Former head coach of Dnipro, Dynamo, Ilyichevets, Vorskla and the Ukrainian national team Nikolay Pavlov told what he thinks about the possible replacement of Oleksandr Petrakov.
Nikolai Pavlov— Are you personally for Oleksandr Petrakov to remain at the head of the Ukrainian national team or for replacing the head coach?
— I look at football as a fan. And now, being in Petrakov's place, I would make a decision myself and say that I was tired and retired, or vice versa, that I was full of energy and ready to work. Then it will give an impetus to the people who are in charge of the appointment and the fans. After the game, Petrakov showed his colleague from Scotland that everything was over. If a coach changes his mind every day and every hour, then he is no longer a coach.
The coach must be confident in himself and convey this confidence to his subordinates. It doesn't exist now. After he exchanged impressions with his Scottish colleague, I realized that Petrakov had resigned.
— If it is true that the UAF is waiting until the contract of Sergei Rebrov with Al Ain ends, is it normal to start the qualifying round with acting head coach Vicente Gomez?
- The team is not for experiments. This is the national pride of the country and temporary workers, as in some clubs, should not be. I don't know at all how Gomez's candidacy came about. A foreigner ... This is generally ridiculous. I won't get sick like that 100%. I once remember, before the appointment of Fomenko, they gathered and discussed the candidacies of some foreigners. I stood up and said that if a foreigner trains our country at this time in which we live, then I won’t root for it at all, and I won’t train footballers for the national team, as I did before. This is my position.
I proposed the candidacy of Fomenko. I told him directly: "Misha, why not you?" He coped with his task. I don’t know what happened next, but initially the appointment of Mikhail Fomenko brought success to our team.
Evgeny Chepur
