The head of the Rubin press service Maxim Lopukhov has been working at the club for almost two decades and has seen many coaches and managers, victories and defeats of the team during this time. In an interview with the sports editorial office of BUSINESS Online, Lopukhov spoke about what Rubin was like in different eras, how he ended up in the club, how he remembered Kurban Berdyev and what was wrong with the people of Valery Sorokin's team.
"BEFORE « RUBIN » I WORKED AS A TAXER "
Maxim, the fifth president has already appeared in Rubin with you. What emotions does a change of leadership evoke in you each time?
Different feelings. Now there is hope and relief at the same time, faith in better times.
- Has the atmosphere changed?
A more active attitude appeared, the work became intense. One can feel the understanding that many decisions cannot be delayed and rubber-stamped, there must be a desire to change something. There was a desire to improve something. As with the notorious site, which has been reconstructed for two years, but things are still there. The situation has come that there is no time for buildup and it is time to radically change a lot.
- How did you end up in Rubin?
I have worked with the club for a long time. At first, I was engaged in the production of programs for matches, helped in informational terms, adjusted the results, statistics. Then there was no internet and gadgets. All sources of information were in the newspapers, I had to call various cities to find out the results.
In 1995, at some match in Sotsgorod, Oleg Flegontov approached me with Dmitry Makarov, my colleague at work in the tax office (we were active fans), and offered to work. We once met at football, often saw him during matches, often talked to him. And after some match he asked us to make programs for both Rubin and Zelenodolsk Progress. And it was interesting, because there was an opportunity to go to the matches in Zelenodolsk. They wrote the text by hand, gave it to be typed and printed. I was 33 years old.
- How did you become interested in football?
And I also went to hockey. And on basketball, when UNICS appeared, and on hockey with a ball in Derbyshki regularly went. Now I stopped actively visiting everything, and before that I traveled very often and followed everything.
- What did you work with before Rubin?
In the tax office - an auditor. I was the chief tax inspector of the republican tax office. I was more involved in individuals. There was a lot of interesting things, because then no one wanted to pay. I remember checking a tobacco factory. Then the enterprises were allowed to engage in commercial activities and they suddenly made a profit, through sales they paid huge sums of money to the workers. And due to the fact that they had a lot of money, they decided that they would pay income tax for the people themselves, but it was impossible. And then we came and how we soldered them several million. Once, after an audit in the Cheremshansky district, in order to get to the match of the Uritsky Sports Complex - "Kristall", I used the checkpoints to get to Kazan, walked across the crossing in Sorochiye Gory on foot, and had time to play. Hockey was interesting to me, but my heart was more to football. It also became a hobby - I had the largest collection of programs in Kazan. Somehow, during the renovation of the apartment, someone accidentally threw away some of the programs, and I climbed the trash heap to find them - I saved some of them. There has been a collection since 1967, but not everything has been preserved.
- Do you remember your first independent program?
- Rubin - Shinnik. It was 1993. The buffer league and the year when we fought with Neftekhimik to the last to get into the first division. And "Neftekhimik" in the last two rounds took points from "Lada" and "Sokol" and went into the first league. And then Neftekhimik bypassed Rubin, and the Kazan club eventually fell into oblivion and the team barely survived without money for two years.
- When did everything change?
Then Kamil Shamilevich Iskhakov came and the ascent began. He found sources of funding, but it was very difficult. And the club's achievements speak for themselves: reaching the Premier League in 2002 and bronze in 2003. This continued until his departure, when other sources and sponsors appeared. TAIF was attracted by Tatenergo. Such funding continues to this day. Until 2005, the team was completely urban.
"MAKE THE PROGRAMS AT A LOSS TO MYSELF"
- How did you personally manage to work in such conditions?
I often went to matches in Naberezhnye Chelny to the matches of KAMAZ, which was then playing in major league and there he met Ramil Farakhov, who worked in the club's press service. They set up a printing house near the stadium and printed programs for the match. For 5 thousand rubles, he offered me to print programs for Rubin's matches. I wrote texts to him by hand, sent them by bus, and he typed them. It was all unofficial. I remember trying to sell these programs near the stadium - it was so funny and ridiculous: the tax inspector sells programs.
- Have you bought it?
Well, I paid 5 thousand, but mostly I managed to recapture only a thousand, sometimes even less.
- Then why did you make them at a loss?
