Papp has quality, experience and potential – the right combo for a move abroad and a good impact in his first season. Even in the demanding Serie A.

Paul Papp, the young Romanian international who started at right-back for the national team in the recent friendly win versus Switzerland, will also play for Chievo next season. With the transfer details still kept secret, this definitely looks like a wise move by the “gialloblu”, who add a quality defender to their roster and have a very good chance to make a nice profit within the next two years.

23 years old in November, Papp recently broke into the national team, collecting 8 caps, and has featured in 74 Liga I matches, scoring 6 goals. He also played 2 games in the Champions League preliminary rounds and 4 other matches in the Europa League group stage.

Strong and athletic, good both in the air and on the ground and gifted with enough technique to be considered a decent solution at right back at NT level, Papp is a central defender that has all the qualities to impress in Italy. It would be best if he could play regularly in the middle, although the Italians do like to use strong players on wide positions, but either way the player’s chances to keep on featuring on a regular basis for Romania’s NT will receive a significant boost. And, in the end, this could only pay back Chievo, who took advantage of Lazio’s indecision and moved at the right time to get a defender with a lot of potential, who could make another step forward in the near future.

How come the Romanian law representatives had to sell the goods found at the stadium, like the scoreboard or the team’s massage table, once the club went into administration for failing to pay its debt towards the state money? Ok, I know how things work over here and that the state acts stupid when there’s a political interest at stake, but, really, isn’t this something UEFA should be worried about? Where does the money go? Because in Unirea’s case, it didn’t look like they’ve ever entered the club’s account – the first place the authorities block and withdraw the sums one owes to the state budget.

Otelul’s players – outplayed in Europe, unpaid in Romania.

Another, fresher, example: Otelul Galati. Made it into the group stage of the CL, after winning the title, and collected way over 10 million Euros for being sparring-partner for the likes of Benfica, Basel and Manchester United. The millions kept on coming, but throughout this season the club failed to pay the players on time (with the average yearly wage of maybe 60-70.000 Euros / player). They went on vacation with delayed payments for the last two months, although according to Marius Stan, the club’s long serving president, the club has the money to cover a lot more than that. “We have millions in our account, but the board of administration has blocked it. They await a few more millions, as UEFA will soon complete the transfer of the CL prize money. The board is looking for a way to take part of it and they want me out of their way”, cries Stan in today’s press, which speculates that he’s been already sacked in a meeting that took place this morning…

The good thing is that, in this case, UEFA sent the cash to the right account. The bad thing is that the money isn’t used in footballing purposes. Like paying the guys that got you in the Champions League, developing the club or at least – like in Unirea’s case – keeping it alive…

Eriksson’s name getting used in Romania for business and political reasons. Photo from Daily Mail.

Let me give you the facts straight away. Two days ago, the following story “leaked” from Petrolul’s offices: “A foreign investment fund ran, among others, by Sven-Goran Eriksson, is interested in taking over the club”. A day later, when it was all still in the dark, the manager Valeriu Rachita, who had already announced his intention to leave this summer, looked for a stronger effect and came out himself with the story on national television. Then, local media presented a written (and already registered with the Local Council of Ploiesti) letter of intent, signed by a certain Nicola Imputato, speaking on behalf of Seamed, an investment bank with offices in London and Auckland. Of course, Eriksson was the name that was going to get everyone’s attention, the most important piece of the puzzle!

All this has been all over the news in the past two days and who could have missed it? Nobody, really! Unfortunately, though, you get the same answer if you browse through the media channels – both local and national – to find out if someone really checks such a story before selling it to the fans. Nobody…

Thanks to Jamie Jackson and David Hills, from The Guardian, who were kind enough to give me a hand, the story reached the coach, who firmly denied any involvement. So, why was the Swede’s name involved in this story in the first place? For business or political interest? My guess is for both

It’s possible that the Italian guy who sent the letter wanted to get the attention of the authorities – although the club that survived in recent years only thanks to public funds now belongs to a businessman – and Eriksson’s famous enough for his recent interest in all sorts of deals, as long as the right amount of money is at stake. It’s also possible that, with the current mayor of Ploiesti, Andrei Volosevici, involved in a desperate campaign to get himself re-elected wasn’t surprised at all by the arrival of this attractive proposal for the future of the club. He will want every vote and football fans would love the idea of challenging for the title one season after barely avoiding relegation. And, with the vote scheduled on the 10th of June, this kind of story does come up at the right time, doesn’t it?

