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CFR: A Brand? October 28, 2008 CFR 1907's performances in the past few years have led to speculation on whether the club could ever become a brand. Triumph in the league and the cup, as well as some surprising exploits in the Champions' League, seem sufficient enough to create an aura of success around the Cluj-based club. Nonetheless, every organization needs a group people working behind the scenes to create an image that can be then advertised as a brand. This image would serve to create a desire in regular, every-day people to come to the stadium in Gruia and see some quality football. Having a marketable image would also result in something less tangible. Today's youth would look up to Muresan, to Dubarbier, to Cadu and see what they ultimately aspire to achieve in their lives professionally: to become part not of a mere football club, but instead to join "the CFR family". Antonis Antoniou is the director of international relations and marketing at CFR 1907. The 31-year-old Cypriot possesses admirable linguistic skills, being fluent in five different languages including Romanian. His job is to transform CFR into not only a mere national brand, but also an international one. "My work involves associations with UEFA as well as other international football institutions. In the long-term, we need to create and consolidate CFR 1907 as a brand. How will we accomplish this? First of all through our domestic and European performances, and through interacting with our fans. So, every three months we will organize surprise events such as fan conferences, promotional packages and special sales for our supporters, all with the intention of creating a more intimate bond between the club and the fans, as well as swelling their numbers." The CFR project was begun in 2002 by Arpad Pazskany, who is still the owner of the club. Yet, Pazskany is not the only one who invests money in the club. A major portion of CFR's budget is assured by a large number of companies of all sizes; local, national and international. Hence, any firm with the intention of investing any sum of money in sport is welcome at Cluj. "We wish to attract new sponsors who participate in our relations with the general public, so we can all progress and achieve our objectives. The names of our sponsors, from the smallest local business to the largest multi-national corporation, appear at our stadium, on the big screen, and in our official magazine," Antoniou mentioned. Antoniou's latest innovation involves the creation of a "membership card". According to the young director, even though the club's official website, cfrcluj1907.ro, has been up for only a short period of time, the site has already reached the 100,000 mark in unique visitors. This interest in CFR 1907 led Antoniou to invest his time in the "membership card" project, which would offer certain extra benefits to the subscriber. However, Antoniou is very reluctant to divulge any further information about this endeavor: "Unfortunately, I can't reveal anything more about this until the cards will appear this coming winter." All this is a part of Pazskany's initiative which was begun a mere six years ago. "We already have the recognition of many Romanians due to our performances, our serious management, our investments and the conditions we created for our supporters at the stadium," Antoniou went on to say. "From the very beginning, Mr. Pazskany envisioned the construction of the most modern stadium in Romania and the genesis of a healthy image nationally and internationally." "Behind me is a group of enthusiastic young men and women...who work to better our relationship with the fans...Along with our first participation in the Champions' League, we had the opportunity to get into contact with three big clubs and their marketing strategies. We were impressed by what we saw at Chelsea, a club with an effective marketing department. Such clubs inspire us. We learned that a club without supporters and without sponsors is a dead one, so we concentrated on those two aspects. On another note, we will participate in various international friendly tournaments in the company of world-class teams. This is something which will greatly help us in furthering our imagine internationally. What is most important, though, is seriousness and hard work. Only with much work can we make CFR the biggest brand in Romania in the next five years." Antonis Antoniou and his crew's work is not all that visible nor should it be. But, with every goal scored, every game won, they are achieving some well-earned victories on the national and international football scene. Source: clujeanul.ro
Reserves Only Manage Draw October 28, 2008 CFR Cluj II only earned a mere draw in an away game at Avintul Reghin. Details can be found on the "reserves" section here.
CFR Will Play Sportul Studentesc in the Cup October 28, 2008 CFR's next adversary in the Romanian Cup will be Sportul Studentesc. Sportul used to play in Liga 1, but was penalized and relegated after a controversial federation decision in 2006. Today, the team from Bucharest plays in Liga II where they currently sit in 8th spot. Although their performance has been lacking as of late, Sportul is renowned for cultivating some of the best Romanian talent. In other news, according to kvsc1907.ro, several promising youngsters from CFR's youth center have been called up to the Romanian National Team at their respective levels. Sergiu Bus and Calin Tiut will join the U-17 side as they prepare for the European Championship.
Another Poor Result October 26, 2008
CFR lost its second game of the week at Poli Timisoara. Timisoara, a team unbeaten at home in the last two years, came after an 8-game undefeated streak (including 7 wins). And the game could not have gone better for the home team. CFR began disastrously when Trica missed a major scoring chance, but his shot from an excellent position was too weak to trouble Pantelimon. Then, Poli scored when Cisovsky tapped the ball in after several deflections in the Cluj crease. To make things worse, Cisovsky scored again after a well-taken corner only minutes later. CFR did manage to reduce their handicap by halftime. Trica, Peralta, and Didi created a beautiful quick passing play with the latter scoring calmly with a kick past the Timisoara keeper.
