Idman.biz
"Our team's head coach can provide a more comprehensive answer to this question. It's just that our bench of reserve players isn't wide."
This was stated by Fariz Najafov, president of the "Gabala" club, in an interview with AZERTAC.
We present the interview.
- How would you comment on "Gabala"'s performance in the first part of the season?
- "Gabala" returned to the Premier League after a 1-year break. We knew that it would be even harder to maintain our place in the top division than to return. The team's task is to stay in the Premier League and climb as high as possible. "Gabala" currently has the most young and local players in the championship. In most matches, our team took the field with 5-6 academy graduates. In some games, we lacked experience to win 3 points. Although we lost a lot of points before the winter break, the team's performance, the determination shown in many matches, gives us reason to look to the future with hope. Of course, we would like to go to the winter break in higher places. "Gabala" is not currently in the place it deserves in the tournament table. I believe that after the break, our team will delight the fans with successful results and will be in a higher place in the tournament table.
- In your opinion, what are the shortcomings in the team?
- Our team's head coach can provide a more comprehensive answer to this question. It's just that our bench of reserve players isn't wide. For this reason, we are thinking of attracting new players to the team during the winter break.
- What changes do you plan to make during the winter break? How many players are you currently in talks with? If it's not a secret, can you tell us their names?
- We have already signed a contract with one player. This is experienced central defender Seydina Keita. There are other players we are in talks with. It is planned to attract 3-4 more players to the team. The public will be informed about this when the transfers are formalized.
- Do you think head coach Kakhaber Tskhadadze will be able to keep the team in the Premier League? In general, are you satisfied with his work until the winter break?
- Kakhaber Tskhadadze is a specialist with great experience. He was the head coach of the Georgian national team, worked in clubs such as "Kairat", "Ordabasy". As you know, he has also worked in Azerbaijani clubs for many years, so he is well aware of our football. We had a meeting with our head coach and he assured us that he would keep the team in the Premier League. We, in turn, fully trust and rely on the head coach.
- The restriction of the academy's activities last season caused frustration in the football community. Are any positive changes expected in this direction from the new year or the next season?
- Of course, we would not want to restrict the activities of the academy. If we pay attention to the local players in the Premier League clubs, we will see that 90 percent of them came from the "Gabala" academy. For many years, our academy has been one of the best in the country, and our teams from lower age groups have participated in international tournaments in various countries of the world. We simply had to restrict the academy's activities last year due to the financial situation. We hoped that the Reserve League would be abolished and we would be able to direct the funds spent on the team playing there to the academy. But this did not happen. In addition, the abolition of the legionnaire limit has led to a decrease in the demand for local players. Previously, we formed the academy's budget from the funds we received from the sale of young players. But after the abolition of the legionnaire limit, there is almost no demand for local, young players anymore. For all these reasons, we had to restrict the academy's activities. There are currently no changes planned in this direction.
- In previous years, both local and some foreign clubs held training camps in Gabala. This financially benefited the club to some extent. Are there any requests from local or foreign clubs to "Gabala" for training camps?
- In Gabala, both local and foreign clubs usually hold training camps in the summer months. We have all the conditions for this in our stadium, and several teams can train at the same time. In winter, the weather in Gabala is cold, and it often snows heavily. From this point of view, it is not possible for other clubs to come and hold training camps here during the winter break.
