Marked for Dragos Coman
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Petrolul can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match10 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Petrolul do not lose
7 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Petrolul do not lose
6 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cosmin Chiriches, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Petrolul have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Match3 Oct 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Alexandru Gîţ 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 Petrolul, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Petrolul can pretend not to have heard.
Match26 Sep 2026
Petrolul cannot stop winning
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dragos Coman. 1‑0 against Botosani, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“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.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I did not go to Vojvodina to sit and watch. I want to come back to Petrolul and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Petrolul, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 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 Petrolul, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Sep 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Vladimir Kolmakov reports back to Petrolul with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Florin Bancu unhappy with how he is being used
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Florin Bancu has let it be known that he does not like the way Petrolul are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Vander has taken the shirt
At 38 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Petrolul are won quietly and lost loudly.
Market14 Sep 2026
Petrolul opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Cosmin Chiriches stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
Market14 Sep 2026
Petrolul have made Vladimir Kolmakov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Florin Bancu has started doing his badges
“I watch sessions differently now. I catch myself thinking about why we are doing the drill.” At 34 that is how nearly every man in a dugout started.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cornel Râpă, and the manager let it.
Market7 Sep 2026
Pandurii are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Petrolul will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market7 Sep 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Petrolul, another week without a signature from Pedro Pinho.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Petrolul have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Dragos Coman finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Petrolul have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Petrolul, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
The press cannot get enough of Cristian Marin
Praise is not points and never has been. It is, however, the fastest way for a valuation to move, and everybody in the game reads the same pages.