Cocky Steau Bucharest owner Gica Becali has ramped up the pressure on under-fire Rangers boss Philippe Clement after naming his team and questioning the Rangers manager’s smarts.
Rangers face the Romanian side on Thursday in a pivotal Europa League with the Belgian boss under pressure after a disastrous weekend defeat at Kilmarnock. Steaua are in good form though and have already collected six points in the competition with wins against FK RFS and PAOK, as well as winning a grudge derby match at the weekend against Dinamo Bucharest.
Club owner and president Becali has already stated he will order his manager Elias Charalambous to play a weakened team in Glasgow because he considers another derby this weekend against Rapid Bucharest more important. And he was quick to start the mind games ahead of the Ibrox clash.
Becali said: “We have no secrets. I have already told Rangers my team. Let’s see how smart the Rangers manager is. If we were to beat Rangers with our second team…I mean, how would they cope? We will still play a good team in Glasgow.
“The central defenders will be Joyskim Dawa and Siyabonga Ngezana. We will have Mihai Popescu and Alexandru Pantea as the full backs. Malcom Edjouma, David Miculescu, Luis Phelipe and Marius Stefanescu will all definitely play for sure too.
“That’s a team who can win, God willing. I believe another three points will see us definitely qualify, but my target is 18 points because I want more prize money and it helps us with the coefficient and gives us a better chance of being seeded in next year’s Champions League.”
However, Steaua were dealt a blow when their Romanian international midfielder Adrian Sut pulled out of the trip to Scotland after the passing of his mother.