Traktor will prepare for the next season under the leadership of Anvar Gatiyatulin

Traktor General Director Ivan Savin assessed the season as “unsatisfactory”, but said that the team would continue to work under the leadership of Anvar Gatiyatulin. Finally, the club’s management will sum up the results of the season and formulate a decision on the work of the coaching staff later. Gatiyatulin will also take part in the formation of the team together with the new general manager of the club – Alexei Volkov.

“The team has changed a lot. Last year’s leaders left the club. They were looking for a replacement, but it didn’t work out, – Traktor’s head coach Anvar Gatiyatulin talks about the reasons for the unsuccessful season. “We didn’t have a number one goalkeeper. The search is underway. We did not avoid injuries, the leaders received them – Vladimir Tkachev, Sergey Telegin, Ilya Karpukhin, Anton Burdasov. Burdasov did not fly with us to the Far East, we had to change both brigades of the majority in which he was involved. Difficult schedule, there was no time to practice new combinations. At the end of the season, Anton also dropped out due to injury. It was expected that young guys would quickly take on the role of leaders. It took a little more time. We lost matches, fell into a physical and psychological hole. It affected the outcome.”

Recall that Traktor finished the season on February 26, beating Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 6-2, but the team took only ninth place in the Eastern Conference and did not qualify for the Gagarin Cup playoffs. Such a result is seriously at odds with the goals announced before the season, in accordance with which it was planned that Traktor would fight for the championship.

“We cannot give ourselves a satisfactory assessment,” Ivan Savin agrees. – We understand the emotions of the fans and share them. The situation does not suit us. Personnel changes have already begun, Alexei Volkov has been appointed general manager. He and Anvar Gatiyatulin are already conducting breeding work for the next season.”

According to the club’s CEO, an active search is underway in the transfer market. The priority target is the goalkeeper. Last season, the Chelyabinsk players entered with Emil Garipov as a potential “first number”, but after several unsuccessful matches, the contract with him was terminated. As a result, the main burden fell on the shoulders of Ilya Proskuryakov, and later – Sergei Mylnikov. At the very end of the season, Kirill Ustimenko was raised from Chelmet, leaving a controversial impression. Also, Traktor’s contracts with the first two center forwards Alexei Byvaltsev and Vladimir Tkachev expire. New agreements with the players are being discussed.

Anvar Gatiyatulin denied information about conflicts in the team. According to him, all the players were united by one goal, and no one refused to play with certain partners:

“The task of the coaching staff is to find the best combinations for each game. In connection with the injuries of the players, this did not always work out and we had to reshuffle, which affected the game.

In addition, Ivan Savin announced a number of exhibition matches for the team as part of the Tractor Region project. The list of cities and the calendar of events will be announced later.