How can this be explained? I just wanted them to be. So that everyone could see that I had made a program for the match, I was just interested - so that people could read something about the team. Later, with Dima Makarov, we began to make programs ourselves, on a computer. We wrote a presentation of the teams, some statistics. The circulation was from 100 to 200 pieces.
- When did you become a staff member of the club?
In 1998, when the club entered the first division and introduced the staffing table. There were two positions and Makarov and I were hired by the press service. We were paid $ 400 each. As a result, I left the tax office, because the club paid almost twice as much. They paid not in currency - they were transferred at the rate of 6 rubles. The most interesting thing began later, when even the players wanted to pay at a fixed rate, and not at the actual rate. Iskhakov was categorically against it. From that moment, the conflict began, which ended with the resignations of Golov, Flegontov and several other leaders. As a result, the players were paid salaries at that rate, it seems, about 20 rubles per dollar. And all of us, employees, continued to be paid six rubles per dollar.
- Was there a moment when you wanted to leave?
Yes, in 98 I really wanted to leave. I even went to the bank and was going to get a job there. But only one thing saved me - the teams began to take me to away matches. If they hadn't taken it, I would definitely have left.
- How did it happen?
I tried to resolve the issue through the head of the club Flegontov. But he asked me to put everything on the shelves - what I would do there and what to do. Just walking around with a dignified air and making a face that I am from the club - that would not go away. I rarely managed to justify why I had to be with the team on the road. There was no website. Then I started to cooperate with Igor Kamensky, who worked at BIM radio: we collected the results of the matches and sent it to him by pager. Kamensky was still very young, he invited us to report the score of matches on the radio. And that was then the only source from which people learned the results of Rubin's games.
- What kind of team was it then? What goals did you set for yourself?
When Rubin entered the first league in 1998, Iskhakov said that it was impossible to stop there and that it was necessary to advance to the top division. But then Volchka was removed and "Rubin" was saved only when Irkhin came.
"SADYRIN UNDERSTOOD ME"
- Then there was Sadyrin - one of the most famous coaches of that period. How was he remembered?
He was the one who began to understand me and contribute to the fact that I was taken on the road with the team. I told him: "Pavel Fedorovich, you are at CSKA, you worked as a head coach in the national team - look, the press attaché must be with the team to organize work with journalists." He: “Max, of course! You must be with the team, I will tell you to be taken with us. " He seemed to have solved the question, although they again demanded an explanation from me. And I wrote letters about what I would do there. For example, buying newspapers, reporting the results to your boss, and stuff like that. But they didn't take me to all the matches. And somehow they figured out that because of me they lost two matches in a row and said that I was not lucky ... Sadyrin was a real man, it was always possible to talk to him about everything easily.
- Your most memorable trip?
In 1999 we went to Naberezhnye Chelny and there local fans threw stones at our bus: KAMAZ flew into the second league, the fans were offended by the fact that there was a lurch towards Kazan and blamed Rubin for their failures. I will never forget my trip to Ramenskoye. One well-known Kazan journalist went there. After the match, everyone got on the bus, but he was gone. They waited for him for a long time. They said that he found some local fans and was resting with them. And after some time, this journalist is brought into the salon absolutely drunk into the trash. There was a shelf in the bus instead of the front seats, and he was put there perpendicularly so that his legs were hanging in the back. That is, he was absolutely none ... The most problematic for Rubin was always going to Nalchik. This was one of Berdyev's first games and it so happened that there was some episode when the referees pulled Nalchik and Berdyev shouted something to the referee. A local shouted to Berdyev, and a clash began. But in the end it was possible to pay off everything.
- Tell us about your trip to Barcelona ...
The team had a very calm attitude towards this match. When I was asked how the match would end, I said that we would play well and not lose more than 0: 2. But when we won, everyone laughed at me and my prediction. I remember that after the match at night I took a taxi to the bar to look for whiskey and in one of them they poured everything they had into one bottle. Brought to the hotel to the journalists, and we celebrated. Kurban Bekichevich then gave two large interviews and did not refuse anyone - this was almost the only case when he willingly communicated with everyone.
"BERDIYEV SPINKED ME, BUT STILL TREATED ME GOOD"
- How do you remember Berdyev?
For Berdyev, the main thing has always been deeds, not words. At the beginning of his career at Rubin, he was more open than later. He was always very modest, he never pushed himself out, did not flaunt, did not show that he was some kind of great coach. This is a man who was and remains a football man to the marrow of his bones. Everything besides football was in the background for him. Berdyev values friendship, trusting relationships between people very much. If a person became close to him and fell into his circle, then he always supported him.
