In his interview with press service of the Union of Domestic Football Coaches (UDFC), FC Terek Grozny coach Stanislav Cherchesov explained why work experience at broken-down Zhemchuzhina was still a positive one, spoke of reception at Terek Grozny and shares considerations and wishes about latest decisions taken by the Executive Committee of the Russian Football Union.

- In your case, it makes more sense to comment on results of the seasons in two different parts. The first team you worked at this year was FC Zhemchuzhina Sochi…
- As long as financial stability remained, we were in a key position and the team performed fine football. And then… FC Tom is now found in a similar situation and I can perfectly understand their management – a “hungry” team is hard to keep afloat. And nevertheless we were managing that in Zhemchuzhina. I am still grateful to the management who tried to support us as much as they could, and to players who were fully giving themselves up to football until the very last game. Nearly all Zhemchuzhina players have taken leading positions in their new clubs: Smolnikov in Rostov, Belousov and Satalkin in Torpedo, Boyarintsev in Tom. Zotov reconsidered his views of football and deserved a place in Spartak Moscow’s starting lineup. Marek Cech was number one of his team in the Champions League. In general, I would say that Zhemchzuhina was a positive creative and negative financial experience. But all cannot be good.

- As far as we remember, Zhemchuzhina owner Dmitry Yakushev promised to cover the outstanding salary debt by the beginning of November. Did he keep his promise?
- No, and I am confident that not only before myself.

- Zhemchuzhina was followed by Terek. This change in your career path can by no means be called a gift of fate. The team at that time was steadily descending into the relegation zone. Is there much difference between your impressions and expectations of the Grozny team before and after conclusion of the contract?
- I got what I had expected. It gets you thinking when the team you are to work with have missed 17 goals over four games. But Terek kept a clean sheet three times after my appointment. We have managed to find the correct balance between attack and defense. The system changed and the playing scheme was altered. So there is certain positive about the situation.
On the bad side are two periods in games against Spartak Nalchik. The first half in the first game and the second half which we recently played in the third round of the championship. We did not perform at the level we could. I am talking about the level we showed in games against CSKA and Amkar.
So the last period of the last game this year left a nasty taste in the mouth. I told players about that before they went on vacation. I also told them that we have to prepare well for the next year and grow into a more spectacular team.

- Midfielder Aleksander Pavlenko in turnhas said that team performance was affected by frequent change of coaches during the season. Did you also get that feeling?
- My experience told me that no jumping and hopping is suitable for the start. We have taken a joint decision within the coaching staff that any changes in our everyday life, on-field performance and training process should be gradual. We all know that revolutions lead to negative consequences too frequently. And we have managed to introducing changes and alterations in a way that they were well accepted by the squad.

- Did you have any plan for the number of points to collect?
- I don’t do such mathematics. It is understandable that every team needs to collect points. But what really matters is that there were five thousands spectators at my first game as coach of Terek, and twelve thousand at the last. You cannot fool spectators. The general feedback from mass media also changed to a more positive. We have become a different – and more interesting – team. I can see that we are now treated by opponents in a different way. And we still have a room to grow.

- Tasks which are set by a coach is one thing. Another are tasks set to coach by the club president. Those are probably not limited to a certain place in the table.
- You are right. By the way, there were certain changes in our club recently. Magomed Daudov was appointed the new club President, while Ahmed Aydamirov was appointed the Vice President and General Director. I have not had a chance to meet with Ahmed Aydamirov because we are currently in different countries. And before I left for vacation I had a meeting with the club management. The meeting was attended by Ramzan Kadyrov, Magomed Daudov, Khaidar Alkhanov. The task set by Ramzan Akhmatovich is that not only the main team is in the highlight, but football in the whole of Chechnya develops dynamically. And this particularly means that the main team and reserves become communicating vessels. And we have everything to make this task real. I have purposefully visited numerous villages and there are wonderful fields everywhere, when children are training almost round the clock.
As for me personally, whenever there is a break for the national team games, I always invite five or six children for joint workouts with the main team. Besides, at least four players from the reserves will join us for the training camp. So the youth will definitely have a chance to prove themselves.

