“That's what I thought from the beginning”

We are talking about four victories, three in the championship, with Slobozia (3-0), Rapid (2-0) and FC Argeș (2-1), plus one more in the Cup, with Csikszereda (2-1).

“Clubo Deportivo Oțelao” parades and scares the giants from Bucharest, hoping to capture a play-off place at the end of the regular season, and then climb to the top positions.

VIDEO. Laszlo Balint: “This has been the strategy since the summer”

– Mr. Balint, you are the “Coach of the Month for December”. How was the end of the year?
– A hard but beautiful December. With important matches for us and I'm glad we managed to have these successive victories. I am happy and honored to be declared “Coach of the Month for December”. It is an individual award, but I want to thank the entire team at Oțelul. The players, my colleagues in the technical staff and everyone who contributed to our work and the results achieved. It was a good end to the year for us, but it comes with a responsibility. We want to maintain the level even though we know that a fierce battle is being announced in that area of ​​the ranking. I believe we have made the necessary progress and we are ready to see this fight through.

Laszlo Balint // photo: Facebook @ SC Otelul Galati

– Steel is in 6th place at the beginning of the year, play-off place.
– We try to take the matches as they come and manage the moment. That's how I thought from the very beginning. That has been the strategy since the summer, when the process of rebuilding the squad began because we lost a lot of players. Many came, some in the summer, others along the way. I'm glad the guys really understood what we were trying to implement in terms of our model and style of play. Slowly, slowly the team gained a clear identity and we are glad that this growth turned into results. We had periods when we played at a good, very good level, but unfortunately we didn't manage to do it in such a way that the results came.

Infernal schedule for the Steel! “A nice time even if the matches are tough!”

– A 2026 with CFR, Botoșani, Craiova and FCSB is coming…
– A nice time, even if there are tough matches! Strong opponents. A busy period because after the first two stages, we will have five games in two weeks. The Cup match is also coming, which we play with the qualification on the table. We have our group goals, then the club goals. We try to do our best. I have never been a man of empty promises, but I have also said publicly that what I can promise is that we will work to make the necessary results to leave the field with our foreheads high.

– Has the team's objective changed or remained the same since the beginning of the season?
– The objective of the locker room has not changed! We've always tried to get as much as we can and approach every game the same way. Regardless of the opponent we faced. Whether we played against a newly promoted team or against the champion, we tried to have the same approach. And let's enter the field aware of our potential, let's get the most out of every game.

The team is called Supporter Club Oțelul Galati! We feel every day, every week, at every match the warmth and energy between the supporters, for us it is an advantage. Then an honor and a responsibility! I am not a man of promises, but we will do everything in our power to leave the stadium satisfied. I want them to appreciate the effort and attitude of the players. We have in the locker room players with quality, but above all with character, who understood what this team's shirt means

Laszlo Balint, Oțelul Galati coach

How we choose Player of the Month and Coach of the Month

Very briefly, about the algorithm used for tie-breaking to determine the winners. The GSP editors make the nominations, based on statistics and clear performance figures, then they will vote for 3 categories:

• GSP.ro readers
• journalists in the newsroom
• 5 specialists (former footballers or coaches)

For this category, “Coach of the month”, Gazeta nominated 3 technicians: Laszlo Balint (Oțelul), Cristiano Bergodi (U Cluj) and Adrian Mihalcea (UTA Arad).

The preliminary list also included: Daniel Pancu (CFR Cluj), Elias Charalambous (FCSB) and Ovidiu Burcă (Sepsi).

FINAL RANKING Coach of the month December 2025

DETAILED RANKING

Readers' vote

Vote of GSP journalists

Expert vote