Octavian Benga offered today during a press conference attended by Florin Drăgan, UPT rector, his first statements since his return as head coach of Politehnica Timisoara.

“Before Mr. Bogdan Andone resigned, we had a discussion in the Board of Directors last week and we agreed to talk to Tavi about his return to the team, because in fact he has had the best performances at Politehnica in the last ten years, since we have the team in this format. And even though it was the opening (n.r. the academic year), we had a lot of events, we called Tavi, we talked and I was very happy that he comes in a not easy moment, it’s not an easy mission, but we rely on the fact that he is 1000% Polist and we also wanted to have a coach from Timisoara or from Banana, at least to be raised by us, that is Polist. We have agreed on several things and I am glad that Tavi is here, it’s a comeback that I think will please all our supporters”, said Florin Drăgan, rector of Politehnica Timisoara University.

“Even though it’s been two years, I can say and it will remain so for the rest of my life, I am a 100% Polist, I love Poli! From this point of view, I accepted the rector’s offer, because I spoke to him on Sunday, I was invited, I want to thank them for thinking of me. He specified, probably also because of past performances, but this is another discussion. I can say that I have been called and looked for by football people in the country and around us. It was suggested that I should not take the risk. To come to Poli Timisoara at a difficult time. Because let’s face it and be realistic: it’s a very difficult time, but I explained it to everyone. I love Poli very much, I can say it’s my second home, the team of Politehnica Timisoara. Most of my life has been spent under the Poli brand. Poli remains the biggest brand in Banat, people should know, I repeated it in the last mandate. It is much loved in the mountain Banat and in the plain Banat, or in the pustă, as we say in Banat, because Banat is very big. Even from the Serbian Banat I was called by our Romanians, our Banat people, and I wanted, through this choice of mine, to show that even in difficult times you have to take risks, make sacrifices, take on and convey a note of courage, because we must have courage from now on. We have to be very smart, until the winter to think everything we do very well. Both in sport and around the team. I’d like to make a comparison: let’s be a bit of a hedgehog and not a rabbit, to quote Lev Tolstoy’s story… that is, we have to be very clever. And I hope, through my contribution, I repeat, it won’t be easy, through desire, because, working at Poli, you have to give everything. And that’s what I’ve passed on to the players. We have to have attitude, people want attitude, in addition to tactical training, they have to see that those who work at Poli. And especially us, the coaches, the players, give everything and people should be firmly convinced that I will give everything and try to save this team. Because the objective is to save us from relegation. I feel honoured and at any time I felt honoured when I worked under the name Poli, because I worked at all levels, from juniors, second team, first team assistant, senior coach, and at any time I felt honoured to work for Poli,” said Octavian Benga, the new head coach of Politehnica.

Asked about the staff he will be working with on the team, Tavi Benga replied, “The move was made very quickly and I think we agreed within 5-10 minutes. It didn’t matter much about the material side or certain situations. In the next period we will make some changes, not necessarily changes, because I don’t want to kick anyone out, I know what it means to be unemployed and to have a family, but people or some people must understand that in football and especially in performance, people have very high expectations. People around need hope and the Poli club to get it right. That’s why I’ll try to bring some people who can help me, who think like me. Those people, I also told the rector, I would like very much, and he approved me, should be from Timisoara, even from our academy, because we have a lot of valuable coaches in our academy and I think they would also deserve to make the step to the big team. They should be given a chance, because if we don’t help them, they won’t be able to make it. There are a lot of them and I hope that in the coming period we will find a solution. I would give the example of Miodrag Todorov, who was a former player of mine, in the last mandate I also took him on as a physical trainer, it was his first experience at senior level and, forget it, in two years he became part of Edi Iordănescu’s staff. So there are valuable people among us, even in Timisoara, but we have to lend them a hand and work together.”

Florin Drăgan also clarified about the discussions on the appointment of a new club president. “At the moment we have discussed with two people and, if we do not succeed this week, then next week I hope to finalize this discussion, all Politehnica, with heart to Poli and who know what Politehnica means. I was really happy when I talked to Tavi and he said he wanted to promote staff from the academy, that’s what I was going to propose, but in general I don’t propose solutions to coaches. But I was glad that he came up with exactly what we, the Board of Directors, wanted”, concluded the UPT rector.

Tavi Benga on:

The past mandate and the new group – “It was a very good moment, thanks to the fact that I managed to create a strong group. At the moment I can’t talk about it, because a lot of players I worked with are no longer with us, very few in number, two or three more, I would have liked, normally, like any coach, to start in the summer or winter, so that you can organize yourself better, but we know many times in life it doesn’t happen exactly as we want. It’s very hard to take over from here, but I take it on board and I think I have the courage and I want the people around me and the players to convey that. To have courage, to push themselves, to be better than they are, because if we don’t achieve that, surely the results will be the same as they were. That’s why I want as soon as possible, I wouldn’t want to criticize or judge anyone, but something has to change in their attitude, in the way they play and I hope, through my way of being, to be a good motivator and to change for the better, for better than what we have shown lately.”

Promoting juniors – “We hope to find more of our kids in time. They should be promoted with a head, because promotions should be done with a head, not necessarily en masse, you can hurt the children. In general they are done on good results, not on negative ones, because you can put a lot of pressure on these young players and you can lose them”.

“I haven’t got to the captains yet, I need to get to know the group, in general captains need to be leaders, have a positive attitude, pass something on to their teammates, be balanced and intelligent guys and an example to their teammates. There is no time to waste, the situation is unpleasant, not easy, but I think that’s why the management brought me here, to change something, I hope to improve things, probably if the situation was easy I wouldn’t be in front of you, to make a joke. Hopefully, hopefully, maybe with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work we can improve our game and please the people in the stands, because being a supporter and a spectator lately, I know that people are hungry for a Poli that gets results.”