Marked for Daniel Bancu
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces29 Mar 2027
The mood at Pandurii 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.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Pandurii
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Pandurii is running low.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Mate Pasalic breaks a bone — 38 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
This is not rotation. Bogdan Vătăjelu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pandurii is pretending otherwise.
Market29 Mar 2027
Add another name to the list: Breidablik have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Daniel Marques Nunes. The answer from Pandurii has not changed — yet.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Pandurii
André Duarte and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Pandurii training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonny Howson 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
Andrei Ratiu gets picked when it counts
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 Andrei Ratiu is on it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Ciprian Coman
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Mar 2027
Anger at Pandurii 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.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Pandurii boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Mate Pasalic out for 67 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pandurii will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
This is not rotation. Bogdan Vătăjelu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pandurii is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Kostas Kostoulas 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 dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Claudiu Ratiu, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Pandurii
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihai Mitrita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Claudiu Ratiu without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Claudiu Ratiu was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Market1 Mar 2027
The loan was meant to give him football. 3 games and 0 goals later he is back at Pandurii no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match5 Nov 2026
Pandurii come up short in Europe
2‑3 away to the standard of Zurich. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.15, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match8 Nov 2026
5 matches without a win for Pandurii
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Pandurii are no longer polite ones.
Match8 Nov 2026
Pandurii are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniel Bancu and Pandurii agree another 3 years.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Sergiu Puscas 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.
Match8 Nov 2026
1‑2 to Botosani, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
Pandurii say no — this time
The offer from Dinamo Bucharest for Daniel Bancu was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 Pandurii, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Pandurii close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 6 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The window shuts on the Andrei Dumiter deal
Pandurii ran out of time with Botosani. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Pandurii
Kostas Kostoulas 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Pandurii training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihai Mitrita 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Sergiu Puscas slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Sergiu Puscas is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Ciprian Coman
“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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market24 Aug 2026
$2.9M from Astra for Cristian Dragusin. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Match19 Aug 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Sergiu Puscas obliged against Voluntari. 4‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Pandurii.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Pandurii win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Botosani will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.19, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Pandurii sell a favourite for $2.9M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Cristian Dragusin was one of the reasons people came, and $2.9M does not replace that by itself.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The offer went to Botosani this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pandurii this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.