Rafael Manea

Central Midfielder - Metalul Buzău
22 Nov 2026
Sunday
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Overview Personal Contract News 3 Transfers Relations Events 53 Awards Matches History

Marked for Rafael Manea

14 Edition

The Metalul Buzău Chronicle

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market2 Nov 2026

Rafael Manea 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 The request is on a desk at Metalul Buzău, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad2 Nov 2026

A falling-out at Metalul Buzău

Valentin Creţu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Boardroom2 Nov 2026

234% of the income goes out in wages at Metalul Buzău

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.

Market2 Nov 2026

Talks stall between Metalul Buzău and Szilárd Veres

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

Player ratings2 Nov 2026

Răzvan Milea was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 14. 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.

Squad2 Nov 2026

Szilárd Veres loses the armband

The captaincy has been taken off Szilárd Veres. Metalul Buzău will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.

The dugout2 Nov 2026

Valentin Creţu 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 Metalul Buzău, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout2 Nov 2026

Half-satisfied: Sergiu Dragusin on the draw

“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.

Squad2 Nov 2026

A row about effort at Metalul Buzău

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yasuhiro Hanada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

Back issues
13 Edition

The Metalul Buzău Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad26 Oct 2026

Joris Gouache 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 Metalul Buzău this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad26 Oct 2026

12 new faces, and Metalul Buzău are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

Squad26 Oct 2026

Valentin Robu 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 dugout26 Oct 2026

Half-satisfied: Sergiu Dragusin on the draw

“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.

Player ratings26 Oct 2026

Nobody could get near Cristian Dumitru

Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout26 Oct 2026

No hiding place for Adrian Moldovan

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adrian Moldovan, and the manager let it.

Match24 Oct 2026

Point won or two lost for Metalul Buzău?

Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Gloria Bistrița? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.

Looking ahead26 Oct 2026

Denis Moldovan faces his old club

Olimpia Satu Mare next, and one man in the Metalul Buzău dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.

Market26 Oct 2026

The Szilárd Veres story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Szilárd Veres signs something — a contract at Metalul Buzău or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

9 Edition

The Metalul Buzău Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match26 Sep 2026

The wait goes on for Metalul Buzău

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.

Squad28 Sep 2026

Joris Gouache 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 Metalul Buzău this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match26 Sep 2026

CS Tunari take the points off Metalul Buzău

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings28 Sep 2026

Răzvan Milea runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad28 Sep 2026

11 new faces, and Metalul Buzău are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

The dugout28 Sep 2026

Sergiu Dragusin faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sergiu Dragusin after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout28 Sep 2026

The manager makes an example of Denis Şandro

“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.

Squad28 Sep 2026

A row about effort at Metalul Buzău

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cristian Dumitru was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout28 Sep 2026

Rafael Manea gets picked when it counts

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 Rafael Manea is on it.

In brief