Manager Biographies - Gavriil Kachalin |
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| Автор: Стас |
| 08.01.2009 23:10 |
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Gavriil Kachalin led the USSR national team to its greatest achievements. Victory in the 1956 Olympic tournament and winning the European Championships in 1960 was undoubtedly the most successful era in the history of Soviet football. He also won the 1964 Soviet Top League as the coach of FC Dinamo Tbilisi. In short, it was Gavriil Kachalin's time.
Gavriil Kachalin was a romantic. It was a pleasure to talk to him about football. He loved to dream, so much so that his interviewers would start to believe in his dreams too. He was a democrat, and he was also a man of principle. This was reflected in his temperament as both a manager and as a central midfielder for Dynamo Moscow. 
He was a patriot of his own club, but he also embraced other new and interesting styles of play at other clubs. On several occasions he gave glowing references to the style of the CSKA Moscow in the 40s and Spartak Moscow in the 50s. Gavriil once commented “that faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead". This was reflected by his brave decisions to bring young players into his teams. He was very successful at finding unknown but talented players and turning them into great players. For example, in 1956 he discovered the outstanding wingback Mikhail Ogon'kov playing for the reserves of Spartak Moscow and before long he was playing for the national team! There were many other examples similar to this, all of which demonstrate both his excellent knowledge football and willingness to take risks on unknown players. These were the types of qualities that won over the hearts of his players. On top of these attributes, Gavriil Kachalin was a very practical minded man. There is no denying that he had the ability to form a team of players, who despite not being necessarily the absolute best, could be the best come match day. He could reasonably compare player's merits with their weaknesses and use this comparison to decide who would be best suited to the forthcoming game. This explains why he often chose ‘sensational’ teams for matches by leaving out the so called bigger ‘stars’ of the squad. Though these were always seen as sensational decisions amongst the fans they were decisions for which he had the man management skills to deal with very delicately for the players. He was always prepared to have a heart-to-heart talk with his players. The fact that he did not like to give people a sense of false hope and also that he was never overcautious were two of his trump cards. He would also always maintain an air of independence when dealing with the board in order to protect his players and their best interests. To work with Kachalin was a great pleasure for both his bosses and his subordinates. There were of course, though, situations when he dismissed players from the team for their faults. But he would so without any noise or fuss. Nobody would ever hear him screaming or threatening individuals to make his point. G.D. Kachalin didn’t like to advertise himself. He preferred to stand back from the media limelight and journalists. He would always gives his answers as concisely and in as little words as possible. He did not like to use over complex terminology. Gavriil Kachalin would tell things in a simple and understandable manner unlike most of the other coaches. Quite probably, he was the only coach who was above of all of the personal vendettas and club politics. He liked to make independent judgments and for that reason he was, and still is, very respected by other coaches. There was a time when many people in the game, probably envious of his success, were claiming that Kachalin's coaching methods were only suited to the national team. They said that Kachalin could only succeed with the skilful players at his disposal for the national team but he was unable to nurture his own stars or lead a team in season long league tournaments. The 1964 season, however, saw Kachalin prove his critics wrong when he guided FC Dinamo Tbilisi to the Soviet Top League title. He took an unbalanced team and by instilling a new found confidence in the players he grew a new team of stars from the young Georgian players. The next season, though, he left the coaching post just like he had done with the national team after their success. He made the decision because he said he needed to give his nerves a break from such a stressful job. Although Gavriil Kachalin had great will power, he had always warned about his leaving long before. It seems he always liked to leave his teams when they were at the top. It is often said that Kachalin was less original than B.A. Arkad'ev, did not have the temperament of K.I. Beskov, was not as cunning as M.I. Yakushin or not as enigmatic as V.A. Maslov. But he was more focused and possessed more of the qualities needed to win than anyone of these other great coaches. His personality was such that he was able to unite a football team or nation and all its staff, from the players to the club officials, and fans. He was a winner. The manager of national team - it was the rightful place of G.D. Kachalin. Due to his international triumphs Kachalin is the one true persona grata of all the soviet coaches. His stature is above that of any other. Discuss this article here |