I think it's actually a formality thing. If they should not make a big announcement before May when the transfers are allowed officially then this kind of comment is totally in line with the rules. I hope their decision to switch is permanent. Let's wait and see. And losing the team is not the end of the world. If Federation aims Olympic medals it should allow them have the best coaches they can get to grow and win.Hmm, that comment comes from the ice rink director, so maybe they aren`t ready yet to admit that they lost another top team?
From Elena`s interview it sounds like they want to make radical changes and in the end it`s their decision.
Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin
- Thread starter OrdinaryDreamer
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- Apr 18, 2014
Or it could be like whatever deal she had with the Estonians where she was listed as their coach but she hardly spent any time with them. I believe for administrative, Sinitsina and Katsalapov are listed under Mozer's group so they probably may be listed under Kustarova's group for admin purposes.
Honestly, I just think there aren't any magicians in ice dance. There's no one perfect solution that will make everything work that hasn't worked before. You could make an argument that Krylova's students are struggling as well. Montreal is overcrowded and there are already complaints that all the pairs from there look the same. Zhulin has a top Russian team and his record isn't without clunker programs and bad decisions either. Svinin/Zhuk train direct rivals and have an 80ies aesthetic that I don't see as a good fit for Elena and Ruslan. Platov was suggested and perhaps he would be a good idea, but he hasn't got a proven track record with top students and tech for Kerrs and C/B wasn't always working either, far as I remember (though it's perhaps understandable, since they aren't top talent skaters). And Elena knows Fabian and Igor, I'm sure that was a driving factor in the decision as well.
Though yeah, some of Igor's teams are even struggling a bit with TES this season. Which doesn't mean he's an incompetent hack or anything, just probably that the judging system is constantly evolving and there's no magic formula to acing the system.
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- Feb 17, 2010
I think so,too. Otherwise, other skaters could start complaining why they are allowed to switch coaches,whereas others have to wait until May. I know, that Julia was allowed to switch coaches in the middle of the season, but I think that was rather the exception.
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- Feb 26, 2014
Whatever the final decision, right now they can't make the move official. I suppose funds are/will be part of that decision also. I guess we'll see in May bu I agree with you, they need to make this permanent. Just 3 months abroad will not do.
As for Igor, I never loved the man. However, I think he is clever, hard worker, ambitious and with power. He can help them a lot on different aspects such as: solidity, discipline, put some restrains when needed,
protect them from the media and some so-called experts in Russia, build a good strategy for them. Fabian working with them makes me hope for better, from an artistic point of view. So, right now I think he is their best choice. In an ideal world I would choose Platov but ahimè he is not "fashionable" enough.
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- Feb 26, 2014
Yes, Yulia was the exception and it was also possible because adidas took all the expenses and not just for 3 months.
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- Feb 17, 2010
Good points. P/I had problems with their levels during the GP season and they are working with the new IT coaches in Montreal. Chock/Bates had a great FD and posted even a PB at 4CC. I think their problems were more due to the constant changes done to their programs.
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- Feb 17, 2010
Did Elena mention it`s only for 3 months? Seems a little strange.
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- Apr 18, 2014
If I remember correctly though, Monko and Khaliavin moved to Zhulin in February of 2012 and it was pretty official too
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- Feb 17, 2010
Whatever the final decision, right now they can't make the move official. I suppose funds are/will be part of that decision also. I guess we'll see in May bu I agree with you, they need to make this permanent. Just 3 months abroad will not do.
As for Igor, I never loved the man. However, I think he is clever, hard worker, ambitious and with power. He can help them a lot on different aspects such as: solidity, discipline, put some restrains when needed,
In an ideal world I would choose Platov but ahimè he is not "fashionable" enough.
Shpilband seems to work very result-oriented. It`s a question if this fits Elena and Ruslan. Kostner for example didn`t like the American method of working and went back to Huth after one year in the US.
Kostner was homesick, she felt lost in L.A.. It's true that she also didn't want to do full runthroughs of her programs, but I think if she'd felt more comfortable there she'd probably tried harder to do what was expected from her.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2011
Whatever the final decision, right now they can't make the move official. I suppose funds are/will be part of that decision also. I guess we'll see in May bu I agree with you, they need to make this permanent. Just 3 months abroad will not do.
As for Igor, I never loved the man. However, I think he is clever, hard worker, ambitious and with power. He can help them a lot on different aspects such as: solidity, discipline, put some restrains when needed,
In an ideal world I would choose Platov but ahimè he is not "fashionable" enough.
