I don't know why but this pictures feels like..... Becali. 
When I see this pretended Mafia man (but actually the sort of guy that would rob you on the street with a knife) with that cigarette and the Cosa Nostra godfather attitude, I see why our soccer has gone down so much. 

Yeah, David, you're right.  Unfortunately, if you take 80% of the articles in our sports newspapers and you erase any part related to football, they would fit perfectly in the Crime Section of the regular newspapers.  The same with this article where there is no fooball involved.  There are just forged papers, scams and stolen cars. 

And about what Lupisor said about so-called football persons, there are curently none or very few real former fotballers in the top positions of Romanian football.  These "oameni de fotbal" can be divided into 3 groups:

1 Ex-communist-football people, the ones who made a scam out of football under dicatorship and do the same under the freedom of capitalism, they don't invest any money but they gain a lot, some are or have been in trouble with the law
examples: Dragomir, Padureanu, Romica Pascu etc. 

- New-generation gangsters, who were little gangsters or had some lowly jobs under communism and who turned to football to make fortunes; are or have been in trouble with the law
examples: Borcea, Becali, etc

- Bussines People, the ones who invest money, some are naive and are let the old guys do everything (Neculaie from Brasov who hired pascu), others do everything themselves (Copos); they invest amounts of money that they claim to be huge but actually are insignificant but they earn a lot (Netoiu is a good example, he sold players like Prunea, Papura, Gabi Popescu, Claudiu Niculescu and most recently Domocos but brought only Rocar players); they have a shady past also, most have been in the Securitate and used their connections to make money; some are or have been involved in troubles with the law. 

Originally posted by Walter BC Hey, I just dropped by to see how my Romanian friends are doing?  Fine, I hope! 
OK I know this isn't the right topic here, but still, how are you pleased with your EC 2004 draw? 
Stay

Originally posted by Walter BC Hey, I just dropped by to see how my Romanian friends are doing?  Fine, I hope! 
OK I know this isn't the right topic here, but still, how are you pleased with your EC 2004 draw? 
Stay

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Niculescu signing was from the heart, admits Lucescu

Monday 11th February 2002

Galatasaray manager Mircea Lucescu has admitted that sentiment played a major role in the signing of National Bucharest striker Radu Niculescu. 

Lucescu, who worked with Niculescu during a spell as manager of Rapid Bucharest, said: "I know this boy from the period when he was one of the biggest talents, about seven seasons ago. 

"Unfortunately for him, a combination of bad luck and bad advice from certain people around him stopped his development.  Maybe I am sentimental, but it is not the first time I have tried to recover a player who everybody said had no chance of coming back. 

"I am confident that Radu is still a quality player and I hope that soon the delay regarding Fifa will be resolved and he will play." 

The world governing body has put a block on Niculescu making his debut until Galatasaray pay outstanding payments to Spanish club Real Sociedad relating to the transfer of Arif Erdem last season. 

Lucescu is confident the matter will be resolved soon and is looking forward to throwing Niculescu into action as his side face a number of key fixtures. 

Referring to the forthcoming derby against Fenerbahce, he said: "I know that for many of our fans this game is more important than any game in the Champions' League. 

"I hope that Niculescu will receive the green light from Fifa to appear in the derby because I also intend to select him against Liverpool in the Champions' League next week. 

"I know that he is very strong on his feet, exactly what we need against an athletic team like Liverpool. 

"I am sure that having the ball well served to him by our midfielders will produce a lot of problems, even for the experienced defenders of a quality side like Liverpool." 

I just have to say, for things like this I like Lucescu.  He is a coach with personality, he takes his decisions (allthough I don´t know if he´s gonna be right with this one!)  and he is ready to take responsability for it. 

Well, Lucescu makes the headline all the time in Turkey for being recognized as the best coach.  I opened Uefa,com at the half time of gala Roma and the headline picture was Lucescu's. 

He had such a hard time getting himself accepted to Turkey but now he is as much respected as Terim.  I thought we had made the mistake of the year by getting him after few games, but now I rrealize my mistake for he has shown what a master tactician, coach and person he is.  LONG LIVE LUCESCU! 

Well, Lucescu makes the headline all the time in Turkey for being recognized as the best coach.  I opened Uefa,com at the half time of gala Roma and the headline picture was Lucescu's. 

He had such a hard time getting himself accepted to Turkey but now he is as much respected as Terim.  I thought we had made the mistake of the year by getting him after few games, but now I rrealize my mistake for he has shown what a master tactician, coach and person he is.  LONG LIVE LUCESCU! 

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the Xtratime Community forums, you must first register. 
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below. 

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account.  Note that passwords are case-sensitive.  Try to avoid choosing short (like '1'), simple (like 'abcd') and easy to guess passwords (like a name of your favorite team, player, etc)!  Complex and long enough passwords, that consists of random string of alphabet and numerical characters, are almost impossible to be stolen and misused.