Article by Romeo Ene – Published Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 6:57 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 7:15 p.m.
Daniel Pancu (48 years old), the coach of the CFR Clujgave an interview in which he talked about the first three weeks spent in Gruia. He debuted on the bench of the Romanian vice-champion on November 9, in the success on the land of Sloboziascore 1-0.
The technician specified the fact that he is for the first time in a position to take over a team in full championship, and the first weeks were extremely difficult.
He has got used to the club, less so to the city, and admits that a play-off presence is a tricky goal, given the position in the table. cf. is in 12th place, with 16 points after 16 stages.
VIDEO | Daniel Pancu admits: “When the December break comes, let's talk about mathematical chances for the first six positions”
Despite the course, Pancu he hopes that the team will have a chance at the play-offs and the final in 2025. In his view, CFR lost a lot of points because they led and failed to double their advantage.
“These first weeks are complicated, for the first time I am in this situation of taking on a team in full championship, plus I came alone.
Laurentiu Rus was my colleague at Voluntari, I knew the rest from the players' activity and I was lucky enough to have four players in the team with whom I collaborated in the last 2-3 years and these things helped me as much as possible.
I got used to the club, a little bit to the city, so in the evening when I go out for a walk for half an hour. You know very well, the situation is incredible from my point of view in the ranking, but there are also years like this in the life of football teams.
My mission, that of the staff and the players, management, is to bring CFR back to where it belongs. Even if it's a complicated mission because the difference is very big compared to the top six, taking into account the number of games left.
If it had been at the beginning of the championship, it would not have been a very big problem. We think about every game, week by week, we take things seriously and hopefully when the December break comes we can talk about a mathematical chance of a top six position.
(no – What does a day in your life look like in Cluj?) The apartment is near the stadium. Until I got used to the traffic, to other things, I think it's very good. I'm at the stadium until 3-4 in the afternoon.
I would have preferred them all to be here, but it is a privilege to have players in the national teams. Objectives? Improving the game, every coach has his vision, the model of the game concept.
There are some things I insist on since I came here and I hope to see improvements in our game from stage to stage”, said Pancu, for the YouTube channel of those from CFR Cluj.
The boys feel good, confident, and no victory is ever worth anything unless it is followed by others. We meet the leader, a very good team, a team that deserves to be there, but can be beaten.
CFR lost a lot of points this season because it was in the same situation as the national team in Bosnia. When he had the advantage, he had a very big opportunity, he did not double the advantage, the mental and physical breakdown came at the end of the game.
Let's be very focused because it's a shame about our quality and the number of chances we create. It's a difficult moment, we need him with the team. It's a very old match of the championship with Rapid. We really need the support of the fans and we expect them to be with us.
– Daniel Pancuthe coach of CFR Cluj
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