Marked for Claudiu Balasa
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match18 Nov 2026
Cup progress for Astra
A 1‑0 win over Dinamo Bucharest, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market23 Nov 2026
Pedro Paulo 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 Astra can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Ovidiu Marin at 20 — 8.09
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ovidiu Marin did not need any: 8.09, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Astra may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Astra
George Tanase 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Astra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aldair Ferreira 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Astra know it.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
Astra supporters have found a favourite in Ovidiu Marin
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Ovidiu Marin 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Astra's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Astra has to find a result from somewhere.
Market26 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 Astra can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Astra
Stefan Dragusin 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of George Man
“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
One of those days for Paul Hagi
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I watch every Astra game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at FCSB runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexandru Stanciu and Astra agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match24 Oct 2026
It needed Paul Hagi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Universitatea Craiova, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Astra's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Astra has to find a result from somewhere.
Market28 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Stefan Dragusin, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.75
A mark of 7.75 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Astra
George Tanase 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Dragos Tanase is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Camilo Mancilla
“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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Ianis Mihaila knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I did not go to FCSB to sit and watch. I want to come back to Astra and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 6 matches say the rest.