The former head coach of the Kazakhstan national team, Russian specialist Stanislav Cherchesov, commented on the options for continuing his career, as reported by Sports.kz with reference to Sport-express.ru.
— Many coaches appear upset after being dismissed; some even fall into depression. You don’t seem to be one of them.
— Let me ask you this: why should I be upset?
— After all, you’ve lost your job.
— But I didn’t take any steps to leave. If I had left the Kazakhstan national team halfway through, I would have blamed myself. But if I wasn’t allowed to finish the work as I envisioned, then why should I be upset about someone else’s decision?
How can one be accountable for something beyond their control? I’m referring to the main goal — the qualification for the 2026 World Cup. Those 0:15 are mine. Feel free to remember them; the media needs something to write about. Our coaching staff did everything possible to turn those 0:15 into completely different numbers — given enough time, of course.
— Andrey Kanchelskis, with whom you played quite a bit in our national team, expressed the opinion that Cherchesov now needs a break in his career.
— Well, Andrey is an experienced manager; he has coached many players in the post-Soviet space — he knows what he’s talking about.
— Seriously, are you planning any rest? And how do you see your future?
— Just two or three weeks ago, I was approached by a club from the Middle East that is aiming for the championship in its country. But at that time, I was under contract with the KFF. We’ll see... Honestly, I don’t want someone calling me with an offer the very next day.
— Why not?
— Because there’s a chance that it could be a call you can’t refuse. That happens too. Plus, a club and a national team are different in this sense. In the first case, you can’t instantly switch from daily work to something new; your mind is still in that team. In the second case, you’re not in a daily routine because of the specifics of the international calendar.
— Have you received other calls with job offers?
— Yes. But still not from Russia. I was offered a position on the board of directors of a club to help with the sports direction. So, it was more of a management role, not a coaching one. I thanked them but said I wasn’t ready to change my line of work just yet. Notably, this call came before the official announcement on the KFF website — it seems people knew something in advance...