Stefan Man

Central Defender - Pandurii
13 Jun 2027
Sunday
Process

Marked for Stefan Man

44 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Bogdan Iancu out for 60 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.

Squad

Nicusor Dragusin is named among the best

There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Pandurii will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Squad

Stefan Man 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.

In brief

Back issues
34 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Bogdan Iancu out for 135 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.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Pandurii

Position 8 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

Squad

Tempers go at Pandurii

Silviu Lung 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.

In brief

22 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Every point is an argument now for Pandurii

Position 8 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

Squad

Tempers go at Pandurii

Stefan Man 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.

Squad

Words at Pandurii training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dorin Chiriches 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.

In brief

19 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Mihai Chiriches out for 29 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.

Squad

Stefan Man 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.

Squad

Dorin Chiriches 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.

In brief

16 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Daniel Man damages knee ligaments — 14 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Pandurii taken apart

1‑4 to Astra, 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.

Squad

Mihai Chiriches breaks a bone — 53 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Mihai Chiriches says Pandurii went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Match

4 matches without a win for Pandurii

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Pandurii are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Pandurii

Stefan Man 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.

In brief

15 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Man

22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pandurii lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Mihai Chiriches breaks a bone — 62 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Dorin Chiriches runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Stefan Man 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.

Squad

Dorin Chiriches 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.

Match

Pandurii come up short against FCSB

FCSB left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

13 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Daniel Man damages knee ligaments — 37 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 37 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Mihai Chiriches breaks a bone — 78 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Stefan Man 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.

Squad

Dorin Chiriches 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.

Match

Dorin Chiriches’s goal not enough for Pandurii

Dorin Chiriches scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Botosani, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Player ratings

One of those days for Dorin Chiriches

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

10 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Mihai Chiriches out for 100 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.

Player ratings

George Keseru runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Pandurii

Stefan Man 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.

Squad

Words at Pandurii training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dorin Chiriches 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.

Squad

Ionut Mitrita signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ionut Mitrita and Pandurii agree another 1 years.

The terraces

Pandurii supporters have found a favourite in George Keseru

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. George Keseru has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Match

Dorin Chiriches sends Pandurii past Petrolul

It finished 1‑0, and it was Dorin Chiriches’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Pandurii.

Player ratings

One of those days for Dorin Chiriches

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Market

The Dorin Chiriches talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Pandurii know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

8 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Claudiu Moldovan damages knee ligaments — 25 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

A fracture rules Mihai Chiriches out for 116 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.

Match

A hiding for Pandurii

Beaten 1‑4 by Viitorul, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Squad

Tempers go at Pandurii

Stefan Man 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Dorin Chiriches

Marked 8.25 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Sergiu Chiriches gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

5 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Mihai Chiriches out for 137 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.

Market

Pandurii say no — this time

The offer from CFR Cluj for George Keseru 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.

Market

Razvan Nita hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Dorin Chiriches 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.

Match

Dinamo Bucharest take the points off Pandurii

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dorin Chiriches

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Bogdan Tarasov attracts admirers

The name of Bogdan Tarasov has come up in conversations Pandurii were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

George Stanciu gets it from the manager

“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.

Squad

Costly mistake from Marius Bancu

An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Marius Bancu knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.

In brief

4 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Pandurii through in the cup

A 4‑1 win over Voluntari, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Market

Pandurii turn down Dinamo Bucharest for Nicusor Dragusin

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Player ratings

Both of them Bogdan Iancu's — 8.45

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.45, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

Mihai Dragusin scores twice — 8.12

Two goals and a mark of 8.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Cristian Balasa asks to leave Pandurii

“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.

Market

Zorya join the queue for Florin Tanase

Add another name to the list: Zorya have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Florin Tanase. The answer from Pandurii has not changed — yet.

Match

Pandurii make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Pandurii have 3 straight wins of it.

Squad

Tempers go at Pandurii

Stefan Man 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.

Squad

Words at Pandurii training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dorin Chiriches 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.

In brief

2 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Florin Tanase

Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Pandurii turn down Universitatea Craiova for Stefan Man

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Market

Dinamo Bucharest watching Nicusor Dragusin

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Pandurii have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Dorin Chiriches signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dorin Chiriches commits to Pandurii for another 4 years.

Squad

Dorin Chiriches 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.

Match

George Keseru among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, George Keseru on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Pandurii and Universitatea Craiova.

Match

Pandurii come up short against Universitatea Craiova

Universitatea Craiova left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Ovidiu Coman 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.

In brief

1 Edition

The Pandurii Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Pandurii

1‑4 against Petrolul, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Market

Ural come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Pandurii did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

An unwelcome headline for Ionut Mitrita

He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.

Squad

Tempers go at Pandurii

Stefan Man 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.

Squad

Words at Pandurii training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dorin Chiriches 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Florin Tanase

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Florin Tanase, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dorin Chiriches

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Pandurii dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

Market

Cristian Balasa told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Cristian Balasa has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Pandurii.

In brief

  • Player ratings The pass was always on for George Man
  • Player ratings Stefan Man spends the afternoon fouling