Idman.biz
"This is not a matter of principle for us. You can lose to any team, and you can win."
This was stated by Firuz Abdulla, the chief executive director of "Sabail," which plays in the I League, in an interview with offsideplus.az.
We present that interview:
- The team parted ways with head coach Elvin Mammadov. It is interesting what reasons made this move inevitable?
- We had no complaints about Elvin's work. He is a coach who approaches his work professionally. However, certain problems arose with the results. To put it a little differently, I can say that sometimes we don't control the events, but the events control us. A situation arose that we had to make this decision. After discussing the past games, we mutually agreed to part ways. So we parted ways in a friendly, amicable atmosphere.
- You are second in the tournament table with 18 points. What exactly do you mean when you say dissatisfaction with the results?
- We are 5 points behind the first-placed team. In addition, we lost 9 points in 9 rounds. You know that our goal is to return to the Premier League. If we had more time and played on another platform, neither I nor the other members of the board of directors would agree to Elvin's departure. I believe that wherever Elvin works in the future, he will achieve good results. Frankly, I can't say that we are completely dissatisfied with the results. It's just that today's reality forced us to make changes.
- The decision to change was made after losing to "Jabrayil". Did the presence of your ex-coach Javid Huseynov in this team in any way affect your decision?
- This is not a matter of principle for us. You can lose to any team, and you can win. Personally, I look at any game from the prism of lost and won points. The opponent's name does not matter here.
- You probably have coach candidates.
- Of course. We have more than 10 days ahead of us. Our next game will be on December 11. Discussions are underway and we have candidates. But for now, we don't consider it acceptable to reveal names.
- Will you give preference to a local specialist or a foreigner in your selection?
- It will definitely be a local coach. This is due to both our budget and our view of football. Personally, my approach is that if there are conditions, we should create opportunities for local specialists to work.
- Are any changes expected in the squad in the near future?
- It is possible to talk about this after the appointment of the new coach. However, there is currently no talk of sending someone away or attracting a football player to the team. In my opinion, we have a sufficiently large and high-quality squad.
- Was it difficult for you to adapt to the I League after the Premier League?
- It is difficult. But if we have embarked on this path, we must be able to cope with it. An additional difficulty for us is that a large part of our team are players who have previously played in the Premier League. It was more difficult for them to adapt to the first league. Another reason is that games against us in the I Division are more aggressive and principled. There is such a thing in football that if a team has been relegated from a higher league, players inevitably develop additional motivation when playing against them. We are not complaining about this. But our main goal now is to return to the Premier League.