- Given the club president’s ambitions, do you suppose that the team would target qualification to Eurocups for next season?
- Not only the president, but myself have such ambitions. I have performed in Eurocups regularly both as a player and coach and know perfectly well how prestigious that is. But Terek is not targeted at qualifying into anywhere at the moment. Ramzan Akhmatovich is well familiar with sports and understands that a team cannot be established in just one year. And this year was not successful one for Terek. It was the first time the club’s history that so many coaches got replaced…
But we still have to roll up our sleeves, get down to work and move forward. We have to move gradually and systematically. The fortune smiles on those who gets well prepared to that. The example we can follow is that of Rubin Kazan.

- What is the objective for this season – avoiding the playoff games? I am not even talking about the relegation zone.
- Don’t forget that places in the bottom eight are also one to eight.

- So you think that catching up with Krasnodar is still possible?
- This might or might not be possible. But every sportsman shall always strive for the maximum result. There is nothing impossible about sports.

- What are your preparation plans for the winter break?
- The squad has gone on vacation until 6 January. Then we are meeting in Turkey and undergo a detailed medical examination. And full-scale preparations begin on the 8th. The timing of workouts and opponents for test games have already been approved for all three camps. At the second camp we will participate in the international tournament of Akhmat Kadyrov Cup with 8 participants. The tournament will be broadcast around the world. We will try to have both a productive training camp and worthy results.


- You have joined an established collective…
- This is not quite so. The collective was not established. And I would also put a big question mark after the word “collective”. Team has to be well-structured. And there were gaps of unknown nature about that. I would keep from blaming or defending anybody. But this is how things were. And if we one or two players have to sit out the entire mechanism gets broken. For instance, Pavlenko had to sit out because of injury and Terek could not score for two games. It opens way to discussions whether this was only because of Aleksandr, but we really missed his goals and attack-oriented style. We have talked about this with the president and he understands the situation. We have made certain conclusions to make a serious improvement to the team during the winter break. Our task at the moment is about selecting the right performers for achieving this task. The main advantage that Terek have is financial stability. This is a serious trump card today. Practice shows that this component plays a serious role in achieving results. We do not have any extraordinary contracts, but all obligations are fulfilled strictly on time. We do not have any outstanding salary debts.

- Are there untouchable players in your team who are not available for transfer whatever is offered?
- There are no such players. But in each specific case we are ready to negotiate and discuss the details. The player’s opinion and many other details, such as limits on foreign players and possibility to register more players than the registration limit, also need to be taken into consideration. When the situation gets clearer it will be the time to take specific decisions. At the same time we all understand that players who come to Terek shall be a significant contribution. But to invite such performers requires for serious financial investments. I hope that we will have these players by the time our first camp begins.

- You have mentioned that registration limits may be extended. There are already rumors about this in the Russian Football Union. Do you think it is fair to change the rules in the course of the season?
- I believe that the rules set before the start of the season shall remain unchanged. If we can register five more players and somebody cannot register anybody, it is not our fault, but short-sightedness of managers who misplaced their selection focuses. So this is not too fair. Terek could have invited even better performers in summer to cover problematic positions.

- And what do you think about new definition of the term “foreign player” to be introduced from the beginning of season 2013/2014?
- This is a hard question. We can take a look at a player of Russian nationality who got his Russian passport and rejected his previous citizenship. But he is not entitled to appear for the Russian national due to his previous appearances for another country’s national team. This player will remain a foreign player in Russia. And then, there are players with the Russian passport and entitled to appear for Russian national, where they will never be invited due to the lack of talent.
In any case and whatever definition we are guided by, it shall remain unchanged and not infringe upon the rights of players and clubs.