Marked for Răzvan Udrea
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 May 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ayron del Valle
130 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FCSB lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad22 May 2028
Tempers go at FCSB
Juri Cisotti 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.
Squad22 May 2028
37 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad22 May 2028
Florin Tănase has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at FCSB 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.
Market22 May 2028
The Darius Olaru talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FCSB know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market22 May 2028
The clock does Marcelo Jorquera’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee FCSB could ask drops and the wages Marcelo Jorquera can ask rise.
In brief
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Boardroom
The FCSB board put their names to it
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Loan watch
Decision time nears on Răzvan Udrea
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Apr 2028
Tempers go at FCSB
Carlos Mora 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
68 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Florin Tănase has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at FCSB 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.
Market24 Apr 2028
The Darius Olaru talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FCSB know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market24 Apr 2028
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what FCSB could get for him.
Squad24 Apr 2028
The manager comes out for Ofri Arad
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Ofri Arad has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
In brief
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Boardroom
The FCSB board put their names to it
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Loan watch
Decision time nears on Răzvan Udrea
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Jan 2028
Paul Keseru 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Ciprian Bancu 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
Dinamo Bucharest pay $84.0K, 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Vladimir Screciu has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Petrolul 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Razvan Puscas signs something — a contract at Petrolul or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A new face in his position, and Vladimir Screciu suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Petrolul have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Jan 2028
FCSB say no — this time
The offer from Pandurii for Mihai Popescu 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Tempers go at FCSB
Carlos Mora 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at FCSB training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayron del Valle 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Aug 2027
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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCSB this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match7 Aug 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was David Miculescu’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to FCSB.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Răzvan Udrea and FCSB agree another 3 years.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
A defender's afternoon for João Paulo
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at FCSB training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayron del Valle 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.
Loan watch9 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Sochi to sit and watch. I want to come back to FCSB and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2027
CFR Cluj come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and FCSB did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ştefan Târnovanu and FCSB agree another 4 years.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Adrian Stanciu is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Tempers go at FCSB
Florin Tănase 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
Add another name to the list: Viitorul have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Răzvan Udrea. The answer from FCSB has not changed — yet.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at FCSB training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Octavian Popescu 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom31 May 2027
FCSB are in Europe
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
Squad31 May 2027
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 FCSB have had the benefit of it.
Squad31 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCSB this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom24 May 2027
They will talk about this season in this town for a long time. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route is already agreed.
Match19 May 2027
Cup progress for Petrolul
A 2‑1 win over Pandurii, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad24 May 2027
A fracture rules Luiz Cavalcante out for 23 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Petrolul will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match19 May 2027
Petrolul win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 98th minute. Pandurii will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A brace, and Sergiu Mitrita takes the afternoon — 8.29
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sergiu Mitrita provided it, and the 8.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad24 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Petrolul may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Razvan Puscas and Petrolul agree another 5 years.
Squad24 May 2027
Ciprian Bancu 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 terraces24 May 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Sergiu Mitrita 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2027
André Duarte: 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.” FCSB have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad10 May 2027
Carlos Mora 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 FCSB this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Baba Alhassan and FCSB agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCSB this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Octavian Popescu 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.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
“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 FCSB, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
Juri Cisotti breaks a bone — 43 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad18 Jan 2027
João Paulo: 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.” FCSB have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCSB this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jan 2027
Petrolul say no — this time
The offer from Universitatea Craiova for Ionut Nita 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Ianis Cicaldau again, and this time the name on the line is Aston Villa. Petrolul are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Ianis Cicaldau 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Mihai Man 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergiu Mitrita, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
Juri Cisotti 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Pandurii come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and FCSB did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Darius Olaru and FCSB agree another 4 years.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Tempers go at FCSB
Florin Tănase 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Yuval Sade arrives from CFR Cluj with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
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 FCSB have had the benefit of it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCSB this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Daniel Bîrligea 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Add another name to the list: Pandurii have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Răzvan Udrea. The answer from FCSB has not changed — yet.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I watch every FCSB game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Neman runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Darius Olaru knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at FCSB, and both men came out saying it was fine.