Marked for Daniel Mitrita
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Aug 2026
Astra come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Petrolul did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market31 Aug 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 The request is on a desk at Petrolul, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Sergiu Hagi 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 Petrolul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Petrolul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Orlando Osorio 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Orlando Osorio
“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
Steady
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Alexandru Mitrita takes the afternoon — 8.96
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alexandru Mitrita provided it, and the 8.96 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market24 Aug 2026
Nicusor Coman 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 Petrolul can pretend not to have heard.
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 Petrolul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandru Mitrita. 2‑0 against Viitorul, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market24 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Petrolul have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Petrolul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergiu Hagi 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Mihai Hagi
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The division's best last weekend was a Petrolul man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Alexandru Mitrita was the best thing in any of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Aug 2026
Cosmin Keseru 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
Words at Petrolul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Orlando Osorio 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
The afternoon belonged to Florin Hagi
A mark of 7.81, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad17 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Petrolul are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Match15 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Astra leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Cristian Deac dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Market17 Aug 2026
Dragos Moldovan is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Petrolul has been clear about where Dragos Moldovan stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market17 Aug 2026
At 36, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 8. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market10 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Daniel Mitrita and Petrolul agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Cosmin Keseru 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 terraces10 Aug 2026
Petrolul spend $520.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $520.0K for Cristian Licsandru, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Daniel Mitrita 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cosmin Keseru, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A mark of 7.99, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Match8 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with FCSB leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market3 Aug 2026
Petrolul say no — this time
The offer from Sokol for Bogdan 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.
Squad3 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 Petrolul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Petrolul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergiu Hagi 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicusor Keseru and Petrolul agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cristian Deac, and the manager let it.