a result of the financial crisis, the team broke up,,,.

In 2004, Slutsky headed the reserve team of the Moscow football club. After the team's victory in the Premier League doubles tournament, Slutsky became the head coach of FC Moskva in July 2005. Under his leadership, the club in the same year took fifth place in the Russian championship and sixth in 2006. In 2007, FC Moscow reached the final of the Russian Cup, but lost to Lokomotiv in extra time; the club took fourth place in the Premier League. At the end of the season, the management of the football club decided to dismiss Slutsky from the post of head coach. The media wrote that the owner of Moscow, businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, was dissatisfied with the team’s performance.

In the same year, Slutsky signed a contract with the Krylya Sovetov club (Samara). Under his leadership, the club took sixth place in the 2008 rankings. Russian Premier League, but by the beginning of October 2009 dropped to standings to tenth place. In the same month, the head coach of Krylia Sovetov submitted his resignation at his own request. A few days later, on October 26, 2009, Slutsky was appointed head coach of the CSKA football club.

In 2010, CSKA, under the leadership of Slutsky, reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League, but dropped out of the tournament, losing on aggregate to the Italian Inter. The club took second place in the 2010 Russian Championship. In May 2011, CSKA, under the leadership of Slutsky, won the Russian Football Cup for the sixth time, beating Alania Vladikavkaz with a score of 2:1.

According to Slutsky’s colleagues, the coach is fanatically in love with football. It was noted that he is a “very simple and sociable” person, gentle in life, and yet, he can be strict and demanding on the field and “knows how to keep his distance from the players.” In his free time, he likes to read (Slutsky himself named Rudyard Kipling, Paolo Coelho and Sidney Sheldon among his favorite writers) and watch theater productions.

Leonid Slutsky is married, he and his wife Irina, a philosopher by training, have a son, Dmitry, born in 2005 [

Where they truly love football and know how to take care of it. This is true, without any hints. During the contract with CSKA Slutsky communicated with dozens of foreigners - from Brazilians to Ivorians. Naturally, Leonid Viktorovich also found a common language with the Europeans without any problems. So Slutsky should not have any particular difficulties in Europe - he is a contact person, of a European mindset and always ready to learn.

Apparently, the owner of the Dutch Vitesse, a citizen of the Russian Federation, thinks the same Alexander Chigirinsky. The interest of this team in Slutsky is actively discussed Russian media last time. An average club in a quality championship, where passivity in attack is equated with a mortal sin. Why not start a European career in relatively calm conditions?

Championship Team Head Coach

This is the first English league in case someone doesn't know. “It would be extremely interesting for me to try my hand at a foreign club if someone needs me. But the thing is this: the leading clubs, naturally, are not interested in me. And lower-level teams won't even apply, because CSKA is constantly playing in the Champions League and his coach seems out of reach for them. But, in general, I am ready for the English Championship, ”Slutsky’s words are dated last summer.

Now there is also information that some Championship clubs are interested in Leonid Viktorovich. And it doesn’t matter which team. In no case should you be ashamed of the first English division - in terms of level it is not much inferior to the Russian one, but only one good year, and you are a participant best league peace. nuclear submarine

It’s not for nothing that, say, a Champions League winner works in the Championship Rafael Benitez. If he does it himself, then why not Slutsky enter the Championship?

Slutsky does not need to be shy about the English first division.

Head coach of the Premier League team

And why, in fact, not. No one says that tomorrow, at the same time, Chelsea and Manchester City will be kicked out to hell Conte With Guardiola to argue for Slutsky. It is clear that the English top clubs do not need a Russian coach. Except for internships.

However, teams from the bottom of the table may turn their attention to Slutsky. In Europe, he is quite famous - no matter how sarcastically some fans talk about the game of CSKA in the Champions League, Slutsky, for example, beat Manchester City away in it. And almost beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.

English functionaries remember such things and never forget them. Of course, the appointment of Slutsky in the conditional "Watford" or "Middlesroe" will be a sensation. But there is nothing impossible in this - after all, the Premier League is now booming for coaches from all over the planet. And, by the way, the same Middlesbrough held a training camp in... Marbella in the winter. Playing on the same fields as CSKA. If also by other representatives of Middlesbrough, what prevented Slutsky from establishing contact?

