From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Concordia Chiajna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad11 Jan 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Steven Nsimba 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Matei Popa 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Oțelul Galați have kept their man, and Concordia Chiajna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match9 Jan 2027
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. ASA Târgu Mureș tried to reorganise, Concordia Chiajna did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Market11 Jan 2027
“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.
Match9 Jan 2027
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A loan move for Ionuţ Cojocaru is in the works
Concordia Chiajna have made the call to Farul Constanța. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
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Transfer targets
A loan move for Ivan Gulko is in the works
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Alexandru Gîrbiţă
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad4 Jan 2027
Nicolae Carnat damages knee ligaments — 102 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 102 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Rareş Lazăr hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Concordia Chiajna can pretend not to have heard.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Rareş Lazăr pops up at the right end — 7.70
7.70, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Darius Grigore has come up in conversations Concordia Chiajna were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Matei Popa 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Concordia Chiajna asked and Universitatea Craiova said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexandru Burcea 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
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolae Carnat
109 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Concordia Chiajna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Alexandru Burcea, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.66
A mark of 7.66 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
131% of the income goes out in wages at Concordia Chiajna
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.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
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.
Match26 Dec 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Metalul Buzău leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Alexandru Gîrbiţă is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Concordia Chiajna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Concordia Chiajna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matei Popa 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
CS Tunari left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Matei Popa
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Rareş Lazăr and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market21 Dec 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Concordia Chiajna know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Dec 2026
Nicolae Carnat damages knee ligaments — 123 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 123 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
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. 13 actions, 7.27, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Concordia Chiajna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matei Popa 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 terraces14 Dec 2026
The crowd has taken to Matei Popa
At 19 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Rareş Lazăr 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Concordia Chiajna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead14 Dec 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against CS Tunari in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolae Carnat
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Concordia Chiajna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.69, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandru Burcea was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Darius Grigore and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexandru Burcea 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
A 2‑0 win over CS Afumați, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Dragos Iancu, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ionuţ Catrina, and the manager let it.
Market7 Dec 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Concordia Chiajna know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Nov 2026
138 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Concordia Chiajna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Mihai Bălaşa breaks a bone — 15 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A one-man rearguard from Matei Popa
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
Match28 Nov 2026
0‑2 to Voluntari, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
134% of the income goes out in wages at Concordia Chiajna
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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“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.
Market30 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Paul Iacob’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Mihai Bălaşa out for 22 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 ratings23 Nov 2026
Moussa Samaké, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 9.28
A mark of 9.28 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The match ball belongs to Moussa Samaké, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match21 Nov 2026
It had gone 8 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
Match21 Nov 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Concordia Chiajna and CSC Dumbrăvița in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matei Popa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Moussa Samaké 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
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Mihai Bălaşa breaks a bone — 29 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Nicolae Carnat and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Rareş Lazăr
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Matei Popa is the weekend's best young player
At 19 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Market16 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nicolae Carnat signs something — a contract at Concordia Chiajna or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Mihai Bălaşa breaks a bone — 37 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Concordia Chiajna's wait for a win
8 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Matei Popa 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 terraces9 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Matei Popa 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Market9 Nov 2026
“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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Mihai Bălaşa out for 44 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
7 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Matei Popa 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Rareş Lazăr 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Concordia Chiajna, another week without a signature from Paul Iacob.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.80 on the card, and the Concordia Chiajna support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
Mihai Bălaşa breaks a bone — 52 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match24 Oct 2026
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandru Burcea was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and Concordia Chiajna 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
Ştefan Fara 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandru Burcea trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Match24 Oct 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Sepsi OSK came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Mihai Bălaşa out for 59 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.
Match14 Oct 2026
Unirea Slobozia go through and Concordia Chiajna go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Concordia Chiajna's wait for a win
5 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Darius Grigore 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Concordia Chiajna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matei Popa 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Ousman Marong did the work nobody counts — 6.79
9 combined actions and 6.79. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
A promise honoured for Matei Popa
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Concordia Chiajna told Matei Popa something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Mihai Bălaşa out for 67 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Darius Grigore and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Matei Popa 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Mihai Bălaşa 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Concordia Chiajna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandru Burcea 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Darius Grigore, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Billel Omrani slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Billel Omrani is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Steaua Bucharest? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
84 days out for Mihai Bălaşa 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Concordia Chiajna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matei Popa 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Concordia Chiajna 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
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Dragos Iancu to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
92 days out for Mihai Bălaşa 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Nicolae Carnat and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
1‑3 to Corvinul Hunedoara, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matei Popa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
Concordia Chiajna asked and Artis Brno said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Paul Iacob, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mihai Neicuţescu’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
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
Mihai Bălaşa breaks a bone — 100 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Concordia Chiajna — 7.60
1 for Rareş Lazăr, marked 7.60, 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Concordia Chiajna asked and Dinamo Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Match12 Sep 2026
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Market14 Sep 2026
“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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Sep 2026
108 days out for Mihai Bălaşa 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market7 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Ştefan Fara to Câmpulung Muscel has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Concordia Chiajna with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matei Popa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Rareş Lazăr 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Moussa Samaké makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Concordia Chiajna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Aug 2026
Mihai Bălaşa breaks a bone — 115 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Aug 2026
Rareş Lazăr hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Concordia Chiajna can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cracovia have kept their man, and Concordia Chiajna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Darius Grigore 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Concordia Chiajna 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Artis Brno: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Concordia Chiajna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danylo Kucher 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 dugout31 Aug 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Dragos Iancu after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Concordia Chiajna have 3 straight wins of it.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pescara have kept their man, and Concordia Chiajna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Concordia Chiajna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandru Burcea 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Darius Grigore 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 7.62 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Concordia Chiajna had the best player on the pitch.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Rodina 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Aug 2026
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 targets17 Aug 2026
Concordia Chiajna asked and Honved said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandru Burcea was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Paul Iacob has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Concordia Chiajna know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Market17 Aug 2026
“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 ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.98 on the card, and the Concordia Chiajna support went home talking about one name.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan move for Matej Malenšek is in the works
Concordia Chiajna have made the call to Jablonec. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match8 Aug 2026
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Alexandru Jipa decided nobody was going anywhere. CS Dinamo Bucharest had no time left to answer.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The deal with FCSB is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Concordia Chiajna asked and Farul Constanța said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ciprian Burca has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Dragos Ratiu has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Cristian Nita has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
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.
Match1 Aug 2026
ASA Târgu Mureș left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Rareş Lazăr did the work nobody counts — 6.63
9 combined actions and 6.63. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Nicolae Carnat's contract
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
The dugout3 Aug 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Dragos Iancu to a room that had heard them before.