- Did he appreciate you?
I think he treated me well and continues to treat me well. It happened that he spanked. He was very demanding and didn’t like it when someone didn’t do enough, worked poorly. A certain trepidation and fear in front of him appeared over time, but I always knew: he sees what I am capable of and that I am a loyal "Rubin" person. I knew that because of a minor mistake, he would not take me away. He had claims that I could provide low-quality information, or allowed someone to enter the training, which could lead to information about the injured being leaked to the press. He, of course, did not like it and I got it.
- What was the role of Saimanov in the success of Rubin?
He was always able to maintain a friendly atmosphere. Finding the right words became easy in communication when he took the floor. He came in 2006 and everyone understood why. The roster was seriously weakened, and the newcomers were not useful. Something had to be changed. I can say that he brought Karadeniz, Semak and Rebrov to Rubin exclusively. Saimanov convinced and justified that they should move to Kazan. They came and brought the club gold medals.
- The fact that Rubin was a closed club is also your merit ...
I would not say that Rubin was closed. If there was, then only for certain periods and only because many began to invent some kind of fables. It never happened that I was not in control of the situation, but I always treated negatively those who tried to take profit from information for themselves. For the sake of some kind of sensation, people sometimes violate moral prohibitions.
You often answered questions: "No comment." Were you forbidden to speak, or was it your decision not to comment on anything?
I perfectly understood that if I comment on something and it turns out to be wrong, it will be worse than if I simply refuse to comment. A lot had to be coordinated with the coach and management.
"ISKHAKOV CALLED AT TWO HOURS OF THE NIGHT TO FIND OUT THE RESULTS IN THE VOLGA REGION"
- How did the club change after the change of Iskhakov to Gusev?
The regime was freer. There was no intention to do something at any cost. For Kamil Shamilevich, there were no reasons why they could not fulfill the assigned task. Fakhriev has the same approach. Berdyev was somewhat similar in this ... I can't forget the story when Berdyev just came, and we played with Kuban, won 1: 0, celebrated the victory. On this day, the Volga Zone was still playing, where Rubin-2 was. Meager teams played there and few people followed it. But I had to find out the results and report to Iskhakov's reception. And after that victory I fell asleep. I was woken up by a call at two in the morning: the administration was very indignant about why I had not reported the results of the Volga Region to Iskhakov. And I started calling my contacts. And Iskhakov could not wait until morning.
- How was it under Sorokin?
Nobody was in a hurry. One can recall at least the imposing Panteleev, who, having worked for two years and received a substantial sum, did nothing good. In terms of business, Rubin lost a lot during this period, there was a serious malfunction.
- Panteleev and Klimova came, and you were pushed aside. Wasn't it offensive?
Of course, it's a shame. Maybe it was objective, I didn’t meet the criteria in some way, but I would understand if really helpful people came. Instead, there are many beautiful and clever words, but no real business. Do not look, do not touch. Klimova said that before we did everything badly. Under this slogan, the site, which had a huge archive of photographs, was destroyed from the beginning of the century. She said: "Your photos are horror." But this is history!
There were a lot of stories when I was exhibited in some unsightly form. Emotionally, I felt out of place. Once Panteleev told me to find out who writes about sports in Kommersant. I found out and reported, and he gave information to Sorokin, that he had found Moscow journalists and was organizing a trip to Wigan for them in order to allegedly restore a positive image of Rubin. As a result, the administrator of the official website watched the match at home on TV and wrote a report about it, since Muscovites did not bother to write at least something. Is this really done?
According to "SE", one of the candidates for the post of head coach national team Of Russia is the former senior coach of the men's team Nikolai Lopukhov. However, this figure causes a mixed reaction in the biathlon world.
Vladimir PUTROV, coach of Anton SHIPULIN: "LOPUKHOV ALLOWS THE SAME MISTAKES 25 YEARS AGO"
Lopukhov incorrectly used the effect of mountain preparation for three years in a row. Methodological miscalculations are visible to the naked eye. Take his interview last year, in which he said he plans to take the team to peak by early January. But everyone understands that it is impossible to keep the body in the state of the highest efficiency for 30-40 days! I'm not even talking about the haphazard nature. When you go to work according to one plan, and then it changes several times, the credibility of such a method disappears. In 1986, Lopukhov had the first female national team on skiing, and the second was given to Alexander Grushin. So, the main team, due to disorganization, failed preparation and only the great Reztsova endured until Calgary-1988. And here is the second composition there he performed splendidly! So Lopukhov still makes the same mistakes as 25 years ago. He doesn't study.
