Daniel Moldovan

Right Back - Astra
25 Mar 2028
Saturday
Process

Marked for Daniel Moldovan

71 Edition

The Astra Chronicle

6 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Daniel Moldovan 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.

Loan watch

Bogdan Puscas has seen enough of Dinamo Bucharest

“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 Astra, and 0 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Alexandru Iancu

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Alexandru Iancu has come out of that comparison in the side, and Astra have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

In brief

Back issues
66 Edition

The Astra Chronicle

1 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Alexandru Mitrita out for 18 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Astra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

A brace, and Adrian Tanase takes the afternoon — 8.84

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Adrian Tanase provided it, and the 8.84 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Mihai Balasa: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Astra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

Nobody wins at Astra

12 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Squad

Vlad 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 Astra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Astra training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ionut Puscas 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.

Match

Honours even between Astra and Universitatea Craiova

2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

Player ratings

Daniel Moldovan never got going

4.95 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

Market

The Alexandru Mitrita story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandru Mitrita signs something — a contract at Astra or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

62 Edition

The Astra Chronicle

4 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Alexandru Mitrita breaks a bone — 47 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The terraces

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 9 of the 30 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

Squad

Vlad Burca signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vlad Burca and Astra agree another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Astra

Ionut 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.

Match

Dinamo Bucharest take the points off Astra

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Claudiu Iancu

At 22 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Adrian Tanase

“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 ratings

One of those days for Claudiu Iancu

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.

Player ratings

Adrian Tanase runs at them all day

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.

In brief

56 Edition

The Astra Chronicle

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Alexandru Mitrita out for 94 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Astra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

A brace, and Marius Nedelcearu takes the afternoon — 7.94

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marius Nedelcearu provided it, and the 7.94 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Adrian Tanase 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.

Match

Marius Nedelcearu the difference as Astra beat Petrolul

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marius Nedelcearu. 2‑0 against Petrolul, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Match

The run at home goes on for Astra

8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Squad

Juan Cruz Meza 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

Ionut Stanciu is still paying for one afternoon at Astra

Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Ionut Stanciu

Marked 3.92, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Marius Man

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

54 Edition

The Astra Chronicle

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Alexandru Mitrita breaks a bone — 109 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Marius Nedelcearu says Astra 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 Astra

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

Squad

Adrian Tanase 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.

Squad

Words at Astra training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ionut Puscas 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 ratings

Claudiu Iancu runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Daniel Moldovan never got going

4.99 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

Match

No goals between Astra and Viitorul

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Viitorul will be the happier side with the point.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Marius Nedelcearu

Marked 5.53, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

In brief

50 Edition

The Astra Chronicle

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Cristian Maxim out for 70 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Astra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Astra turn down Dinamo Bucharest for Alexandru Mitrita

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

Squad

Tempers go at Astra

Daniel Moldovan 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

26 Edition

The Astra Chronicle

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Astra say no — this time

The offer from FCSB for Daniel Moldovan 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Astra

Adrian 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.

Squad

Paul Puscas signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Paul Puscas and Astra agree another 4 years.

In brief

4 Edition

The Astra Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Marius Man at 17 — 8.46

The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Marius Man did not need any: 8.46, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Market

Razvan Tanase puts it in writing

“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 Astra, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Kuban Holding come back empty-handed

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

Squad

Tempers go at Astra

Adrian 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.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Marius Man

At 17 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.

Squad

Ionut Puscas 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Daniel Moldovan

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

Match

Astra and Universitatea Craiova take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Squad

Marius Man is the weekend's best young player

At 17 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.

In brief

2 Edition

The Astra Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Ovidiu Nedelcearu moves on

Fenerbahce pay $9.4M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nicusor Keseru

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Astra turn down Yenisey for Marius Nedelcearu

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

Vlad Burca goes up and wins it — 7.76

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.76 for the rest of it.

Market

Universitatea Craiova join the queue for Claudiu Iancu

Add another name to the list: Universitatea Craiova have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Claudiu Iancu. The answer from Astra has not changed — yet.

Squad

Adrian Tanase stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Adrian Tanase and Astra agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Adrian Tanase 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.

Match

Astra get the job done against CFR Cluj

A 2‑1 win over CFR Cluj, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Nicusor Keseru

“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.

In brief