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Romanian readers can follow up on the story here and here.

Becali’s happy, but not for long…

After an impressive second half of the season with Concordia Chiajna, who managed to escape relegation under Reghecampf’s command, the young coach got the chance he was craving for: was offered the chance to take over the club he used to play for before moving to 1.Bundesliga and he took it with both hands. A one season long deal was signed a couple of days ago and he was already asked by Becali to lead the standings by 15 points halfway through the next season. A joke, of course, but one that Reghe should take very seriously…

Reghecampf follows Mihai Stoichita, his former coach, who stepped down as initially agreed, with Europa League football on the cards in the following campaign, after Steaua finished the league in third place, missing out both on the title and on the second placed that offered a ticket for the Champions League’s preliminary rounds.

It sounds quite bad, but actually Reghecampf steps in at a good moment. After recent investment, which brought the likes of Chiriches, Parvulescu and Chipciu to Ghencea – some of the brightest new & proven faces in Liga I -, Steaua has a big squad with plenty of quality players to choose from. The team needs mainly to find the right balance + to solve some problems at right back, in central midfield (where there’s a need for a creative player) and in goal, where Ciprian Tatarusanu either needs some serious competition or even a replacement, after an unconvincing campaign, not only in terms of performances, but mainly in terms of focus and determination.

Of course, the biggest problem isn’t related to the quality of the team available, but the constant interference of the vocal owner, who continues to undermine his investment, year after year. Making a wedding after a convincing win and a funeral after each defeat has seriously affected Steaua’s results in recent years and will probably have the same effect in the following season. It’s enough to have a look at Reghecampf’s record as a coach and see that so far he never stayed put in one place and completing a season with one team is a challenge for him even in a more quite environment. Add to that the huge pressure of the fans and owner and it’s very difficult to see the young coach staying in charge for the entire duration of his otherwise very short deal…

Some will say it’s no coincidence that a referee’s call made it possible, with Adrian Cristea booked for a second time and sent off after a too aggressive way of protecting the ball, but let’s make it clear: in Liga I, nobody should point the finger and accuse an opponent of trying to influence the outcome of a game in their favor. They are all trying in some way and at their level of influence, pushing the referees, asking and looking for all sorts of favors, trying to get the other team’s footballers to either play with less determination or ready to die on the pitch. So, especially those from Steaua, Vaslui, Dinamo and even Rapid who are now accusing CFR of getting their dirty hands on the third title in the club’s history should keep quiet and accept they’ve lost a battle in which they used pretty much the same weapons.

I’m not saying it’s nice or good for Romanian football and I’m hoping to see the day when at least some of the guys involved in what happens behind the scenes will pay. It won’t come soon, not with Mircea Sandu running the Federation and Dumitru Dragomir pulling the strings in the so-called Professional Football League – read the article written by the excellent Jonathan Wilson  for The Guardian -, but as we say over here hope dies last.

So, congrats to CFR Cluj for their win and let’s hope that everyone, and especially the new champions, will focus a lot more on football and their own teams. They looked mediocre for most of the season and massive changes need to take place if they want to compete in Europe in autumn. FC Vaslui did great, considering their transfer ban, but their stars are one year older and the added frustration could lead to the departure of some of the finest attacking players Liga I has seen at least in recent times. Steaua, Dinamo and Rapid once again pushed the self-destruction button and continue to look as expensive toys of spoiled kids, who deserve to suffer bitter defeats. They won’t learn from them, but they surely look good dejected, after making a mockery of their teams, coaches, players and fans throughout the season…

Dinamo paid in the end for a very poor game from central defender Dragos Grigore, while upfront Marius Niculae looked to be struggling physically and lost his breath, feet and ideas on several occasions, and Dario Bonetti, the coach, didn’t miss another chance to have a shot at his players after the match, an approach that won’t help him stay too long at the red and white outfit.

