Football Season Guide

Rostov threw away a place in the Europa League in the final round last season and this was the main reason for the major reshaping that is still taking place this summer. The RSMs remain seriously troubled financially and without the extra cash from games in Europe, they had to sell. The managerial staff departed, with the director of football Kurban Berdyev taking three regulars with him to Rubin and possibly a fourth one. In fact the newly appointed coach Leonid Kuchuk saw ten regular starters leave altogether. Left with no choice the experienced Kuchuk had to start building a new squad and he signed several new players, plus kept four returning from loans. All these changes and the possible departure of one or two more puts pressure on Rostov. After being so solid defensively for two consecutive seasons the RSMs saw their backline literally disassembled by the richer clubs in the league and from those starting last season in the back-five, only Mevlja is left. Rostov also lost their two very good goalkeepers and as replacements they signed veterans Pesjakov and Abaev, hoping that they will do the job. The most important summer signing so far is that of the Icelandic centre-back Ingason and it seems that the new backline will be built around him. Four more new defenders and Mevlja are the options at the back but the true leaders of the team will have to be a trio of veterans. Kalachev, captain Gatcan and Bukharov are near the end of their careers but they remain very good players and the latter especially will be hugely important in attack as it seems that he is the only typical centre forward at the minute. Azmoun was the only other real option there but he left to join Rubin Kazan. The other player expected to be Kuchuk's main playmaker and key figure this season is Pavel Mogilevets, who showed promise in the past but he has a long history of serious injuries and only if he remains fit can he help properly. Prepelita is also an experienced central midfielder, although newcomer Majer is likely to be ahead of him in the pecking order. Such a big transformation is never a good sign for a team but the experience of the main players and the solid career of Kuchuk suggest that Rostov won't fall into serious trouble if the few key figures in the team remain healthy.