Universitatea sack six players

Train tickets
Staicu informed the players shortly after last night's 1-1 friendly draw with second division CSM Resita. He handed them train tickets to Bucharest and told them the time of the next available service. "I cannot pay for the rest of your contracts with the club so you'll have to leave us," he said to the six.

Experienced players
The joint decision by Staicu and Universitatea coach Emil Sandoi came as a complete shock, especially as five of the six were core squad members. The exodus began after the regular goalkeeper, Stefan Preda, signed for FC Dinamo Bucuresti a month ago. Staicu then dismissed the team's other two goalkeepers, 28-year-old Daniel Tudor and 31-year-old Daniel Bogdan.

Marching orders
Others given their marching orders were the defenders Adrian Baldovin and Cornel Dobre, plus midfield player Cezar Dinu and striker Cristian Silvasan. The underlying reason for the sackings appears to be that all six players were brought to Universitatea by Gheorghe Netoiu, who recently sold the club to Dinel Staicu and has since been appointed vice-president of Dinamo.

Club comes first
Staicu insists the club comes first and said the decision to sack the players was "taken together with the technical staff". It is understood he would rather not work with players who may have sympathies with the Netoiu regime. The six players, who are still under contract with Universitatea, are understandably unhappy with the decision. Bogdan said: "They could have told us from the beginning that they didn't need us anymore. Not now, when almost all other teams have structured their squads. I just hope the Craiova officials will be reasonable if they receive any offers for us."

Contact with Netoiu
The six have all been in contact with Netoiu, who said: "I cannot interfere in the internal problems of Mr Staicu. He is the boss and it's logical that he makes the policies which he considers necessary. Of course I'll try to help the guys, although it will be very difficult."