Yury Semin is a Lokomotiv Moscow legend after leading them to a string of title triumphs in the early years of the millennium – but Sunday’s home match with Zenit proved to be his swansong.
Like many footballing messiahs, Semin couldn’t resist the lure of a second coming when Lokomotiv invited him to replace the hapless Rashid Rakhimov last season.
But as is so often the case the dream quickly turned sour.
Hours before Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat to Zenit extended the club’s winless streak to eight games, Sovietsky Sport reported that Semin would not be in charge after the international break, saying that club president Olga Smorodskaya was set to wield the axe after a dismal run of form.
Cup of woe
Thursday’s Europa League exit at the hands of Swiss second division outfit Lausanne Sports was the killer blow for Semin.
A limp display, which failed even to convert a barely-deserved penalty shot at redemption after Alexander Aliyev’s late equaliser, accounted for the man known as ‘Palych’ to the Cherkizovsky faithful.
More seriously for the club it accounted for another large hole in the bank balance as a European campaign ended before it had even begun.
Coupled with an embarrassing Russian Cup exit away to little known third-tier Gornyak Uchaly, and back-to-back derby defeats to Spartak Moscow and Dynamo Moscow, it was apparently too much for the board, who wielded the axe, announcing the decision on the morning of the Zenit game.
Hitting back
Semin himself gave the impression of a man going nowhere after the game, telling reporters that Smorodskaya’s reported concerns over his health were unfounded and that he was “alive and kicking”.
But his admission that his team suffered a “lack of enthusiasm” suggested a growing frustration with the lacklustre performances from his charges in recent weeks.
This was blamed on a congested August schedule and the draining effects of the smog which engulfed Moscow earlier in the month – Lokomotiv were unable to join a training camp in Belarus, while Spartak headed for Estonia and CSKA Moscow went to St. Petersburg for a breath of fresh air.
He also grumbled that the sale of Peter Odemwingie to English Premier League side West Brom went ahead earlier than he had agreed with the board, ruling the pacy Nigerian out of the return match with Lausanne, though few Lokomotiv fans were sorry to see the wayward wideman pack his bags.
Early promise
Semin’s return to Lokomotiv began impressively with the team finishing the 2009 season with the sleek power of Russian Railways’ new Sapsan high speed trains. Even the loss of club captain Diniyar Bilyaletdinov to Everton didn’t halt their charge.
The second half of last season saw the Railwaymen win 11 of their last 15 games, missing out on a Champions League spot in controversial circumstances after finishing level on points with Zenit.
Many Lokomotiv fans were outraged that earlier in the season Zenit had gone unpunished after accidentally fielding too many foreigners in a 1-1 draw at Cherkizovsky.
By the letter of the law Lokomotiv should have been given a default 3-0 win, and eventually taken third place, and Semin challenged Zenit to a playoff for the Champions League saying that his team had accepted the league’s decision "like gentlemen" and Zenit should offer a sporting solution.
To nobody’s surprise Zenit declined the invitation, and since then the sides’ paths have diverged alarmingly.
Aliyev alone
The close-season capture of Alexander Aliyev from Semin’s former club Dynamo Kyiv had many pundits tipping Lokomotiv for the title, and the Ukrainian international’s free-scoring form has been the one bright spot in a dark season.
As the cleanest striker of a dead ball in Russian football, his free kicks have been a regular source of goals – but nobody else has chipped in.
The absence of Draman Traore from the squad to face Zenit in Semin’s farewell was not a moment too soon for most fans, frustrated by the antics of a clumsier version of Paolo Wanchope, but without the capacity for wonder goals.
Meanwhile experienced striker Dmitry Sychev, who made his 200th appearance in red and green on Sunday, struggles to stay onside – perhaps hindered by his midfield’s reluctance to release quick balls for him.
The decisions to sell pacy but frustrating Peter Odemwingie to West Brom and combative holding midfielder Tomislav Duimovic to Dynamo Moscow suggest that the money may be tighter than first thought.
But the most serious charge, levelled by Sport Express newspaper the day after the Lausanne fiasco, was that Lokomotiv were playing without motivation – it appeared that Semin had "lost the dressing room".
Who’s next?
Inevitably when a vacancy crops up in Russia the media have been quick to nominate Valery Gazzayev as the man to come in. But having tried and failed with the old guard in the shape of Semin, it might be time for Lokomotiv to look elsewhere.
Former keeper Sergei Ovchinnikov would be popular with the fans, even if his record with Kuban Krasnodar and now Dynamo Bryansk doesn’t exactly make for thrilling reading.
Other options might include Andrei Kobalev, dismissed by Dynamo Moscow earlier this season and well qualified to work with the young players making their way into Lokomotiv’s squad.
Alternatively, it could be time to emulate Semin’s final opponents, Zenit, and look abroad. But if the cash is running out, can the club afford to invest big money in a new face, unfamiliar with Russia, on the eve of the transfer window closing? Only time will tell if Lokomotiv can get back on track.
