German coaches in Russia
Markus Gisdol’s guest appearance as coach of the Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow is over after around five months and twelve competitive games. The capital club announced the separation from the 52-year-old on Tuesday without giving reasons. The former Bundesliga coach later said he was leaving the Premier League club with remarkable words.
Note: A first version of this article appeared on Transfermarkt on March 1, 2022 at 10:56 a.m. and was continued later.
“For me, football coaching is the best job in the world. But I cannot pursue my calling in a country whose leader is responsible for a war of aggression in the middle of Europe. That doesn’t match my values,” Gisdol told the “Bild”. Ex-Mainzer Sandro Schwarz, on the other hand, is staying in Moscow. The Dinamo boss feels responsible for his coaching staff, his team. For Gisdol at Loko, his previous game analyst Marvin Compper will temporarily take over as coach for the seventh-placed team.
Gisdol was signed in October last year by Ralf Rangnick, who was Lokomotiv’s sporting director before moving to Manchester United. Since then, the former Bundesliga coach (Hoffenheim, HSV, Cologne) has scored an average of 1.38 points in the Premier League and, bottom of the table in the group stage of the Europa League, was defeated by Galatasaray, Lazio Rom and Olympique Marseille.
Schwarz doesn’t want to leave Dinamo colleagues alone: ”Love every single one”
Schwarz, who has been at Dinamo since October 2020, explained his situation after the 3-0 win over FK Khimki at the weekend with a petrified expression and close to tears. You could see from the 43-year-old that it was probably the most difficult press conference of his life. There is much, much more important than playing football in these difficult days. It’s actually impossible to focus on. Schwarz spoke of his coaching staff, his team, which also includes Ukrainians, and the club employees: “I love everyone for what they do.”
He spoke of his sense of responsibility and emphasized: “I believe that in such a situation, safety is the most important thing and that I’m not the person who just looks at himself and says: I’ll get on the next plane and get out of here .”
Schwarz has “complete understanding” for the departure of his Ukrainian assistant coach Andriy Voronin. The former Bundesliga striker (including FSV Mainz 05, Bayer Leverkusen) told the “Bild”: “I have messages from all over the world from former teammates, from other athletes. From Russians too, who write to me: ‘We’re sorry. It’s not us’.”
According to his own statements, the 42-year-old left Moscow on a scheduled flight and traveled to Germany. “It’s hard to endure. I just want to help. With money. Whatever,” Voronin said. “And I don’t know if I should say this: But if I were in Ukraine now, I would probably have a gun in my hand too.”
Farke also stays in Russia – Spartak wishes Tedesco all the best
In January, Daniel Farke (formerly Borussia Dortmund II) signed as the new coach at first division club FK Krasnodar for two and a half years. The 45-year-old was coach at English Premier League promoted Norwich City until the beginning of November. Like Schwarz in Moscow, he is still with his club in southern Russia.
Well-funded Russian football has long attracted foreign players and coaches. The current coach of RB Leipzig, Domenico Tedesco (formerly FC Schalke 04), said goodbye to Spartak Moscow last summer as runners-up. “I have not regretted the move to Moscow for a second. It was an intense but incredibly great time,” he said later. In the end he left to be with his family more in Corona times.
Spartak Moscow wished Tedesco every success for the remaining games after the game was canceled due to the Ukraine war. “We wish our former coach Domenico Tedesco the best in the Europa League,” the club wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “We hope that our paths will cross again in the future, but under more peaceful conditions.” Tedesco had worked as Spartak’s coach until 2021. FIFA and UEFA had suspended Russia from all competitions over the attack on Ukraine. RB Leipzig thus advanced to the quarter-finals of the Europa League without a fight, the round of 16 games against Spartak scheduled for March will not take place.
Gisdol, Löw & Co.: These German coaches are currently without a club
To home page