Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitatea Craiova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 The request is on a desk at Universitatea Craiova, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universitatea Craiova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Universitatea Craiova can tell you which week it ends in.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Oleksandr Romanchuk 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitatea Craiova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitatea Craiova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The deal that would have taken Nikola Stevanović to Petrolul has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Universitatea Craiova with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universitatea Craiova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitatea Craiova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Nathan Fisher has just signed for Universitatea Craiova, and for once the answer mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universitatea Craiova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitatea Craiova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Pavlo Isenko was one of the reasons people came, and $2.9M does not replace that by itself.
Crvena Zvezda paid $2.9M and Universitatea Craiova took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Oleksandr Romanchuk 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.
Dinamo Bucharest pay $64.0K, 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 6.74, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitatea Craiova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Simon Elisor reports back to Universitatea Craiova with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
He is going to Bayer Leverkusen, the club has $3.8M 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.
Bayer Leverkusen paid $3.8M and Universitatea Craiova took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“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 Universitatea Craiova, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universitatea Craiova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ştefan Baiaram. 2‑1 against Astra, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ştefan Baiaram 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitatea Craiova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer from Shonan Bellmare for Assad Al Hamlawi 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.
Oleksandr Romanchuk 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.
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.
In brief
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Răzvan Sava
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitatea Craiova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer from Dinamo Bucharest for Simon Elisor 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.
The phone has started ringing about Steven Nsimba again, and this time the name on the line is Rosenborg. Universitatea Craiova are listening politely and promising nothing.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicuşor Bancu and Universitatea Craiova agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Oleksandr Romanchuk 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.