Pep Clotet has managed teams in several countries in a career spanning 22 years and the Spanish coach said he has no qualms about his move to Russian side Torpedo Moscow despite the country being isolated due to its invasion of Ukraine.
The 45-year-old coach was appointed by Torpedo Moscow last week with the club bottom of the Russian Premier League.
Russian teams have been suspended from European and FIFA competitions since Moscow launched what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine last February, which resulted in several players and coaches leaving the country last year.
But for Clotet, the war had no bearing on his decision to join the club.
“I’m a football coach and for me, football is football. I don’t think of nothing else,” Clotet said after his first match in charge of the club, a 2-1 loss at FC Rostov on Sunday.
“The club confirmed me for the job. I took it because I like the ideas for the future. The rest, for me, I don’t even think about.”
Torpedo Moscow gained promotion to the top flight last season after winning the second division title but the team has struggled this season, winning only two of their 21 games.
The bottom club has only 10 points with relegation a real possibility but Clotet, who previously coached Birmingham City and Brescia, has been brought in with an eye on the future.
“The club shared their vision that they have for the future. The club was very clear that the situation is very difficult at this moment,” Clotet added.
“But they shared with me the vision to grow a team and to put the bases of developing players and developing a team. So, basically it was their idea of what they want for the future.
“Of course, that has more value in me that the situation the team is in at the moment.”
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