2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Amei]

Wait, did I read this correctly? Aliona's new coach will have to buy her out? That makes things super hard and I don't see Eteri taking her back if they have to pay.

What I've gathered is someone will have to pay, my guess is that it would be Kostornaia or someone over Eteri's head making the call to pay up to the Plushenko's, Eteri has 0 need or reason to pay to take back Kostornaia

 

[Magill]

Starbucks logo and we can say she likes her coffee whipped.

And flowered....

 

[nussnacker]

And flowered....

Probably deserves more than flowers on that logo, if she manages to save Aliona from this mess.

 

[Lechat]

Wait, did I read this correctly? Aliona's new coach will have to buy her out? That makes things super hard and I don't see Eteri taking her back if they have to pay.

there’re money issues to free Alena so yes someone has to pay the bill

 

[Fluture]

Wait, did I read this correctly? Aliona's new coach will have to buy her out? That makes things super hard and I don't see Eteri taking her back if they have to pay.

Doesn‘t that essentially mean she‘s trapped? No one‘s going to pay for an injured athlete... Unless Aliona or her parents have the money.

Wow, well done Yana. She might win this one (she almost certainly will) but I wonder if anyone in their right mind would change coaches to AoP after this mess? I know I wouldn‘t.

 

[lopsilceci]

I don't think so.

Plushenko has most of her attention on Sasha now, especially with Alyona's leave. Out of the four/five skaters who switched to Plushenko she's the one who improved the most. She's the one whose technique has gotten better, expression has gotten better, and programs have gotten better.

And I wouldn't say Trusova's skated below her potential everywhere but RusNats. She landed two quads at Stage 2 and 3 at Stage 4 and won easily at both. The only two bad competitions I would say are Rostelecom and Channel One Trophy, and even at Channel One she landed a great 4Lz+3T+1Eu+3S+3T and a 4T. If anything I would say she and Anya performed the same level there, with both downgrading a quad (Anya's probably wasn't called, but it existed) and some weak combos (3Lz+1Lo and 4Lz+1Eu+3S).

Now, with everything that's been happening I wouldn't be surprised if she left, but I still don't find it to be that plausible.

And what do you mean not one of his girls has delivered?

Sofia Muravieva at Junior RusNats? You could even say Sofia Muravieva at Stage 2 (she had one spin that went wrong but everything else was completely clean). Titova at Moscow Qualifiers? Titova at her other local competition (for reference, she got a 191 and she's only junior eligible 2022/23)? Even Shulskaya has done pretty good (not A tier skating but she's been landing everything and doing moderately well in placements).

I think Sasha would succeed under any training environment. From what we know, she doesn't need to be pushed or motivated to work hard, she just does it and enjoys it.

But I agree that she seems satisfied with her current team and Plushenko seems really invested in her.
I don't see her leaving unless she bombs several important competitions or fails to make the Olympic team or something terrible like that.

 

[alexocfp]

Monkey wrench just made an appearance.

Seems like contracts are a thing.

Sometimes in sports, moves don’t work out. And the chemistry doesn’t work.

Plushenko took Kostornaia semi begrudgingly and it looks like she really wasn’t following his instructions. It was a marriage doomed from the start.

Kostornaia yo-yoing between coaches and returning to someone she left certainly doesn’t look to good for her. How long before she tries to leave Eteri again?

The irony of the situation is that she left because she wanted more attention and will return not getting her way. She is negotiating from a position of major weakness.

I’m figuring Eteri isn’t eating any fees to break the contract. The Republic of Eteri isn’t known to make bad business decisions.

 

[Fantik]

The IMO in your comment is the thing, how moving a performance is, is very subjective there are people who are amazed by Shcherbakova's performances just like there are people moved by Kostornaia or any other Russian skater.

Sounds too simplistic to me. There are and always have been few exceptional skaters who stood out even among very good ones. Spectators all over the world couldn't get enough of Toller Cranston, but could care less if they see Trixi Schuba perform ever again

 

[lopsilceci]

Well, she really went all in with that program. But she doesn't have the stamina for it...yet.

