The latest transfers (and something that you never heard before)

By: Alexander | August 31st, 2009

Zenit have signed Serbian forward Mateja Kezman on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, – for free with a purchase option in the future. Kezman (born in 1979) moved from Partizan to PSV Eindhoven for €10.5 million in 2000. He scored 105 goals in 122 games over four seasons at PSV; and was a part of multi-million wholesale purchase by Abramovich in 2004, – Chelsea signed him for £5.3 million at the same time with Drogba, Cech, Robben, Carvalho and P.Ferreira. However, Kezman failed to make an impact with Chelsea, and left for Atletico Madrid after just one season. Then he was transferred to Fenerbahce (and won the Turkish League in the club’s centennial year); then in August, 2008 joined French side PSG.
Kezman managed 17 goals in 49 caps for Serbia and Montenegro, but never played for independent Serbia.

The problem is in the Russian league’s limit on foreign players: only 6 foreigners are allowed on the pitch at the same time. Considering that in starting line-up we have 3 foreign defenders (Lombaerts, Meira, Kim Donjin), and all our 3 forwards are foreigners, it would be a hard competition for the playing time between: strikers Tekke (Turkey), Kezman (Serbia), Kornilenko (Belorussia); midfielders Rosina (Italy), Huszti (Hungary), Sirl (Chezh) and long-term injured Danni (Portugal); defenders Krizanac (Croatia), Gubocan (Slovakia); keeper Contofalski (Slovakia).

But enough about all that. There is another, much more interesting topic at the moment: few days ago Zenit have also signed attacking midfielder Bystrov from Spartak. He is Russian national team right winger, he is from St. Petersburg and he played for Zenit from 2002 till 2005. Everyone in St.Pete remembers that wonderful team coached by Yuri Morozov (and then by Vlastimil Petrzela), with Kerjakov, Arshavin, Radimov, Spivak, Gorshkov, Kobelev.. and Bystrov too.
However, in summer 2005 Bystrov joined archrival side Spartak Moscow, – and since that moment he has been the most abominable, hated, detested football player in Petersburg. Immediately after joining Spartak he started to make declarations of love to this disgusting red-white side, started scoring goals and his usual diving for fouls and cards in games against Zenit, kissing his spartak tshirt after all that stuff, and so on.
Spartak are called ‘pigs’ in Russia, so Bystrov’s nickname in Petersburg is Bystrov-piggy (I’m not sure about English, but in Russian language it sounds pretty rude when you are called a ‘pig’).

And now FC Zenit management makes this inexplicable, incomprehensible decision to ‘return him home’. The intention to buy Bystrov (for unbelivable €15 millions) was announced just before the game against Nacional in Europa league. And see the immediate response of Zenit fans:

it says ‘No place for pigs here’, with first letter as a logo of Spartak Moscow

‘Die, whore!’

‘Bystrov, f*** off’

‘Signing Bystrov is spitting into our souls’

‘It’s not a pigsty here’

‘moscow pig, stay back at your spartak’

I do not understand this management’s decision too, and I hardly can accept it. To weaken Spartak side? – OK, but paying for that 15 million euro? Ridiculous.
And then there was yesterday’s game at Khimki – and Bystrov in starting line-up. And he played well, he is rather classy player – of course I admit it. And he even scored the second, and assisted in the fourth own-goal (we won 4:0). But all his touches of the ball were accompanied by booing and whistling of thousands of Zenit fans (there were more than 3000 of them in Khimki yesterday).

I have never heard about the situation when the player of your beloved team scores a goal, but you personally watching tv at home, and thousands of fans at the stadium, are feeling loathing and disgust. And I wish you’ll never feel the same in your life – it’s a terrible emotion.

Of course, there are bunch of people in the city who welcomed this transfer, but the majority of Zenit fans will have to live with this now. I love my club, I am fan of the club, and it must be nothing about my attitude to certain players, of course. But this particular situation is just another one thing which demostrates the attitude of the current Zenit’s management to the supporters.
I love my club, but I don’t like the current management – absolutely unprofessional and having no idea about what is it – to love and to support Zenit. They are just managers (pretty incompetent in football) hired by Gazprom. They would better sell gas, oil or whatever they sell; but they shouldn’t manage such club as Zenit St. Petersburg.

As for results, we played 1:1 against Portugal side Nacional (missing around a dozen of 90% chances and receiving a set-piece goal in the last minute, as it always happens), and now we are out of 2009-2010 European season. And I’m not sure yet about the next, 2010-11 season – we are 6th in Russian league now, with 10 games to play:
1. Rubin (Kazan) 43
2. Spartak (Moscow) 39
3. Moskva (Moscow) 34
4. CSKA (Moscow) 33
5. Lokomotiv (Moscow) 32
6. Zenit 31.