Montenegro’s Bozovic named coach of struggling Amkar

Posted Friday, September 30, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

Montenegro’s Miodrag Bozovic was named coach of struggling Russian Premier League side Amkar Perm on Thursday, returning to the Ural-based club after a three-year absence.

The 43-year-old replaces Rashid Rakhimov, who was sacked on Wednesday following a winless 10-game streak that dropped the team to 13th place.

Amkar just escaped relegation after finishing third from the bottom last year but decided to drop out of the top flight because of mounting debt before changing their mind a few weeks later.

They received a lifeline from Russian soccer chiefs and were allowed to remain in the Premier League but after a promising start to the season their struggles continued.

In 2008, Bozovic led unfashionable Amkar to a fourth-place finish and the Russian Cup final before being named coach of FK Moscow. But that club was liquidated before the 2010 season after its main sponsor Norilsk Nickel withdrew its financing.

He was appointed coach of Dynamo Moscow in April 2010 but was sacked 12 months later after they were knocked out of the Russian Cup quarter-finals by lowly Rostov.

It was the second coaching change in Russia’s top flight in 24 hours and the fourth in the last 10 days, with big spenders Anzhi Makhachkala, Chechen club Terek Grozny and Siberian side Tom Tomsk also taking a new direction.