Ioan Andone fondly remembers the period CFR Cluj. He talks superlatively about his former boss Arpad Paszkany: “There we won almost like in the Arab countries.”
Guest of the #35 edition of the GSP podcast “2 to 1”Andone, 66 years old, said that in Cluj he collected the most money throughout his career. He also cited some exact amounts. Details to follow.
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Ioan Andone was the coach of CFR Cluj between 2007-2008 and between April and October 2012. He recorded remarkable success in Gruia, made it a two-time CFR champion – he also won a Cup – and participated in the Champions League groups with the “railwaymen”.
Ioan Andone, on the GSP “2 to 1” podcast: “Paszkany cut the first ones proposed by me and gave more!”
Referring only to performance bonuses, Andone recalls that “at CFR, the premium for winning the championship was 50,000 euros. Depending on the minutes. We still had 25,000 for winning the Cup. When I did the event, in 2008, the first cumulative was 75,000. I made the table together with the sports director and went to the president and patron for approval”.
How Paszkany impressed him: “As a coach, you look after the players you've won with, so I told the managers that I'd like certain players to be rewarded who scored decisive goals or played consistently. Do you believe me that Paszkany cut the sum of some and passed more?! Adrian Anca, one of them. “He came from Division C, he worked, I can't forget that”, said Paszkany about him. I was thinking that he was cutting him off, that I proposed too much for him. When you give more to a player, you also do me good as a coach.”
“At CFR Cluj I won the most money in my career. Almost at the level of Arab countries, I honestly say. I won very well. I also performed well, I didn't lose much. I had first matches”adds Ioan Andone.
“Don't leave Aliuța!! Crazy…”
Andone doesn't forget even now, almost two decades later, how Poli Timișoara stopped their invincibility streak in the 2007-2008 championship. CFR had 18 matches without failure (14 wins) and lost even in the last stage of the year, at Poli Timișoara's ground. At the end of the season, the people of Transylvania would mark the first event in history.
“We had an incredible series at CFR! I remember the match against Timișoara, in the winter, which ended our journey… Aliuță scored in the last minutes, if you can believe it. I was screaming from the sidelines: “Don't let him in, shoot!”. Crazy…“, reports “Fălcosul”, in his characteristic style.
Ioan Andone and Arpad Paszkany, photo: GSP archive
Ioan Andone: “I have not said until now why Paszkany withdrew”
The former technician of the CFR remained in contact even now with Arpad Paszkany, settled in Hungary. And he divulges the reason why the businessman gave up football.
“I'm still in touch with Paszkany, he's settled in Hungary now. He's no longer in football, he's had enough. The main reason why he retired – I never told anyone, but now I can say, that so much time has passed – was because he saw that he could not take a Romanian team to a European Cup final or semi-final.
“What should I fight for? We got this far, we got in groups. The potential of a Romanian team is no longer a semifinal or a final, so I better retire». But I tell you, I never had a boss like that, at 10 in the evening he called me to call me to his place, to watch the players!“, added Andone.
Paszkany was one of the most ambitious people I knew. He took CFR Cluj from Division C, but his first intention, I know from him, was U Cluj, which was held by the City Hall, Dacia Felix… But they didn't want to negotiate with him then for U Cluj
– John Andoneon the GSP podcast “2 to 1”
Paszkany, formidable performances with CFR Cluj
Arpad Paszkany was the patron of CFR for over a decade and a half: between 2001 and 2017. He created a very important Romanian club: it won 3 titles and participated 3 times in the Champions League groups.
However, CFR became insolvent in 2015, after which Paszkany sold the shares to the current owner, Nelu Varga, in 2017.
FULL VIDEO | GSP podcast “2 to 1” with Ioan Andone:
About Ioan Andone:
- he started football at Corvinul, where he made his debut in the first league at the age of 19 (105 matches, 15 goals);
- became a symbol of Dinamo. Transferred in 1983, played for 7 seasons in red and white, collecting 255 matches and 35 goals in the first league;
- as a Dinamo player, he won two Romanian championship titles and 3 Cups, being part of the team that reached the semifinals of the European Champions Cup in 1984;
- from the position of coach of Dinamo, he won a champion title in the 2003-2004 season, 3 Romanian Cups (2003, 2004, 2005) and the Supercup, in 2005;
- the end of his football career caught him in Spain (Elche) and Holland (Heerenveen);
- he made 55 appearances for the national team (scoring two goals), participating in Euro 1984 and the 1990 World Cup;
- member of the famous national team that in 1981 won bronze at the World Youth Championship in Australia;
- as a technician, he also recorded remarkable success at CFR Cluj, which he made two-time champion – he also won a Cup – and with whom he participated in the Champions League groups;
- otherwise, he also coached clubs such as Sportul, U Cluj, Farul, Omonia Nicosia, CSKA Sofia, Rapid, Aktobe;
- in 2017 he retired from coaching, to occupy management positions at FC Voluntari and now at Corvinul Hunedoara.
