“I do not want to think that it will not continue”

Rapid is preparing for changes, next week he will have another coach and new players under his command. Several footballers will return after being borrowed to other teams, including the stop Paul Iacob, who still has a contract with the Giulești group. It remains to be seen if the defender remains in the plans of the new technician.

Paul Iacob: “I would be surprised not to see Cristi Săpunaru at Rapid”

In an exclusive interview for the Sports Gazette, Paul Iacob spoke about the return to Rapid, about the missed season of Giulesti, but also about Cristi Săpunaru. The footballer would like Săpunaru to stay in Giulești and sees him playing.

– Paul, you return to Rapid after the loan in Botosani. How was this experience and how much you feel it helped you?
– I'm glad we finished the loan well, we met the team's goal of saving us from relegation and we were fortunate to do it without dam. I also talked to the people from Botosani, I thanked them for helping me maybe more than I helped. It was a very good partnership for both parties and that matters, I left with my head up and happy from Botosani.

– How much did you expect this comeback? Did you miss Giulești?
– I have been missing from the first moment since I arrived in Botosani, no other stadium compares to Giulești! I thought about returning as well as possible from a physical point of view, I always thought here.

– Do you expect to find a demoralized, disappointed locker room after this season's goals have missed?
– There is no such thing. It will be a completely different championship, another staff, another idea of ​​play and we should not look at what it was or to take the burden of this year and the previous ones in the back. In the sport you must always succeed in overcoming the defeats, those who do not succeed, remain defeated!

Paul Iacob

– Did you keep in touch with the Rapid players? What did they transmit to you, how does this season explain in which the goals were not met?
– I kept in touch, normally, I was talking to them and I know what the pressure of the games means, but they thought about how to apply better what the coach was asking, they did not explain why they could not connect the victories.

– What do you think was missing the Rapid and not qualified in the European Cups?
– The quiet, certainly the team needs peace and confidence of supporters. I was really thinking, because I was a few months away from all the articles, how much it means not to appear something negative about the team. You do not want, they preserve you and surely those who are truly with the soul for the fast will stop to invent “exclusions” about the team.

– There will be major changes to the team when you come back. A new coach will be called next week. How would you see the variant of a foreign coach?
– I know, with the former coach I only started working for a month, because I was injured and then borrowed. For me it will not be such a big change, but I certainly wait for our soul to start work together, no matter what will come, it is important for the Rapid to be successful.

– Would you be surprised not to find Cristi Săpunaru when you return? His situation is uncertain and it is not known if he will have a management position starting next season.
– I don't want to think about it either. Too much about Cristi have been rumored lately and certainly does not deserve such a manufactured scandal. In that picture that appeared with beers is an empty box of beers, practically Cristi was accused for a picture in which he does not appear, he has nothing to do with him, only that he is made in the locker room. Such inventions have never seen.

– Recently, Cristi Săpunaru said that he has not yet completed his footballer career, but only withdrew from Giulești. Do you still see him playing in the superliger?
– Cristi can play, I am convinced of that. If he retired from Giulești and wants to play, I would like to stay at Rapid and play only away! 😂

– Will the pressure even higher for Rapid next season? Do you expect Rapid to apply for the title in the next season?
– The pressure must come from the locker room and from the supporters. Surely we will propose important things.

– Personally, have you already set an goal?
– I will repeat it endlessly. I do not want to say in a few years that I only played at Rapid, I want to leave something behind, I want a little trophy with Rapid until I finish my contract. For now, I have another year here and I propose to enter history with the event.

– Finally, what do you transmit to the supporters of the Rapid?
– They are the most beautiful fans, everyone knows that. And they know that, there's no point in repeating. The only thing that matters is for them to be close to us until the last moment and always remember the 4-3 match with FCU Craiova in Giulești, when they actually believed in us than we could hope and pushed us to that incredible victory. That is the spirit of the Rapid! That's how I would always like to see them!