Denis Ştefan

Striker - Botosani
23 Feb 2031
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Marked for Denis Ştefan

238 Edition

The Botosani Courier

17 Feb 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces17 Feb 2031

Anger at Botosani spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

The dugout17 Feb 2031

Alexandru Ţigănaşu keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Botosani may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad17 Feb 2031

A falling-out at Botosani

Bryan Meyo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout17 Feb 2031

The manager makes an example of Mihael Onişa

“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.

Squad17 Feb 2031

A row about effort at Botosani

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandru Ţigănaşu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market17 Feb 2031

The Hervin Ongenda story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Hervin Ongenda signs something — a contract at Botosani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout17 Feb 2031

Lucas De Vega has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Lucas De Vega has written the date down.

The dugout17 Feb 2031

Niko Mandić 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.

Boardroom17 Feb 2031

The Botosani production line keeps running

52 graduates out of an academy now rated 9 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.

In brief

Back issues
198 Edition

The Botosani Courier

13 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces13 May 2030

The mood at Botosani has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad13 May 2030

Words exchanged at Botosani

Bryan Meyo 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.

Squad13 May 2030

Mihael Onişa 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.

The dugout13 May 2030

Mihai Deac knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Botosani, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market13 May 2030

The Andrei Dumiter question follows Botosani around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Andrei Dumiter’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout13 May 2030

Giannis Anestis has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Botosani 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.

In brief

157 Edition

The Botosani Courier

30 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match28 Jul 2029

The wait goes on for Botosani

12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Player ratings30 Jul 2029

A brace, and Alexandru Bota takes the afternoon — 9.30

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alexandru Bota provided it, and the 9.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

The dugout30 Jul 2029

Leonardo Ababei says Botosani went back on their word

“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.

Squad30 Jul 2029

Alexandru Roşca stands alone

7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

The dugout30 Jul 2029

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Match28 Jul 2029

Botosani leaking at the back

5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Squad30 Jul 2029

The step up is real for Denis Ştefan

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.

Match28 Jul 2029

Petrolul take the points off Botosani

Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad30 Jul 2029

Bryan Meyo 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 Botosani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

  • The terraces One of their own: Alexandru Bota
  • Squad A row about effort at Botosani
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict