Spartak Moscow and Zenit St. Petesburg has lost their head coaches in what appeared to be impulse-driven decisions but were actually long-expected moves by football pundits.

 

Zenit was first to explode the web with the news of Luciano Spalletti’s removal and although his departure was marked with applause by the players, they had earlier and later indicated their anger with the Italian coach.

 

Appointed no December 10, 2009, Roma's hero went on to win the Premier League title twice but failed to help the side advance on the international arena.

 

He was fired after a draw against outsider Tom in their first game after the winter break. Curiously, a 0-2 defeat by Tom back in 2009 was the reason for firing the previous coach, Dick Advocaat. Just before the match against Tom, Zenit St. Petesburg was crushed 2-4 by Borussia Dortmund in a home game.

 

The reasons for the resignation have not been officially announced but many experts have condemned Spalletti’s policies saying they have precipitated a collapse of the team. Here’s a brief list of the scandals that rent Zenit apart.

 

Roman Shirokov was loaned to Krasnodar after an alleged conflict with Luciano Spalletti in a Supercup game against Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk. According to Sovetsky Sport, Shirokov blamed the head coach of Zenit St. Petersburg for the crisis in the team and flew to Moscow the next day. The official reason for the departure is said to be the midfielder’s heel injury. 

Previouslu, Spalletti fell out with another midfielder, Igor Denisov, who had to move to Anzhi Makhachkala, and later to Dynamo Moscow, after he demanded a pay rise.

 

It all started after Gazprom, Zenit’s main sponsor, splurged 100 million euro on two foreign players, Hulk and Axel Witsel. Hulk’s salary was reported to be higher than those of Zenit’s old-timers like Shirokov, Denisov and Kerzhakov. The situation inside the team deteriorated, with the club finishing second in Premier League last season. Among other players who had a rough time are midfielder Vladimir Bystrov who plays in Anzhi Makhachkala on loan, defender Alexander Anyukov, replaced by Igor Smolnikov, and goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev, replaced by Yury Lodygin.

 

Spartak Moscow’s owner Leonid Fedun fired Valery Karpin after a toothless defeat against Terek Grozny in the Premier League and an even more humiliating defeat by Tosno Leningrad Region, a club from the second division, in the Russian Cup.

 

The team’s owner Leonid Fedun complained the title was floating away despite the fact that Karpin had all he had wanted.

 

Sources: http://www.sovsport.ru