"They could withdraw from the Russian Cup because it is expensive for media clubs"

This week, the matches of the 1/128 finals of the Path of the Regions took place in the Russian Football Cup. Once again, the most striking events were the games with the participation of three media teams, which have been allowed to participate in the tournament since 2023. This time, following the results of away matches against clubs from the second league, Amkal went on to the 1/64 finals, winning minimally against Kaluga (1:0), as well as Broken Boys, who won a strong-willed victory over Avangard Kursk (2:1). In turn, 2DROTS lost to Dolgoprudny Cosmos (0:1).

At the same time, the media teams once again noted the original personnel PR moves. Broken Boys released former Russian national team striker Fedor Smolov on the field, while Amkal released ex—basketball player Pavel Podkolzin (226 cm tall) and 14-year-old Vasily Goncharov. As a result, the first became the tallest football player in the world to ever play in a professional tournament, and the second became the youngest player in the history of Russia to compete in professional football competitions in our country. Now Amkal will have to play in the Russian Cup with Belgorod Salyut. If he wins, he will face a representative of the first league in the 1/32 finals — the media teams have not gone beyond this stage yet. In an interview with Izvestia, Amkal head coach Vitaly Panov, who previously led Tolyatti Akron, FC Chelyabinsk and Astrakhan Volgar in professional football, compared work in the first and second leagues with the media league, explained the need for unusual personnel decisions in the Cup and appreciated Akron's game in the RPL with Artyom. Dzyuba is in the squad.

— Is Amkal able to go further in the current Russian Cup draw than media teams usually did?

— We are pleased that we passed Kaluga. They are a strong second league team. It was difficult because of our poor physical condition, as we had a long rest in the summer after winning the last media football league draw. Most of our guys have practiced a bit.

— How long does it take to get in shape?

— I think that globally three weeks will be enough for us to regain or gain our condition. Moreover, we have changes in the composition. New players came out in the Russian Cup matches — and I'm not talking about the media component in its purest form, not about those guys who played for us on a one—time basis, but about those players who have been with us on a regular basis - Temur Dzhikiya, who just came to us and is getting in shape, Maxim Pichugin, who I just got back from an injury. There are still guys who are just getting used to the demands of our coaching staff. So we're going to get in shape. And I am sure that we will be a fighting team in the next stages of the Cup.

— This is your second year working in the media league, and before that you coached professional football at the first league level for many years. Is it difficult to adjust to the format you are currently in?

— Of course, there are nuances here. The main difficulties were in the training process, when you are almost always being filmed by a camera. This happens when a team enters the field, and sometimes even during a training exercise, when someone enters the circle. For example, it was difficult for me at first to get used to having a lot of people in the technical area on the sidelines. For example, when I started working at Rodina Media a year ago, it was easy for me to play the first two games that we played in the Russian Cup, as there are regulations like in professional football. And the first match was in the media league, at Luzhniki Stadium with 25,000 spectators, even when 500 people were standing on the sidelines, it was difficult for me. It's difficult to control the game when someone is saying something, someone is doing something. We lost that match. After that, I came home and, analyzing what had happened, I realized that I either had to react quickly to the situation, accepting the rules of the media league, or it would be very difficult for me.

— Did you get used to the purely game rules of media football for a long time?

— Both the managers of Amkal and the guys in the team helped me to adapt. This includes rules that do not exist in professional football, such as the ability to take a timeout, a red ball (a bonus ball that a team can take for a certain time during a match. If she scores or concedes in this period, it will be equivalent to two goals. — Izvestia), pure playing time. And then there were a lot of changes in the rules. For example, the recent appearance of Azamat's out when he is performed with his foot (coined by comedian and president of the FC 10 media team Azamat Musagaliev. — Izvestia). I had to adapt to it, and I succeeded.

— How do you feel about such original actions as the one-time appearance of basketball player Podkolzin and 14-year-old Goncharov in the cup match with Kaluga? Is there an inflection with the media component in this?

— Let's start with the fact that this is how we form our budget. If we take Kaluga, the professional club we were playing with, then the financial possibilities are clear. They may be small or large, but they are there. I have worked in professional football and I know that the main task of the club is to properly allocate financial resources. And media teams don't have them initially — you have to form them by your own efforts. And to do this, you need to attract an audience, sponsors, and so on. We initially got to the point this summer that we wanted to withdraw from the Russian Cup.

- why?

— The organization of any home match in professional football is 1.5–2 million rubles. These amounts must be spent from the budget of the receiving party. The Russian Cup is no exception. There is no such waste in media football. Because it's an amateur league. And in professional football, to organize an official home match is to rent a stadium, provide a field for an opponent to practice on it the day before the game, arrange accommodation and meals for referees, organize all security services at the stadium during the match, ambulance, fire truck, police and so on. All this is very expensive for media teams.

