Batrakov’s agent called Rotenberg’s arrival in Lokomotiv “the beginning of the end”

The crisis of Lokomotiv Moscow is associated with the arrival last year of Boris Rotenberg Jr. as General Director. This opinion on the YouTube channel “This is football, brother!” was expressed by agent Vladimir Kuzmichev, representing the interests of the former club leader Alexei Batrakov.

Rotenberg became CEO of Lokomotiv in November 2025. The team fails this season, after 14 rounds, it is located in the relegation zone - on the 15th line. Lokomotiv left head coach Mikhail Galaktionov.

“I understood this when the decision to change the CEO was made. On the sidelines, I’ve always said to many journalists, ‘Guys, remember my words, this is the beginning of the end.’ For me, there was a clear understanding that there is no longer a well-coordinated team and a single vector for decision-making. It was obvious that the chairman of the board of directors, the sports director and the head coach see the development of the team in their own way, and the new CEO in their own way, Kuzmichev said.

According to Kuzmichev, all the failures began with this. Step by step it all came to the fact that the team lost several leaders who defined its face. The coach got worried and started to get nervous, because he realized that he didn’t have that fundamental support, and this all affected the quality of the team’s performance, although if we look at the squad, he is not the one who should be in 15th place.

Last season, Lokomotiv took third place in the RPL and won bronze medals. In the summer transfer window, Lokomotiv sold several of the club’s leading players at once, including Batrakov (he left for Galatasaray), Dmitry Vorobyov (Krasnodar) and Artem Karpukas (Zenit).