Zhamnov managed Spartak. He will remain part-time until the summer

The head of the Russian national team, 53-year-old Alexei Zhamnov, is back at the helm of Spartak. At the end of May he will resign from the national team and will plunge headlong into trouble with the club. So far the outlines of the new team are not visible.

Igor Larionov’s example is contagious. Spartak’s bosses have decided to follow the same path and entrust the centre-forward, who was once a star, with building a team that disappointed last season.

Zhamnov more than once acted as the head coach of the red and white, taking control of them during the season. But he never worked long, he didn’t burden himself with the pre-season training routine with all the consequences. His strong point is the competent coach, the work on the bench.

The length of the contract of the new old Spartak manager has not been disclosed so far. Insiders speak of two seasons. Also in the hockey community there is a rumor about the return of Ilya Kovalchuk, who began a great career in a red and white uniform. True, in the big leagues, from where he left for the NHL. And in the Russian elite division (Super League and KHL), Kovey played for Ak Bars, Khimik, SKA, Avangard and drank champagne from the Gagarin Cup twice.

In what capacity can Kovalchuk return, who has not yet announced his retirement? Maybe a player-coach. However, this is only an assumption, not devoid of common sense.

Zhamnov’s work in Spartak has no end. The red and white fail the season with a bang, changing coaches twice. The exchange of the best defender of the KHL Alexander Nikishin for a group of young players from SKA and potential newcomers playing abroad, as well as monetary compensation, did not justify itself. None of them sacked, including strikers Nikita Chibrikov and Fedor Svechkov.

Zhamnov and his staff will in fact have to build a new team. In which of the leaders remained only his captain Alexander Khokhlachev, the flesh of the Spartak’s flesh. Experienced Andrey Loktionov and joker Matvey Zaseda are able to shoot episodically. Still budding Ilya Talaluev and Maxim Tsyplakov cannot boast of stability.

Photo source: HC Spartak

33-year-old defender Dmitry Vishnevsky, who had been treated for a long time, and at the end of the regular season lost the captain’s armband to Khokhlacheva, which, however, did not help the team to hold on to the playoff zone, sharply slowed down.

Venerable defenders with rich championship experience Alexei Emelin and Maxim Chudinov did not help the red-and-whites. Against their background, young Yegor Savikov looked much more attractive.

Goalkeeper-grenadier Alexei Krasikov is unlikely to be pleased with himself, who spoiled the team’s lunch with his early dismissal before the end of the home match against Sochi. It was this defeat that turned out to be fatal, it was she who brought down the red and white.

Obviously, Zhamnov, who led Spartak, is bound to be compared with Larionov, who turned Torpedo into a thunderstorm of authority, a team capable of pawing much richer rivals. By the way, since childhood, the professor was a fan of red and white, and then dreamed of moving from Khimik to Spartak, but ended up in CSKA in order to avoid problems with getting into the national team. His idol was the famous champion Vladimir Shadrin.