Marked for Daniel Balasa
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Dec 2026
Petrolul are in real trouble now
Position 8, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad28 Dec 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.
Squad28 Dec 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrei Maxim and Petrolul agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Daniel Balasa 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.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I did not go to FCSB to sit and watch. I want to come back to Petrolul and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Nov 2026
Petrolul are in real trouble now
Position 8, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market30 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 The request is on a desk at Petrolul, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match14 Nov 2026
4 matches without a win for Petrolul
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Petrolul are no longer polite ones.
Match14 Nov 2026
The goals have deserted Petrolul
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Petrolul can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad16 Nov 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad16 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Daniel Balasa 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Sergiu Hagi 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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I watch every Petrolul 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Petrolul pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 7.03. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Nicusor Keseru 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Petrolul
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Daniel Balasa 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.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Petrolul, and 2 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Petrolul
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Match10 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with FCSB leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Petrolul
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andrei Maxim commits to Petrolul for another 1 years.
Squad5 Oct 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
1‑2 to Pandurii, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad5 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Petrolul
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Petrolul are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 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.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
At 23 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.
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Point won or two lost for Petrolul?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Botosani? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 45. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Petrolul
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Petrolul are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 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.
Squad21 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
It needed Claudiu Puscas to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Voluntari, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Sergiu Hagi knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sergiu Hagi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Daniel Nita changes it off the bench
He was not in the side at half past three and he had settled it before five. Half an hour, and Petrolul had a different afternoon.
Market21 Sep 2026
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Cristian Deac leaves Petrolul the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Sergiu Hagi 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.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Petrolul, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Petrolul
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Market14 Sep 2026
Lechia 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Petrolul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ovidiu Perianu 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Nicusor Coman in trouble away from the ground
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Sergiu 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Claudiu Puscas 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.