KETSBAIA OUT AS CYPRUS MANAGER

The Cyprus Football Association announced the termination of Timur Ketsbaia as the manager of the Cypriot national team.

The CFA President, Giorgos Koumas released a statement which we’ve translated from the Greek language saying, “Following a conversation I had with the manager of the men’s national team, Mr. Timur Ketsbaia, we exchanged our views on the image of our representation in not only the last two matches, but also before that. Mr. Ketsbaia made himself available to the Federation, in order to make the necessary decisions for the improvement of the competitive performance and the climate of our national team. He suggested that perhaps what which the team needed was a drastic change. We had no doubt that in this difficult time for our national team, that Mr. Ketsbaia would demonstrate professionalism, seriousness, and his proven love for our national team and football in general. His attitude honors him, but to those who know him, it comes as no surprise. Unfortunately, neither Mr. Ketsbaia or the Federation were able to achieve the desired results from this cooperation. We warmly thank Mr. Ketsbaia, and wish him every success, both personally and professionally.”

In a little over two years under the 56 year old Georgian, Cyprus won five matches, drew two, and lost the remaining 13 of the 20 he coached. Those numbers are about on par with most managers in the national team’s history, and are even a little better than his two predecessors, Nikos Kostenoglou and Johan Walem, and about equal to Ran Ben Shimon who was considered a relative success.

A deeper look however, shows why he was so maligned. Of his five wins, three were against teams ranked lower, two against Lithuania, the other against San Marino who as of this writing are ranked last in the entire FIFA rankings. The other two wins were against Greece in his debut in the UEFA Nations League, and an away win in a friendly in Israel. Particularly damning was the fact that Cyprus under him lost all 8 games in their failed bid to qualify for UEFA Euro 2024. There was also embarrassing losses, including twice being blown out by Kosovo, losing 4-0 at home to Norway, and losing at Moldova.

It’s not just the results that made him unpopular, however. The Cypriot national team is familiar with being roughed up by their fellow European national teams. The losing in itself is not unheard of. What really made Ketsbaia quickly draw the ire of those who follow the Cypriot national team was the style of play being exhibited. Even when playing against teams Cyprus were evenly matched against, he played very conservatively, failing to play to the team’s strengths. While the midfield and goalkeeping have varied, Cyprus has a history of struggling to produce good defenders, but being adept at producing good forwards. A lot of Cyprus’s rare successes have been a result of allowing those forwards shine. Ketsbaia seemed more content to play negative regardless of opponent, often playing players out of position to do so.

Ketsbaia also seemed to enjoy making excuses after losses, complaining about all the challenges the national team faces, and indirectly about the quality of players at his disposal. Player morale never seemed high under Ketsbaia. Ketsbaia is an Anorthosis legend as both a player and a manager, and he called up a fair amount of Anorthosis players, especially given Anorthosis’

current situation. This was no longer a tenable situation for any of the parties involved. No replacement has been named. Cyprus next play on the 12th of October at home to Romania in the UEFA Nations League in Larnaca, allowing the CFA a decent amount of time to weigh their options.

By Andrew Mantzas

Twitter: @MantzasNC