Ex-Russia team coach set to reinstate "Ural" in Premier League; fans remain skeptical
New boss for Ural likely to be Miroslav Romashchenko
According to our sources at site.ru, Ural's new main coach is set to be 51-year-old Miroslav Romashchenko. The same is reported by sport telegram channels "Mutko against" (led by journalist Gleb Trifonov) and "FNL with Ilyev" (journalist Sergei Ilyev).
spokesperson for Ural declined to comment.
Who is Romashchenko
Romashchenko played for Uralmaš from 1994 to 1996 before moving to Spartak. With Spartak, he became a two-time Russian champion in football in 1997 and 1998.
As a head coach, Romashchenko has no notable achievements. He briefly managed Tom, Salyut, and Ahmat from 2008, 2010, and 2023-2024 respectively, and for the rest of the time, he was an assistant coach. He worked the longest with Stanislav Cherchesov, serving as his assistant from 2011 to 2023, during which time Cherchesov coached Zhemchuzhina, Terek, Amkar, Dinamo Moscow, Polish Legia, and Hungarian Ferencváros.
One of the most memorable moments in Romashchenko's career was his time assisting Cherchesov in the Russian national team. The team sensationally reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup, defeating one of the tournament favorites Spain in the playoffs.
"His experience and achievements raise doubts"
Although Romashchenko has a wealth of experience working with Cherchesov, a fan of Ural, Mikhail, pointed out to our site that the specifics of being a head coach differ significantly from that of an assistant.
"As an assistant, you are responsible only for a specific aspect of the team's preparation, such as working with particular player groups or rehearsing standard positions. The head coach, however, must determine how the team plays as a whole and manage the larger team of players, coaches, and staff accordingly."
Last year, when Romashchenko was in charge of the Ahmat squad, they won only four victories in 17 games in the Russian Premier League (RPL) and were subsequently fired.
"Romashchenko will not need time to adapt, as he has already been working in the Ural coaching staff for the last six months, but his experience working and achievements raise questions about whether he is a good candidate to address the goal of reaching the RPL," says Mikhail.
Maxim, another fan of Ural, believes that the key role in appointing Romashchenko was played by the unique character of the club's president Grigory Ivanov.
"Ural often does not obey logical reasoning as a team. When the club remains in the First League (FNL) for the second season, management tends to focus more on budget maintenance and sponsors, rather than on the sports side of things. Grigory Ivanov trusted Romashchenko only because he had already been working in the club for some time and knew the players and training process."
Most likely, they did not spend much time negotiating with other candidates, as Romashchenko is a familiar face to the club," said Maxim during his conversation with our site.
Maxim described Ivanov as a complex person, so not all experienced coaches are willing to work with him and "make compromises."
"The head coach of Ural, in short, must be able to work with Ivanov under such strong pressure. He is the only president who sits on the bench with everyone during the match. The president should handle funding and infrastructure development, not interfere in the training process. Some coaches on the market agree to this, others do not," said the fan of the club.
Maxim predicts that Ural should finish the season in the top four of the tournament table and the playoff zone. He expects that Romashchenko may be dismissed after the first half of the season if he exhausts the trust of Ivanov.
Many commentators on the fan telegram channel "URALoveed" are certain that this decision by the club is doomed to failure in the next season and to Ural's long stay in the FNL.
"Ural" previously collaborated with experienced head coaches. For example, from 2022 to 2024, the team was led by Victor Goncharchenko. Under him, they specifically bought Brazilian players Gylmer Shettine and Italo, Portuguese Pedro Ghi and Dutch player Rai Vluta. This did not help, and the club dropped from the Premier League. If the main post is raised for someone from the coaching staff (Yuriy Matveyev, Yevgeny Averianov, etc.), Ural tends to focus on already existing players, not reinforce the team, and the main coach is often dismissed after several consecutive disappointing matches.
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Despite the doubts raised about his achievements as a head coach, Miroslav Romashchenko's extensive experience, particularly his role in the Russian national team's 2018 World Cup run, might provide valuable insights for Ural's sports strategy, specifically in football. With Romashchenko already familiar with Ural's coaching staff, a quick transition is highly likely, but even so, questions linger about his ability to lead the team effectively, given Ural's inconsistent performance in the past.
