Spartan times for Spartak

By Eduard Nisenboim & Pavle Gognidze

A second coaching change in a season for the first time in the club's history has underlined that Russian UEFA Cup contenders FC Spartak Moskva are in crisis.

New low
A traditionally conservative, stable club, Spartak hit a new low last week, when they sacked talented coach Andrei Chernyshov. An official statement on their website suggested the coach had not gelled with his players and was distracted by his role as Russia's Under-21 coach.

Unsatisfactory explanation
That explanation did not exactly satisfy supporters. True, Spartak had not been thriving in the league, still hovering around the bottom half of the table, but Chernyshov was hired to rebuild the team over a period of several years after Oleg Romantsev, who was in charge for over a decade, had left the club in the summer.

Unstable times
The usual Spartak way is to give coaches a reasonable length of time in charge, but Chernyshov was dispensed with after just 84 days. Only the 17th man to coach the club since 1936, his downfall may be a sign that the old days of stability at Spartak have come to an end.

Spartak tradition
Coaches like Nikita Simonyan, Konstantin Beskov and Romantsev all led the club for spells of over a decade, and coaches and players alike seemed to bow to a greater club tradition. The names of the coaches may have changed occasionally, but the Spartak style remained constant.

Decisive change
In the newly independent Russia, Spartak were totally dominant under Romantsev until the coach - who had been club chairman since 1993, and built up the greatest footballing franchise in Russian history - sold his stock and made way for a new chairman, Andrei Chervichenko, in 2000.

Slumping fortunes
However, oil magnate Chervichenko seemed to bring problems rather than prosperity. Spartak narrowly won the Russian title in 2001, before finishing third in 2002 after a season characterised by unsuccessful signings and arguments between Romantsev and Chervichenko.

European lock-out
Romantsev was dismissed in the summer, midway through the current season, the 36-year-old Chernyshov taking charge. However, the slide continued and, as they skulk in the lower-table doldrums, Spartak look destined to miss out on a place in European competition for the 2004/05 season for the first time since 1980.

Chervichenko assessment
"We were unhappy with the way the team played," said Chervichenko as he explained Chernyshov's dismissal. "We shouldn't need to struggle to win 1-0. I hope to see another Spartak next season - with attacking football, creativity and flair."

Fedotov hired
Chernyshov's successor, 60-year-old Vladimir Fedotov, has been charged with leading Spartak's UEFA Cup charge - starting against Esbjerg fB next week. "I've lived a life in football - that's why I am calm about being appointed, even though it was a surprise," he said. "I've seen it all in my career, so I don't get surprised, I don't stress, and I don't get nervous."

Foreign option
However, he arguably has little to get excited about either as Chervichenko has already made it clear that the new man is unlikely to last long. "Fedotov is an experienced coach, and he knows his players well, but I will not hide that fact that we're looking for a foreign coach to take over," said the chairman.

Dirty job
Italian Nevio Scala has been mooted as a possible candidate, but the question for many supporters is not so much who will take over at Spartak as who would want to.