MOSCOW, August 14 (RIA Novosti) - Dutch trainer Dick Advocaat, dismissed by Zenit St. Petersburg after a series of poor results, paid a final visit to the club on Friday, the Russian side said on its official website.
The Dutchman's three years as trainer were the most successful in Zenit's history, with the club's first Russian Premier League title followed in 2008 by the UEFA Cup.
He was due to quit as Zenit boss to take over the Belgium national side at the end of the Russian season in November.
"Dick Advocaat said goodbye to each of the players and club employees in turn...wishing them luck and expressing hope that they would meet soon in the future," a club statement said.
Advocaat was reported as saying by the website that he would "never forget the years he spent at the club."
"A part of you will remain in each of us. We have the fondest possible memories of recent years, in which our team has achieved so much," Zenit general director Maxim Mitrofanov said.
Zenit fans gathered at the city's international airport to see the trainer off.
Advocaat, 61, had been under increasing pressure in recent weeks as the gap to defending champions Rubin at the top of the table grew, and he recently expressed dissatisfaction with the sporting director's transfer dealings.
Since the start of the year, the coach has seen three of his best players leave - Russia's star forward and captain Andrei Arshavin, Zenit's Ukrainian former captain Anatoly Tymoshchuk, and Russia striker Pavel Pogrebnyak - and he criticized Igor Korneyev's subsequent signings of Belarusian striker Sergei Kornilenko and Torino midfielder Alessandro Rosina.
Sovetsky Sport reported on Friday that Italian trainer Roberto Mancini, formerly of Inter Milan and Lazio, was being lined up to take over from Advocaat.
