After he quit playing in 1977, he became quickly a player/manager for ICSIM București, amongst others in the beginning he managed lower league sides such as Rapid Fetești, Autobuzul București, Steaua Mizil, and Rulmentul Bârlad. The highlight of his career as a manager was with Steaua București, qualifying them three times in a row in the
UEFA Champions League and also winning the
Romanian First League in 1995, 1996 and 1997. In 1999 and 2005 he won the championship again, this time with
Rapid București and then with
FCSB, leading him to a total of 5 championships won. He also guided Steaua to two
Romanian Cups in 1996 and 1997, and two
Romanian Supercups in 1994 and 1995. In 1994, he was the assistant coach to
Anghel Iordănescu in the
1994 FIFA World Cup. In the 1997–98 season he reached the
Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals as
AEK Athens manager, losing a semi-final place to
Lokomotiv Moscow in the last minute of the second leg match. ==Honours==