# Oleg Kononov

Oleg Georgiyevich Kononov (Belarusian: Алег Георгіевіч Конанаў, Russian: Олег Георгиевич Кононов, born 23 March 1966) is a Belarusian–Russian professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Torpedo Moscow.

## Playing career

Oleg Kononov began his playing career in RSFSR at Iskra Smolensk in 1983.
He later moved to Belarus, where he would play for various clubs until 1999.
In 1998, he was named the Belarusian Premier League Player of the year. Playing at KIM Vitebsk, he became the runner-up of the Belarusian Premier League.

## Managing career
### Sheriff Tiraspol

The most glory Kononov attained as a coach, was while in charge of FC Sheriff Tiraspol. His team became the champions in Moldovan National Division three times (2004/05–2006/07), was the Moldavian Cup holder in 2006, and the Moldovan Super Cup in 2005.

### Karpaty Lviv

On 9 June 2008, Kononov was invited to take charge of Ukrainian Premier League club Karpaty Lviv following the resignation of Valery Yaremchenko. He brought a new style of play to the team, including the use of a 4-3-3 formation which emphasizes the flanks instead of the usual 4-4-2 formation. At the end of the 2008-09 season, Karpaty finished in the season in middle of the league at 9th place. Kononov enjoyed more success the next season, guiding Karpaty to top 8 in the Ukrainian Cup where they were eliminated by eventual finalists Metalurh Donetsk. They also finished fifth in the league and therefore qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, where after impressively passing Galatasaray in the playoff round, finished last in Group J with 1 point.

### Krasnodar

He took over the management of FC Krasnodar early in the 2013–14 Russian Premier League and led them to Europe for the first time in their history, finishing 5th in the league and qualifying for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League. In 2014–15 season they defeated, among others, Real Sociedad in the Europa League qualifiers and advanced to the group stage. They did not qualify for the knockout phase. Midway through the 2014–15 Russian Premier League competition, they reached the 2nd spot in the standings. He resigned from his Krasnodar position on 13 September 2016.

### Arsenal Tula

He signed with FC Arsenal Tula on 1 June 2018.

### Spartak Moscow

He left Arsenal by mutual consent on 12 November 2018 and signed with FC Spartak Moscow until the end of the 2018–19 season. on 29 September 2019, he resigned from Spartak following 4 consecutive losses in a league that were preceded by a failure to qualify for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League group stage.

### Riga FC

On 5 February 2020, he signed with the reigning Latvian champions Riga FC. The stint ended in late 2020.

### Return to Arsenal Tula

On 10 June 2022, Kononov was hired once again by Arsenal Tula, freshly relegated to the second-tier Russian Football National League. On 11 January 2023, he left the post of head coach, having played 20 matches in the current season of the First League, in which FC Arsenal Tula won nine victories and drew five times.

### Saturn Ramenskoye

In July 2023, Kononov headed the fourth-tier Russian Second League Division B club Leon Saturn Ramenskoye. He resigned from Leon Saturn on 31 August 2023.

## Honours
### As a manager

Sevastopol
* Ukrainian First League: 2012-13
Krasnodar
* Russian Football Premier League third place: 2014-15