Olympic champion, volleyball player from Kazan “Zenith” Maxim Mikhailov told he was a little surprised by the nomination Vladimir Alekno at the Zenit in St. Petersburg, as the coach had recently enjoyed his vacation and had no plans to return to the sport.
Alekno signed a two-year contract with Zenit. In 2012, Mikhailov, as a member of the Russian national team coached by Alekno, won the Games in London.
— Do you think he misses volleyball?
“Only he knows, but everyone is really happy that such a great man will come back and compete again, fight with his new team for the high places.
— Will his team be able to compete for the championship?
— I think Zenit, with or without him, is one of the main favorites. With Vladimir Romanovich, the team has even more opportunities.
— Is three years without volleyball a long time for a coach to lose his skills?
— Vladimir Romanovich, I think, was not completely devoid of volleyball, because he probably watched volleyball on TV and attended matches. He has had a lot of time to imagine new developments and now bring them to life. If a person has played volleyball their whole life, three years is not a long time.
— Did you communicate with him during this period?
— I spoke several times, everything was going well for him, he enjoyed his vacation. At that time, there was no question of leading a team.
— When the news became official, were you surprised?
— I’m a little surprised, because the last time we spoke, there were no prerequisites for a person to be looking for a team and wanting to return to sports. He lived a happy life and enjoyed everything. Apparently he received a very good offer, since he accepted,” Mikhailov told .
Alekno led the Russian national team three times – from 2007 to 2008, from 2011 to 2012 and from 2015 to 2016. The specialist spent most of his coaching career at Zenit Kazan (2008-2021). Alekno’s last job was with the Iranian national team, with which he took ninth place at the Tokyo Olympics. In August 2021, the specialist took a break from his career.
Zenit St. Petersburg took sixth place in the Super League last season.
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Source : MatchTV
I’m John White and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. My specialty is covering sports news, which I’ve been doing for over 6 years now. During this time, I have worked as an author with Athletistic, a popular online news website focusing on sports topics.
