Miroslav Romashchenko headed “Akhmat”

Miroslav Romashchenko has been appointed the new head coach of Akhmat. This is already a fairly well-known specialist, including work in the Premier League and the Russian national team, but for almost his entire coaching career he helped Stanislav Cherchesov as an assistant. Now Romashchenko will coach on his own and has signed a three-year contract with Grozny.

After Akhmat announced his resignation from the post of head coach Sergei Tashuev, information appeared almost immediately that the Grozny club had made an offer to Stanislav Cherchesov. The former mentor of the Russian national team recently left the Hungarian Ferencváros and again entered, as they say, the free agent market. However, he also almost immediately disavowed rumors about the possibility of heading Akhmat, although he did not deny that he had talked with the general director of the Grozny residents, Akhmed Aidamirov, with whom they have warm, informal relations. As a result, it was really not Cherchesov who became the head coach of the team, but his long-term assistant Miroslav Romashchenko.

In the football world, he is a well-known person, in the past a fairly strong defender who received an invitation to Spartak from Oleg Romantsev and won two championship titles with red and white. Surely Romashchenko would have achieved even greater success if it were not for a serious injury, which put an end to his playing career. He started coaching at the Spartak children’s and youth school, and in 2006 he headed the club’s backup team.

Then Miroslav Romashchenko was briefly the head coach of the Tomsk “Tom”, which at that time played in the Premier League, and the Belgorod “Salyut” in the first division. And in 2011, he was called as an assistant to his headquarters by Cherchesov, who then led the Sochi Zhemchuzhina, and since then they have worked exclusively together.

Romashchenko assisted Cherchesov in Amkar Perm, Dynamo Moscow, Legia Warsaw, Ferencvaros, and the pinnacle of their joint cooperation is, of course, the Russian team, with which they reached the quarterfinals at the 2018 home world championship.

Yes, and in Grozny, Romashchenko already had the opportunity to train in the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons, when he again helped Cherchesov back then at Terek. And now his original return has taken place, only in a different, more status quality. Moreover, they immediately signed a three-year contract with Romashchenko, despite the possible risks, given his certain inexperience as a head coach. On the other hand, in general, the experience of the new Akhmat mentor is huge, and, apparently, the people of Grozny do not doubt his knowledge, accumulated over the years of work under the leadership of Cherchesov.

It is not surprising that Romashchenko himself wanted to step out of the shadows and realize his personal professional ambitions. At the same time, he is only 49 years old: when, if not now, to try to embark on an independent voyage. Moreover, Akhmat is a fairly reliable option for starting a career. Grozny are firmly on their feet, and in the last championship they generally finished fifth.

Alexander Ilyin