The coming week was marked by the appointment of the new Neftchi head coach.
Per Idman.biz, the most established club in Azerbaijan has signed a contract with Roman Hryhorchuk.
This is the second visit of the Ukrainian to Azerbaijan. He led Gabala from the beginning of 2015 to the summer of 2018.
Idman.biz reviews the activities of coaches from Ukraine in Azerbaijan.
Trailblazer and Follower
So far, 11 Ukrainian coaches have led Azerbaijani clubs. In this sense, Anatoliy Konkov was the trailblazer. In the summer of 2004, he took the helm at Inter. The specialist who took the team to the final of the cup in the first season was also the vice-president of the club. Even Konkov, who was at the forefront of the uprising against AFFA, resigned in the spring of 2006. He appointed his Ukrainian compatriot Oleg Smolyaninov, who remained as vice president, and Valentyn Khodukin as head coach shortly after. Inter from Konkov enjoyed 33 victories in 63 matches, while they won 3 out of 6 matches with Smolyaninov.
The only champion
Valentin Khodukin, whom Konkov brought to Azerbaijan, is the most successful Ukrainian who worked in our country. At the end of the 2005/06 season, the specialist who was appointed the head coach of Inter led the Baku club for three more seasons. Khodukin, who remained at Inter even after Konkov's departure, became the first foreign and only Ukrainian head coach to become the champion of Azerbaijan. His team also won a silver medal with him. He also experienced the thrill of the cup final twice. The final of the 2008/09 season was his last match. Khodukin was happy to win 69 of the 113 matches he played for Inter.
With Three P to Third Place
Zagatala’s greatest success in the Premier League is connected with Simurg. The best times of the club, which has already gone down in history, were connected with the Ukrainians. In the 2005/06 season, Anatoliy Piskovets, followed by Victor Pyshev, led the team in the I league. The team that won 10 wins in 22 games in the first season has achieved 100 percent results with its new coach: 10 wins in 10 matches. Simurg, which qualified for the Premier League, has changed its head coach. Again, the club that prefers the surname starting with the letter "P" brought Roman Pokora to this post. He signed the Azerbaijani record of Ukrainians by working in the club for 4 full seasons in a row. The specialist, who won a bronze medal with his team and took it to the European Cup, was happy with 52 victories in 126 matches in 2006-2010.
The Undefeated
In the 2005/06 season, he brought a Ukrainian head coach to Khazar Lankaran. Viktor Pasulko, who came to the team in the second half of the championship, did not lose in 13 matches. But the team that is not doing well in the tournament table lost in the cup. The club, which was left out of the European Cups, said goodbye to the specialist. Pasulko team won 9 times in 17 matches.
The Latter
MKT-Araz, which has been operating for a short time, also needed a Ukrainian specialist. The last head coach of the Imishli club was Igor Nakonechnyi. The coach, who took over the helm of the team in the summer of 2005, was unemployed at the start of the 2007/08 season after the excitement of the European Cup. "MKT-Araz" stopped their activity after failing to pass Grodzisk. Although Nakonechnyi advanced to the final of the Azerbaijan Cup with his team, he lost to "Khazar Lankaran" in the decisive match. Imishli club tasted 31 victories in 69 matches under his leadership.
The First of Neftchi
Hryhorchukwill not be the first Ukrainian head coach in the history of Neftchi. Until then, Anatoliy Demyanenko also coached the White Blacks. The former captain of Kyiv Dynamo took over the helm in the middle of the 2007/08 season. He won a bronze medal with the White Blacks. He was the first head coach to pass 2 stages of the European Cups with the Azerbaijani club. But under the success in the Intertoto Cup, a bad start in the Premier League resulted in his resignation. The people of Baku were happy with 15 victories in 26 matches under his leadership.
Records Together: Four Medals, Two Finals, Two Groups
Hryhorchuk, who already coached Neftchi, also led the Azerbaijani club in 4 different seasons, like Khodukin and Pokora. He was on the job for the second half of the 2014/15 season and for the next three football years. He won a record number of medals for Ukrainians in Azerbaijan - 4. Gabala, which ends every season in the top three, won 2 silver and 2 bronze medals with Hryhorchuk. He reached Khodukin by taking the team to the final of the cup twice. Both attempts failed. The specialist led Gabala to 156 matches and witnessed 75 victories. Both indicators are Azerbaijani records for Ukrainians. It was under his leadership that the Red Blacks who passed the 4 qualifying rounds twice in a row qualified for the group. This was a new record of the Europa League.
Curse Broken
Although Konkov, followed by Nakonechnyi, Khodukin and Hryhorchuk advanced to the finals of the Azerbaijan Cup twice, the Ukrainians could not win this title. This syndrome was broken in the 2017/18 season. Two Ukrainian teams met in the final. Gabala from Hryhorchuk lost to Inter of Yuriy Maksymov. The latter was the first (so far the only) head coach to win a cup in Azerbaijan, and the second (so far the last) to win a title. Maksymov led the Baku representative to a total of 18 matches. His team won 8 times. Maksymov was also the last Ukrainian working in Azerbaijan. After the 2018/19 season, when he resigned, his compatriots did not work in our clubs. Hryhorchuk returned to our country after 4 seasons without Ukrainians.
The First in History
Hryhorchuk signed a first as soon as he agreed with Neftchi. He was the first Ukrainian to work in two different clubs in Azerbaijan. His 10 compatriots led only one team. 4 Ukrainian head coaches worked in Inter, 3 in Simurg, 1 in Khazar Lankaran, MKT-Araz and Gabala. In Neftchi this number will already reach two.
Two titles
In total, four of the Ukrainians – Khodukin, Hryhorchuk, Demyanenko and Pokora won championship medals in Azerbaijan. Their total earnings are 1 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze awards. The Ukrainians, who experienced the excitement of the cup final 7 times, won 1 time. Ukrainian coaches, who won two titles in Azerbaijan - championship and cup, led Azerbaijani clubs to 629 games, including all tournaments. In almost half of them - 315 wins were recorded. The same ratio was experienced in 445 matches in the Premier League - 222 victories.
Vugar Kheyrullayev
Idman.biz
