Rashid Rakhimov took up Rubin – Newspaper Kommersant No. 64 (7509) dated 04/13/2023

Rubin Kazan, which claims to enter the Russian Premier League, has appointed Rashid Rakhimov to the post of head coach. With his predecessor, Yuriy Utkulbaev, the club terminated the contract after a series of draws. Now the team takes second place in the first league, which gives a direct ticket to the RPL.

In “Rubin” there was already the second coaching reshuffle in the course of the current championship. In mid-November last year, the club dismissed Leonid Slutsky, and now the same fate befell Yuri Utkulbaev, under whose leadership the Kazan team played eight matches. And if at first Rubin won four victories in a row with him, then recently it has clearly stalled and ended four meetings in a draw, scoring only one goal.

In the 26th round, the team, which sets itself the task of returning to the Premier League as soon as possible, where it has played for 19 seasons, played to zero with Volgar, and before that with Alania and KAMAZ. In principle, these were away matches against difficult opponents from the top of the standings, but Kazan failed to win at home and struggling for survival “Veles”, and eventually lost eight points. So far, they are staying in the pair, which directly goes to the RPL, but the leading Baltika has already come off by six points, and Yenisei and Alania, which are in the play-off zone, are only three behind. Rubin did not seem to be in danger of falling outside the top four, but the prospect of participating in clashes with representatives of the Premier League became quite real.

In this situation, the club’s management, apparently, considered that the team needed a more experienced mentor who would lead it to the elite division in the shortest possible way and be able to gain a foothold with it at the next level.

Still, Utkulbaev, with his experience in youth football, Kazakhstan’s Aktobe and Neftekhimik, did not quite match Rubin’s ambitions and took the helm during a difficult transition period, when Kazan realized that they were not on the same path with the same Slutsky. And Utkulbaev fulfilled his mission, but with all due respect to him, Rashid Rakhimov is a specialist of a completely different class, from the major league. Actually, almost all of his professional activities are associated with Premier League clubs. Previously, Rakhimov headed “Amkar” (twice), “Locomotive”, “Terek”and then “Akhmat”. With Grozny, he achieved the highest success when they finished fifth in the 2016/17 Russian Championship.

It is not surprising that, as soon as the Rubin management had such an opportunity, a contract was signed with Rakhimov. Yes, after parting with Ufa in April 2021, he did not have coaching practice and worked as an expert on a sports TV channel, but, as they say, he did not fall out of the cage. In addition, Rakhimov is one of the specialists who do not grasp any offer. Therefore, he, in fact, had only three clubs. Amkar became a launching pad after Rakhimov moved from Austria, where he finished playing and began his coaching career. In Lokomotiv, he did not work out, but they do not refuse the invitation of such giants. Rakhimov stayed in Grozny for almost six years. And only “Ufa” turned outprobably his only mistake.

“Ruby” in its current form is also, perhaps, a rather risky option. Now you just need to pull the team out of the first league, and then think about how and in what direction to develop it.

It is no coincidence that, according to unofficial information, the club signed a contract with Rakhimov until the end of this season, which will be extended only if the coach returns Kazan to the Premier League. Rakhimov himself is determined and, according to the press service of Rubin, has already told the players that he expects maximum dedication and the strictest discipline from them in the rest of the championship.

Alexander Ilyin