Sport24.az
Ceyhun Aliyev
Santos was fired. From the day of his appointment, most media members were writing, saying, and shouting that the Portuguese grandfather would fail. Finally, today, the old man's suitcases were taken under his arm.
Now, the decision-makers at AFFA have to rack their brains over the new appointment. Yes, Aykhan Abbasov announced that he is ready to "go under the tank" for tomorrow. But what about the next games? The association, or rather the Executive Committee, must find an answer to this question.
It is clear (at least for media members) that a national Azerbaijani specialist should be appointed. The salary offered to the head coach should not be in the millions. In general, the scheme should be different. A special, quite decent bonus should be promised based on the position in the tournament table. True, it is not realistic for our national team to leave the bottom rung in the qualifying round of the European Championship. However, conditions should be set for the coach to gain a chance for the Nations League. For example, to at least take a point at home against Iceland, and not to lose with a disastrous score in meetings with other opponents.
So, who is worthy to bear this burden, and how realistic are the chances of these specialists?
Let's start with the irreplaceable Gurban Gurbanov. It is clear that Gurbanov is the most worthy specialist for the national team. But as bitter as it may sound, these football players are not worthy to play under Gurbanov's leadership! After two or three defeats, the football public will label the specialist who wrote history with "Qarabag" as "incompetent." That is precisely why we are against Gurban Muallim taking over the national team.
As for other specialists, in my opinion, the names of 3 people seem more prominent: Aykhan Abbasov, Rashad Sadygov, and Tarlan Ahmadov.
Let's start with Abbasov, who will lead the national team against Ukraine tomorrow as head coach. Considering that Aykhan Bey is currently "behind the wheel" of our youth team, we can say that the option of him staying with the main national team is only possible if he takes points from Ukraine.
As for Tarlan Ahmadov, the fact that the specialist, who has repeatedly proven his coaching skills, has been unemployed for a long time significantly reduces the likelihood of AFFA trusting him.
Finally, about Rashad Sadygov. In my opinion, the coach of "Zira" is the most realistic candidate for the vacant post. At various times, Sadygov has stated, "I am ready to coach the national team." We think that even in the current situation of the national team, Sadygov is ready to bear this burden. The "Great Captain," who did not draw such a successful graph in the early years of his coaching career, has managed to make a name for himself in the last two seasons. Most of the football players attracted to the national team would also like to play under the leadership of Rashad Bey. Perhaps someone might say, "He has little coaching experience." But everyone saw Santos's "experience"...
Everyone saw how the new leadership of AFFA made a mistake in the selection of the head coach. When I say "everyone," I primarily hope that the members of the AFFA Executive Committee are included in this list. If so, how happy we will be...
