By Igor Leshin
Victor Goncharenko, 36, had managed BATE since November 2007, winning the Belarusian Championship four times. This season, the Borisov squad currently leads the national championship and has every chance to become Belarus’ champions for the 10th time. During Goncharenko’s tenure, BATE successfully performed on the European arena — playing against the best teams in Champions’ League and Europa League.
At Kuban, Mr. Goncharenko will be assisted by another Belarusian trainer, Vadim Skripchenko, (who aided Victor at BATE). Until recently, Mr. Skripchenko had led Minsk FC. BATE’s new coach is Goncharenko’s former assistant, Alexander Yermakovich, (38), a five times Belarus’ champion as a BATE player before joining the team’s coaching staff in 2009.
Anatoly Kapsky, the BATE General Director, commented on Mr. Goncharenko’s transfer, “Victor had personally told me about Kuban’s interest. He met the Chairman of the Krasnodar club’s Board of Directors, Oleg Mkrtchan, and later, we discussed the proposal with the latter. Our talk was not easy as Victor wished to complete his work for BATE. However, the huge interest on the part of Kuban’s Head yielded fruit and Mr. Mkrtchan convinced me eventually. I understood that all sides would benefit if Mr. Goncharenko moved to Krasnodar just now. Kuban’s proposal was not a surprise for me. In recent times, Victor received many proposals of this kind and I knew of each of them. He believed it was his obligation to inform me on all proposals.”
Mr. Goncharenko has signed a 4 and a half year contract with Kuban. This season, the Krasnodar team (that includes the Belarusian defender — Maxim Zhavnerchik) is in 10th place among the 16 squads of the Russian Premier League, having earned 14 points from 12 matches. Currently, Kuban is, for the first time, taking part in the Europa League’s Group Stage — with no success so far.
The Belarusian coaching duo will debut on October 20th in an away match against Dinamo Moscow as part of the Russian Championship’s 13th round.
