It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergiu Hanca 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.
“Another season, another badge, another dressing room to win over. I would like one pre-season at Voluntari where somebody actually looks at me.” He belongs to Steaua Bucharest until the spell ends; the argument is with the club that owns him.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Vlad Pop 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad25 Oct 2027
David Kiki 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bogdan Petre. 2‑0 against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match23 Oct 2027
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Voluntari. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
“I watch every Voluntari game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Steaua Bucharest runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“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 Voluntari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Vlad Pop 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Kiki 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.
He is 21 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.
Raul Stanciu 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 Sergiu Hanca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Voluntari are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
He is 20, and nobody at Voluntari signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
A new face in his position, and Ion Gheorghe suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Voluntari have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
12 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Voluntari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” David Kiki commits to Voluntari for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Kiki 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.
Sergiu Hanca 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Bogdan Petre 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.
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.
Vlad Pop 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Kiki 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Voluntari are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“I did not go to Steaua Bucharest to sit and watch. I want to come back to Voluntari and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Sergiu Chiriches after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
A brace, and Albert Jarcă takes the afternoon — 8.52
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Albert Jarcă provided it, and the 8.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Vlad Pop 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Piast have kept their man, and Voluntari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A 2‑1 win over Metalul Buzău, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Albert Jarcă 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergiu Hanca 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.
“I did not go to Universitatea Craiova to sit and watch. I want to come back to Voluntari and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Kiki was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Voluntari asked and Sokol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Áron Girsik 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dragos Chiriches and Voluntari agree another 4 years.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Voluntari are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Sergiu Chiriches was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Voluntari dressing room was either.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. CSM Slatina defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ion Gheorghe had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Voluntari can pretend not to have heard.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Patrick Dulcea has, at Voluntari, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Voluntari close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 20 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Kiki was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Voluntari asked and Prostějov said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
8 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mihael Onişa
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Voluntari can pretend not to have heard.
Vlad Pop 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 Lovro Cvek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
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 1‑3 Sergiu Chiriches left the room before anybody could ask which.
The offer from Dinamo Bucharest for Matko Babić 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.
“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 Voluntari, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Voluntari have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Bogdan Petre, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 8.25
A mark of 8.25 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Kiki 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.
Voluntari asked and Piast said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 18 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.
Owen Hampson 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.
David Kiki 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Voluntari can tell you which week it ends in.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Odra Opole have kept their man, and Voluntari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandru Gîţ, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
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 0‑1 Sergiu Chiriches left the room before anybody could ask which.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Voluntari are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Steven N'Guessan has his answer from Voluntari; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Voluntari asked and Olympic Charleroi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Owen Hampson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lovro Cvek 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 dugout9 Aug 2027
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 0‑1 Sergiu Chiriches left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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 Voluntari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
An order from above at Voluntari: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Vlad Pop 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
David Kiki 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Voluntari has been clear about where Alexandru Gîţ stands, which is more than many ever get.
Silas Hald is 20, and Voluntari 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.
A brace, and Matko Babić takes the afternoon — 8.67
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matko Babić provided it, and the 8.67 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Voluntari people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Bogdan Petre did not need any: 7.79, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The offer from Olimpia Satu Mare for George Merloi 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.90 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Vlad Pop 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matko Babić. 3‑1 against Olimpia Satu Mare, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Brest have kept their man, and Voluntari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 18 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.
Voluntari offered $46.0K; ASA Târgu Mureș said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
3 academy players handed senior numbers at Voluntari
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Voluntari asked and Oțelul Galați said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ciprian Chiriches 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bogdan Hagi 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ovidiu Marin is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Voluntari people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Voluntari can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$46.0K on the table at ASA Târgu Mureș. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The phone has started ringing about George Merloi again, and this time the name on the line is Olimpia Satu Mare. Voluntari are listening politely and promising nothing.
“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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Chioveanu 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.
Gornik Zabrze 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Olimpia Satu Mare waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Voluntari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from CSC Șelimbăr for Doru Andrei 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.
