Valery Gazzayev has resigned as Russia coach after a lacklustre 2-1 home defeat by Israel, a spokesman for the Russian Football Union (RFU) said today.
Gazzayev, under heavy pressure from media and fans to quit after a string of poor results, spoke with RFU president Vyacheslav Koloskov after blasting his team for a 'disgusting performance' in last night's friendly international.
"Koloskov accepted his resignation," RFU spokesman Andrei Tarabrin confirmed.
Soccer pundits said Gazzayev's assistant coach Alexander Borodyuk, a former Soviet international, was his most likely successor.
Borodyuk, 40, played in two World Cups, in Italy in 1990 and in the United States four years later, and won a gold medal with the Soviet Union at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Gazzayev, 49, replaced Oleg Romantsev as national coach in July last year following Russia's dismal World Cup showing, and vowed to shed his predecessor's 'caveman' image.
He began by discarding veteran players who had formed the backbone of the national team for much of the last decade.
Romantsev had been criticised by Russian media for selecting an ageing World Cup squad, for being overly cautious in his approach and for employing 'outdated tactics'.
But Gazzayev, who also coaches Russian premier league leaders CSKA Moscow, has also come under fire for his conservative style.
Earlier this month, Russian media led calls for Gazzayev's head after CSKA were knocked out of the Champions League, losing to Macedonia's Vardar Skopje in the second qualifying round.
Gazzayev berated the national team on Wednesday for a 'shameful' effort against the Israelis.
"There's no need to talk about the match, it was a shameful, disgusting performance by our team tonight," he told reporters.
"The players were totally lacking any will to win, so I told them in the locker room 'if you play like that I'm no longer your coach'."
Russia, who are third in Group 10, five points behind leaders Switzerland and three behind Ireland, have three matches remaining. They take on Ireland in Dublin on September 6th, then host Switzerland four days later and Georgia on October 11th, both in Moscow.