Daniel Isăilă

Daniel Ionuț Isăilă (born 29 June 1972) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of UAE Pro League club Ajman.

Daniel Isăilă
Isăilă in 2014
Personal information
Full nameDaniel Ionuț Isăilă
Date of birth (1972-06-29) 29 June 1972 (age 52)
Place of birthBrașov, Romania
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)Centre back
Team information
Current team
Ajman (head coach)
Youth career
0000–1992FC Brașov
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1992–1996Tractorul Brașov55(1)
1997–2000FC Brașov89(3)
1997–1998Tractorul Brașov (loan)32(4)
2000Rapid București9(0)
2001–2006FC Brașov107(5)
Total292(13)
Managerial career
2006–2007FC Săcele
2007–2010FC Brașov (assistant)
2010FC Brașov
2010–2011FC Brașov (assistant)
2011FC Brașov
2011–2012Sportul Studențesc
2012–2013FCM Târgu Mureș
2013–2014Astra Giurgiu
2014Astra Giurgiu
2014–2016Romania (assistant)
2016–2018Romania U21
2018–2020Al-Hazem
2020–2023Baniyas
2023–Ajman
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

A former defender, Isăilă played 149 matches in Liga I, scoring seven goals. He played eight times in the UEFA Cup, four games each with Rapid București and FC Brașov.

Coaching career

He began his coaching career in 2006 at second league club FC Săcele. He then joined the technical staff of Răzvan Lucescu, becoming his assistant at FC Brașov.

From July 2010 he was in numerous occasions the head coach of FC Brașov, overseen by technical director Daniel Oprea, Isăilă not having the PRO License coach certificate yet.

In November 2011, Isăilă signed a contract for four seasons with Sportul Studențesc. The club relegated under his command. In August 2012, he moved to second division club FCM Târgu Mureș, where he received a contract for a season with the main objective being promotion in Liga I. He resigned in the middle of the season, because the team was far from reaching the target, being only 5th after 16 games.

In April 2013, he was appointed head coach of Liga I side Astra Giurgiu. With Astra Giurgiu he had fantastic performances and in two years he won almost everything possible. In his first season in charge, he won the Cupa României at the National Arena Stadium against Steaua Bucharest in front of 53,000 Steaua supporters. On 11 July he won the second historical cup for Astra, the Supercup, again against Steaua Bucharest. After the best performance of Astra Giurgiu in the Championship, (2nd place) he qualified his team in the Europa League group stages for the first time, winning against Lyon in a fantastic double match which will remain in the history of the club. In October 2014, he stepped down as manager of Astra. In October the same year, he became one of the assistant coaches for the Romania national team working under Anghel Iordănescu and later Christoph Daum.

In December 2016, Isăilă was named as the head coach of Romania under-21 national team. After nearly two years in control he gave up the national team, thus leaving it with chances of qualifying to the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

In June 2018, he signed with newly promoted Saudi Professional League side Al-Hazem. He was sacked on 31 January 2020 following a 0–0 draw with Al-Taawoun.[1]

Coaching stats

As of 15 March 2024
TeamFromToRecord
GWDLGFGAWin %
FC Săcele1 July 200630 June 2007341110133443032.35
FC Braşov9 July 201017 December 2010217862023033.33
FC Braşov31 August 20111 November 20119234910022.22
Sportul Studenţesc3 November 201122 August 20122256112234022.73
FCM Târgu Mureș24 August 201211 March 2013179262017052.94
Astra Giurgiu14 April 201322 March 201445251378744055.56
Astra Giurgiu8 May 201410 October 20142315175531065.22
Romania U2113 December 20168 June 20188233912025.00
Al-Hazem8 June 201831 January 2020491314225782026.53
Baniyas27 June 20201 June 2023113402746158167035.40
Ajman3 October 2023present124441417033.33
Total35313391129485480037.68

Honours

Player

FC Brașov

Coach

Astra Giurgiu

References