Penza, 28 March 2016. PenzaNews. The new head coach of the Penza Supreme Hockey League (VHL) hockey club “Diesel” is already chosen, but his name will be announced only after following through with all formalities, including the layoff of Andrei Nikishov who had been responsible for the team’s performance in the 2015-2016 season, the regional Minister of Physical Education and Sports Grigory Kabelsky told PenzaNews on Monday, March 28.

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“The team played poorly, there was a lot of negative emotions for all fans, so we made a decision not to extend the contract with Andrei Nikishov. His year’s term is running out. A new coach will be training the team for the next season,” he said.

As the originally two-year contract will have to be terminated prematurely, Andrei Nikishov will be required to pay out a forfeit penalty, the minister explained without stating its exact amount.

“Why do we need another year of some negative emotions?” Grigory Kabelsky said.

They already reached an agreement with the potential new head coach for “Diesel,” he pointed out.

Also, Grigory Kabelsky said that another priority is to change the “Diesel” club board.

“The club board affairs are its founding body’s prerogative. The founding body is the Ministry of Sports of the Penza region. As its head is a new one now, I think the club board will also be a new one. Some people will stay. Most importantly, there must be people who can provide real help to the club in the new season,” he stressed.

The team will have a number of exact objectives ahead of it for the upcoming season, the minister pointed out.

“To achieve them, we will select trainers, players. The trainer will greatly prioritize the players from Penza. […] There will be more Penza players in the team than right now,” Grigory Kabelsky assured.

Earlier, Andrei Nikishov gave an interview to PenzaNews, where he said his performance had not been evaluated in an unbiased manner right from the start, and expressed hope that he would continue working in the team. Describing the future perspectives for “Diesel,” Andrei Nikishov said that he was going to leave on his own accord if the team performance would remain poor in the upcoming season as well.