The second half was incredibly boring. Poli Timisoara missed a few good chances, while CFR showed the same lack of inspiration as in Andone`s time as coach. Not only that, but the refereeing was absolutely atrocious. The referee didn`t blatantly favour one team or the other, but instead fragmented the game by calling a foul on the very slightest of contacts between the players. Overall, Poli Timisoara deserved the win and, judging by their superb performance, they deserve to be in first spot.
Poli Timisoara: Pantelimon - Badoi, Cisovsky, Brezinsky, Milhazes - Stancu, Alexa, Borbely (Magera 68`), Karamyan - Parks, Bucur Coach: Dusan Uhrin
CFR: Stancioiu - Tony, Galiassi, Alcantara, Pereira (Panin 71`) - Dani (E. Kone 71`), Muresan - Peralta, Trica (Dubarbier 85`), Culio - Didi Coach: Maurizio Trombetta Bookings: Tony, Alcantara, Dani, Muresan, Culio
Conclusion: Trombetta made a mistake in playing with two defensive midfielders. Due to this overly defensive formation, the players were hard-pressed to get some decent passes up the field. In any case, the players were tired and could hardly move at times. It appears that CFR`s main defensive problem (as it has been in the last 4 years!) is off of corners and free kicks. Hugo Alcantara was thought to be the perfect defender for handling these set plays, but he seems just as baffled as everybody else.
Player-by-Player Analysis: Stancioiu 6: Couldn`t do much when the goals came about, but did save a few powerful shots from the Poli strikers. Tony 6: Fought and dispossessed many of his opponents, and tried to cross a few times. However, he was sometimes overwhelmed on the right side. Galiassi 5: Has to be more careful to not let the ball bounce around in the box. Alcantara 4: Nobody knows why he was brought to Cluj. He clearly can`t play at this level. Partially responsible for the first goal, and fully for the second when his marking of Cisovsky was very lax. Pereira 5.5: Moved up too much...yet again. Dani 6: Recovered a few balls and tried to move forward. Muresan 5: Clearly he is not the player he was one month ago. Muresan seems exhausted. Half his passes went awry. Peralta 5.5: Nice quick passes, especially in the first half. But he did lose a few balls and give away a few stupid fouls. Trica 6: Missed a big chance in the first half and his passes were decent. Culio 4.5: Same problem. Every time he got the ball, he would dribble away and lose it three seconds later. Didi 6: Had some nice plays in the first half, culminating in his goal. Wasn`t seen nearly enough in the latter 45 minutes, though. Substitutes: Panin 6: His passing was exemplary on the right side, but he is a defensive player, unsuited to attacking all that much. E. Kone 5.5: Could not get into the rhythm of the game. Dubarbier: Did he even play?
Reserves Defeat Liberty Oradea II October 26, 2008 The B Team defeated Liberty Oradea second team and moves further up in the standings. Details in the ``reserves`` section here.
First Loss October 24, 2008
In front of a crowd of 30,000, CFR suffered its first ever Champions' League defeat. Cadu scored the only game of the match in his own net in the 55th minute after a lack of communication with the keeper, Stancioiu. Bordeaux had quite a few chances throughout the game, as well as the lion's share of possession. CFR could have scored three times, though, but Muresan`s header sailed wide, Culio`s powerful shot was blocked and Yssouf Kone missed the target in a 1-on-1 situation. Girondins de Bordeaux: Rame - Chalme, Planus, Diawara, Jurietti - Fernando, Diarra - Obertan (Gouffran 62`), Gourcuff, Bellion (Wendel 62`) - Chamakh Coach: Laurent Blanc
CFR: Stancioiu - Tony, Cadu, Galiassi, Pereira - Muresan, Peralta - Dubarbier (Didi 72`), Trica, Culio - Y.Kone (E. Kone 83`) Coach: Maurizio Trombetta
Bookings: Peralta, Cadu, Culio, Trica (X2), Muresan
Conclusion: The players were really tired during this game. Dubarbier, Kone, and Culio all seemed to be dying of exhaustion on the field. They hardly ran and due to this their performance suffered a great deal. The own goal was due to a lack of communication between Cadu and the keeper, but it certainly doesn't mean the two are poor players. They played well overall, excepting that one incident. Player-by-Player Analysis: Stancioiu 7: Some good saves and decent clearances. Tony 6: Brutally fouled in the first half, he came back and was sound defensively. Cadu 5: Good in the air, blocked quite a few attacks, but had the bad luck to put the ball in his own net. He should have seen the keeper and listened to him to avoid the goal. Galiassi 5.5: Also good in the air, but was outrun several times by the French. Pereira 5: Not as offensive as in the last games, and made many defensive errors. Muresan 6: Not in good form anymore, he could not push CFR`s game into Bordeaux`s half. He did have a few good recoveries of the ball, though. Peralta 5: Clearly the position of defensive midfielder does not suit him at all. Dubarbier 5: Very tired and virtually inexistent. Trica 4: Poor play and silly sending-off. Culio 4.5: Every time he would get the ball, he wouldn`t pass. He simply dribbled until he lost it. Y. Kone 5.5: Also very tired, he did little and missed a good scoring chance in the second half. Substitutes: Didi 5: Nobody noticed him. E. Kone: Played only 10 minutes, but showed much promise.
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