Marked for Berna
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Jan 2031
Florin Iancu hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Petrolul can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Jan 2031
A muscle injury sidelines Zain Westbrooke for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Petrolul will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Transfer targets13 Jan 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Bucharest have kept their man, and Petrolul go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom13 Jan 2031
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Berna has agreed terms with CFR Cluj for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad13 Jan 2031
A falling-out at Petrolul
Andrei Miron and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market13 Jan 2031
As if he never left: Jamilu Yusuf returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Jamilu Yusuf is a Petrolul player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Jamilu Yusuf arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jamilu Yusuf has, at Petrolul, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad13 Jan 2031
A row about effort at Petrolul
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Costin Amzăr was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom13 Jan 2031
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Jan 2031
The bid was some way short and Petrolul did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market6 Jan 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market6 Jan 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Petrolul is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout6 Jan 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Petrolul may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets6 Jan 2031
The deal with FCSB is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Boardroom6 Jan 2031
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ianis Dobrescu has agreed terms with Universitatea Craiova for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad6 Jan 2031
A move Cristian Marin would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Cristian Marin is living that version at Petrolul, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad6 Jan 2031
A row about effort at Petrolul
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrei Miron was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets6 Jan 2031
Petrolul asked and HNK Rijeka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout30 Dec 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Petrolul may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market30 Dec 2030
Jakub Grelich hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Petrolul can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Dec 2030
Andrei Vlad was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad30 Dec 2030
Andrei Miron falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market30 Dec 2030
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Andrei Miron has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Petrolul.
Squad30 Dec 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergiu Cicaldau and Petrolul agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout30 Dec 2030
Andrei Miron asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout30 Dec 2030
Berna has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Petrolul will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market30 Dec 2030
The clock does Todor Pavlov’s negotiating for him
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Petrolul could ask drops and the wages Todor Pavlov can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout23 Dec 2030
Rodrigo Viola: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrolul have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Words exchanged at Petrolul
Andrei Vlad and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Words at Petrolul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Costin Amzăr is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
Andrei Miron knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andrei Miron trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market23 Dec 2030
Berna runs his contract down
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Petrolul money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Dec 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Florin Puscas
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrolul lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market9 Dec 2030
Dušan Vuković has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrolul they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Andrei Vlad in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrolul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Dec 2030
A row about effort at Petrolul
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrei Miron was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Dec 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tyris Dong and Petrolul agree another 4 years.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Răzvan Gligor, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
Bogdan Vătăjelu asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market9 Dec 2030
Petrolul and Berna are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Dec 2030
Florin Puscas damages knee ligaments — 23 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market2 Dec 2030
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Petrolul, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Andrei Vlad was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Costin Amzăr falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market2 Dec 2030
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Petrolul, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
When it matters, Berna plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market2 Dec 2030
Still no signature from Ionuţ Gurău
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Petrolul could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Nov 2030
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Petrolul lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market18 Nov 2030
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match18 Nov 2030
The season ends: position 7 for Petrolul
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 24 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Player ratings18 Nov 2030
A brace, and Ibrahima Fall takes the afternoon — 8.95
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ibrahima Fall provided it, and the 8.95 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match16 Nov 2030
No end in sight to Petrolul's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Petrolul has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Ibrahima Fall is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.44 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match16 Nov 2030
No clean sheets in sight for Petrolul
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match16 Nov 2030
2‑3 to Universitatea Craiova, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Andrei Miron falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Oct 2030
10 saves: Andrei Vlad was the team
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Dušan Vuković
16 goals and a season average of 7.27 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Words exchanged at Petrolul
Andrei Vlad and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Oct 2030
A row about effort at Petrolul
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrei Miron was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market28 Oct 2030
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Bogdan Vătăjelu has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Petrolul.
The dugout28 Oct 2030
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
Ninety minutes of Berna at his very best
Marked 8.05. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Petrolul.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
A performance of 8.01 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match26 Oct 2030
Petrolul rescue it on 90 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 90. Viitorul had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
In brief
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The dugout
The team sheet said everything about Andrei Miron
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Match
Petrolul and Viitorul take a point apiece
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Apr 2030
Daniel Toma has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrolul they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Apr 2030
A falling-out at Petrolul
Andrei Vlad and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Words at Petrolul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Costin Amzăr is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout15 Apr 2030
Berna gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market15 Apr 2030
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout15 Apr 2030
Mihnea Rădulescu has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Petrolul will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout15 Apr 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Petrolul, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad15 Apr 2030
A season on the outside for Vlad Dragomir
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Petrolul has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The dugout15 Apr 2030
The manager makes Andrei Miron a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Petrolul. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Jan 2030
Ionuţ Gurău breaks a bone — 105 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market7 Jan 2030
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Petrolul, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout7 Jan 2030
Jamilu Yusuf: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrolul have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Jan 2030
A move Denis Crişan would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Denis Crişan is living that version at Petrolul, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Cristian Burca has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad7 Jan 2030
A row about effort at Petrolul
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrei Vlad was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Berna was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout7 Jan 2030
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market7 Jan 2030
Daniel Toma is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Petrolul has been clear about where Daniel Toma stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Nov 2029
11 matches without a win for Petrolul
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Petrolul are no longer polite ones.
Match21 Nov 2029
The cup run ends for Petrolul
3‑4 against FCSB, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.55, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
Tyris Dong, 21, steals the show — 8.16
Marked 8.16 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
Ianis Dobrescu: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrolul have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match21 Nov 2029
Dušan Vuković among the goals in a wild afternoon
7 goals in one match, Dušan Vuković on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Petrolul and FCSB.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
Andrei Toroc ran the middle of the pitch — 7.30
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 14 combined actions and a mark of 7.30, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Words at Petrolul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Vlad is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad26 Nov 2029
A falling-out at Petrolul
Berna and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Jul 2029
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Benjamin Kanurić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Florin Ştefan falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Late improvement for Berna
At 26 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
Benjamin Kanurić has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Petrolul will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market16 Jul 2029
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Petrolul money.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
Daniel Toma knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Toma trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.