How many were allowed this year?
In the Olympic season every day counts. However, already at the August training camp, Lopukhov began to make mistakes. Anton Shipulin on race for the prizes of the governor of the Tyumen region became only 18th - he lost even to juniors. This was caused by overloading. At the same time, Lopukhov tried to "digest" them by means of some kind of drugs.
Have you tried to explain to him?
We talked, and he promised that now the loads will subside, and already in Sochi Anton will be "released". In fact, it turned out that on the fifth day of his stay, he began to accelerate on skates. But any methodologist knows that at a height it can be done at least on the eighth day. V the result To championship Of Russia Antoshka came up "none". In the sprint, he stayed far behind, but in the "twenty", which was a day later, he dropped out altogether.
Yes I remember.
On September 24th I sounded full force. It was necessary to take measures and go to self-training. We received consent from Sergei Kushchenko only on September 30th. By this time, Anton was dismantled to an extreme stage. And it was necessary to get him out of this state not with drugs, but with competent recovery training. It was important to know the characteristics of Shipulin's organism, its character. But even at that moment, I was 100 percent sure that he would win a medal in Sochi.
On October 29, we joined Valery Polkhovsky's group, in which Maxim Chudov, Ivan Tcherezov and Maxim Maximov worked. By December, Valery Nikolaevich and I managed to put Anton in order. But at that moment Lopukhov and Kushchenko began to insert hairpins for us. For example, an order came to remove Putrov from working with Shipulin.
With what wording?
I'm getting in the way of preparation. This is despite the fact that I have grown Olympic champions Yuri Koshkarov and Evgeny Redkin, worked with Alexander Popov and Sergei Chepikov. Yes, and with Shipulin, who in recent years was the best in the Russian team, I somehow managed. But it turned out that I was bad and uneducated ... And on December 17, Polkhovsky was unhooked from the team.
Whose initiative was it?
Kushchenko. Although the three of them with Lopukhov and Viktor Maygurov sang well. And it was unpleasant for them to realize that the best biathlete in the Olympic season goes to self-study.
If in January there were neither you nor Polkhovsky in the team, then according to what plan did Shipulin work?
Polkhovsky and I developed a methodology and brought it to Anton. He himself is a smart guy, it's not for nothing that he has two higher education... Even being in national team Shipulin in January was preparing for Sochi on one's own. There was a story with Koshkarov - at one of the trainings he said that he was feeling very bad and asked for time off. And then, five days later, after very hard work, he again came up to me: "Vladimir Mikhailovich, I have to run another 7 km. Remember, five days ago I did not work ...". That's what self-awareness is! Anton is the same.
With head RBU Was it unrealistic to talk to Mikhail Prokhorov?
Where there. How to get to it? Through Kushchenko? So he even accredited me to The Olympics did not give. I traveled to Sochi as an ordinary spectator. I bought tickets for my own money. And the two, which each athlete relied on, Anton, of course, gave to his parents. I did not have access to it at the Games.
Did someone from the team help in this situation?
- Vladimir Barnashov. We talked with him in Sochi. This is a man with a head who has his own opinion. We kept in touch with Anton through him.
In Sochi, Shipulin started out badly - with a miss with the last shot and fourth place.
After the sprint, Lopukhov drove him to hysteria. Antoshka was very worried without it ... For three days he walked like a dead man. And the peak of all was the reluctance of the head coach to put Shipulin on the baton. Well, how can you say at a time when a person especially needs support and trust that his place in the team is questionable? They say that Alexey Volkov, Dmitry Malyshko and Evgeny Ustyugov are running exactly, but between Shipulin and Alexander Loginov it is still necessary to decide on results control training. At that moment Anton could not resist and asked Lopukhov: "Nikolai Petrovich, how are you not ashamed? What are you doing? Look at least at the world ranking, where I am in fifth."
How was the issue of the relay resolved in a positive direction for Shipulin?
In many ways, this is the merit of Barnashov. For him, it was not the relationship between Lopukhov and Putrov that was important, but the interests of the team. By the way, before the relay race, we managed to agree that the parents would come to Anton in the village. They had a warm conversation, after which he finally perked up.
After Olympiad Have you seen Lopukhov?
We met in Khanty-Mansiysk at the coaching council. He still managed to stretch out his hand to me. I told him: "Listen, shameless, do you at least understand what you almost did?"
