The Petrolul Courier
Boardroom31 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Petrolul
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad31 May 2027
The season belongs to Cristian Iancu
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Petrolul have had the benefit of it.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Petrolul
Valentin Creţu 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Stelio Rubino 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. Stelio Rubino has, at Petrolul, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad31 May 2027
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.
Market31 May 2027
Petrolul sign Stelio Rubino, one for the future
Stelio Rubino is 20, and Petrolul have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Market31 May 2027
Petrolul sign Cauã Ávila, one for the future
Cauã Ávila is 20, and Petrolul have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Market31 May 2027
Petrolul sign Lucas Pérez, one for the future
Lucas Pérez is 20, and Petrolul have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The dugout31 May 2027
Dele Israel 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.
In brief
- The dugout Radu Negru has been promised minutes
- Market Still no ink between Petrolul and Stelio Rubino
- The dugout The manager plants his flag on Higor