Muslin is fired as Lokomotiv coach

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MOSCOW, Russia -- Lokomotiv Moscow have sacked coach Slavoljub Muslin following a string of poor results.

He has been replaced by former CSKA Moscow manager Oleg Dolmatov, who was axed by strugglers Shinnik Yaroslavl last month.

Although they remain in contention for the league title, Lokomotiv have been inconsistent under Muslin for much of the season.

Lokomotiv's bosses finally lost their patience with the 53-year-old Serbian after a 1-0 home defeat by FK Moscow at the weekend which dropped the railway side to second place, two points behind city rivals CSKA.

Lokomotiv also suffered a humiliating exit from the UEFA Cup in the first round after losing to Belgium's Zulte Waregem 3-2 on aggregate last month.

After winning the first leg 2-1 in Moscow, Muslin boldly predicted that his side would crush the Belgian part-timers in the away leg, only for them to lose 2-0.

The coach was criticised by the Russian media for being over-confident and under-estimating his opponents.

"The decision (to fire Muslin) became evident after we were knocked out of the UEFA Cup," said Lokomotiv president Valery Filatov.

"We had to get a board meeting to make a decision but we just couldn't get everyone together any time sooner," said Filatov, explaining the delay in sacking the coach.

Muslin became the first foreign manager in Lokomotiv's history when he was appointed to the post last December after quitting Belgian side Lokeren.

The Serb has also coached French clubs Brest, Bordeaux and Le Mans as well as Serbia's Red Star Belgrade, Bulgaria's Levski Sofia and Ukraine's Metalurg Donetsk.

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