# 2015–16 FC Petrolul Ploiești season

The 2015–16 season is Petrolul Ploiești's 86th season in the Romanian football league system, and their fifth consecutive season in the Liga I. Petrolul came sixth in the 2014–15 Liga I. At the beginning of February 2015, due to president Capră still being under detention, the club faced financial problems and entered insolvency, meaning that the participation in UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League is denied.

## Month by month review
### June

Due to the financial problems, the club had to terminate or not extend the contracts of seventeen players, including Pablo de Lucas, Victoraș Astafei and Jean Sony Alcénat. On 3 June, Tibor Selymes became the head coach of "The Oilmen". On the 11th, the club's reorganisation plan was voted, therefore bankruptcy was avoided for the time being. Nike remained the kit manufacturer, while Superbet, a gambling company, replaced Alexandrion as the main sponsor of the team. "The Yellow Wolves" settled their pre-season training stage at Zlatibor, in the neighbouring country Serbia. The stage started on June 21 and ended on July 4. The club tested and signed new footballers during this period, generally ones who played in the French lower divisions, like Abdellah Zoubir, Ismail Hassan or Nicolas Farina. Ex-Dynamo Moscow midfielder Adrian Ropotan returned to Romania, six years after he left Dinamo București. Petrolul also convinced Brazilian goalkeeper Peterson Peçanha to extend his contract.

### July

On 11 July, Petrolul played its first official game of the season against Steaua București, in the Liga I. The match ended goalless.
Position at the end of July :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 14 | Petrolul Ploiești | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | −3 | Qualification to Relegation round |
* ↑ Petrolul Ploiești has been penalized with a deduction of six points for failure to comply with licensing requirements.

## Players

    As of 29 May 2016

### First team squad

| Squad No. | Name | Position(s) | Date of Birth (Age) | Signed from |
| Goalkeepers ||||||
| 1 | Alberto Cobrea | GK | (1990-11-01) 1 November 1990 (age 33) | Concordia Chiajna |
| 12 | Iustin Popescu | GK | (1993-09-01) 1 September 1993 (age 31) | Dinamo București |
| Defenders ||||||
| 13 | Fabrice Begeorgi | LB | (1987-04-20) 20 April 1987 (age 37) | Free agent |
| 16 | Alexandru Benga | CB | (1989-06-15) 15 June 1989 (age 35) | Gabala |
| 22 | Dean Beța | LB / RB | (1991-05-11) 11 May 1991 (age 33) | Sportul Studențesc |
| 25 | Constantin Mișelăricu | CB | (1989-09-25) 25 September 1989 (age 35) | Viitorul Constanța |
| 37 | Alexandru David | RB | (1991-06-15) 15 June 1991 (age 33) | Brașov |
| 40 | Roberto Alecsandru | CB | (1996-09-13) 13 September 1996 (age 28) | Petrolul Academy |
| 87 | Constantin Costache | CB | (1997-06-05) 5 June 1997 (age 27) | Petrolul Academy |
| Midfielders ||||||
| 5 | Dan Bucșa | DM | (1988-06-23) 23 June 1988 (age 36) | ASA Târgu Mureș |
| 8 | Karim Ziani | AM | (1982-08-17) 17 August 1982 (age 42) | Free agent |
| 17 | Abdellah Zoubir | AM / LW / RW | (1991-12-05) 5 December 1991 (age 32) | Istres |
| 21 | Ludovic Guerriero | DM | (1985-01-05) 5 January 1985 (age 39) | Free agent |
| 23 | Daniel Stana | LW | (1982-12-02) 2 December 1982 (age 41) | Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț |
| 77 | Bogdan Gavrilă | RW | (1992-02-06) 6 February 1992 (age 32) | Dinamo București |
| Forwards ||||||
| 9 | Michele Paolucci | CF | (1986-02-06) 6 February 1986 (age 38) | Free agent |
| 11 | Marcos Michael | CF | (1991-06-13) 13 June 1991 (age 33) | Nea Salamina |
| 14 | Cosmin Daniel Lambru | CF | (1998-11-26) 26 November 1998 (age 25) | Petrolul Academy |
| 15 | Janko Pacar | CF | (1990-08-18) 18 August 1990 (age 34) | Servette FC |
| 42 | Victoraș Astafei | LW | (1987-07-06) 6 July 1987 (age 37) | Adana Demirspor |
| 90 | George Mareș | CF | (1996-05-16) 16 May 1996 (age 28) | Sportul Studențesc |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |

