Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 Pandurii, and 4 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Iván Leszczuk will call it something else in private.
In brief
The terracesThe press cannot get enough of Ivan Barić
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
Beaten 4 times, with 4 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Pandurii have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Market13 Sep 2027
The window shut and Dorin Iancu is still in the building
Pandurii spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The terraces6 Sep 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 23 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Pandurii hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Bogdan Marin, 15 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Matěj Radosta has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Pandurii know, and have known for weeks.
A season-long audition: NK Osijek still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Pandurii's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Pandurii have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Pandurii have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 7 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Pandurii have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The shirt still fits. Bogdan Marin is back at Pandurii, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Ianis Cicaldau has come up in conversations Pandurii were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Dinamo Bucharest pay $40.0K, 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.
The name of Florin Puscas has come up in conversations Pandurii were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
$1.3M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
The name of Nicusor Nedelcearu has come up in conversations Pandurii were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicusor Nedelcearu and Pandurii agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Pedro Dinis arrives at Pandurii with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Pandurii have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
The language is arriving, the jokes are landing, and there is somebody at the next peg to talk to. None of it appears in a scouting report and all of it shows up on the pitch.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Domenico Colombo plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
He came through the session, took part in everything and finished it smiling. Pandurii will not rush him, and he will spend the next fortnight trying to rush them.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Pandurii have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Pandurii have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Pandurii hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Pandurii spent the window trying to move Gabriel Viana on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Cosmin Marin is still in the building
Razvan Keseru is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Pandurii hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“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 Pandurii, and 2 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Pandurii have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Pandurii have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Pandurii have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“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 Pandurii, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Pandurii spent the window trying to move Cosmin Marin on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Daniel Maxim is 20, and Pandurii 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
Fernando Cordero is 39 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Domenico Colombo: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
The name of Florin Puscas has come up in conversations Pandurii were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
A new face in his position, and Matěj Radosta suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Pandurii have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 24 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pandurii can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Gabriel Viana has come up in conversations Pandurii were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pandurii, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Pandurii have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
In brief
The terracesThe stands have heard the Gabriel Viana talk too
The terracesThe press have found their man in Mihai Puscas