Neman buck Belarussian trend
Friday, June 1, 2007
Article summary
FC Neman Grodno have made a surprisingly successful start in the 2007 Belarussian league despite a disorganised pre-season and an extremely tight budget.
Article body
FC Neman Grodno have made a surprisingly successful start in the Belarussian league despite a disorganised pre-season and an extremely tight budget.
Chaotic start
While FC BATE Borisov and FC MTZ-RIPO Minsk's presence at the top of the 2007 table is no surprise, few expected Neman to be among the top teams a few weeks back. Their squad seemed substantially weaker than the one that finished tenth last season, and the campaign started in disarray with no coach being appointed to lead the team until Liudas Rumbutis's appointment in January.
Belarussian experience
The Lithuanian has been based in Belarus since moving from FK Žalgiris Vilnius to join FC Dinamo Minsk. As a player, he won the 1982 Soviet title with Dinamo before retiring in 1986. Since moving into coaching with FC Dinamo Brest in 1987 he has been in charge of local sides FC Smena Minsk, FC Dinamo-93, FC Belshina Bobruisk, FC Molodechno and FC Darida Zhdanovichi.
Long wait
Considering the circumstances of his appointment, the 51-year-old is surprised at how well things are going. "I thought I was among the top candidates for the position but it took the club so long to decide," he said. "We agreed that Neman's ambitions should correspond to our budget which is not that big for Belarus. We didn't expect any serious results for at least two years."
Famous game
While Rumbutis is still urging caution, Neman fans are already dreaming of improving on 2002 when they lost out on the title following a play-off match against BATE. Optimistic Neman player Dmitri Kovalenok said: "Only two of the players from that time are still here, me and Dmitri Rovneiko. The present Neman are no weaker than five years ago and very united too."
Unhappy precedent
Kovalenok, Vyacheslav Yaroslavski, Russian striker Aleksandr Alumona, Brazilian defender Juvenal and Moldovan Oleg Ichim have been the stars of Neman's season so far, but they will be wary of the fate suffered by FC Darida Zhdanovichi in 2006. Under Rumbutis, they were vying for top spot midway through the season only to slump to eighth by the end of the campaign.