Marked for Razvan Coman
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Sergiu Burca beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 33. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Age has not caught Ovidiu Hagi yet — 7.96
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.96 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad30 Nov 2026
George Deac 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 Pandurii this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Nov 2026
FCSB made Pandurii work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Paul Chiriches, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Ovidiu Burca
“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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The form table has caught Ovidiu Burca
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Market30 Nov 2026
The Ianis Bancu story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ianis Bancu signs something — a contract at Pandurii or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Looking ahead30 Nov 2026
Astra next, and one man in the Pandurii dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Nov 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 The request is on a desk at Pandurii, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Sergiu Tanase, 33, rolls back the years — 8.03
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.03 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
George Deac beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Florin Bancu, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Pandurii
Ovidiu Hagi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Paul Chiriches kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Bookings catch up with Ianis Bancu
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Pandurii will feel it on Saturday.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Ovidiu Burca
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
George Deac beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 35. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.92, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ionut Hagi commits to Pandurii for another 5 years.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I watch every Pandurii game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Puskas Akademia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match31 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ovidiu Hagi. 1‑0 against Voluntari, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ciprian Maxim is the month’s best young player
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Pandurii will try not to make too much of it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 26 days on the sidelines for Ciprian Cicaldau, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Samy Mahour 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
George Deac 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted Pandurii
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Pandurii can tell you which week it ends in.
Match24 Oct 2026
Universitatea Craiova left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nicusor Nedelcearu commits to Pandurii for another 3 years.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Paul Chiriches left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Ovidiu Burca
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Sergiu Balasa
“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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
George Deac beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 12. 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
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ionut Stanciu and Pandurii agree another 1 years.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
The crowd has taken to Ionut Hagi
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Pandurii
Ovidiu Hagi 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.
Match5 Oct 2026
The half-term report on Pandurii
Position 6, 12 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
The afternoon belonged to Ionut Hagi
A mark of 7.37, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Market5 Oct 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Dorin Chiriches has his answer from Pandurii; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Paul Chiriches was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Pandurii dressing room was either.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The form table has caught Ovidiu Burca
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Chornomorets had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Aug 2026
Pandurii pay Astra $1.8M for a proper upgrade
Astra did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $1.8M for George Deac, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Genoa, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ovidiu Hagi 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The formation has left George Deac behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Pandurii will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Cosmin Puscas and Pandurii agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.