FC Krasnodar has changed its main coach and acquired two players, FC Sochi completed its coaching staff

Third Nigerian forward

In the last days of last year, there were a lot of transfer rumors around the “citizens”. And the main ones were confirmed already in the first days of January. The most important: “Krasnodar” changed the coach. As predicted by the media, the 45-year-old Serbian specialist Vladimir Ivic became the new mentor of the Bulls. The fact that he will replace Oleksandr Storozhuk was announced by the club on January 4th. At the same time, as predicted in the press, the previous mentor of the “black-and-greens” remained to work in the structure of the club, becoming the head coach of the Krasnodar-2 club, which closes the standings of the first league. Ivic signed a two-year contract. It is gratifying that the Serb brought a team with him. His assistants were Milos Veselinovic, Sinisa Gogich, as well as goalkeeping coach Christos Kelpekis. Before that, only Daniel Farke came to Krasnodar with his team. Recall that Ivic is a coach who achieved the championship three times with the teams he leads (with the “youth team” of PAOK from Thessaloniki and twice with “Maccabi” from Tel Aviv). That is, the owner of the “citizens” Sergei Galitsky decided to again bet on the coach, who proved his skills with titles. Recall that, according to the media, Ivic will receive about a million euros a year in Krasnodar.

The glory of a rather tough mentor goes behind the Serb. Watford players, talking about the time when Ivic was in charge of the team, said that he tortured the players with theories, forced them to work for another hour and a half after the end of training, forbade the use of mobile phones. Of course, in Krasnodar he may not be allowed to completely restore his own order: Galitsky determines everything in the club. At the same time, discipline in the team obviously does not hurt. Ivic’s indirect advantage is that he is a Serb. Representatives of his nationality always learn to speak Russian very quickly, and this reduces the language barrier.

Another rumor that appeared at the end of last year, and justified in early January, is the transfer of Brazilian attacking midfielder Cady Borgis to the “townspeople” camp. According to the press service of the club, the contract with the 26-year-old football player will be signed after passing a medical examination. It is valid until June 2026. “Krasnodar” bought Borgis from the Azerbaijani “Karabakh”. The footballer also played in Brazil (Coritiba, Londrina, Foz do Eguacho) and Portugal (Estoril and Vilafrancense). It is noteworthy that in a year and a half of playing in Qarabag, Borzhis scored 28 goals, including four in the Champions League qualification – 2022/23 (double against Lech, one goal in two matches with Zurich) and three in Conference League – 2021/22 (double in the game with Omonia, goal against Marseille). In addition, the Brazilian midfielder with Polish roots has more than twenty assists, including assists in the 2022/23 Europa League victories against Nantes and Olympiacos. According to rumors, the “bulls” paid five million euros for the Brazilian.

Another acquisition of Krasnodar in the first days of January was twenty-year-old Moses Kobnan. The Nigerian striker, after passing medical examinations, must sign a contract by the end of June 2026. The football player moved to Krasnodar from the Slovak Zhelezyarne Podbrezova. At first, Kobnan played for the Sered club, which represents the same championship. In 2022, the footballer played twenty matches for Zeleziarne Podbrezov, in which he scored thirteen goals. Transfermarkt sets the amount of his transfer at one million euros. Kobnan became the club’s third offensive player to represent Nigeria. His compatriots Olakunle Olusegun and Jonathan Okoronkwo are already playing for Krasnodar.

Of course, these acquisitions cannot be called a serious strengthening: after all, both players played before in much weaker championships compared to the Russian Premier League. It is unlikely that they will be able to globally change the game of the team, although much depends on Ivic.

Bring back the silver season game

Barça announced a change of coach in the last days of the outgoing year. As expected, the team was led by a 70-year-old specialist from Turkmenistan, Kurban Berdyev. This coach is well known in Russia. The club does not cover the details of the contract. It is also unknown whether the former head mentor, Alexander Tochilin, remained working in the club’s system. Along with Berdyev came a new team of assistants. He will be assisted by no less famous players in the past: Dmitry Kirichenko, Dmitry Khokhlov and Andrey Matsyura. The first has already managed to work with Berdyev in the Iranian “Tractor” and in the Kazakh “Kairat”. Matsyura also helped train Berdyev in Alma-Ata. The only one who did not play under the leadership of Berdyev and did not cooperate with him as a coach is Khokhlov. Before moving to Sochi, he headed the Volgograd Rotor.

The first training session under the guidance of the new coaching staff was held on the 7th of January. It was then that Sochi came out of vacation. At the training session, Berdyev gave the club’s press service his first interview as a mentor of the “leopards”.

— I am very glad to see the guys with whom I worked in the past. I know their capabilities well. Our plans for the rest of the season are to create a combat-ready team that will confirm the silver medal won in the Russian championship. It was a pleasure to watch that team. She played well both in defense and in attack. We would like to return it,” Berdyev said.

Before the start of the first winter training camp, the team passed a medical examination. Traditionally, Sochi residents began the first training at home, in Adler. There they will train until January 22. Then the team will go to Abu Dhabi, where the second stage of the training camp will begin on January 25. From the first to the eleventh of February, the “resorts” will take part in the Winter Cup of the Russian Premier League, where they will play with “Krasnodar”, “Rostov” and “Spartak”. Sochi will finish preparations for the second part of the season in Turkey. The third collection will be held from the fifteenth to the twenty-fifth of February. The remaining rivals of the Berdyev team in friendly matches will be known later.

Sochi has not yet made any transfer purchases, nor has it parted ways with anyone. But, knowing the solidity of Berdyev’s approach and the club’s good opportunities, we can assume that there will be a rotation of the squad, and possibly a significant one. So, the media are already reporting that the “leopards” are interested in the 31-year-old midfielder of “Rostov” – Khoren Bayramyan. The football player has already worked with Berdyev in the Rostov team and in Rubin. The coach is famous for the fact that he actively collects those with whom he has previously dealt with in his team. Transfermarkt estimates Bayramyan at 1.5 million euros. The amount for Sochi is quite lifting.