- You have trained the team a few times, you already know the players in part. What are your general impressions of the team?

- I really received a lot of positive energy for 4-5 days. I can say the same about the players. Everything went great. The only downside was that we could not prepare with the full staff. I would like to do it with the participation of all players. Members of our national team will join the team today. We will give some of them a day off. Legionnaire Prince Ibara has not arrived yet. He will be in Baku today and will take part in training tomorrow. I want to feel this energy together. What does it mean? For example, we will play for 2-3 days. If someone is in the same mood as before, it can affect our performance somewhere. If we do not take this into account, other issues are in order.

- Your debut match behind the wheel of Neftchi will be against Gabala. In your coaching career, you have won only 2 matches in matches with this team. Doesn’t this statistic bother you?

- Frankly, I do not know about it. I will look at the statistics. This has nothing to do with Neftchi. In general, the trip to Gabala is difficult for all teams. Although settled in the lower ranks, it is a balanced team. I think it will be very difficult for us. The championship has been suspended for two weeks. The players are hungry. I believe that we will be able to cope with our task.

- Neftchi fans are a bit dissatisfied with captain Emin Mahmudov. They believe that this player has low leadership qualities and the bandage should be given to goalkeeper Agil Mammadov. Do you agree with these ideas, and in general, which player do you plan to entrust the captaincy to?

- The impression from the outside is completely different. I can't say that the fans are right. But they also have their own point of view. True, they are just Neftchi fans, and so far they have been more attached to this club than me. Emin Mahmudov's football quality is obvious. He is a really good player. But captaincy is completely different. I don't think they are captains, they are born. You must be able to carry this heavy load. I'm not saying that Emin can do it or not. Everyone can say a lot today. I am already in the team and this is a matter for me. Trainings and games will show whether Mahmudov copes with the captaincy. The downside is that Emin can't train with us today. He has been suffering from injuries since I arrived and is training individually. That is, I can not decide because he is not in the team. He is still the captain of Neftchi.

- Speaking of Emin Mahmudov, AFFA worked hard to attract this player to the national team. But today Mahmudov either does not receive an invitation to the national team, or remains in reserve when called. How would you explain that?

- The fact that he was not called is due to Emin himself. Why did he not receive an invitation? Not playing there is the job of the head coach. Either it doesn't match the game system or it doesn't play for some other reason. I can't say anything about it. It would be better if Emin asked himself a question.

- Who else is injured in the team?

- Our main injuries are Emin Mahmudov and Stephen Monroe. It is clear that they will not play against Gabala. Goalkeeper Salahat Agayev is still training individually. We do not know the condition of the players from the national teams. Everything can change at any time. You write about the team, and you see that some player has a coronavirus. For example, it was known that Maxim Medvedev was infected before the match with Luxembourg.

- In "Sumgayit" you were leading a team of mostly young players and you were more or less getting results. In "Zira" you worked with a team of legionnaires. Admittedly, your work there was not as successful as before. What style of work will you prefer in Neftchi?

- I would not separate local and foreign players. I want to approach the issue from a different perspective. Whoever is ready for the game today will also appear. This applies to all players. Yes, we played with the locals in Sumgayit. After a while, we found a strong team and started to get results. We suffered in Zira for the first 6 months. In the second half of the season, we formed a team that is not weaker than Sumgayit, I would even say superior. We had very good games. We lost only 2 matches after the winter break. We had the best results after Karabakh. Nobody remembers them because we don't have a place. We can use both locals and foreigners when building the staff. Make sure that Neftchi will have players who can give themselves 100 percent of the game.

- You played with 5 defenders in "Sumgayit" and 4 defenders in "Zira". What will happen to Neftchi?

- At the moment, I find it difficult to comment on this. The lack of many of our key players is a problem. But in any case, we have to take out any system and play with Gabala. But this does not mean that it will be our system.

- You worked with "Jeyhun Sultanov" in "Sumgayit". In the language of football, you formed a good tandem. As a logical consequence, you were able to create a fighting team. Sultanov has already resigned from Neftchi. How can his departure affect your work?

- Jeyhun Sultanov was a unique football player working as a sports director. He knew football well. It would be comfortable for me if he or someone else who is good at football works in this position in any team, for example, in Neftchi. He is the person who needs football. He did very well in both Sumgayit and Neftchi. Sultanov's resignation was just before I came here. Therefore, this is not a matter for me.

- The sports director is considered to be the "sword of Damocles" on the heads of coaches. Neftchi will not have an appointment to this position. Can this factor cause you any difficulties?

- I do not know how it is in other clubs, but in the teams where I work, the sword talk is a matter of the head coach. That is, whether I am a sports director or not, I am the "Sword of Damocles" myself.

- In a recent interview with the press, you said that "Neftchi" can end the hegemony of Qarabag. Do you still think so?

-  Qarabag has rightly dominated the country's football in recent years. There is an atmosphere in all teams that Qarabag will be the champion, and we must fight for second place. First of all, we need to change the psychology of footballers and athletes. If you say "Neftchi", you have to play for high places. If we go to every game with a football hunger, we can succeed. This does not mean that Samir said, "We are playing for the championship," and so on. You can compete with all teams. Yes, "Qarabag is very strong, it has a stable staff. But again, the player must influence himself why I am not at the top. I try to instill this in my players.("Report")