There was a fairly shocking interview Zhulin gave a couple of weeks ago. (Sorry, I don't have the link or the exact translation). In it, he was talking about how I&K's work ethic wasn't up to par. He then said that he wanted his students to read the interview and draw appropriate conclusions from it (that they should work more, that is).
The thing is, if you value that teacher-student relationship, you do not go talking like that to the media. You sit down and you tell your students what you think; may be you even yell. But you keep it "in the family".
Frankly, after that interview I'd have been extremely surprised if they'd stayed.
At the same time, I am sad to see this relationship desolve; I think they made for a strong trio.
It sounds like Zhulin was trying to avoid being "blamed" for I/K's poor showing. :disapp:
Saving his skin at the expense of his "star" pupils...:think: Yeah, I wouldn't want to be his student if I were I/K.