Hulk & Witsel are not Messi or Ronaldo, says unhappy Denisov

One notable absentee from the side that drew with Krylya was midfielder Igor Denisov, ordinarily one of the first names on Spalletti's team sheet, and currently -- with Fabio Capello overlooking Andrey Arshavin -- captain of the Russian national team. It soon emerged that 28-year-old Denisov had been dropped and ordered to train with the youth team by Spalletti over an apparent dispute with the coach concerning Hulk.

Since then, the Russian media has been ablaze with rumors about Denisov's issues, which continued to spread until Zenit finally got round to issuing an official statement Sunday evening. "The decision to send Igor Denisov to the youth team for an indefinite period ... is connected to the fact that the player issued an ultimatum, refusing to take to the field against Krylya Sovetov after demanding a renegotiation of his contract," the statement read. Angry at the personal terms offered to Hulk, so the story went, Denisov took the opportunity to try to get himself a better deal.

Zenit's full statement ran to four nasty paragraphs; by the end, there was no doubt as to the club's anger at Denisov. "His salary is one of the highest not just at Zenit but in the whole of Russia," it continued. "Zenit believe that in breaking his agreement with the club, Denisov is behaving in an unprofessional manner, discrediting himself as a player for both club and country and causing serious harm to his reputation."

Most outside the club seem to agree. "Denisov thought he could grab the club by the balls," TV presenter Nikita Belogolovtsev commented on Twitter. "I wonder though, if Zenit had signed Messi whether Denisov would have demanded a higher salary."

German Zonin, a Zenit coach in the 1970s, was even more blunt. "He earns more in a day than many of his compatriots earn in a year!" he told Sovetsky Sport. "It would have been better had he drunk a bottle of vodka. We'd at least forgive him for that."

The truth is that Denisov has established himself as one of the more controversial characters in the Russian game. Just in the last two years alone he has broken the nose of teammate Viktor Fayzulin in training, come to blows with first-team coach Vladislav Radimov, broken the nose of his driving instructor and, most famously, abused Spartak Moscow coach Valery Karpin during a league fixture, sparking an incident that ended in a mass brawl involving both sets of players and staff. Whatever benefit of the doubt Denisov might have enjoyed has been wiped out by his ill-disciplined track record.

sportsczy wrote:Creating clubhouse problems and refusing to play because of contract issues has always been disgraceful to me. This stuff is for the offseason. Only time I see an in-season issue coming to the forefront as somewhat reasonable is when there are football issues (playing time, manager clash, player clash, etc).

This is disgraceful behaviour. Refusing to play because you want a bigger contract? Ostracising the new signings? Give me a break. This guy deserves to be sent to the kindergarten team... So do the guys that followed him.

The Franchise wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Creating clubhouse problems and refusing to play because of contract issues has always been disgraceful to me. This stuff is for the offseason. Only time I see an in-season issue coming to the forefront as somewhat reasonable is when there are football issues (playing time, manager clash, player clash, etc).

This is disgraceful behaviour. Refusing to play because you want a bigger contract? Ostracising the new signings? Give me a break. This guy deserves to be sent to the kindergarten team... So do the guys that followed him.

Dont always agree with Sports, but godmamn it I am with him on this one.

sportsczy wrote:

The Franchise wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Creating clubhouse problems and refusing to play because of contract issues has always been disgraceful to me. This stuff is for the offseason. Only time I see an in-season issue coming to the forefront as somewhat reasonable is when there are football issues (playing time, manager clash, player clash, etc).

This is disgraceful behaviour. Refusing to play because you want a bigger contract? Ostracising the new signings? Give me a break. This guy deserves to be sent to the kindergarten team... So do the guys that followed him.

Dont always agree with Sports, but godmamn it I am with him on this one.

If we can start getting along, there should be hope for the middle east

Schweini wrote:Denisov is a better midfielder than Witsel.