Marked for Bogdan Cicaldau
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Nov 2026
Astra do the business in Europe
3‑2. Continental football is where a club finds out what it actually is, and Astra came through the finding-out well against Vikingur.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Nov 2026
Astra are at home on the road
5 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
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 Astra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
Astra supporters have found a favourite in Florin Deac
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Florin Deac 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Razvan Marin
“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 Nov 2026
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Ianis Burca in the middle of it, and Vikingur unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Paul Tanase at his very best
Marked 8.43. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Astra.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Alexandru Stanciu 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match18 Nov 2026
Astra through in the cup
A 1‑0 win over Dinamo Bucharest, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Market23 Nov 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 ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Astra
Florin Ştefan 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.
Match18 Nov 2026
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Astra. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
Astra supporters have found a favourite in Bogdan Coman
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Bogdan Coman 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Sánchez, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Dragos Bancu for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Astra will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.78 on the card, and the Astra support went home talking about one name.
In brief
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Squad
Too much change too quickly at Astra
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The terraces
The press cannot get enough of Razvan Marin
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Bogdan Vătăjelu
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Astra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match22 Oct 2026
3‑2 against Kalmar FF, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Stefan Bancu was at the centre of the description.
Match24 Oct 2026
A 2-goal lead gone for Astra
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Universitatea Craiova kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Astra will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Dorin Stanciu out for 33 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The match ball belongs to Stefan Bancu, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
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
A goal and an assist for Claudiu Coman — 7.68
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.68 beside his name.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Astra
Florin Ştefan 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 ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.62 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Bogdan Vătăjelu damages knee ligaments — 53 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 53 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Dorin Stanciu breaks a bone — 41 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Bogdan Coman at 19 — 7.98
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Bogdan Coman did not need any: 7.98, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Razvan Marin commits to Astra for another 4 years.
Squad19 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 Astra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Oct 2026
Bogdan Vătăjelu damages knee ligaments — 60 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 60 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Dorin Stanciu breaks a bone — 50 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Astra
Florin Ştefan 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Andrei Mihaila is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Bogdan Vătăjelu damages knee ligaments — 83 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 83 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match17 Sep 2026
2‑2 against Vikingur, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Cristian Maxim was at the centre of the description.
Match17 Sep 2026
Astra throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Vikingur the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Astra will enjoy reviewing.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Dorin Stanciu out for 74 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
6 matches without a win for Astra
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Astra are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Vlad Nita at 21 — 7.95
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Vlad Nita did not need any: 7.95, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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 Astra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. 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
Astra are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Aug 2026
Bogdan Vătăjelu damages knee ligaments — 128 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 128 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match15 Aug 2026
Astra win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. Petrolul will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Squad17 Aug 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Market17 Aug 2026
Astra say no — this time
The offer from Zeleznicar Pancevo for Paul Tanase 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Astra
Florin Ştefan 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Petrolul made Astra work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.50 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad17 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Aug 2026
$17.8M from Ajax for Vlad Mihaila. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Bogdan Vătăjelu damages knee ligaments — 136 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 136 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market10 Aug 2026
Astra say no — this time
The offer from Celta for Razvan Marin 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Florin Deac, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.02
A mark of 8.02 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.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
Supporters turn on the $17.8M sale of Vlad Mihaila
He is going to Ajax, the club has $17.8M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Stefan Bancu commits to Astra for another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Astra
Florin Ştefan 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
Astra supporters have found a favourite in Florin Deac
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Florin Deac 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Stefan Bancu’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Astra.