Speedy exit for Kaunas's Kurnev

Lithuanian champions FBK Kaunas are top of the nascent A Lyga table despite parting ways with Belarussian coach Vladimir Kurnev after just three games.

Swift dismissal
Two wins and a draw from the first three games of a season might seem like a decent return for a new coach but not for Kurnev who has found himself dismissed in record time at Kaunas, with club owner Vladimir Romanov seemingly adopting a similar hiring and firing policy at the Lithuanian club as he does with his Scottish side Heart of Midlothian FC. Since 2005, Kaunas have been through seven coaches, the latest being 42-year-old Bulgarian Angel Chervenkov who had been part of the coaching staff at PFC CSKA Sofia since 2003. Romanov has high hopes for his new appointment, saying: "From 2003 there were a lot of coaching changes at CSKA but Chervenkov always stayed. This proves he's a great specialist."

Useful skill
That ability to avoid dismissal may serve Chervenkov well as he becomes the first Bulgarian coach to take charge of a Lithuanian club. He has already said he thinks his new players are capable but lack tactical guidance. In that respect, his views may not be too far removed from the vast majority of local coaches in Lithuania. While Kurnev's dismissal was unusually swift, his abilities had been widely questioned after his side laboured to achieve results against low-rated opposition in the first three games of the season. In defence, they were regarded as suspect, and the coach - who was appointed along with his assistant Yevgeny Ryabov in February - said after one game: "My team were awful."

Right paperwork
To make matters more complicated, Kurnev never got the correct paperwork to work as a coach in Lithuania. During his time in charge, goalkeeping coach Arturas Ramoška was officially in charge, and a similar situation exists at FK Silute and KFK Šiauliai. Silute are officially led by Svajunas Česnulis, but in practice Darius Gvildis is in charge. Gvildis was invited to take up a post on Kaunas's training staff before joining Silute, whose players are largely loaned from the champions. Meanwhile, Ritis Tavoras is officially in charge at Šiauliai, with real coach Darius Magdišauskas unable to get the necessary paperwork quickly enough after returning from a spell in Sweden.