“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 Voluntari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dragos Chiriches will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Voluntari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Owen Hampson 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marvin Schieb 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.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Voluntari people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Supporters turn on the $500.0K sale of Daniel Toma
He is going to CFR Cluj, the club has $500.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
The phone has started ringing about Metod Jurhar again, and this time the name on the line is CFR Cluj. Voluntari are listening politely and promising nothing.
Owen Hampson 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 Jun 2027
Marvin Schieb 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Câmpulung Muscel waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Voluntari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Botosani for Matko Babić 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Voluntari can pretend not to have heard.
Remus Guţea has gone, the accounts have $340.0K 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Dinamo Bucharest paid $340.0K and Voluntari took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Voluntari asked and Oțelul Galați said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Voluntari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Dinamo Bucharest waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Voluntari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Voluntari can pretend not to have heard.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.07, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Odra Opole have kept their man, and Voluntari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: Gloria Bistrița have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dragos Chiriches. The answer from Voluntari has not changed — yet.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Marvin Schieb 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.
In brief
The dugoutRemus Guţea knocks on the manager's door
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Vlad Pop 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.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Voluntari will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Marvin Schieb 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.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Austria Klagenfurt 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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Alexandru Şuteu has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Voluntari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Voluntari have had the benefit of it.
Vlad Pop 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Chioveanu 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Voluntari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Voluntari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 dugout24 May 2027
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 Sergiu Chiriches to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marvin Schieb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
10 clean sheets from 36 appearances at FC Bacău. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Ebuka Okeke, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.13
A mark of 8.13 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.
“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 Voluntari, and it is not being withdrawn.
A season average of 7.07 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Voluntari know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Ebuka Okeke 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.
A 1‑0 win over Câmpulung Muscel, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marvin Schieb 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.” Sergiu Chiriches after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Alexandru Gîţ will call it something else in private.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ouparine Djoco was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ionuţ Cercel 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.
He is 23 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.
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marvin Schieb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Sergiu Chiriches on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Voluntari will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.32 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Marvin Schieb 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 ratings19 Apr 2027
Ebuka Okeke, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.65
A mark of 7.65 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.
A season average of 7.07 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Voluntari know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
13 combined actions and 6.98. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Voluntari will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ebuka Okeke did not need any: 7.88, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Vlad Pop 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.
He is 21 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Metod Jurhar, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marvin Schieb 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
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.” Sergiu Chiriches, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Voluntari will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.50 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
6 goals in one match, Aymen Boutoutaou on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Voluntari and Steaua Bucharest.
George Merloi 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutThe team sheet said everything about Cătălin Tolea
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Voluntari will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Ebuka Okeke 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.
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.
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.
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 team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Steaua Bucharest.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Kiki signs something — a contract at Voluntari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Voluntari will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
A season average of 7.07 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Voluntari know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Ebuka Okeke 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.
Corvinul Hunedoara left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
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 Sergiu Chiriches to a room that had heard them before.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Marvin Schieb 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
George Merloi 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Voluntari are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marvin Schieb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
15 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
A brace, and Ion Gheorghe takes the afternoon — 8.24
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ion Gheorghe provided it, and the 8.24 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Vlad Pop 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.
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.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Vlad Pop at his very best
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Daniel Toma
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Voluntari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Voluntari know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Voluntari, another week without a signature from Vlad Pop.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marvin Schieb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
14 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Remus Guţea did not need any: 8.37, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Remus Guţea 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Matko Babić was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.38. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
George Merloi 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.
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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
5 new faces, and Voluntari 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 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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 words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Voluntari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Remus Guţea, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.61
A mark of 7.61 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
7.92, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Voluntari had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Marvin Schieb 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.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Voluntari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two goals and a mark of 9.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Remus Guţea, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.72
A mark of 7.72 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“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 Voluntari, and it is not being withdrawn.