### Transfers
#### In

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Moving from | Type | Transfer window | Ends | Transfer fee | Source |
| 14 | MF | Sanaa Altama | 24 | EU | Oțelul Galați | Transfer | Summer | 2018 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 37 | DF | Jérémy Faug-Porret | 28 | EU | Botoșani | Transfer | Summer | 2018 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 87 | MF | Ismail Ahmed Kadar Hassan | 28 | EU | Épinal | Transfer | Summer | 2018 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 90 | FW | Vlad Rusu | 24 | EU | Academica Argeș | Transfer | Summer | 2017 | Free | Sport Online Ph |
| 16 | DF | Alexandru Benga | 26 | EU | Gabala | Transfer | Summer | 2018 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 17 | MF | Abdellah Zoubir | 23 | EU | Istres | Transfer | Summer | 2018 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 8 | MF | Adrian Ropotan | 29 | EU | Gabala | Transfer | Summer | 2016 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 15 | FW | Nicolae Milinceanu | 22 | EU | Rapid București | Transfer | Summer | 2017 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 3 | DF | Guillaume Rippert | 30 | EU | Lausanne-Sport | Transfer | Summer | 2017 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 9 | FW | Sofien Moussa | 27 | Non-EU | Étoile du Sahel | Transfer | Summer | 2017 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 23 | MF | Nicolas Farina | 28 | EU | Racing FC | Transfer | Summer | 2016 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 11 | FW | Petrișor Voinea | 25 | EU | Sun Pegasus | Transfer | Summer | 2018 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 30 | MF | Dacian Varga | 30 | EU | ASA Târgu Mureș | Transfer | Summer | 2016 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 5 | MF | Dan Bucșa | 27 | EU | ASA Târgu Mureș | Transfer | Summer | 2016 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 6 | DF | Alexandru Tudose | 28 | EU | Hoverla Uzhhorod | Transfer | Summer | 2016 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 76 | FW | Valentin Lemnaru | 31 | EU | Universitatea Cluj | Transfer | Summer | 2016 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 3 | DF | Viktor Genev | 26 | EU | St Mirren | Transfer | Summer | 2016 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 11 | MF | Fernando Velasco Salazar | 30 | EU | CD Leganés | Transfer | Summer | 2016 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 14 | DF | Cristian Pulhac | 31 | EU | Zawisza Bydgoszcz | Transfer | Winter | 2016 | Free | |
| 90 | FW | George Mareș | 19 | EU | FC Brașov | Loan return | Winter | 2018 | Free | |
| 25 | DF | Constantin Mișelăricu | 26 | EU | Viitorul Constanța | Transfer | Winter | | Free | |
| 9 | MF | Michele Paolucci | 29 | EU | Latina Calcio | Transfer | Winter | 2016 | Free | Mediafax |
| 3 | DF | Romain Inez | 27 | EU | Botev Plovdiv | Transfer | Winter | | Free | Digisport |
| 13 | DF | Fabrice Begeorgi | 29 | EU | AC Ajaccio | Transfer | Winter | | Free | DigiSport |
| 15 | FW | Janko Pacar | 25 | Non-EU | Servette FC | Transfer | Winter | 2018 | Free | Sport.ro |
| 21 | MF | Ludovic Guerriero | 31 | EU | Laval | Transfer | Winter | | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 6 | DF | Giuseppe Prestia | 22 | EU | Parma | Transfer | Winter | | Free | Gazeta Sporturilor |
| 37 | DF | Alexandru David | 24 | EU | FC Brașov | Transfer | Winter | | Free | stiridesport.ro |
| 12 | GK | Iustin Popescu | 22 | EU | Dinamo București | Loan | Winter | | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 23 | MF | Daniel Stana | 33 | EU | Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț | Transfer | Winter | | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 77 | MF | Bogdan Gavrilă | 24 | EU | Dinamo București | Loan | Winter | 2016 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 11 | FW | Marcos Michael | 24 | EU | Nea Salamina | Transfer | Winter | | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 8 | MF | Karim Ziani | 33 | EU | Al-Fujairah SC | Transfer | Winter | 2016 | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 42 | FW | Victoraș Astafei | 28 | EU | Adana Demirspor | Transfer | Winter | 2016 | Free | ziare.com |

