From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botosani lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad22 Feb 2027
44 days out for Andrei Dumiter after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Botosani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market22 Feb 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Botosani, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Loïc Badiashile: 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.” Botosani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Feb 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 Botosani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Giannis Anestis 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
Loïc Badiashile is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Botosani has been clear about where Loïc Badiashile stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Andrei Dumiter
“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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Zoran Mitrov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zoran Mitrov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botosani lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Andrei Dumiter out for 53 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Botosani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market15 Feb 2027
Zoran Mitrov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Botosani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Charles Petro 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Botosani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrei Miron was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrei Miron, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Zoran Mitrov 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 Botosani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market15 Feb 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Botosani, another week without a signature from Albin Mustafic.
Market15 Feb 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Stéphane Leclercq may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botosani lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Botosani
Mihai Bordeianu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A move Albin Mustafic would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Albin Mustafic is living that version at Botosani, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market8 Feb 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Stefan Puscas 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.
Loan watch8 Feb 2027
“I watch every Botosani game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Petrolul runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market8 Feb 2027
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market8 Feb 2027
Will Flint is 20, and Botosani have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Market8 Feb 2027
5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Botosani money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mykola Kovtaliuk
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botosani lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad1 Feb 2027
67 days out for Andrei Dumiter after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Botosani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Botosani sell a favourite for $420.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Ştefan Pănoiu was one of the reasons people came, and $420.0K does not replace that by itself.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Botosani close the window on a squad of their own making
5 in and 3 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Botosani
Charles Petro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market1 Feb 2027
Ştefan Pănoiu has left for Astra in a $420.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tiago Galeiras arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Tiago Galeiras has, at Botosani, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Loïc Badiashile, and the manager let it.
Market1 Feb 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
66 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botosani lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market25 Jan 2027
Zoran Mitrov 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 Botosani can pretend not to have heard.
Market25 Jan 2027
Pandurii come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Botosani did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market25 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Botosani have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Astra is saying, and nobody at Botosani is enjoying the guessing.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Zoran Mitrov has agreed terms with FCSB for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Andrei Miron 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 Botosani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Modou Jarju 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
Squad18 Jan 2027
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botosani lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Andrei Dumiter out for 85 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Botosani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The deal with Astra 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Charles Petro 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 targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Astra have kept their man, and Botosani go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Andrei Miron
“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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Too much change too quickly at Botosani
6 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
At 35, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Market18 Jan 2027
The name of Zoran Mitrov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Botosani say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
Mykola Kovtaliuk damages knee ligaments — 82 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 82 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market11 Jan 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market11 Jan 2027
Rodrigo Cunha 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 Botosani can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Botosani
Charles Petro 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 targets11 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Enriko Papa
“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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Botosani can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Loan watch11 Jan 2027
“I did not go to Petrolul to sit and watch. I want to come back to Botosani and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 19 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mykola Kovtaliuk
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botosani lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Andrei Dumiter 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Botosani say no — this time
The offer from Petrolul for Zoran Mitrov 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
The dugout4 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Víctor Corral gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Víctor Corral has just signed for Botosani, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
The deal with Universitatea Craiova 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Botosani
Charles Petro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Botosani 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
96 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botosani lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Andrei Dumiter breaks a bone — 108 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 108 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Dec 2026
Zoran Mitrov 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 Botosani can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Botosani may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad28 Dec 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 Botosani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Mykola Kovtaliuk damages knee ligaments — 103 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 103 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.
Squad21 Dec 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 Botosani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Modou Jarju 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Botosani. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Antonio Dumitru trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
111 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botosani lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Botosani may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Botosani
Zoran Mitrov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Danilo Luís gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Danilo Luís has just signed for Botosani, and for once the answer mattered.
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Marius Mitrita 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.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
“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 Botosani, and 2 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Botosani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Modou Jarju was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market14 Dec 2026
The Zoran Mitrov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Zoran Mitrov signs something — a contract at Botosani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Loïc Badiashile has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Mykola Kovtaliuk damages knee ligaments — 119 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 119 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
“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 Botosani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Botosani
Zoran Mitrov 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 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andrei Dumiter commits to Botosani for another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Răzvan Creţ
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Răzvan Creţ has come out of that comparison in the side, and Botosani have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Market7 Dec 2026
7 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Botosani money.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Andrei Dumiter has written the date down.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Lucas De Vega 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 Botosani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market7 Dec 2026
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Rodrigo Cunha arrives at Botosani with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Nov 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.
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 Botosani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Loïc Badiashile
“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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Modou Jarju 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
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Andrei Dumiter has written the date down.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Somebody is after Zoran Mitrov’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Zoran Mitrov suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Botosani have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Charles Petro 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Enriko Papa
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Botosani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Modou Jarju was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Botosani
Charles Petro 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
0‑1 to Viitorul, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Andrei Dumiter
“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.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Petrolul to sit and watch. I want to come back to Botosani and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 11 matches say the rest.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Adrian Mitrita after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Zoran Mitrov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zoran Mitrov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Botosani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrei Dumitru was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The formation has left Telmo Coimbra behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Botosani will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Nov 2026
“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 Botosani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Botosani
Charles Petro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Ştefan Pănoiu ran the middle of the pitch — 6.92
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 6.92, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad9 Nov 2026
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Miguel Muñoz and Botosani agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Zoran Mitrov beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.53 on the card, and the Botosani support went home talking about one name.
Market9 Nov 2026
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Zoran Mitrov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zoran Mitrov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
21 days out for Andrei Miron after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Botosani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market2 Nov 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Up for the corner, and Charles Petro delivers — 7.89
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Charles Petro scored, was marked 7.89, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Mihai Bordeianu 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
The team sheet said everything about Loïc Badiashile
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Loïc Badiashile.
