“Kairat” announced the resignation of Alexander Kerzhakov as head coach 97 days after his appointment. The club and the coach mutually agreed to end their cooperation and their coaching staff is leaving together with the Russian. The final is really unexpected, if only because “Kairat” occupies the first place in the Kazakhstan championship and has a good chance of winning the championship.
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How Kerzhakov worked in Kairat
In May 2024, Alexander’s decision to lead the club, on the one hand, seemed logical. In recent years, the management has rarely changed coaches, inviting everyone to a long-term project, which, in fact, gave guarantees: even in the event of a difficult start, we will believe in you. On the other hand, Kerzhakov welcomed Kairat to third place in the championship. After the crisis period. And the goal set by the management is the championship. Moreover, this year the club celebrates its 70th anniversary, so there simply could not be any other tasks. And it is not even so important that the composition of the team takes sixth place in the league in terms of cost.
Kerzhakov started well: in the first match his team scored four goals against Shakhtar, then a narrow defeat against Tobol and a series of six matches in which the team did not lose. For example, three points against Astana and reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup.
But then there was a decline. First, Kairat was eliminated from the League Cup, losing to Zhenis in the semi-finals. The opponent has a weaker squad and is generally one of the outsiders of the championship. Then there was a tense victory over Kyzyl-Zhar, a draw with Tobol and a defeat against Astana. After which Kerzhakov harshly criticized the team.
Alexander Kerzhakov
former Kairat coach
“I don’t want to be too personal, but in some episodes the whole team seemed inert. There was never a scenario for playing inertly. Our aim was to have the players have more possession of the ball, taking into account the difficult schedule of the opponent. Unfortunately, they made a lot of mistakes and lost the ball. It is difficult to say when we will make fewer mistakes. It all depends on the level of the players. Individual skill, which has often let us down, comes to the fore.”
The next day, Kerzhakov resigned from his post.
What are the real reasons for Kerzhakov’s departure?
The coach himself, in his commentary on the Championship, gave a rather vague formulation. He says that he “would like to continue working with the team”, which means that it is more likely to be a dismissal. On the other hand, about “unacceptable situations” that are unacceptable at work.
Here is the full quote from the former coach.
Alexander Kerzhakov
former Kairat coach
“I resigned yesterday morning. It was a difficult decision for me because I wanted to continue working here. We have made great progress in terms of playing and have shown good results. With us, for the first time in a long time, “Kairat” began to lead the standings and six rounds before the end of the championship has a real chance of becoming a champion. But for me, as a coach, there are situations that I consider unacceptable and inadmissible in my work. I will not share the details; I will let them remain within the club. I wish the team and the guys victories and good luck.”
On the sidelines, various versions of the management’s decision to part ways with the coach are being discussed.
The first is a defeat to Astana. The fact is that, for obvious reasons, Kairat is a principled opponent, who at the same time, three days before the match, played the second leg of the Conference League qualification against Brann. The team heroically advanced to the group stage, having put in a lot of effort. Kerzhakov had much more time to prepare, but still lost this match. After that, the coach, according to a source close to the club, “had a heated conversation” with the management, during which he stated that if they consider it right to fire him, so be it.
And the Russian team?
“Russia will be returned anyway. In one or two years, but they will return.” Karpin currently at the helm of the national team
The second is insufficient contact with the team. Some sources claim that under Kerzhakov there was a factional split in Kairat. Not everyone accepted the coach’s working methods and internal conflicts arose. And Alexander could not influence this.
The third is the strangest. Apparently, the management and the players believed that Kerzhakov, in principle, did not devote enough time to the team. According to one of the sources, the training was conducted by his assistant Kazakov, and Alexander himself was supposedly able to talk on the phone at that time.
One way or another, we note: this is the third club in a row for Kerzhakov, where he did not stay for long: before that there was the Cypriot “Karmiotissa” (two months of work), then the Serbian “Spartak” (five months) and now – “Kairat” (a little more three). At the same time, he leaves the latter in the first place in the league.
I wonder what’s next?
