Protasov's scoring efficiency forced football statistics experts to state the fact: the Dnepropetrovsk phenomenon beats all the records of the Soviet Union's main record holder among snipers - Kyiv's Oleg Blokhin. And a joke probably could not help but arise that Blokhin, having taken charge of Greek Olympiacos in 1990, invited Protasov to his team not least so that he would not have time to break all his achievements.
Jokes aside, one cannot fail to notice that Protasov in many aspects repeats Blokhin's career. They are united not only by an increased ability to strike the opponent's goal. Both settled in Greece for a long time, from where Blokhin, however, has already moved to Kyiv, where he spends much more time. Both chose the coaching path after their playing careers ended. Both were head coaches of Olympiacos, the best football club in Greece. Only Blokhin's coaching achievements are limited to a won Greek Cup, while Protasov led the club from the Athens suburb of Piraeus to victory in the Greek championship, becoming the first Ukrainian coach to win gold awards in a far-abroad country.
At that, Oleg Valeryevich can boast that he took over Olympiacos not at the best of times. During the season, three coaches managed to work with the team, while he was in charge of the scouting department. Slovenian Katanec, who left Olympiacos because of a thoughtless phrase about not understanding why everyone thinks the Piraeus side should become champions, on parting cast doubt on our compatriot's abilities: "Appointing Protasov as head coach? Why, that's ridiculous!"
Now we can laugh too: Olympiacos under the guidance of the Ukrainian specialist caught up with its principal rival, Panathinaikos, and at the finish overtook it on superior tie-breaking indicators. The "red-whites" thus set a national record, for the seventh time in a row being the best club in the country!
But victory in the national championship in Greece does not at all mean that the coach who achieved it will remain at the helm of the team. Such are the mores in that country. Protasov, who signed a contract upon his appointment as head coach on a "four months plus a year" system, had to receive additional consent from the club's management to continue cooperation. And he received it - despite the fact that Olympiacos fans still consider the Ukrainian not the most convincing coach on the eve of the upcoming Champions League participation. Despite the fact that Protasov's competitors, according to the Greek press, were such authoritative specialists in the football world as Nevio Scala, Gianluca Vialli, Dino Zoff, and Luis Fernandez.
However, Protasov had one indisputable advantage over the other candidates (Oleg Valeryevich himself claims that all this is the fantasy of Greek journalists, who are rich in inventions) - he is not a random person in Greece, having lived here for about ten years and fully imbued with the spirit of the natives. And this, it must be admitted, is worth a lot. True, this experience was not easy for Protasov, his childhood friend Gennady Litovchenko, and Yuri Savichev, a product of Moscow Torpedo, who played at the same time (in the early 90s) in Olympiacos.
"When I decided to leave Dynamo," recalls Protasov, "I was told that there was interest from one Italian club. I didn't want to wait, and immediately after the USSR national team's failure at the 1990 World Cup I agreed to go to Piraeus to Blokhin. There, me, Litovchenko, and Savichev ran into a fraudulent president who did not want to pay money. He started weaseling out, making up that there was no money. The story was unpleasant. We hired a German manager who did extract the money from the club, but kept it for himself. We had to sue him. As for the president of Olympiacos, there was stagnation under him at the time. Winning silver medals seemed like a success. However, I cannot say anything good about the presidents of Greek clubs. Most of them are dishonest people, because of whom Greek football does not grow as it could."
The disappointment that befell Protasov on all fronts (no success on the football field, no substantial earnings he dreamed of, no stability) forced him, after a series of scandals that erupted in Greek football as a whole, to even leave the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula. Although it was just at the time when Oleg's desire to leave was ripening that the current club president, Socrates Kokkalis, came to power in Olympiacos, after which the Piraeus side's affairs went uphill.
"I was persuaded to go to Japan by the favorable financial terms of the contract. In addition, I wanted a change of scenery, to leave Greece. And Japan is an exotic country, quite interesting. And the championship is not that weak. In terms of funding level and player selection, all teams are on equal terms, which guarantees unpredictability in the tournament fight. Coaching staff decide a lot. For example, when I played in Osaka, the team from Yokohama was led by the current coach of London's Arsenal, Arsène Wenger."
Together with Protasov, other former compatriots of ours played in Japan at that time - Belarusian Sergei Aleinikov and Georgian Akhrik Tsveiba. The club provided them with a teacher who helped them communicate calmly with Japanese people in daily life, in shops, and on the football field. They failed to teach only writing - it is too difficult.
But here's the trouble — in Japan, Protasov, despite the high standard of living of the islanders and the opportunity to improve his financial situation, did not really like it. “Oddly enough, it was in Japan that I realized I had fallen in love with Greece. In Japan I realized that Greece is close to me in its attitude to life, in character. Japan is a different world, a different planet. There everything is done precisely, carefully, seriously. Life flows in one, very strict channel. Of course, there are pros and cons to this. The Japanese, for example, are good people, pleasant to talk to. The Greeks, on the other hand, are more relaxed, loose, and unreliable. Even more than us. Japan gave me financial stability, but I forgot all the bad things that were pushing me out and wanted to return to the sea, good climate, and generally play European football.”
His return to Greece took place in 1995. The forward, who even managed to play one match for the Ukrainian national team in the autumn of '94, was already over 30 by that time. He was no longer suitable for Olympiacos — a group of younger and, naturally, more promising forwards had appeared in the team. He had to settle for the more modest Veria, which, however, twice finished close to the podium — fifth and sixth. Then for some time Protasov carried on his shoulders a completely unpresentable team — Proodeftiki.
The idea of moving into a coaching position came up a few years ago. But the first pancake turned out lumpy. The president of the club Olavesiki, which played in the second division, suggested he play for six months and then take over the team. But he didn't keep his word. Chaos began, and Protasov had to leave — to Veria, whose president, knowing the Ukrainian footballer well, offered him the post of head coach. But great success did not materialize there. Until the chance to return to Olympiacos came up. And then you already know the rest.
P.S. Some time ago in Athens, Protasov opened the Protasov Club. They built several football pitches of varying sizes and decent quality, where people of all ages play. Here we could call it paid sections for everyone who wants to play. Also, a hundred and fifty boys are learning the basics of football there. A club championship is held. According to Oleg Valeryevich, everything is going as planned.