Recently the new president RBU chose Alexander Kravtsov.
It's good. Kravtsov is known as a competent and principled specialist. The main thing is to have a good team around him. Who can help her is, for example, Polkhovsky. The previous management did not like him, because he is a strong specialist with his own opinion. But if now they begin to remember about such people, it will benefit the Russian biathlon.
Nikolay LOPUKHOV: "I FEEL THE STRENGTH TO CONTINUE WORK"
It's a shame, you didn't manage to become the head coach of the women's national ski team?
No. I have had so many difficult moments in my life that I no longer dwell on such things.
Are you going to become the head coach of the biathlon team now?
I have plans to continue working, but it all depends on the new leadership. While constructive conversation with the President RBU We didn't have Alexander Kravtsov. And it makes no sense to talk about any specific positions at all.
After Olympiad you said you no longer want to work with the team.
I really thought so then. But time passed, I rested and I feel the strength and energy to continue working.
Analyzed the past season? Have you identified any errors?
Yes, there were no mistakes. Serious.
Including working with Anton Shipulin?
I worked with the team for three years. And how the same Shipulin, if I do not know how to work with him, showed all these seasons the best results in a team? And accusations of my methodological illiteracy look ridiculous. Still my teams won olympic gold in 1988, 2006 and 2014. This is not without reason?
Can you still lift the curtain and tell why Anton was disassembled in September? Is that why he left your group?
In August, Anton was ill, so he left for Sochi unprepared. But we didn’t prepare for the September starts in Sochi!
Is it just the disease?
He spent the spring wellness camp together with skier Alexander Legkov. Legkov is a fan. Our guys professionally need to learn a lot from him. Shipulin, looking at him, also did a great job. He arrived at the gathering in Tchaikovsky already overloaded and tired, but he convinced me that he did not need rest. As a result, in terms of intensity, Anton worked less than the others in the summer. He had the lowest speed among the leaders. But for some reason, I turned out to be guilty. And Valery Polkhovsky trained Tcherezov, with whom Anton communicates well. It played a role. That's how awkward everything turned out. Then he prepared himself. Although Shipulin and I were and are in normal relations.
And what is the story with the conversation about his possible non-inclusion in the Olympic relay?
There was no talk about the relay at all! The last coaching advice with the team was on February 2. Since then, each athlete has worked according to an individual, specially developed plan. There was no point in pulling someone at the time of the competition.
Including about Shipulin. He was not feeling very well in January. I lost a control training session to the guys in Ridnau, then I did not perform very well in Antholz. Therefore, they told him that he needed to conduct a control training with Alexander Loginov. But that was in relation to the sprint. There was no talk of the relay at all. From last season it was clear that the fourth stage was Anton's lot.
How was announced composition to the baton?
It was clear to everyone in advance, so there was no point in announcing it. Already last year, apart from who will run the first stage, everything was clear. Do you remember when you asked me about errors?
Of course.
So, one serious mistake happened a long time ago. In my opinion, we had an ideal system at the very beginning of the Olympic cycle. Then Valery Polkhovsky was the head coach, I was responsible for functional training, Andrey Gerbulov was the eldest, and Andrey Panin played an important role in the team. This combination was quite successful and productive. We worked as one link! Everything was great in May. And two months later, Valery Nikolaevich, having seen enough of Pichler's work, divided our team into two subgroups. Group "A" I prepared, and group "B" - Polkhovsky, according to Pichler's method. And in September on championship Of Russia in Ufa, Group B performed significantly worse. As a result, in October we united again, but at that moment there was a gap between Gerbulov and Polkhovsky. And I found myself, as it were, between two fires.
And after some time, the position of the head coach was abolished, and I was appointed senior. Thus, Valery Nikolaevich remained outside the team. Since then, we have started to misunderstand, and the situation is only getting worse. Although I have no dislike for him. Moreover, in September of this year I approached Polkhovsky, offered to work together, but he did not want to.
Are you ready to work with him now?
This is not the first time you have called for unification.
In my opinion, now it is simply necessary to do this. It is important that the coaching board has a clear preparation strategy - and then it is followed. At the same time, special attention should be paid to the transition of athletes from the junior team to the main one. In Europe, this problem is not so urgent, but we need to change consciousness. Let's be frank: when in Russia juniors get serious money, many get their heads off. Then some come to their senses, but not all.
Why do you think a lot of men's team leaders want to work independently in the summer?
