Football Season Guide

Amkar start the season very much in sombre mood as the team looks bound for relegation struggle and seems under-staffed and un-prepared for the challenges ahead. They were poor in the second half of last season but had just about enough to avoid the bottom four, securing safety mostly due to other teams being rather poor. They have a fine coach in Gadzhi Gadzhiev, someone who knows how to get results in this league and a tactician that the players definitely trust. But this is far as positives go for the Perm club right now as they look like a mess and possess one of the weakest squads in the division. They lost quite a far stalwarts over the summer, most notably skipper and club icon Dmitry Belurkov. Aleksandr Prudnikov is a sizeable loss as well even if the hardworking striker was never among the most prolific. Bogdan Butko was one of the better right-backs in the league last season but he he has also left after his loan deal expired. Given that another stalwart in Georgi Peev left before the end of last season, it is clear that there is not much experience in the current side. Janusz Gol and Fegor Ogude form a good spine in midfield but the central defence is a real cause of concern as Nikolay Zaytsev and Giorgi Jikia look out of their depth. A journeyman striker in Anton Shynder is expected to lead the line and he has a very average record to his namer. Mikhail Kostyukov and Stanislav Prokofjev have joined from the First Division and even if they are promising, they do not seem ready for the challenges of top-flight football too. Overall, Amkar look like a side lacking in both quality and depth at the moment and Gadzhiev will need to work his magic and get the maximum out of this squad to ensure safety.