The recent comments from Zarema Salikhova, wife of Spartak’s former owner Leonid Fedun, center on the implications for Guillermo Abascal should the club fail to finish among the top three in the current championship. Salikhova suggests that Abascal’s position at the club would not be in jeopardy solely because of a failure to secure a top-three finish, emphasizing that Metatations remains a key talking point in the broader discussion about the squad and its leadership.
She notes that the mood was dampened after a defeat to Akron in Abaskala, underscoring that such results are unacceptable and cannot be easily forgiven. Her stance is clear: the team must strive not only to reach but to secure a position that reflects their ambitions. The central question, she argues, is how many minutes the players will receive on the field as the season unfolds, a sign of faith in the team’s depth and readiness to compete at the highest level.
Salikhova also weighs in on the potential for reform within Spartak should the club fail to finish in the top three. Her expectation is that there will be no overnight upheaval; instead, there will be an insistence on continuing the long-term project and ongoing hard work, consistent with past practice. The emphasis, as she frames it, is on patience and perseverance, rather than quick fixes.
Abaskal assumed leadership of Spartak at the start of the 2022/23 season and soon extended his contract, with the terms adjusted as the campaign progressed. Under his guidance, the team finished third in the Russian Championship in the previous season, a result that underscored the club’s competitive standing and the expectations that come with it.
At the moment, Spartak has been in the Russian Premier League for 18 weeks and sits in fifth place with 30 points. Krasnodar leads the standings with 38 points at the winter break, while Zenit trails by two points in second place. Dinamo sits third with 32 points, rounding out what has been a tightly contested table.
Spartak returned to action with a match on March 2 after the winter pause, facing St. Petersburg. The next assignment is a match against Zenit in St. Petersburg, a test that will help gauge the team’s trajectory as the season progresses.
There has been a note about prior leadership, with some references to the club’s former Zenit connections. The discussion raises a broader question about who is ultimately responsible for the team’s current standing in the league and how second-placed finishes reflect on the overall strategy for the club.