After this huge win for Steaua’s fans (and terrible defeat for Dinamo’s ), there are only two points that separates them and FC Vaslui from the first spot, but unfortunately for both teams it’s all in the hands of league leaders CFR Cluj. Betting on the outcome of the title race remains very tricky and all eyes will be on tonight’s Cluj derby, hosted by Universitatea. After the interrupted match on the 8th of May, the decision was to replay the game from the first minute. Strange call, with no logic, as far as I’m concerned, as the incidents took place when CFR was leading 1-0 and the fights started because of Cadu’s goal celebration, but now both Steaua and Vaslui will hope for a favorable outcome, considering the fact that the title race ends in defeat for them in case CFR manages to get all the three points…

Bornescu’s crazy act will do CFR a great favor and will add to a rivalry that didn’t need another sparkle. Not to mention the controversy added to another title that is now only three steps away from Arpad Paszkany’s club.

Thanks to our justice system, Piturca's able to worry only about the Romanian national team.

In 2008, Steaua needed a favorable result in Universitatea Cluj – CFR Cluj and the club’s owner, Gigi Becali, sent 1,7 million euros in a suitcase to Cluj, to offer extra motivation to the home team. Teia Sponte, one of Steaua’s officials, was caught with the valuable package and Becali ended up in jail for a couple of weeks, before being released and judged as a free man for almost four years. Accused of trying to bribe players, he defended himself by saying it was a reward, that it was money which would have lead to a better performance from a team, and after a very long trial he was recently declared innocent alongside all the others involved in the case. Among them, the current national team coach, Victor Piturca.

Of course, the story got a lot of coverage in the Romanian media and I’ll make an exception this time – as you noticed, I’m trying to stay away from all these extra-football stories here and focus on the game – because there is one angle all the journalists have missed. In 2008, when everyone came to court to answer the prosecutors’ questions, Piturca (among others) defended Becali when he was denying the accusations, and said that the suitcase wasn’t sent there to influence the result of the above mentioned match, but as payment for some real estate deal Becali was doing in Cluj. Is it only my impression that Piturca lied under oath? And, I’m not very good at this , but isn’t it a crime to do so? I mean, in a normal, civilized country, not Romania…

The club that runs on the Local Council’s money and under the direct command of the village’s mayor Mircea Minea made the right call last December, when Laurentiu Dinita was replaced by Laurentiu Reghecampf, who came along with his wife, Anamaria Prodan, who works as a FIFA agent. The squad suffered massive changes, with 13 players released and 15 brought to try and help the club avoid relegation, 7 of them coming from the second division outfit FC Snagov – one of the clubs Reghecampf had worked for as a coach in the past.

Among them was a certain Idan Baruch, a goalkeeper that offered a terrible and very dubious display versus FC Vaslui, in the second official game of the year, a match that made everyone think that Concordia’s players will only try to make some money before they leave the top flight.

That match was followed though by an excellent run of 4 wins and 1 draw in 5 games, including another incredible result (4-3 away at Petrolul, after being 1-3 down, with three goals scored in the final six minutes!), before the green and white outfit suffered the second defeat of the year against Dinamo. Immediately, they were back among the “relegation favorites”, but six days later another huge result came along and lifted them above the line: a 4-2 away win against now former league leaders CFR Cluj! Before Steaua’s visit to the small stadium just outside Bucharest, Concordia can collect 6 other vital points, versus Vointa Sibiu and CS Mioveni, and Reghecampf could welcome the team he’s already been linked with from an excellent and totally unexpected position…

Laurentiu Reghecampf and his wife, Anamaria Prodan, have quickly rebuilt a doomed squad.

