by Aleks V | @aleksvee

Yuriy Kalitvintsev with the 2009 UEFA U-19 Euro trophy. Source: fc-dynamo.ru

Dynamo Moscow's Board of Directors announced Yuriy Kalitvintsev as the football club's new manager, taking over from interim Sergei Chikishev. The 48-year-old Volgograd native played as a midfielder for the club from 1992-1994, making a total of 107 appearances in all competitions and scoring 16 goals, including a hat-trick in a friendly against Italian side Brescia Calcio.

Yuriy Kalitvintsev won most of his silverware at Dynamo Kiev, including four Ukrainian championships, two Cups, and two CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) Cups.

He was consistently named one of the top players in both the Russian and Ukrainian championships. He acquired Ukrainian citizenship and was capped 22 times for the Ukraine national team, scoring one goal in their 1-0 win against Croatia in Euro 1996 Qualifying.



His son, Vladislav Kalitvintsev, seems no less gifted. The youngest player to debut for Dynamo Kiev in the modern era, he's already tallied a Premier League title and two Ukrainian Cups.



Kalitvintsev's coaching career has had its ups and downs. After a short spell at Ukraine side Zakarpattia (now FC Hoverla Uzhhorod), he headed Ukraine's Under-19 national team on two occasions, leading them to victory in the 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship during his second spell.

He lost out to Myron Markevych and then Oleh Blokhin for the job at the senior team, although he did join the coaching staff of both managers, serving as caretaker after Markevych's resignation.

Volga Nizhny Novgorod gave Kalitvintsev a long-awaited chance to return to the role of head coach. However, his stay at the Russian Premier League was short-lived - appointed to the helm in January 2013, he resigned in March the following year. The club's financial problems took a toll on results - they were 14th in the Premier League with just 18 points after 22 games. Kalitvintsev's Volga were in 7th before the players stopped getting paid, however.

In his first press conference as manager of Dynamo Moscow, Kalitvintsev immediately set his sights higher than simply returning the storied club, relegated last season for the first time in their 93-year history, to the top tier of Russian football. He emphasized the need for the club to have a long-term development strategy, one that is conducive to its homegrown players. He expressed his desire to work closely with the head coach of the club's farm team.

Kalitvintsev's coaching approach will undoubtedly differ from that of his predecessors. "We will communicate with the players," he said. "The team will keep those players who are willing to work, not just earn money."

Kalitvintsev's coaching staff consists of Gennadiy Litovchenko and Yuri Kovtun from his Volga days, as well as ex-Dynamo Moscow goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky.