"Changing coaches is not news for our football"

In 2025, the Moscow Torpedo was at the center of a series of scandals. In the spring, following the results of the National Football League (FNL) season, the team took second place in the first league and won the right to play in the Russian Premier League (RPL). But in June, two club executives — co—founder Leonid Sobolev and CEO Valery Skorodumov - were detained on charges of attempting to bribe the referee of a number of spring matches in the first league. Both ended up in jail (at the end of September, Sobolev was placed under house arrest). And Torpedo, by the decision of the Control and Disciplinary Committee of the Russian Football Union (KDK RFU), was suspended from the RPL competitions and sent back to the first league.

It failed to start the season in the first league, which led to the dismissal of head coach Oleg Kononov on August 15. His assistant Pavel Kirilchik spent three matches in office. Sergey Zhukov, who replaced him on September 1, worked the same number of games. On September 13, Dmitry Parfenov replaced him without the prefix "acting". But he was also fired on October 15 — Oleg Kononov became the head coach again.

Following the results of four coaching shifts, Torpedo is failing the championship, going into the relegation zone of the first league in 16th place, two points behind the saving 15th. On November 30, following the results of the match of the 21st round with Spartak Kostroma, the team will leave for the winter break of the season, and on November 25 it flew out of the Russian Cup, losing at home to the main sensation of the championship in the RPL Kaliningrad Baltika (0:2). In an interview with Izvestia, Torpedo striker Alexei Kashtanov explained the reasons for the failures, shared his attitude towards Kononov's October return and assured that the situation in the championship would change significantly in the spring.

— You came to Torpedo already during the current season...

— Would you like to ask how Oleg Georgievich Kononov reacted to the arrival?

— Thanks for the tip — let's start with that.

— It's fine. A good coach, he makes good demands on us.

— And the fact of the constant changes of the coach, in particular Dmitry Parfenov, who worked for only two weeks before Kononov's return?

— Six coaches have already been removed from the first league this season. Why do you pay attention to the Torpedo?! A lot of coaches have already been removed in the Premier League. It seems to me that this is not news for our football. No?

— In other teams, coaches are still fired not two weeks after the appointment.

— I won't talk about it. Done and done, it's their choice.

— Do you feel now that Torpedo is able to get out of the relegation zone and fight for something serious?

— Yes, I believe that we can get out of the relegation zone — 100%.

— What prevented you from doing it earlier?

— Our ugly game in many matches. We play very unstable. Somewhere we can give out a good game, and somewhere we bring ourselves some childish mistakes, but we cannot realize our moments.

— You have one match left in the first league before the winter break in the season, against Spartak Kostroma. Will a long break and training camps in January and February help you make a leap up in the spring?

— God forbid, God forbid... we will work on the training camp, and I believe that we will play the second part of the season in a different way.

— You came to Torpedo after the team was removed from the RPL draw due to suspicions of an attempt to bribe the referee. In your opinion, did that story have a moral impact on the team?

— No, you don't have to pay attention to it. Morally, not morally, we have to work and win. If you are a good football player and you train well enough, sooner or later success will come.

— You were eliminated from the Russian Cup by Baltika Kaliningrad, the main sensation of the current RPL season, which is in fifth place and lost only one match. Having played against her, can you formulate why Andrei Talalaev's team is so successful?

— The guys are physically well prepared, they are not afraid to play one-on-one, they are not afraid to play football. I'm just happy for them that they're going so high. Sincerely glad.

"I would be very surprised by such a result at the beginning of the season"

Ravil Izmailov, CEO of FC Baltika, talks about the sensational successes of the team in the RPL, the call—up of its players to the Russian national team and the possible strengthening of the squad

— Currently, two of your previous clubs are leading in the first league — Voronezh Fakel and Yekaterinburg Ural. Can we be sure now that they will enter the RPL?

— I don't want to say anything about this, because everything is changing very quickly in the FNL. I'm sure another championship will start after the winter training camp. God forbid that the teams that set the task of reaching the RPL will complete this task.

— What do you think about the fact that newcomers are successfully competing in the first league this season: Spartak Kostroma and FC Chelyabinsk, who have just risen from the second league, are fighting for participation in transitional matches for the right to enter the RPL?

— Well done — they believe in themselves, believe in their strength and prove their worth. Everyone wants to play in big clubs, everyone wants to play in the Premier League. And God grant that the guys go upstairs.

— This is the first time in your career that you are fully playing in the first league. What is the difference with RPL?

— There is more power struggle, but at the same time there is more time to make a decision — there is not so much in the Premier League. But the tournament is still not easy.

— Wouldn't you like to return to the RPL anyway, in order to get rid of such specifics of the first league as long-distance flights, old stadiums and bad fields in many cities?

— I want to. Definitely want to go up. Everyone wants to go there. But I currently have a contract with Torpedo. And if I need to fly to Khabarovsk to play, then I will fly to Khabarovsk. The more I whine about having to fly across the country to the Far East, the worse it will get for me. And this moment will be unpleasant for me. I need to think more about the game, how to score a goal, give an assist and help my team win, rather than whining about something. Since I'm here in the first league, it means I have to adapt to the current realities.