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Ebuka Okeke 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.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Voluntari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Voluntari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
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.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Voluntari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
CSM Reșița will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Voluntari were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The offer from Dinamo Bucharest for Doru Andrei 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.29 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Vlad Pop 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 name of Mihael Onişa has come up in conversations Voluntari were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Voluntari can pretend not to have heard.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 10 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
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.
Vlad Pop 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.
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.
A mark of 8.01 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Voluntari will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
“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 Voluntari, and it is not being withdrawn.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Remus Guţea did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
At 22 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.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Remus Guţea 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matko Babić. 1‑0 against CS Dinamo Bucharest, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Voluntari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marvin Schieb 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.
At 23 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Marked 8.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matko Babić. 1‑0 against CSM Slatina, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marvin Schieb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Ebuka Okeke
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ebuka Okeke has come out of that comparison in the side, and Voluntari have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Voluntari has been clear about where Daniel Toma stands, which is more than many ever get.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Dávid Sigér is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
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.
Level with 87 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Voluntari had all but put away. Concordia Chiajna will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marvin Schieb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It needed Radu Crişan to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Concordia Chiajna, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Chindia Târgoviște, and it could have been more.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Ebuka Okeke, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.21
A mark of 8.21 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Vlad Pop 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 23 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Chindia Târgoviște were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sergiu Balasa 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ianis Puscas 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Stefan Bancu 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. Daniel Marin is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Vlad Pop 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 Dávid Sigér was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Chindia Târgoviște 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. Voluntari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mihael Onişa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Level with 93 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Voluntari had all but put away. Sepsi OSK will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Dávid Sigér 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.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
The terracesThe spotlight tightens on Metod Jurhar
Player ratingsCătălin Tolea beats them one at a time
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Ebuka Okeke 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.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Voluntari has been clear about where Radu Crişan stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Dávid Sigér 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.
15 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.
“I watch every Voluntari game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Petrolul Ploiești runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sergiu Chiriches after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Voluntari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marvin Schieb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Olimpia Satu Mare next, and one man in the Voluntari dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Voluntari, another week without a signature from Alexandru Şuteu.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Matko Babić wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Matko Babić found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Gloria Bistrița went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
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.
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Dávid Sigér 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and George Merloi has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Vlad Pop 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dávid Sigér was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
15 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.
“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 Voluntari, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
David Kiki 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Accrington Stanley have kept their man, and Voluntari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ouparine Djoco 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Metod Jurhar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Matko Babić wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Matko Babić found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and CS Tunari went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Two goals and a mark of 8.73 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Up for the corner, and Radu Crişan delivers — 7.76
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Radu Crişan scored, was marked 7.76, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ivan Čurković has, at Voluntari, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Radu Crişan 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.
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.
“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 Voluntari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Voluntari close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 2 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.
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Voluntari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Sigér 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Voluntari will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Daniel Dumbravanu has come out of that comparison in the side, and Voluntari have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Voluntari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Voluntari asked and AZ said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
12 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.
Voluntari have made the call to Accrington Stanley. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandru Maxim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two goals and a mark of 8.80 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Voluntari asked and Accrington Stanley said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matko Babić. 2‑1 against CSC Dumbrăvița, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
George Merloi 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.
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Marvin Schieb 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.
A loan enquiry to Slovacko: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout24 Aug 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.” Sergiu Chiriches, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.95 for the rest of it.
The offer from Petrolul Ploiești for Eduard Chioveanu 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.
Voluntari had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Skonto, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Red Bull Salzburg have kept their man, and Voluntari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matko Babić. 2‑0 against Politehnica Iași, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marvin Schieb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Hugo Weckmann is in the works
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Vlad Pop has, at Voluntari, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The deal with Skonto 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Mlada Boleslav is saying, and nobody at Voluntari is enjoying the guessing.
Vlad Pop 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slavia Prague have kept their man, and Voluntari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ciprian Man 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 Marin 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Florin Nita 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. Bogdan Moldovan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Up for the corner, and Mihael Onişa delivers — 7.96
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mihael Onişa scored, was marked 7.96, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Voluntari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Voluntari asked and Botosani said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 23 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.
A 1‑0 win over Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.