Match31 Oct 2026
Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Botosani had all but put away. FCSB will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
The one goal a footballer does not get to celebrate and does not get to forget either. His name is in the wrong column and nothing about it was meant.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Mykola Kovtaliuk
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Mykola Kovtaliuk has come out of that comparison in the side, and Botosani have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas De Vega, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Andrei Miron out for 28 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Botosani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A brace, and Mykola Kovtaliuk takes the afternoon — 9.16
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mykola Kovtaliuk provided it, and the 9.16 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Zoran Mitrov 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 Botosani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mykola Kovtaliuk. 2‑0 against Pandurii, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Loïc Badiashile, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
7 new faces, and Botosani 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Adrian Mitrita on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Botosani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Ciurel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
35 days out for Andrei Miron after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Botosani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Botosani
Zoran Mitrov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A move Modou Jarju would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Modou Jarju is living that version at Botosani, and it tends to show in the first month.
Match17 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Dinamo Bucharest, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
Everything rides on Pandurii
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Botosani know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“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 Botosani, and 2 appearances in 7 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Modou Jarju and Botosani agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Andrei Miron out for 42 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Botosani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A brace, and Mykola Kovtaliuk takes the afternoon — 8.76
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mykola Kovtaliuk provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market12 Oct 2026
“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 Botosani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match10 Oct 2026
It had gone 11 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Enriko Papa and Botosani agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Botosani
Charles Petro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match10 Oct 2026
A 2‑1 win over Voluntari, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces12 Oct 2026
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
11 matches without a win for Botosani
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Botosani are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Andrei Miron out for 49 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Botosani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match5 Oct 2026
Every point is an argument now for Botosani
Position 10 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match3 Oct 2026
9 matches without a goal for Botosani
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 9 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market5 Oct 2026
“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 Botosani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Oct 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 Botosani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Oct 2026
Universitatea Craiova left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Andrei Miron
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
Andrei Miron breaks a bone — 56 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match26 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Botosani
10 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
8 matches without a goal for Botosani
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Charles Petro 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.
Match28 Sep 2026
Botosani at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 9, 6 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Botosani are still strangers to each other
6 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
The afternoon belonged to Enriko Papa
A mark of 7.20, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Zoran Mitrov beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
No hiding place for Alex Leyi
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alex Leyi, and the manager let it.
In brief
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The dugout
Zoran Mitrov knocks on the manager's door
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Squad
Andrei Dumitru falls out with a teammate over standards
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Andrei Miron breaks a bone — 63 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Botosani's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Botosani has to find a result from somewhere.
Match19 Sep 2026
The goals have deserted Botosani
7 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Botosani can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Botosani
Charles Petro 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Loïc Badiashile, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched Djibril Diaw
7.38, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Botosani had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Marius Nedelcearu and Botosani agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
71 days out for Andrei Miron after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Botosani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match12 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for Botosani
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Botosani are no longer polite ones.
Match12 Sep 2026
The goals have deserted Botosani
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Botosani can tell you which week it ends in.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Manuel Kissanga gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Manuel Kissanga has just signed for Botosani, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Botosani
Mihai Bordeianu 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lucas De Vega and Botosani agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. George Balasa is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match12 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Viitorul, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
Andrei Miron breaks a bone — 78 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 Botosani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match7 Sep 2026
Every point is an argument now for Botosani
Position 9 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market7 Sep 2026
Astra come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Botosani did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match5 Sep 2026
7 matches without a win for Botosani
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Botosani are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 12 in, 10 out at Botosani
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 12 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Match5 Sep 2026
5 matches without a goal for Botosani
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The window shuts on the Simão Rocha deal
Botosani ran out of time with CFR Cluj. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
Andrei Miron breaks a bone — 87 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Fee done, terms next for Simão Rocha
Botosani and CFR Cluj have settled on $2.7M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market31 Aug 2026
Botosani say no — this time
The offer from Astra for Mykola Kovtaliuk 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Botosani
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 terraces31 Aug 2026
Botosani sell a favourite for $430.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Riad Šuta was one of the reasons people came, and $430.0K does not replace that by itself.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a goal for Botosani
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market31 Aug 2026
Riad Šuta has left for Astra in a $430.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cardiff City have kept their man, and Botosani go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Andrei Miron 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Aug 2026
Astra arrived with $2.0M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Andrei Miron breaks a bone — 95 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 95 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match19 Aug 2026
Viitorul ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market24 Aug 2026
Botosani say no — this time
The offer from Dinamo Bucharest for Andrei Dumiter 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Ştefan Pănoiu 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 Botosani can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Ştefan Bodişteanu has gone, the accounts have $2.0M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Botosani's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Botosani has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Wigan Athletic is saying, and nobody at Botosani is enjoying the guessing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Andrei Miron out for 103 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Botosani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market17 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Botosani people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market17 Aug 2026
Botosani say no — this time
The offer from Dinamo Bucharest for Zoran Mitrov 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 terraces17 Aug 2026
Sebastian Mailat has gone, the accounts have $930.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Transfer targets17 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
FCSB paid $930.0K and Botosani took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Botosani
Charles Petro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market17 Aug 2026
CFR Cluj pay $310.0K, 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market10 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and CFR Cluj waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Botosani is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Astra have kept their man, and Botosani go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Sebastian Mailat 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ovidiu Dragusin 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
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nicusor Hagi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Botosani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Miron 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 ratings10 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Giannis Anestis and Botosani agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 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 Botosani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The name of Miguel Muñoz has come up in conversations Botosani were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Botosani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ştefan Bodişteanu 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.
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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Charles Petro'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.