END OF VOGTS' ERA

After six years at the helm of the Azerbaijani national side Berti Vogts seems to be pondering a return to his motherland. In one of the latest interview with the German mass media he talked about poor relations with local coaches and said that he may quit the head coach position by the end of the year. "I have poor relations with club coaches in Azerbaijan. During my last meeting they voiced their resentment. They accused me of working with a German ruthlessness. Therefore, I left the gathering," Vogts said.

Even before this, Elxan Mammadov, AFFA's general secretary, said that no new contract will be signed with Berti Vogts. He said that the national side will play three matches by the end of the year and then members of the AFFA Executive Committee will discuss new head coach candidates.

Vogts believes that the main reason for the refusal to prolong the contract that will expire at the end of the year is the incapacity of clubs to achieve success: "People watch the Champions' League on TV and think that it is not so difficult to play there. But when Azerbaijani clubs are unsuccessful it is difficult to do something with the national side. Currently, just one Azerbaijani club continues to play in the European competitions.

Do I really have to apologize for losing 0:2 to Portugal? I hope that we are not defeated in the next matches by a greater margin. It is difficult to achieve anything when training just an hour a day".

AFFA already realizes how useless is Vogts for Azerbaijani football and considers replacing him. It will hardly be a foreigner who will take his place, since neither Brazilian Carlos Torres, nor German Berti Vogts attained any serious results. There are many good coaches in Azerbaijan, but not all of them can be viewed as candidates. Many have already worked with the national team and did not live up to expectations. Proceeding from this we chose the three most realistic candidates for the post of the Azerbaijani national team's head coach.

Qurban Qurbanov - most likely candidate

The head coach of Karabakh, Qurban Qurbanov, is considered the most likely candidate for the national team. The coach of the Agdam-based club has for a long time been the leader of the national team and still remains its top scorer.

In his first season as a coach Qurbanov won with Neftchi silver medals in the Azerbaijani championship. It was with Qurbanov as coach that Karabakh scored a number of victories in European competitions. Twice Karabakh reached the Europa League play-offs, losing in the first season to Twente from the Netherlands and then to Borussia Dortmund. Young Maksim Medvedev, Afran Ismayilov, Rauf Aliyev and Qara Qarayev became professional footballers under his tutelage in Karabakh. 

The role of Qurban Qurbanov in Karabakh's success, given its small budget, is indisputable. Thanks to the coach's tactical choice, the Agdam footballers always fight till the end, not giving up even in the face of a defeat. If chosen as the national team's coach Qurban Qurbanov may continue his work in Karabakh. In this case this club may become the base where the backbone of the national side will be concentrated.

Boyukaga Haciyev - preacher of attacking football

Although the former Neftchi coach is currently unemployed, this is unlikely to be the case for long. The best period in the career of Haciyev, who once led the Baku club to gold medals, was during his work in Neftchi, where he twice won the national championship and once the cup of Azerbaijan. It was Boyukaga Haciyev who made history of the Azerbaijani football by taking Neftchi into the group stage of the Europa League.

The hot-tempered and straightforward coach is a favourite with the press, because interesting remarks can be found in each of his statements or interviews.

Haciyev is also liked for being the man of his word. He believes that along with knowledge and skill a specialist has to possess  courage. He announced that he will quit in advance: "If we fail to defeat Skenderbeu, I will resign". He kept his word.

Under his guidance Neftchi gave up on "cautious" football and began playing an attacking game. First Bahadur Nasimov and then Nicolas Canales from Neftchi became the top scorers in Azerbaijan. Boyukaga Haciyev urged his team not to fear the opponent, to attack relentlessly. It is no secret for anybody that matches with Xazar Lankaran were special for Neftchi. And it was with Haciyev that Neftchi scored a historic victory, 5:0.

With Boyukaga Haciyev the national side will very soon transform, eschew the defensive style of Vogts and play an attacking game. 

With Nazim Suleymanov the team will fight till the end

Nazim Suleymanov already works in the national team as an aide to Berti Vogts. Suleymanov was one of the few talented Azerbaijani footballers known across the CIS. The most successful years of his career are related to the Russian championship. With Alaniya in 1996 he became the Russian champion, Nazim Suleymanov also became the top scorer in Russia. Later this gifted footballer played for Spartak Moscow and Zhemchuzhina Sochi.

As a coach, Suleymanov attained success with the low-budget AZAL club, winning a chance to play in European competitions. Two months ago AFFA hurriedly formed a team of servicemen and tasked Suleymanov with leading it. After just 10 training sessions Suleymanov managed to build good relations with the team. As a result, during the World Cup among servicemen, held in Baku, the Azerbaijani team came fourth.

Suleymanov has great personal qualities and enjoys a lot of authority among footballers. If appointed to the national side, he will bring his manner of play and his team will fight till the very end.

Indeed, we have plenty of good coaches who merit leading the national side. However, we did not include all names in the list, considering that some of them have "frosty" relations with the AFFA management, as well as the lack of success of those who already worked with the national team.

The contract with Berti Vogts expires on 30 December. In January a new head coach will have to assume this function.