Marked for Dragos Burca
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market26 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paide is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Paide
Dragos Burca 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
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Squad
Siim Luts falls out with a teammate over standards
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Squad
5 new faces, and Paide are still learning each other
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Market
The clock does Gerdo Juhkam’s negotiating for him
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Loan watch
The clock runs down on Pa Modou Sohna at Parnu
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Michael Lilander out for 31 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paide will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paide is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Dragos Burca 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 Paide this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Michael Lilander out for 38 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paide will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paide is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Momodou Jobarteh and Paide agree another 4 years.
Squad12 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 Paide this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom12 Oct 2026
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Vlasi Sorga has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Paide have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Dragos Burca has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Paide know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
In brief
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Market
Experience through the door at Paide
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Market
Oskar Hõim runs his contract down
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
Dorin Keseru 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 Astra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Eduard Tsyganov
“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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Baba Alhassan's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A mark of 5.08 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
Everybody has an opinion about Cosmin Puscas
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
5.54. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.28 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Astra
Dorin 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A hand in 2 of them from Dragos Bancu — 7.94
Marked 7.94. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Match5 Sep 2026
Three points for Astra, 2‑1 the final word against Botosani in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Nicusor Stanciu named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Nicusor Stanciu is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dragos Bancu, and the manager let it.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Eduard Tsyganov, 34, rolls back the years — 7.86
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.86 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market31 Aug 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Dorin Keseru 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 Astra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Astra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicusor Stanciu 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 2‑1 win over Voluntari, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Dorin Keseru 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.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Everybody has an opinion about Eduard Tsyganov
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market31 Aug 2026
The shop window has Dragos Burca in it
Astra have let the market know Dragos Burca can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.