Nazarov on Why Foreign Coaches Struggle in the KHL

Andrei Nazarov, formerly head coach of several Fonbet KHL clubs, has offered his view on why foreign coaches so often struggle in the league.

Nazarov started with the season itself. He rates the current regular campaign as competitive, with the Eastern Conference sharper than the Western, and said a third straight Gagarin Cup for Lokomotiv looks unlikely given how evenly matched the clubs are.

"The current KHL regular championship is turning out to be interesting. Of course, the competition and intensity in the Eastern Conference is a bit stronger than in the Western, and there are a lot of unexpected results. But it's already clear that it will be very difficult for Lokomotiv to win the Gagarin Cup for a third year running. Everyone is capable of beating everyone, and practically every club is showing a very serious attitude. All the better for the league's development and its international standing. I see that journalists are starting to raise questions about foreign coaches. You know, if someone has come from North America to work in Russia, that shouldn't be treated as a guarantee of success. Those Russians who spent a long time playing in the United States or Canada know very well that people over there have a completely different mentality and outlook on life. Foreign specialists, if things aren't going well in the first 10 rounds, start undermining the team and looking for people to blame around them. Notice that many of the managers who regularly bring in coaches from abroad either never played over there themselves or played very little. They're not familiar with the key nuances, and some don't even know English. That's exactly why only a handful of North American coaches settle in and get results in Russia," Nazarov said.