Marco Rus joined the Bulls on an initial one month loan basis from Coventry City this weekend, and gained instant praise from the Hereford boss Josh Gowling. On debut against King’s Lynn Town “he was magnificent” said Gowling.
Simon Wright casts his eye over the Bulls new recruit.
Alin Valer Rus is a Romanian former pro footballer who played as a left back or centre back in nearly 300 games in his own country. In 2001, he married Georgeta. Less than two years later in their Floresti home, the couple became parents to a baby boy, Marco Alin followed years later by a baby girl.
In 2011 Alin and his family relocated to Yeovil, Somerset from Romania. His hopes to play football for the local side were quickly dashed but the better half of a former Hereford United player came to his aid.
Gillingham Town FC manager Adrian Foster talking to Somerset live says Alin Rus is a class player. “Yeovil Town watched Alin on DVD but they probably thought he was a bit old for them (at 36) We’re delighted to have him here. He’s a great player. My wife works for the same taxi company, she told me about Alin’s situation, so we called him to see him. It was clear that he played at a higher level.”
To be clear, this is the Gillingham based in Dorset. Alin played for Town for one and a half seasons until he was 38. By then, his son was showing off his own football talent. Yeovil spotted him and the youngster spent several years in their Academy, presumably with proud Dad on hand. And then a Premier League club come a-knocking so the small club has to just grin and bear it.
Saints’ academy director Matt Hale explained to Hampshire Live: “Marco, having been at Yeovil for the past four years, has a real hunger and desire to succeed. He is a clever, tricky player who will offer creativity to the Under-18s group.” Marco played parts of 4 games for the Rumanian U17 team when aged 16 under coach Adrian Vasli between April and October 2019. Without covid and long -distance travel barriers, more caps may have come his way. Young Rus managed around 2,000 minutes action for the Southampton u18s and two goals but wasn’t offered a deal. Coventry moved quickly to offer an extended trial.
City Development coach Luke Tisdale told the Coventry Evening Telegraph: “Marco was a second-year scholar from Southampton. He didn’t get offered a professional contract but he came in on trial with our Under-18s and did brilliantly, forced us to sign him really; gave us no choice!
“And he came into the pre-season and has been a real breath of fresh air for the midfielders.”
Asked about Rus’s qualities, Tisdale added: “He’s highly technical and probably needs to be a little bit nastier out of possession. He’s too nice at the minute but that’s where friendly games against non-league sides are good for him. But he wants the ball all the time and can play through the lines.” Marco is best described as a left footed attacking midfield. He’s on contract until June 2023 with a further years’ option in the clubs’ favour.
Interviewed in October 2021 by the City media team, Marco explained his style. “I can go and run and it’s what I like to do, to take people on and get into the box and create something. I do it in training, if it opens up, I’ll try and run through and either slip people through or get a goal myself but they know that and the lads let me do that and they know if I lose it, I will work hard to win the ball back or get back in shape.
I just want to keep putting in the good performances, keep developing well, working hard and trying to get myself on the score sheet more and maybe more assists and create more chances from wherever I may play, whether I am a deep lying central midfielder or higher up, just keep creating and developing.”
Coventry City won the Professional Development Play-Offs in May 2022 by beating Bristol City in the Final. Rus scored the first goal and was interviewed after the game. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=545780000414811 His South-West accent is most noticeable.
There’s a break in the Professional Development League from now until early January so Coventry have sent 7 young players out on loan, including Rus and Ricardo Dinanaga. That’s a happy tie-in with Hereford’s urgent need for short-term quality though an extension is not likely as City want their young charges back. Perhaps they might be persuaded their young player will learn a lot more with us than them.
The slightly-built Romanian (he only weighs 67 kgs) was a very welcome addition to Hereford’s left flank at Kings Lynn. His trickery and speed saw far more experienced players crudely fouling the exciting newcomer just to slow him down in what was a remarkable debut. Marco hadn’t even trained with our squad. Given that Lynn was his first ever taste of adult football, he’ll need to be used sparingly in our twice-weekly schedule.
Bine ați venit la Hereford Marco.
Simon Wright
Images courtesy of Graham Goodwin
