The sale of Albion Rrahmani (23 years old) to Sparta Prague, for 6 million euros, can be interpreted in two ways. Whether the patron Dan Șucu “fill” the hole in the budget, caused by missing the European cups, whether he is preparing his exit from football.
Dan Șucu, majority shareholder Rapid. PHOTO: The Truth Archive
This second option may seem sci-fi, but given Rapid’s weak start to the championship, things can change dramatically by May 2025, when the play-outs end. The derby with Dinamo showed, once again, that Rapid is a team without prospects. And, much worse, unable to beat anyone! The drama is that Rapid ended up in this situation, under the conditions of an accessible program in this season debut. With matches against UTA, Petrolul and Dinamo, all play-outs in the previous season, to which is added a duel with the newly promoted Gloria Buzău and a match with CFR Cluj, the only formation more God-help that Neil Lennon’s students they measured their forces. And if the victories have been lacking so far, only a very optimistic person can hope that they will flow in the coming weeks, when there will be games against Poli Iași (away), Universitatea Craiova (away) and Universitatea Cluj (home), all over Rapid in the ranking.
Indeed, Neil Lennon’s adventure on the Giulești bench may end, in Bănie, if this crisis continues. There are already increasingly clear signals that the Northern Irishman is cornered, and the players and management are not talking the same “language” with him.
After the draw with Dinamo, Lennon was annoyed when asked about “resignation“, under the conditions in which this was requested from the stands. “I just came. I’m trying to build something here, not leave. There are six matches, I lost only one, why should I resign?“, was the reply of the 53-year-old technician.
Instead, midfielder Claudiu Petrila (23 years old) and club president Viorel Moldovan (52 years old) had a much more serious tone in their statements, as can be seen below:
*Claudiu Petrila: The draw with Dinamo is like a defeat, because the draw doesn’t help us anymore, it doesn’t give us morale. We hope to win in Iasi. I don’t know what to do. Things are not going in the desired direction.
*Viorel Moldovan: I’m tired of these equals. I don’t like it, let’s talk about the pressure, but you have to know how to deal with the pressure, because when the salary comes into the account, it’s kind of good, you don’t think about the pressure anymore. I didn’t hear what the fans chanted (no – resignation). It is normal that they are disappointed, I have not experienced such suffering for a long time.
Between the devil and the deep sea
As the stages go by and Rapid fail to beat anyone, it becomes increasingly clear that Neil Lennon is being held to his contract”concrete“, valid until the summer of 2026. For the termination of which approximately 1.5 million euros would be needed!
The problem is that, unless Rapid’s situation miraculously improves, Neil Lennon’s stay may have increasingly serious consequences. The last time the team started so badly, with only 5 points after six stages, Rapid was also relegated at the end of the 2014-2015 season.
