Sergey Tashuev became the head coach of Fakel

Fakel, which occupies the penultimate place in the Russian Premier League, appointed Sergei Tashuev to the post of head coach. The 64-year-old specialist, who headed the Voronezh club after the resignation of Vadim Evseev, was himself recently fired from Akhmat for unsatisfactory athletic results at the start of the current championship. Nevertheless, Fakel expects that the experienced Tashuev will adjust the game and help the team at least avoid relegation to the first league.

Sergei Tashuev was appointed head coach of Fakel a few days after resignations Vadim Evseev, who was allowed to work only seven rounds in the new championship. It seemed that the coach, who saved the Voronezh team’s place in the Russian Premier League (RPL) at the end of last season, would have a more serious credit of trust and would still be given a chance to improve the tournament position. Still, at the moment the distance from 15th place, where “Fakel” is located, for example, to 11th, is only three points. However, in Voronezh they decided to part with Evseev now and appointed instead Tashuev, who himself had recently visited in a similar situation.

Tashuev’s resignation from Akhmat was the first in the RPL this season and happened after the fourth round. By that time, the Grozny team had suffered three defeats, but were in 11th place, and their gap from those in front did not at all look critical. Moreover, Tashuev seemed to have a fairly strong position in the club, which he raised to fifth place in the previous Russian championship, repeating the best result of the Grozny team in the Premier League. Moreover, they set club records for a number of indicators. The contract with Tashuev was even extended until 2026, which was eventually quickly terminated. His successor was Miroslav Romashchenko, with whom Akhmat took seven points in three rounds without conceding a single goal, and also won their first victory in the cup match.

Tashuev is a very experienced specialist. Since the early 1990s, he has changed two dozen clubs.

Another thing is that the coach’s career mainly took place on the football periphery; he worked little in the Premier League and reached his professional peak only in the current calendar year with the same Akhmat.

The management of Fakel, apparently, was impressed not only by the general, but also, above all, by the recent experience of Tashuev’s work in Grozny. Indeed, under him, “Akhmat” played bold, aggressive, strong football, which Voronezh residents also want to see. According to Fakel General Director Roman Askhabadze championat.com, the team has lost intensity and aggression lately. “We hope that Tashuev will help us bring back what Fakel was famous for,” said the head of the club.

Sergei Tashuev is tasked with leaving Fakel in the Premier League.

But it won’t be so easy to accomplish it, given the very modest selection of performers on the team. According to Transfermarkt, Fakel confidently ranks last in the RPL in terms of squad value, which is estimated at only €9.93 million. Even for the debutant of the top division Baltika, this figure is almost €4.5 million more. Last season, “Fakel” also had the cheapest squad, but it was still more expensive than the current one and cost €13.8 million. In addition, in that championship, two obvious outsiders and candidates for relegation were almost immediately identified in the person of “Torpedo” and “Khimki”. Now such teams are not yet visible, and “Fakel”, apparently, faces a difficult struggle for survival.

Alexander Ilyin