When men achieve serious results, they begin to want to live their own way. Who wants to leave home, from their girlfriend? But such moves are rarely positive. The only example, perhaps, is Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, although this man is an exception to all the rules. That is why I want everyone to unite and build a clear strategy. If we become friendly, Russian biathlon will make a big leap forward. And it turns out that men swear and complain about each other more than women. The same goes for skis. Is this right? It's time to understand that we are all working for the same cause. In my opinion, it is necessary to take as a basis the Soviet methods of Alexander Privalov, Viktor Ivanov, Viktor Mamatov and supplement them, learning from the best modern athletes. This is our great reserve.
The head of the Rubin press service Maxim Lopukhov has been working at the club for almost two decades and has seen many coaches and managers, victories and defeats of the team during this time. In an interview with the sports editorial office of BUSINESS Online, Lopukhov spoke about what Rubin was like in different eras, how he ended up in the club, how he remembered Kurban Berdyev and what was wrong with the people of Valery Sorokin's team.
"BEFORE » RUBIN " I WORKED AS A TAXER "
- Maxim, with you the fifth president has appeared in Rubin. What emotions does a change of leadership evoke in you each time?
- Different feelings. Now there is hope and relief at the same time, faith in better times.
- Has the atmosphere changed?
- Something more active has appeared, the work has become intense. One can feel the understanding that many decisions cannot be delayed and rubber-stamped, there must be a desire to change something. There was a desire to improve something. As with the notorious site, which has been reconstructed for two years, but things are still there. The situation has come that there is no time for buildup and it is time to radically change a lot.
- How did you end up in Rubin?
- I worked with the club for a long time. At first, I was engaged in the production of programs for matches, helped in informational terms, adjusted the results, statistics. Then there was no internet and gadgets. All sources of information were in the newspapers, I had to call various cities to find out the results.
In 1995, at some match in Sotsgorod, Oleg Flegontov approached me with Dmitry Makarov, my colleague at work in the tax office (we were active fans), and offered to work. We once met at football, often saw him during matches, often talked to him. And after some match he asked us to make programs for both Rubin and Zelenodolsk Progress. And it was interesting, because there was an opportunity to go to the matches in Zelenodolsk. They wrote the text by hand, gave it to be typed and printed. I was 33 years old.
- How did you become interested in football?
- And I also went to hockey. And on basketball, when UNICS appeared, and on hockey with a ball in Derbyshki regularly went. Now I stopped actively visiting everything, and before that I traveled very often and followed everything.
- What did you work with before Rubin?
- In the tax office - an auditor. I was the chief tax inspector of the republican tax office. I was more involved in individuals. There was a lot of interesting things, because then no one wanted to pay. I remember checking a tobacco factory. Then the enterprises were allowed to engage in commercial activities and they suddenly made a profit, through sales they paid huge sums of money to the workers. And due to the fact that they had a lot of money, they decided that they would pay income tax for the people themselves, but it was impossible. And then we came and how we soldered them several million. Once, after an audit in the Cheremshansky district, in order to get to the match of the Uritsky Sports Complex - "Kristall", I got to Kazan on the checkpoints, walked across the crossing in Sorochy Gory on foot, and had time to play. Hockey was interesting to me, but my heart was more to football. It also became a hobby - I had the largest collection of programs in Kazan. Somehow, during the renovation of the apartment, someone accidentally threw out some of the programs, and I climbed the trash heap to find them - I saved some of them. There has been a collection since 1967, but not everything has been preserved.
- Do you remember your first independent program?
- Rubin - Shinnik. It was 1993. The buffer league and the year when we fought with Neftekhimik to the last to get into the first division. And "Neftekhimik" in the last two rounds took points from "Lada" and "Sokol" and went into the first league. And then Neftekhimik bypassed Rubin, and the Kazan club eventually fell into oblivion and the team barely survived without money for two years.
- When did everything change?
- Then Kamil Shamilevich Iskhakov came and the ascent began. He found sources of funding, but it was very difficult. And the club's achievements speak for themselves: reaching the Premier League in 2002 and bronze in 2003. This continued until his departure, when other sources and sponsors appeared. TAIF was attracted by Tatenergo. Such funding continues to this day. Until 2005, the team was completely urban.
"MAKE THE PROGRAMS AT A LOSS TO MYSELF"
- How did you personally manage to work in such conditions?