Reghe, the coach

With a career that saw him leave Steaua after three years and move to Germany, where he played for Energie Cottbus, Alemannia Aachen and FC Kaiserslautern, Reghecampf had two spells as a coach with both FC Snagov and Universitatea Craiova (which he helped once avoid relegation) and a short one with Gloria Bistrita, but for some reason he always failed to stay put in one place, in spite of some promising results. He’s now linked with Steaua Bucharest, but it would be a mistake to pay too much attention to Gigi Becali’s daily TV appearances, although the 37 years old is definitely aiming higher and, if he ends this season above the line, it would be a small miracle that could get him either a good move in the near future or at least buy him a lot more time at his next club.

Adi Rocha comes after a long spell on the sidelines, which ruined his adventure at Energie Cottbus.

Who are the new stars?

With eight goals between them, Brazilian forwards Alex (21 years old) and Adi Rocha (26 years old) have impressed in their first matches in Liga I, adding pace and the skill that’s still missing among the rest of the team lead by Vlad Munteanu, a wide midfielder (now 31 years old), who spent the past six seasons in the Bundesliga (with a short spell to Auxerre, in 2008), playing for the likes of Energie Cottbus (just like his coach), Wolfsburg, Arminia Bielefeld and FSV Frankfurt. The team’s captain is Iulian Mamele, a 27 years old central defender playing his first season in the top flight, but one of the nicest surprises comes from 24 years old right winger Adrian Popa, who under Reghecampf scored 2 goals and offered 4 assists, drawing quickly the interest of title-chasing clubs like FC Vaslui.

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The Italian decided to make small adjustments to the 4-4-2 that had failed to deliver under Liviu Ciobotariu, after some impressive displays and results in the first half of season. First of all, he added a second defensive midfielder, Dorel Stoica, who did three good things: 1. protected the back four well enough even if he didn’t look in top physical shape (both goals came from set plays); 2. allowed Djakaridja Kone to act higher up the pitch and use his energy and muscle to block the opposition’s build-up strategy earlier than usual; 3. scored Dinamo’s only goal, decisive for the step to the final. This lead to the usual playmaker, Catalin Munteanu, who also suffered an obvious dip in form, to move on the left wing, where he found more space and time to dwell on the ball and look for options, as well as send some quality crosses – something nobody else does at the moment for Dinamo.

Marius Alexe's potential remains more important for Dinamo than Ionel Danciulescu's proven quality.

The most important move made by Bonetti was the use of Marius Alexe in a different position, who moved from left midfielder to second striker – a role that (in my opinion too) suits him better, making him less predictable in movement and allowing him to get more scoring opportunities.

Even though it had little effect in last night’s game, this decision can have major implications not just for the young player who has been in disappointing form in the season he was supposed to prove himself too good for Liga I and ready to move abroad, but also for the team. If he will keep on playing there, there will be little to no space for Ionel Danciulescu, the veteran striker who is the club’s second scorer this term and the active player with the highest number of goals scored in the Romanian first division. This isn’t a surprise, as Danciulescu, who has scored over 200 goals in his Liga I career, had been forced by the same Italian coach to leave Dinamo a few years ago and move to Hercules Alicante, in the Spanish second division, a club he has helped at that time to gain promotion in La Liga.

With four options for the centre-forward role – Niculae, Danciulescu, Tucudean and Platini -, Bonetti’s setup offers only one place in the starting line-up and I expect him to stick to this and keep on playing Alexe, hoping to help him regain his top shape. Alexe had been reportedly followed by clubs like Fiorentina or even Chelsea (doubt it, really!), but this term he has 1 goal and 2 assists in 18 games played in Liga I. Two seasons ago, he was scoring 7 in 28 matches, making an impressive debut in the top flight after some loan spells that had offered him playing time in the third and second division.

Bonetti’s determination to help Alexe regain his sharpness will certainly please the greedy shareholders, but will also calm down his most dangerous critics, the agents Ioan and Victor Becali, who realize that this could lead to another big-money move in the near future. Does it really matter, in that case, that you’re mistreating (again) as a club one of the most loyal, professional and quality players from the last decade, like Ionel Danciulescu?

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