The 4T attempt looked better than the last one we saw. And the Lz+Lo combo is back.

This looks like something to build on though going into the next season.

I'm worried about her coaching situation. Snow Leopards don't seem very stable and there seemed to be tension between Ksenia and Panova last season.

I hope everything works out for Ksenia, she has so much potential.

 

[nussnacker]

Wait, did I read this correctly? Aliona's new coach will have to buy her out? That makes things super hard and I don't see Eteri taking her back if they have to pay.

Not her coach, it’s Yana just being nasty.
She made a contract, and now Aliona owes the generous and giving Plushenko money, and someone has to pay. She’s just saying she doesn’t care who does that, Aliona or Eteri, but someone has to.

She also said that since she has a commercial school, if it were her, she would be able to pay that bill. Sounds like freedom came with a hefty price tag.

 

[chasingneverland]

#freeAliona haha

 

[chasingneverland]

Don't misunderstand me, I will be routing for Anna in March! Besides, she has displayed wonders of stability, which is rare at the age of the quards.

Me too! And Sasha and Liza T as well! (And some other favs haha.)

 

[Lechat]

Monkey wrench just made an appearance.

Seems like contracts are a thing.

Sometimes in sports, moves don’t work out. And the chemistry doesn’t work.

Plushenko took Kostornaia semi begrudgingly and it looks like she really wasn’t following his instructions. It was a marriage doomed from the start.

Kostornaia yo-yoing between coaches and returning to someone she left certainly doesn’t look to good for her. How long before she tries to leave Eteri again?

The irony of the situation is that she left because she wanted more attention and will return not getting her way. She is negotiating from a position of major weakness.

I’m figuring Eteri isn’t eating any fees to break the contract. The Republic of Eteri isn’t known to make bad business decisions.

well Alena did a mistake, it’s not for her previous coach to pay for her bad decisions.

 

[Fantik]

Me too! And Sasha and Liza T as well! (And some other favs haha.)

I will be routing for Anna and Yuzuru

​

 

[ruga]

#freeAliona haha

#JeSuisKostornaia

 

[yume]

I'm worried about her coaching situation. Snow Leopards don't seem very stable and there seemed to be tension between Ksenia and Panova last season.

I hope everything works out for Ksenia, she has so much potential.

At this point i'm hoping that she goes to Eteri or CSKA. Panova doesn't have enough political weight. With some politicking, she can fight for a olys/worlds spot.

 

[Amei]

Sounds too simplistic to me. There are and always have been few exceptional skaters who stood out even among very good ones. Spectators all over the world couldn't get enough of Toller Cranston, but could care less if they see Trixi Schuba perform ever again

Depends if you are talking about the athletic skill or artistic performance of what we see. There are possibly some skaters who might have some universal love for their performance, based on what I've seen on this board and comments on video performances neither Shcherbakova or Kostornaia fall in that category

 

[alexocfp]

well Alena did a mistake, it’s not for her previous coach to pay for her bad decisions.

I agree. Plushenko for me isn’t the bad guy for demanding compensation. And Sambo paying to get someone who left them isn’t smart either.

If she leaves and he gets nothing, then everyone else looking to leave will see how easy it is.

 

[Skatesocs]

It's certainly interesting though, I went back to read Flanker's arguments ( ) about contracts, and it says some Russians themselves wanted contacts to be established. What are the opinions now? Also, what clauses protected Kostornaia, and what protected her coaches? Why is Rudkovskaya just demanding payment, what was violated? I do hope Kostornaia can at least get a lawyer, if needed.

 

[Lechat]

Not her coach, it’s Yana just being nasty.
She made a contract, and now Aliona owes the generous and giving Plushenko money, and someone has to pay. She’s just saying she doesn’t care who does that, Aliona or Eteri, but someone has to.

She also said that since she has a commercial school, if it were her, she would be able to pay that bill. Sounds like freedom came with a hefty price tag.

I bet it was for preventing her to leave like she did with Eteri and I can understand since they spent money for her programs

How much does she owe them?
She can take a loan and later pay it off by doing shows and stuff..

It must be a lot of money