- I often went to matches in Naberezhnye Chelny to the matches of KAMAZ, which was then playing in the Major League and there I met Ramil Farakhov, who worked in the club's press service. They set up a printing house near the stadium and printed programs for the match. For 5 thousand rubles, he offered me to print programs for Rubin's matches. I wrote texts to him by hand, sent them by bus, and he typed them. It was all unofficial. I remember trying to sell these programs near the stadium - it was so funny and ridiculous: the tax inspector sells programs.
- Have you bought it?
- Well, I paid 5 thousand, but it was mostly possible to recapture only a thousand, sometimes even less.
- Then why did you make them at a loss?
- How to explain this? I just wanted them to be. So that everyone could see that I had made a program for the match, I was just interested - so that people could read something about the team. Later, with Dima Makarov, we began to make programs ourselves, on a computer. We wrote a presentation of the teams, some statistics. The circulation was from 100 to 200 pieces.
- When did you become a staff member of the club?
- In 1998, when the club entered the first division and the staffing table was introduced. There were two positions and Makarov and I were hired by the press service. We were paid $ 400 each. As a result, I left the tax office, because the club paid almost twice as much. They paid not in currency - they were transferred at the rate of 6 rubles. The most interesting thing began later, when even the players wanted to pay at a fixed rate, and not at the actual rate. Iskhakov was categorically against it. From that moment, the conflict began, which ended with the resignations of Golov, Flegontov and several other leaders. As a result, the players were paid salaries at that rate, it seems, about 20 rubles per dollar. And all of us, employees, continued to be paid six rubles per dollar.
- Was there a moment when you wanted to leave?
- Yes, in 1998 I really wanted to leave. I even went to the bank and was going to get a job there. But only one thing saved me - the teams began to take me to away matches. If they hadn't taken it, I would definitely have left.
- How did it happen?
- I tried to resolve the issue through the head of the club Flegontov. But he asked me to put everything on the shelves - what I would do there and what to do. Just walking with an air of importance and making a face that I am from the club - that would not have gone away. I rarely managed to justify why I had to be with the team on the road. There was no website. Then I started to cooperate with Igor Kamensky, who worked at BIM radio: we collected the results of the matches and sent it to him by pager. Kamensky was still very young, he invited us to report the score of matches on the radio. And that was then the only source from which people learned the results of Rubin's games.
- What kind of team was it then? What goals did you set for yourself?
- When in 98th year Rubin entered the first league, Iskhakov said that it was impossible to stop there and it was necessary to advance to the top division. But then Volchka was removed and "Rubin" was saved only when Irkhin came.
"SADYRIN UNDERSTOOD ME"
- Then there was Sadyrin - one of the most famous coaches of that period. How was he remembered?
- He was the one who began to understand me and contribute to the fact that I was taken on the road with the team. I told him: "Pavel Fedorovich, you are at CSKA, you worked as a head coach in the national team - look, the press attaché must be with the team to organize work with journalists." He: “Max, of course! You must be with the team, I will tell you to be taken with us. " He seemed to have solved the question, although they again demanded an explanation from me. And I wrote letters about what I would do there. For example, buying newspapers, reporting the results to your boss, and stuff like that. But they didn't take me to all the matches. And somehow they figured out that because of me they lost two matches in a row and said that I was not lucky ... Sadyrin was a real man, it was always easy to talk to him about everything.
- Your most memorable trip?
- In 1999 we went to Naberezhnye Chelny and there local fans threw stones at our bus: KAMAZ flew into the second league, the fans were offended by the fact that there was a lurch towards Kazan and blamed Rubin for their failures. I will never forget my trip to Ramenskoye. One well-known Kazan journalist went there. After the match, everyone got on the bus, but he was gone. They waited for him for a long time. They said that he found some local fans and was resting with them. And after some time, this journalist is brought into the salon absolutely drunk into the trash. There was a shelf in the bus instead of the front seats, and he was put there perpendicularly so that his legs were hanging in the back. That is, he was absolutely none ... The most problematic for Rubin was always going to Nalchik. This was one of Berdyev's first games and it so happened that there was some episode when the referees pulled Nalchik and Berdyev shouted something to the referee. A local shouted to Berdyev, and a clash began. But in the end it was possible to pay off everything.
- Tell us about your trip to Barcelona ...
- The team had a very calm attitude to this match. When I was asked how the match would end, I said that we would play well and not lose more than 0: 2. But when we won, everyone laughed at me and my prediction. I remember that after the match at night I took a taxi to the bar to look for whiskey and in one of them they poured everything they had into one bottle. Brought to the hotel to the journalists, and we celebrated. Kurban Bekichevich then gave two large interviews and did not refuse anyone - this was almost the only case when he willingly communicated with everyone.
