The first coaching performance he gained was with FC Inter Sibiu, helping his team to get promoted in the first league Divizia A in 1988.
After that he went back in his hometown and managed Electroputere,[2] where he surprisingly took his team from second division, to the European competitions.
He promoted them in 1991, and ended on third-place during the 1991–92 season above Universitatea Craiova their rivals at that time, enough to get a spot for the UEFA Cup.
During the 1992–93 season, he was appointed as head-coach for Universitatea Craiova[3] and ended third again, but brought his team to the Romanian Cup finals and won it.
He then moved to Bucharest to coach FC Naţional in the 1995–96 season, being replaced after a couple of months.