78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sepsi OSK lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sepsi OSK can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces10 Jul 2028
Supporters turn on the $870.0K sale of Dino Skorup
He is going to Rapid Bucharest, the club has $870.0K 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.
Rapid Bucharest pay $870.0K, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sepsi OSK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Marius Coman 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.
Position 4 on 78 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
1 for Bogdan Oteliţă, marked 6.87, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Sepsi OSK and Corvinul Hunedoara in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Haruţ was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Denis Haruţ and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sepsi OSK lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
9 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marius Coman was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
CSM Slatina will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Daniel Şerbănică has pre-agreed a move to Sepsi OSK, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sepsi OSK lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Narcis Ilaş did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sepsi OSK is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 7.88 for the rest of it.
Marko Gjorgjievski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Marius Coman 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Boris Cmiljanić is on it.
Chindia Târgoviște next, and one man in the Sepsi OSK dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marko Gjorgjievski signs something — a contract at Sepsi OSK or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sepsi OSK can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from FCSB for Darius Oroian 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 clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Rapid Bucharest keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Yoan Epitaux has just signed for Sepsi OSK, and for once the answer mattered.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Marko Gjorgjievski 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dimitri Oberlin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dimitri Oberlin. 1‑0 against FK Csíkszereda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.36 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Voluntari asked and Petrolul Ploiești said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Kiki. 1‑0 against Corvinul Hunedoara, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Tudor Călin 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Stahl was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Petrolul Ploiești have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. David Kiki is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Voluntari can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Voluntari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
He is going to FK Csíkszereda, the club has $220.0K 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.
FK Csíkszereda pay $220.0K, 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandru Gîţ was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tudor Călin 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.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Supporters turn on the $410.0K sale of Remus Guţea
He is going to Petrolul Ploiești, the club has $410.0K 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Petrolul Ploiești pay $410.0K, 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.
Rapid Bucharest pay $230.0K, 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.
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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandru Gîţ 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 92% of everything Voluntari earn
Transfer targetsA loan move for Darius Băncilă is in the works
“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 Sepsi OSK, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moses Mawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sepsi OSK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Carl Davordzie has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Marius Coman is on it.
The offer from CFR Cluj for Remus Guţea 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandru Gîţ 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.
Răzvan Neag 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 words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
“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 Voluntari, and it is not being withdrawn.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Voluntari have had the benefit of it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Voluntari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marvin Schieb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Voluntari will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Robert Petculescu 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
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 Sergiu Mitrita to a room that had heard them before.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Bendegúz Kovács is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
At 20 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Remus Guţea is the division's best young player this month
At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Voluntari will try very hard not to make too much of it.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Sergiu Mitrita kept it short after the 4‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Voluntari can pretend not to have heard.
He is 19, he is averaging 7.22, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Robert Petculescu 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Alexandru Gîţ 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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Ion Gheorghe was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Bendegúz Kovács is the division's best young player this month
At 19 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Voluntari will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Tudor Călin 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.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.52, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Bendegúz Kovács, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.90
A mark of 7.90 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The offer from Sepsi OSK for Daniel Toma 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.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.08, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Amar Pekarić 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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Amar Pekarić was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.47. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
In brief
SquadWords at Voluntari training over how hard people work
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Voluntari can pretend not to have heard.
Tudor Călin 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Stahl 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.
It needed Matko Babić to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Câmpulung Muscel, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Nobody at Voluntari will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
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.
CS Dinamo Bucharest next, and one man in the Voluntari dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Concordia Chiajna left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Albert Stahl 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
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 Sergiu Mitrita to a room that had heard them before.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matko Babić signs something — a contract at Voluntari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Amar Pekarić is on it.
In brief
Player ratingsMatko Babić beats them one at a time
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Voluntari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Samuel Gamwo has just signed for Voluntari, and for once the answer mattered.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
0‑1 to Steaua Bucharest, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Albert Stahl 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 easiest signature of my career.” Samuel Gamwo and Voluntari agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Sergiu Mitrita left the room before anybody could ask which.