Marked for Andrei Moldovan
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Andrei Moldovan out for 18 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Concordia Chiajna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Concordia Chiajna may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Nicolae Carnat and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match11 Nov 2028
CSC Dumbrăvița left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
“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.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Ousman Marong 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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match4 Nov 2028
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Chindia Târgoviște will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Andrei Moldovan out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Concordia Chiajna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
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.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
Alexandru Burcea: 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.” Concordia Chiajna have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Concordia Chiajna can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Nicolae Carnat and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Danylo Kucher, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Concordia Chiajna may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Oct 2028
32 days out for Andrei Moldovan after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Concordia Chiajna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad30 Oct 2028
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.
Market30 Oct 2028
Only the photograph left for Yanis Stanciu
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yanis Stanciu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Concordia Chiajna the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Concordia Chiajna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
Something was said to Nicolae Carnat and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Concordia Chiajna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ousman Marong 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.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Ousman Marong
“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.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Oct 2028
A 1‑0 win over Farul Constanța, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad23 Oct 2028
39 days out for Andrei Moldovan after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Concordia Chiajna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
Kauê Lima keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Concordia Chiajna may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Mihai Bălaşa 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 Concordia Chiajna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces23 Oct 2028
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match21 Oct 2028
Sepsi OSK left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rareş Lazăr, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Nicusor Moldovan to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Andrei Moldovan out for 46 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Concordia Chiajna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Nicolae Carnat and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Concordia Chiajna can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Alexandru Burcea 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.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
No hiding place for Filip Hrs
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filip Hrs, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Adrian Iancu 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 Adrian Iancu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead16 Oct 2028
Concordia Chiajna take on the side everybody is chasing
Sepsi OSK arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Looking ahead16 Oct 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mihai Bălaşa’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Concordia Chiajna needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Oct 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market9 Oct 2028
“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 Concordia Chiajna, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match7 Oct 2028
5 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.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Nicolae Carnat and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aldair Ferreira, and the manager let it.
Match7 Oct 2028
CSM Reșița left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market9 Oct 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
Ousman Marong falls out with a teammate over standards
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The dugout
Adrian Iancu asks for a word with the manager
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Oct 2028
60 days out for Andrei Moldovan after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Concordia Chiajna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market2 Oct 2028
“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.
Market2 Oct 2028
Yanis Stanciu has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Concordia Chiajna they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets2 Oct 2028
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match30 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Concordia Chiajna's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Concordia Chiajna has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Ştefan Pacionel arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ştefan Pacionel has, at Concordia Chiajna, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad2 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Concordia Chiajna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Sep 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market25 Sep 2028
João Lara 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 Concordia Chiajna, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Concordia Chiajna have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Nicolae Carnat 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.
Match23 Sep 2028
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Alexandru Burcea 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alex Georgescu, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Sep 2028
A fracture rules Andrei Moldovan out for 74 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Concordia Chiajna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match16 Sep 2028
15 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Market18 Sep 2028
“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.
Transfer targets18 Sep 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Nicolae Carnat and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets18 Sep 2028
Concordia Chiajna asked and FCSB said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad18 Sep 2028
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Squad18 Sep 2028
This league is too small for Marin Jakoliš
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Concordia Chiajna will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.46 on the card, and the Concordia Chiajna support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Jul 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Concordia Chiajna people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Concordia Chiajna may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match22 Jul 2028
11 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Market24 Jul 2028
Yanis Stanciu has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Concordia Chiajna they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Concordia Chiajna moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Nicusor Moldovan, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Nicolae Carnat 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.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market24 Jul 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Andrei Moldovan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.