Interview of Sumgait President Riad Rafiyev to Futbolxeber.az
- Your team won 4:1 over Sabail in the last round of the championship. How do you evaluate the season that has ended for Sumgait?
- It was a terrible season for Sumgait. We must say this frankly. We will finish the season in a place that does not suit our club. It does not matter, whether it is 8th place or 9th. Our goals at the beginning of the season were completely different. Therefore, I hope that the next season will be much more successful.
- What was missing?
- There were many reasons. We know them. I would not like to talk about it in detail now. I hope that next season we will avoid those mistakes.
- To what extent did the unplanned change of head coach at the beginning of the season have an impact on the failure?
- Of course, this factor had a great impact.
- What's new about the appointment of the head coach?
- There is no news at the moment. We are not in a hurry. There is a lot of time for the next season. There is no place to rush.
- But we can't be late either...
- No, we will not be late. There is still time. There will be an official statement regarding the head coach issue soon.
- Local or foreign?
- It could be both.
- If we take it in percentage terms, to what extent will the Sumgait squad change in the new season?
- I can't say in percentage terms, but of course there will be changes. Unequivocally.
- Have negotiations already started with leading players whose contracts are expiring, or are you waiting for the appointment of a new head coach?
- There are players with whom there is no need to wait for an appointment to extend their contracts. We must say this openly. There are players who we want to leave or stay in the team.
- Are there any players among those you want to stay with who you have agreed to?
- There are some we have agreed on, some we have negotiated with, and some we have not talked about at all. Some of them have had a very poor season this year. They will not remain in the team.
- If we ask, you probably won't reveal their names...
- It would be wrong for me to reveal their names.
- The names of some Sumgayit players are regularly exchanged with other clubs. In general, have you received any official offers for any players recently?
- Yes, there have been. But I wouldn't like to name which club and which player.
- The result?
- We have not agreed.
- It is said that AFFA will deduct half a million from the 3 million manats allocated by the state to each club. What is your attitude to this?
- There are such rumors, we hear them. However, so far, AFFA has not provided any official information about this. If this really happens, it will be a huge blow for us. We would not want this to happen. We hope that the amount will remain the same as in the past season.
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