"BERDIYEV SPINKED ME, BUT STILL TREATED ME GOOD"
- How do you remember Berdyev?
- For Berdyev, the main thing has always been deeds, not words. At the beginning of his career at Rubin, he was more open than later. He was always very modest, he never pushed himself out, did not flaunt, did not show that he was some kind of great coach. This is a man who was and remains a football man to the marrow of his bones. Everything besides football was in the background for him. Berdyev values friendship, trusting relationships between people very much. If a person became close to him and fell into his circle, then he always supported him.
- Did he appreciate you?
- I think he treated me well and continues to treat me well. It happened that he spanked. He was very demanding and didn’t like it when someone didn’t do enough, worked poorly. A certain trepidation and fear in front of him appeared over time, but I always knew: he sees what I am capable of and that I am a loyal "Rubin" person. I knew that because of a minor mistake, he would not take me away. He had claims that I could provide low-quality information, or allowed someone to enter the training, which could lead to information about the injured being leaked to the press. He, of course, did not like it and I got it.
- What was the role of Saimanov in the success of Rubin?
- He could always maintain a friendly atmosphere. Finding the right words became easy in communication when he took the floor. He came in 2006 and everyone understood why. The roster was seriously weakened, and the newcomers were not useful. Something had to be changed. I can say that he brought Karadeniz, Semak and Rebrov to Rubin exclusively. Saimanov convinced and justified that they should move to Kazan. They came and brought the club gold medals.
- The fact that Rubin was a closed club is also your merit ...
- I would not say that Rubin was closed. If there was, then only for certain periods and only because many began to invent some kind of fables. It never happened that I was not in control of the situation, but I always treated negatively those who tried to take profit from information for themselves. For the sake of some kind of sensation, people sometimes violate moral prohibitions.
- You often answered questions: "No comment." Were you forbidden to speak, or was it your decision not to comment on anything?
- I perfectly understood that if I comment on something and it turns out to be wrong, it will be worse than if I simply refuse to comment. A lot had to be coordinated with the coach and management.
"ISKHAKOV CALLED AT TWO HOURS OF THE NIGHT TO FIND OUT THE RESULTS IN THE VOLGA REGION"
- How did the club change after the change of Iskhakov to Gusev?
- The regime was freer. There was no intention to do something at any cost. For Kamil Shamilevich, there were no reasons why they could not fulfill the assigned task. Fakhriev has the same approach. Berdyev was somewhat similar in this… I can't forget the story when Berdyev just came, and we played with Kuban, won 1: 0, celebrated the victory. On this day, the Volga Zone was still playing, where Rubin-2 was. Meager teams played there and few people followed it. But I had to find out the results and report to Iskhakov's reception. And after that victory I fell asleep. I was woken up by a call at two in the morning: the administration was very indignant about why I had not reported the results of the Volga Region to Iskhakov. And I started calling my contacts. And Iskhakov could not wait until morning.
- How was it under Sorokin?
- Nobody was in a hurry. One can recall at least the imposing Panteleev, who, having worked for two years and received a substantial sum, did nothing good. In terms of business, Rubin lost a lot during this period, there was a serious malfunction.
- Panteleev and Klimova came, and you were pushed aside. Wasn't it offensive?
- Of course, it's a shame. Maybe it was objective, I didn’t meet the criteria in some way, but I would understand if really helpful people came. Instead, there are many beautiful and clever words, but no real business. Do not look, do not touch. Klimova said that before we did everything badly. Under this slogan, the site, which had a huge archive of photographs, was destroyed from the beginning of the century. She said: "Your photos are horror." But this is history!
There were a lot of stories when I was exhibited in some unsightly form. Emotionally, I felt out of place. Once Panteleev told me to find out who writes about sports in Kommersant. I found out and reported, and he gave information to Sorokin, that he had found Moscow journalists and was organizing a trip to Wigan for them in order to allegedly restore a positive image of Rubin. As a result, the administrator of the official website watched the match at home on TV and wrote a report about it, since Muscovites did not bother to write at least something. Is this really done?
Under Klimova and Panthelev, I was treated like an interior item. Like a closet or TV. I was initially told that I was needed, but I understood that I was being held as a museum piece. Only now did I gain inspiration from the fact that they began to involve me in serious matters. This was not the case before.
- How do you see Rubin's near future?
- At first it will be difficult, but then everything will come to a positive balance. We'll be upstairs again.
