Marked for Laurent Mallet
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout13 May 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rubin may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market13 May 2030
Ilja Kuptsov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rubin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 May 2030
Tempers go at Rubin
Ruslan Bart 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.
Squad13 May 2030
A row about effort at Rubin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Ignatjev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 May 2030
Ilja Rozhkov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rubin 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 dugout13 May 2030
The manager makes an example of Leonardo Rossi
“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.
Market13 May 2030
The clock does Evgeny Staver’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Rubin could ask drops and the wages Evgeny Staver can ask rise.
Loan watch13 May 2030
29 appearances away from home and 5 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout13 May 2030
Dmitry Tananeev 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Oct 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rubin may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Oct 2029
A falling-out at Rubin
Yegor Teslenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
The manager makes an example of Abakar Gadjiev
“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.
Market15 Oct 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rubin, another week without a signature from Evgeny Staver.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
A promise honoured at Rubin
Something was said to Chinedu Geoffrey and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Ersi Bode 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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Rubin are still strangers to each other
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dardan Shabanhaxhaj is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Dec 2028
Beaten 0‑3 by FC Bacău, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market18 Dec 2028
“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 CSM Slatina, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match16 Dec 2028
No end in sight to CSM Slatina's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at CSM Slatina has to find a result from somewhere.
Match16 Dec 2028
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad18 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CSM Slatina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Valentin Gheorghe 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 dugout18 Dec 2028
“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.
Boardroom18 Dec 2028
Wages swallow 125% of the CSM Slatina income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad18 Dec 2028
34 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
In brief
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Boardroom
Inquest at CSM Slatina
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Player ratings
Stefan Man was unplayable
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Oct 2028
1‑4 to FC Bihor Oradea, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match18 Oct 2028
FK Csíkszereda ended it 1‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market23 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CSM Slatina is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match21 Oct 2028
4 matches without a win for CSM Slatina
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around CSM Slatina are no longer polite ones.
Squad23 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CSM Slatina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at CSM Slatina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Gheorghe 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.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
139% of the income goes out in wages at CSM Slatina
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Sep 2028
Whatever happens, CSM Slatina do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Paul Toroc and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at CSM Slatina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Gheorghe 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Abel Stan makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
Half-satisfied: Bogdan Hagi on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Market2 Oct 2028
“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 Oct 2028
Paul Toroc 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 CSM Slatina, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market2 Oct 2028
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Laurent Mallet has his answer from CSM Slatina; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ákos Nistor, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Sep 2028
“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.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
A defender's goal wins it for CSM Slatina — 7.78
1 for Gabriel Simion, marked 7.78, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
Axel Darnaud: 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.” CSM Slatina have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Window shuts: 23 in, 16 out at CSM Slatina
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 23 arrived, 16 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
The deal with Voluntari 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Gheorghe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
CSM Slatina asked and Radnik Surdulica said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match29 Aug 2028
Three points for CSM Slatina, 2‑1 the final word against CS Afumați in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Vlad Andreş 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jul 2028
“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 CSM Slatina, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Jul 2028
Andrei Traşcu has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CSM Slatina they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at CSM Slatina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Gheorghe 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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Metaloglobus Bucharest have kept their man, and CSM Slatina go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Vlad Andreş 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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Chrobry Głogów have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jaheden Rocolat Delmas, and the manager let it.
Market17 Jul 2028
“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.