Article by Romeo Ene – Published on Saturday, 02 May 2026, 11:39 / Updated on Saturday, 02 May 2026 11:39
Adrian Mihalcea (49 years old), the coach of UTA Arad, held the press conference prior to the away duel with Petrolul, in stage 7 of the play-out. The game was scheduled for Sunday, May 3, starting at 18:15.
The technician was questioned about his situation with the team after the end of the season. UTA mathematically saved itself from relegation, but even if the athlete manages to get a place in the European Cups, the team did not obtain the license.
VIDEO | Adrian Mihalcea is to decide his future at UTA: “Then the situation will be clarified”
MIHALCA explained that he would talk to the management immediately after the Ploiesti game and indicated that he would request guarantees that he would be able to move to the next level.
He claims that he wants to prepare a play-off team, and this could be UTA or another team. It remains to be seen what will be the outcome of the discussions with the management, and if Mihalcea will be dissatisfied, he made it clear that he will leave the team.
“I will have a discussion after this match with the management and I think that then the situation will be clarified. I am going to prepare very well for the match with Ploiesti and then we will have a discussion next week… that you know me, that is, I will not deny or lie to you about what will be discussed.
But after the match in Ploiesti. It's important now that it was a shorter week and we didn't have time to meet this week.
(no – Do you have an offer?) Not. Not at the moment either. But the problem didn't even come up, because I didn't… I mean, just like I didn't want to discuss my situation at the club at the moment, so… and something would definitely have come up. But that wasn't the case and I wasn't interested until now.
(What did you mean when you indicated you'd like to coach a team with a real playoff chance?) Nothing but to have that possibility, at some point, here or elsewhere.
And you know very well that this also depends on a bigger budget, and stability, and a much better organization of all the factors involved.
And as a player, now as a coach for some time, I aim for more every time, every year. And I think in the end I followed some normal steps and if at some point I think I can take the step even higher, I will. But I will not skip the stages”, said Adrian Mihalcea, at the press conference.
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Adrian Mihalcea has been coaching UTA since the summer of 2025. His team is currently in 8th place, with 32 points, with no emotions regarding relegation.
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At UTA he has an average of 1.46 points per game, in total 15 wins, 12 draws and 12 failures.
Ranking up to date from the play-out
