Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published on Thursday, 21 May 2026 21:03 / Updated on Thursday, 21 May 2026 21:38
Victor Angelescu, president and minority shareholder at Rapidadmitted for the first time that the first option for the coaching position is Daniel Pancu (48 years old), the current technician from CFR Cluj. The proposal even came from Marius Bilașco (44 years old), who changed camp recently, coming to Giulesti from Gruia to take over the role of sports director.
Constantin Gâlcă did not fulfill his goal of qualifying the team in a European cup, so he will leave the technical bench at the end of this season. In addition, Angelescu revealed several conflicts from Gâlcă's time at the helm of the team.
Victor Angelescu admitted that Rapid wants Daniel Pancu: “We will have discussions with his manager”
“Pancu is a coach that, frankly, we want. It's the first time when it's clear that we have no chance of achieving the goal. From our point of view, it should be the first option. He's a get-beget speedster. I've worked with him before, even if he's totally different now. He had his first experience here as a coach.
I know him as a person and I know what he wants, what football he wants to propose. It doesn't seem so impulsive to me. I think he is the speedster who sees the best and transmits the best. For us it should be the first option and we talk about it. I hadn't contacted Daniel, I hadn't spoken to him.
I appreciate him as a coach and for what he wants to convey. Of all the coaches, there is no one who conveys an energy better than him. I think he gained a very important experience through the youth national team and what happened at CFR.
We will have discussions with his impresario, Giovanni (nr. Becali), and I hope we can reach a consensus and bring him. If not, we have another option. I have never commented on the financial side of a coach, it doesn't seem normal to me. And the other coaches had good salaries, never exorbitant.
I don't know, we'll see. The CFR and Daniel had certain standards and certain things written in the contract. Mathematically, it is no longer possible for Costel Gâlcă to fulfill his contract objective.
We were not in advanced negotiations before, it was just a normal thing being circulated. Pancu had formidable results at CFR and is one of the legends of Rapid. He also worked with Bilasco at CFR. First, the sports director makes the first proposal.
It is clear that there will be changes, as long as we missed the target this season. However there would have been changes and if we had won the title. The strategy must be made together with the coach. The sports director will be involved in transfers, and the staff and the coach will decide and come up with proposals.
We made some efforts this season. We had offers for important players: Dobre, Borza, Petrila. We didn't give it to him, because we were in a very good place and we wanted to hold on to the players to reach our goal. I want Pancu to come. I know how Pancu feels about Rapid and I think he will come“, declared Victor Angelescu at Prima Sport.
Victor Angelescu, about Costel Gâlcă's conflicts at Rapid: “I don't have the necessary time to be involved”
The president of Rapid also spoke about Costel Gâlcă's conflicts at Rapid, where Antoine Baroan, Alexandru Dobre and one of the team's doctors were involved, in turn.
“Baroan received the biggest fine in the history of the club. Very big fine and was loaned. And Dobre was not fined by the coach or the staff for that statement.
The sanction was taking the captain's armband, it was the coach's decision. In the end, the captain is decided between the players and the staff. I don't know that he asked the coach for any fine. He made the decision he wanted and everyone respected.
In the first part of the season, it was linked to Grameni or Borza, that they had two days off and on one they went to a festival, where they stayed until 11 in the evening. The players, as far as I know, have been fined.
Regarding the discussions between the sporting director and the coach and the players regarding the amount of the fine, I do not have the time to be involved, even if I am the chairman.
There was a conflict between the team doctor and Costel Gâlcă. It was a conflict of visions. It's hard for me to give an opinion on how good a doctor is, I'm not good at it, but I think common sense also says that if you have an injured player and instead of recovering him in two weeks you recover him in four, there are discussions.
It's not the doctor who injures your players. We had the biggest problem with injuries this season. Statistically, we have 90% of injured players, 27 out of 31. He is a foreign doctor who came when Marius Șumudică was there. He was the employee of the club. I am not in a position to say whether it is good or not.
There was this conflict, Gâlcă probably had other expectations. There is never a conflict between two players or between a coach and a player or staff member in a football club. We are talking about more than 40 people involved and it is impossible not to have a contradiction.
We thought that these things were manageable, I understand that Gâlcă sees things differently. (no about the doctor) He had a contract with the club, I guess Mauro (no Pederzoli) decided that it was OK and that it was good to keep him. When you are in conflict with someone, I suspect that you want to change certain things. Injuries can be from the physical trainer, from training, from the player, because maybe he is not disciplined. In no case do they get injured because of the doctor”.
