Russian Dispatch: Zenit St. Petersburg Coach Anatoly Davydov In Focus

Michael Yokhin shines a light on the Zenit coach's interesting back story...

Oct 30, 2009 2:30:38 PM

Teams

Zenit

Players

Anatoliy Davydov

Imagine Raul thrown out of Real Madrid before he could break Alfredo Di Stefano’s various scoring records, just because the honorary president is feeling jealous. Sounds unthinkable? It is in Madrid, but from the story of Anatoly Davydov, the successful coach of Zenit St. Petersburg, we learn that that sort of perverse thinking can be reality in some places.

Davydov, now 55, was a real legend at Zenit as a defender. He began his career at the club in 1975, helped them win their historic first Soviet title in 1984, and was a loyal servant to the team until 1988. He amassed 370 league games for Zenit at the time, and was very close to breaking the appearance record of Lev Burchalkin, the successful striker at the club in the 50s and 60s.

That certain Burchalkin was an assistant manager at Zenit in 1988, and apparently, despite the team being in a terrible state on its way to the second division, the only thing he could think about was preserving his record. Therefore, at the end of the season, the 33-year-old Davydov was called to coach Stanislav Zavidonov’s office and told he was no longer needed due to his age.

Anatoly tried to explain that he was still in perfect physical condition, but to no avail. Amazingly, he went on to play 10 more years, including stints in Finland and China, and returned to finish a great career at Zenit in 1997. Alongside him in defence played his son, Dmitry Davydov. The veteran added another 15 league matches for the St. Petersburg club, but still came short of the notorious Burchalkin number of 400. But if you ask an average Zenit fan, he is the real champion, while now the deceased Burchalkin is almost forgotten. At least Davydov now possesses the appearance record in all competitions, at 454.

After finally hanging up his boots just before his 44th birthday, making him the oldest-ever Russian player, Davydov was immediately promoted to the coaching ranks, and led Zenit to their first trophy in the Russian era, the cup in 1999. He later made way for bigger international names, but apart from a few unsuccessful stints with lower-division minnows, Davydov remained a servant to his club, and was employed as a coach of the reserve and youth teams.

When Dick Advocaat was sacked in August, due to his pre-contract with Belgium leading to some catastrophic results, Davydov got an unexpected call to replace him on a temporary basis. At first, he was considered a short-term solution, while Zenit tried to lure famous Italians, most notably Roberto Mancini and Luciano Spalletti. But the results under his hard-working and quiet leadership were so impressive, that Zenit decided to make him a permanent coach at the beginning of the month.

Under Davydov, Zenit were eliminated from the Europa League, losing to Portuguese side Nacional Madeira because of a traumatic last-minute equaliser in the second leg, but he more than made up for that heartbreaking loss in the domestic league. Six consecutive wins took them back into the title race, and although that dream is now all but gone after the 2-2 draw with Spartak Nalchik on Saturday, they are firmly on their way to finish third, heading for Champions League qualifiers.

It’s impossible to predict if Davydov will remain at the helm next season. More than anyone in the world of football, he knows that staying loyal and working hard doesn’t necessarily lead to being treated decently. But he must be admired for his career, as a player and coach, and it will be difficult to name a replacement the fans will love more than him.

Michael Yokhin, Goal.com

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