The Russian national team is an average team, we need to understand this a long time ago.

Head coach of the national team

Not Russia. Slutsky is also an extremely ambitious person. And the wound left after Euro 2016 will probably bother him more than once. Something like this is simply not forgotten in six months. Slutsky himself said that he is a club coach, and his work with the Russian national team partly proved this. Plus, Leonid Viktorovich admitted that some things that were effective in CSKA did not bring success in the national team.

I can’t believe that Slutsky is not at all interested in proving to himself: “I can coach the national team. Train successfully." The Russian national team is an average team, we need to understand this a long time ago. Therefore, the options, say, with Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Armenia are no worse than the domestic one. And in many ways it’s better. Especially if Slutsky is offered calm, systematic work with the national team. The whole cycle, several years, and not an urgent rescue operation for Russia Euro 2016.

Captain of the KVN team

Leonid Viktorovich is a multifaceted person. He loves football, but he is by no means only interested in how to deliver the ball to the goal. But also many other things in life. For example, he loves KVN - he watched it hundreds of times (including live), sat on the jury and himself showed his humorous skills a little.

After working as the head coach, Slutsky will not be able to be just a KVN player.

Now there will be time to do this not only occasionally. And it’s quite complete. Well, what, Slutsky knows how to speak, knows how to joke, knows how to make sure that he is listened to. Hardly any stage fright. Therefore, Leonid Viktorovich has all the skills to participate in KVN. But after working as a head coach, he is unlikely to be just a team player. But to reflect on the tactics of speeches and fast transition from home to stage - Slutsky's calling.

“Suspicions that there would not be a fair fight on the field arose even before the starting whistle, when bookmakers announced an unprecedented influx of people wanting to bet on Terek’s victory. Bookmakers continued to accept bets, but reduced the odds on the home team's victory to a minimum.
The match turned out to be strange indeed. With two goals from Grozny legionnaire Panku, the Samara defenders seemed to make way for their opponents. And when, at the beginning of the second half, Krylia Sovetov forward Evgeniy Savin equalized the score with a double, his teammates were in no hurry to congratulate him.
The last minutes of the meeting turned out to be completely comedic. The guests stood up openly, without preventing their opponents from creating scoring chance behind the moment. But they couldn’t score. Either the attacker misses the ball a meter from the goal, or it hits the post. The audience counted three one-on-ones with Lobos alone. And when, in the end, Bendz, who was left alone on the penalty line after a cross from a corner, nevertheless brought victory to Terek, both teams, it seemed, breathed a sigh of relief.
Added suspicion and the absence of two main stars on the field, “Wings”: the Czechs Koller and Yaroshik. Football experts in the press have formulated a very plausible version that the “Wings” gave “Terek” three points for the victory given to them last season. At the same time, last year's match, which ended with a score of 4:3, was also called suspicious. RFU President Vitaly Mutko said that he “didn’t like the match very much”:

“I am very ashamed of the Samara team,” Mutko said, promising that the RFU ethics commission would watch this match again, but the conclusions should be made by the relevant authorities. True, it is not entirely clear which organs and what should be looked at if no one has contacted them.

Wings coach Leonid Slutsky immediately after the game flew to Chisinau, where he is currently holding a seminar for a hundred Moldovan football coaches on the topic "Improving group and team interactions in defense (the principle of zone defense)". That is, he talks about what his defenders unanimously portrayed in the match with Terek.

– I read newspapers, blogs and comments after the match. I want to say with all responsibility that the team did not give up the match! – Leonid Slutsky said in Chisinau as if nothing had happened.

– Why did the players just stand up in the last ten minutes of the match?

– Belozerov was injured. This is the main reason. Secondly, the players are hooked. Nobody gave up the match. As for bets on Terek, what does the Krylya Sovetov Club have to do with it?

Even if no one wants (and most likely will) investigate what happened, Slutsky's reputation will be significantly tarnished, and the Samara stands will now greet the coach with a whistle.