Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at CS Afumați training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rareş Bălan 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.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nicusor Nita after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CS Afumați, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Rareş Bălan
4 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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at CS Afumați can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Afumați this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at CS Afumați training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilfried Ndollo Bille 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nicusor Nita after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
In brief
The dugoutAndrei Dima has become a man the manager trusts
Robert Silaghi 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 Alin Lazăr was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. CS Afumați will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Politehnica Iași in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CS Afumați know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CS Afumați, another week without a signature from Nahounou Gneto.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Afumați this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Nahounou Gneto is living that version at CS Afumați, and it tends to show in the first month.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Rareş Bălan 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
He is 19, and nobody at CS Afumați signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
137% of the income goes out in wages at CS Afumați
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nicusor Nita after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Liviu Stanciu 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CS Afumați have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Wilfried Ndollo Bille 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.
At 21 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alin Lazăr was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Nicusor Nita after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
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.
Robert Silaghi 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at CS Afumați training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rareş Bălan 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Robert Silaghi. 1‑0 against CSC Șelimbăr, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
12 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Nicusor Nita could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutMátyás Bartha knocks on the manager's door
Player ratingsCasian Soare beats them one at a time
The dugoutImrane Bamba dropped after a run of poor form
Iannis Muşat 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.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at CS Afumați training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilfried Ndollo Bille 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.
Something was said to Robert Silaghi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against CSC Șelimbăr in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jibril Othman has, at CS Afumați, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
At 20 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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at CS Afumați can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at CS Afumați training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alin Lazăr 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.
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.
Robert Silaghi 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rareş Bălan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
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.
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.
CS Afumați 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.
Constantin Robicek 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mátyás Bartha, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 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 Nicusor Nita to a room that had heard them before.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Afumați this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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 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.
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at CS Afumați. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
CS Afumați close the window on a squad of their own making
20 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
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 Sep 2026
Words at CS Afumați training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rareş Bălan 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.
12 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Alin Raicu is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against CSM Slatina in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Wilfried Ndollo Bille and CS Afumați agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sepsi OSK have kept their man, and CS Afumați go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Ionuţ Zaina had CS Afumați level again within 4 minutes, and Voluntari never got to play with a lead at all.
Alin Raicu 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 dugout31 Aug 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 1‑2 Nicusor Nita left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Adrian Caragea is in the works
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of 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 CS Afumați can pretend not to have heard.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $15.0K — a club that wants Răzvan Călugăr enough to be asked twice.
CS Afumați have gone to Hermannstadt with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about CS Afumați and ASA Târgu Mureș in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $10.0K — a club that wants Daniel Sandu enough to be asked twice.
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Rareş Bălan 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation CS Afumați are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Afumați this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Paul Deac is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Claudiu Mitrita is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ionut Keseru 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Adrian Stanciu 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.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
164 appearances across 9 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Still no offer on the table, and Andrei Florescu’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Nicusor Nita to a room that had heard them before.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at CS Afumați training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoul Diomandé 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.