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Soccer-Rubin Kazan name Bilyaletdinov as coach

MOSCOW, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Rubin Kazan have appointed former Lokomotiv Moscow coach Rinat Bilyaletdinov as manager, the Russian club said on Friday. Rubin, who sacked Kurban Berdyev on Dec. 20 after 12 years in charge, are 11th in the Russian championship, with five wins from their first 19 games but are unbeaten in the Europa League this season. Moscow-born Bilyaletdinov, 56, had a stint as Lokomotiv's interim head coach in 2007 after a long spell leading the reserve team. He was later assistant coach of Russia's B team. "It's obvious that Rubin have not managed to get the results they would have wanted so far this season," said Bilyaletdinov, whose son Diniyar used to play for Premier League club Everton and is currently on Spartak Moscow's books. "In the Europa League, Rubin have been the best Russian side in the competition, but in our domestic championship, we have not been able to show the same form. Therefore the club's directors have told me that in the not too distant future I need to decide which players will stay with the club." He ruled out any major change of style at Rubin, who face Real Betis of Spain in the first leg of their Europa League last 32 tie on Feb. 20. "Many people say Rubin are too defensive. However, I think it is better to get the defensive system right and win games 1-0 rather than 5-4," he said. Bilyaletdinov denied his son would be joining Rubin, who twice won the Russian championship under Berdyev. "We are not Italy and I am not (Cesare) Maldini so that I can force my son to play in my team," said Bilyaletdinov. (Reporting by Dmitry Rogovitskiy; editing by Toby Davis)