— So these promotions are necessary to recoup the costs of organizing matches within the framework of the Cup?

— Yes, this is how we fight off expenses by inviting such guys. You saw that we have the name Majestic on our T—shirts. I am very grateful to its owner, Vlad Kuertov, who became our partner this summer and helped us compete in this Cup of Russia. I met him in the locker room during the break of the match with Kvant (in the 1/256 finals of the Russian Cup. — Izvestia), I hadn't seen him before. But then, after the game, we talked. He's not a football person, but he's quite athletic. And he said that he liked the atmosphere at our match and expressed his willingness to sponsor us in the Russian Cup. Within the framework of this partnership, such actions as bloggers entering the field in the match against Kvant, Podkolzin and Goncharov entering the field in the game against Kaluga were born.

— What is the main difference between media football and professional football for you?

— Guys in media teams are not protected by professional contracts. They understand that if they don't get results now, then maybe soon others will be in their place. There are contracts for two or three months. And it is clear that you need to give results here and now in order to feed your families. In addition, they develop themselves very widely in the media: in addition to training, there are also a lot of filming.

— What elements of media football can be adapted into professional football?

— The same media. For example, I have worked in some professional clubs. And there was only one operator for club TV globally. At best, there was another texter. And at Amkal, there are two or three cameramen who film the locker room and show the whole atmosphere. We are more open, we are closer to ordinary people. You know, the situation in media football is returning to what it was in professional football during the time of the older generations, even older than me. When it was possible, roughly speaking, to take a suitcase or a bag of some football player and carry it behind him. And you're happy about it. And many professional teams are closed. But life has changed. People ride the subway, scroll through the news about us, subscribe to our resources and pages on social networks.

— Would you approve of such openness if you were the head coach of Volgar again?

- yes. Because, with all due respect to Volgar, I'll give you this example.: my Telegram channel has 15.5 thousand subscribers. The Volgar club channel has 3-4 thousand of them.

— This is despite the fact that you are not as outrageous among the coaches of the media league as, for example, Dmitry Kuznetsov, who now heads Broken Boys, and before that worked for 2 DROPS for four years.

— Yes, and in general, I'm not nearly as good at running the channel as professional bloggers. The guys from Amkal are helping me to run it. But even with my weak media side, there were so many subscribers. Because people see the openness of our team, look at Amkal as a whole, and continue to personally monitor its people — players, coaches. Thus, as I said earlier, our budget is being formed. We can't go to a sponsor or the head of the region and ask them to bring us money. We need to shape it ourselves. That's why the guys are led by Herman (Herman Popkov, president of Amkala. — Izvestia) they are constantly working in this direction.

— You were working at Volgar as an assistant to Yuri Gazzaev when a scandalous video from the team's locker room got on the Internet, where he makes a harsh analysis of an unsuccessful match with repeated use of abusive language. Wouldn't that be frowned upon in media football?

— It's hard to say. If you take my personal behavior, it has not changed globally either in professional football or in the media league. Sometimes I had to have tough conversations. Of course, I would not like to be shown from this side. To be honest, having already worked in the media league, I assumed that some of the videos that got on the Internet with my participation, my analysis of the situation during the break or after the game, could scare and alienate many heads of professional clubs. It's my emotionality in these videos that will scare you away. But, nevertheless, offers from professional football are appearing.

— I would like to ask about one of your former professional teams, where you worked. About Akron, which you led in the first league in 2022. Were you surprised at the success he achieved by going far in the Russian Cup – 2023 under Evgeny Kaleshin, and then entering the RPL and gaining a foothold there under Zaur Tedeev?

— No, I wasn't surprised. Everything is fair and natural, because I have seen how seriously the Akron management wants to develop the club. Another thing is that, unfortunately, I did not make certain steps, changes in the composition, which should have been done then. They were eventually made by Zhenya Kaleshin, who came after me. And we have seen the result. There are nuances in which I did not work to the extent that I should have. As it is, the management of Akron is doing everything for development. This is a private club. Fortunately, there are opportunities to solve serious problems there. I am very happy for the club.

— Do you like the game of the current Akron with Artem Dzyuba in the squad?

— Dzyuba is the best striker in the history of Russian football. Let's start with that.

— Even counting from the 1990s and 2000s?

— Take his stats (smiles). Who scored more than Dzyuba in our championship after the collapse of the USSR? Nobody.

— Many strong strikers went to Europe in the 1990s and did not play in the Russian championship as much as Dzyuba.

— Well, that's a taste. Some people like more technical and plastic guys. But the most important thing for a striker is to solve game situations and score goals. Dzyuba does it brilliantly. It is very inconvenient to play against him: he is a great master.

— Will Akron be in the RPL for a long time?

— I would really like to. I think it will be.