Yeah like you I have never been Igor's biggest fan, but at this point, unfortunately since I really do like Kurustova, I think they really HAVE to make a change and that, given that, he is probably the best of the realistic options. As you say he is clever, he has power, and he is also intimately familiar with the technical aspects of the sport. While I agree with others his teams have 'struggled' this year, let's examine what that actually means: Chock and Bates just got 2nd at 4CC's and have the 5th highest season's best score. Relative to their potential both Coomes and Buckland and Tobias and Tkachenko did very well at Euros and they are 12 and 15 on the season's best list respectively- Tobias and Tkachenko in their first season together. Overall, relative to their potential all of his teams but Chock and Bates are pretty much doing the absolute best they can, and frankly I'm not convinced Chock and Bate's problems have much to do with Igor. The way his teams all maximize their potential isn't a coincidence. I do think it's partly simply because he does have power, but sometimes if you can't beat them you have to join them.
I also think as someone else said that he is VERY proactive when things are not going as well as they could be about just changing things, and that could be what Ruslan and Elena need at this point- someone willing to talk honestly with them when something isn't working and say 'I know you like it and had a vision, but I have a vision of how you could get 10 more points out of this routine so let's at least explore this idea, shall we?'
I do unfortunately anticipate their programs will be less unique and exciting now, but as I already said Fabian can probably help somewhat with that, and honestly, even if they have a season of boring programs to establish themselves as World medal contenders, that's okay with me at this point. I would hate to see that happen to them for the rest of their career (even if they were winning medals) but if they need to smile and do something boring next year to get huge scores then honestly maybe they just need to suck it up and do that, and once they actually have broken through and are established they can have more creative freedom.
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- Feb 26, 2014
No, I don't think she said so but as I said there some important issues which are not clear yet. They are not said loud and clear, so to speak. They say they have found a sponsor, but for how long and for what? Are they going to pay everything? Is it for next season as well or just to help them for now and maybe pay for the new programs only. So, I think we will know better in May, only. There could be also the possibility that they want to do a C&L kind of thing, as psussane suggested. For me that's not good enough but whatever.
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- Dec 21, 2011
I think it is VERY possible that once they are able to apply to officially change coaches, the Russian federation would at that point be willing to pay for them to stay with Igor or at least give them significant help toward doing so so that they would not need to find as much sponsor money, as they have done for Nikita and Victoria. The issue right now as I understand it is that the money is given by the federation at the beginning of the training season (May or June) to the skater's coach/group for the whole year. So there literally just is not money for the federation to give them to do this right now- they have essentially already paid their expenses through May, but only with Kurustova if that makes sense. I think if things go well with Igor they could probably apply for a coaching change and receive money from the Fed toward this at that time.
I suggested in the other thread that you could make a rather direct comparison about "crisis management" between Kustarova and Shpilband. The parallels are rather striking IMO: Both their top teams are/were struggling this season. Both had SDs that didn't find favour with judges. Both had FDs originally done by Najarro. Kustarova changed very little even once it became clear during the GP season that the programs weren't perhaps getting the reactions from the judges they desired. Igor OTOH has been furiously trying to change and improve things once he noticed that there are issues. He gave C/B a new SD. He's been hammering away at that FD all season, and to some he may have "bled it of all soul" or something and made it into a typical Shpilband piece, but they got a very high score for it at 4CC. Still not what they need and not ideal, but by heavens he's giving it his all to keep them in contention.
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I have to disagree. From what I see lately in Dance field- great choreo helps the team lift their success to a totally different level. Current top field all have great skills but only Shibs seem to shine through and gain more power throughout the season. Papadakis/Cizeron have their unigue style that brings them up so high. As per other teams- I am not so sure. And knowing Elena- she has such a personality that I would totally hate to see her wear a false smile for a square routine. TES and Levels are very important but for them choreo is same important to be spotted out from the huge crowd of talents and be remebered and get the attention to what they do. They need that attention, they need people talking about them. This does not mean that they should say no to Igor's suggestions, no, but I wish they have a fantastic music and great choreo too. Not boring pretty please.
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- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
I hope the first thing Shpilband is going to change is their twizzle sequence. It was just annoying to see how that change of edge prevented them to get a GOE higher than 1 or 2. They are actually amazing twizzlers, but their twizzles were constructed in a way, that was no way for the judges to give them a GOE of +3.
And I pray for new great lifts.
