Babaev: Gordon Kept His Job Because He's Foreign
Agent Shumi Babaev says Traktor coach Scott Gordon would already be fired if Russian, after five losses in six KHL games to open the season.
Sports agent Shumi Babaev has said Traktor head coach Scott Gordon’s job hangs on his nationality, not his record.
Traktor have lost five of their opening six games of the KHL season under the American coach. Babaev, addressing the Chelyabinsk club's start in comments carried by Sports.ru, said the schedule was no excuse.
"You also have to understand that Traktor's opponents were very serious. On the other hand, I considered Chelyabinsk a serious opponent too, so calling the schedule unlucky is laughable. Traktor are still regarded as one of the KHL's top teams. The way they are playing is to be expected, because the coach needs more time to understand how the game is played in the KHL, and the roster was put together with budget constraints. The results are poor, but I think this is a temporary situation. If it were a Russian coach, I think he would have already been sacked. As an expat, he gets more grace. October will tell. We will see — by the middle of October it will become clear where Traktor are heading," said Babaev.
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