Взлет "Жетысу" и падение "Тобола"

Zhetysu’s Rise and Tobol’s Fall

Winning your maiden league title is a feat of ingenuity and perseverance. Some would say that breaking the duck releases the shackles of pursuing success and makes future victories a whole lot simpler – however in truth maintaining success and attempting to retain trophies simply adds further weight upon the shoulders of a football club. As Kazakhstan league holders FK Tobol are finding out, maintaining success is not as easy as it looks.

Since the turn of the century FK Tobol were widely regarded as Kazakhstan’s ‘nearly club’ – the side who for so long had competed for the league title and had yet fallen short on numerous occasions. Over the past 10 seasons the club have finished in the top 4 a total of 8 times – including finishing runners up 4 times – in a manner that had left the club’s supporters wondering if the day would ever come when Tobol would finally lift the coveted trophy. The decade long wait on the periphery of success proved to be worth it, however, as Tobol pipped FK Aktobe to the post in an intensely fought Championship play off group – which was decided by a solitary point.

FK Tobol’s league success was thought to have sent the team to the very fore of Kazakh football – with the real possibility of dislodging perennial league champions Aktobe from the perch upon which they had sat for the past 5 seasons. However the hope and optimism for the coming season has been almost instantly been eroded away by a string of poor results which have left the league champions languishing towards the foot of the table – with only 2 victories in their opening 6 matches.

The season may remain in its infancy but there is real concern etched on the furrowed brows of those associated with the club. The nature and setup of the Kazakhstan Premier League means that dips in form can go greatly punished. This is due to the fact that after 22 matches the league is split in half – with 6 teams falling into a relegation group, while the top 6 form a championship group. The split – accompanied by the fact that a team’s points total in the initial league structure rolls over into the consequent championship and relegation groups – ultimately means that if clubs with aspirations of winning the league struggle to pick up points against weaker relegation threatened opponents then they will simply be out of the running for the title before it’s even begun. It is because of this that FK Tobol have cause for concern as the club’s coach Ravil Sabitov struggles to resurrect the form and swagger that saw the club break their league championship jinx.