#### Out

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Moving to | Type | Transfer window | Transfer fee | Source |
| 80 | MF | Filipe Teixeira | 34 | EU | Astra Giurgiu | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | Sport.ro |
| 3 | DF | Geraldo Alves | 34 | EU | Astra Giurgiu | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | Sport.ro |
| 4 | MF | Ioan Filip | 26 | EU | Viitorul Constanța | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 21 | MF | Victoraș Astafei | 27 | EU | Adana Demirspor | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 91 | AM | Pablo de Lucas | 28 | EU | Beitar Jerusalem | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 13 | MF | Sebastián Gallegos | 23 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 2 | DF | Jean Sony Alcénat | 29 | Non-EU | Steaua București | End of contract | Summer | Free | FC Steaua București |
| 20 | MF | Alexandru Coman | 23 | EU | Ethnikos Achna | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | Dolce Sport |
| 23 | FW | Rodrigo Pastorini | 25 | EU | Murciélagos | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | ProSport |
| 11 | MF | Rok Kronaveter | 28 | EU | Olimpija Ljubljana | End of contract | Summer | Free | Stiridesport.ro |
| 10 | FW | Mohamed Tchité | 31 | EU | Free agent | End of contract | Summer | Free | |
| 5 | MF | Ciprian Vasilache | 31 | EU | Zaria Bălți | End of contract | Summer | Free | |
| 9 | FW | Patrick N'Koyi | 25 | EU | Rapid București | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | |
| 35 | DF | Marian Marin | 27 | EU | Concordia Chiajna | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | |
| 18 | FW | George Mareș | 19 | EU | FC Brașov | Loan transfer | Summer | Undisclosed | |
| 86 | DF | Kristijan Ipša | 29 | EU | Free agent | End of contract | Summer | Free | |
| 8 | DF | Mourad Satli | 25 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | |
| 39 | DF | Jean-Alain Fanchone | 26 | EU | Brest | Undisclosed | Summer | Undisclosed | |
| 14 | MF | Sanaa Altama | 24 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 87 | MF | Ismail Ahmed Kadar Hassan | 28 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 3 | DF | Guillaume Rippert | 30 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 11 | FW | Petrișor Voinea | 25 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Summer | Free | FC Petrolul Ploiești |
| 90 | FW | Vlad Rusu | 26 | EU | Viitorul Constanța | Mutual termination | Winter | Free | |
| 6 | DF | Alexandru Tudose | 29 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Winter | Free | Mediafax |
| 23 | MF | Nicolas Farina | 29 | EU | Cholet | Transfer | Winter | Free | |
| 1 | GK | Peterson Peçanha | 36 | Non-EU | Viitorul Constanța | Transfer | Winter | €8k | Sport Total FM |
| 93 | MF | Alexandru Chiriță | 19 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Winter | Free | |
| 8 | MF | Adrian Ropotan | 29 | EU | Pandurii Târgu Jiu | Transfer | Winter | Free | Sport.ro |
| 76 | FW | Valentin Lemnaru | 31 | EU | East Riffa | Transfer | Winter | Free | Mediafax |
| 11 | MF | Fernando Velasco Salazar | 31 | EU | Fuenlabrada | Transfer | Winter | Free | Mediafax |
| 7 | FW | Gevaro Nepomuceno | 23 | EU | Marítimo | Mutual termination | Winter | Free | Sport.ro |
| 9 | FW | Sofien Moussa | 28 | Non-EU | Tromsø | Transfer | Winter | Free | |
| 99 | FW | Toto Tamuz | 28 | Non-EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Winter | Free | Libertatea |
| 3 | DF | Viktor Genev | 27 | EU | Dinamo Minsk | Transfer | Winter | Free | |
| 37 | DF | Jérémy Faug-Porret | 29 | Non-EU | Servette | Transfer | Winter | Free | |
| 20 | GK | Mirel Bolboașă | 26 | EU | Universitatea Cluj | Loan transfer | Winter | Free | |
| 15 | FW | Nicolae Milinceanu | 23 | EU | Speranța Nisporeni | Transfer | Winter | Free | Mediafax |
| 3 | DF | Romain Inez | 27 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Winter | Free | Libertatea |
| 10 | MF | Laurențiu Marinescu | 31 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Winter | Free | Libertatea |
| 30 | MF | Dacian Varga | 31 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Winter | Free | Dragos-trestioreanu.ro |
| 14 | DF | Cristian Pulhac | 31 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Winter | Free | Dragos-trestioreanu.ro |
| 6 | DF | Giuseppe Prestia | 22 | EU | Free agent | Mutual termination | Winter | Free | Dragos-trestioreanu.ro |

## Competitions
### Liga I
#### Regular season

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 26 February 2016 (UTC). Source: FC Petrolul Ploiești

##### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 10 | Botoșani | 26 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 30 | 35 | −5 | 26 | Qualification for the relegation round |
| 11 | ACS Poli Timișoara | 26 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 24 | 35 | −11 | 25 | Qualification for the relegation round |
| 12 | Voluntari | 26 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 28 | 42 | −14 | 24 | Qualification for the relegation round |
| 13 | Concordia Chiajna | 26 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 22 | 46 | −24 | 17 | Qualification for the relegation round |
| 14 | Petrolul Ploiești | 26 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 17 | 34 | −17 | 8 | Qualification for the relegation round |
* ↑ Petrolul Ploiești were deducted six points for failing to comply with licensing requirements.

##### Position by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Ground | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | D | D | L | D | D | L | W | L | L | D | L | L | D | D | L | L | D | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | L |
| Position | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |

##### Results by opponent

| Team | Results | Results | Points |
| Team | Home | Away | Points |
| ACS Poli Timișoara | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1 |
| ASA Târgu Mureș | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1 |
| Astra Giurgiu | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0 |
| Botoșani | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3 |
| CFR Cluj | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3 |
| Concordia Chiajna | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2 |
| CSMS Iași | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0 |
| Universitatea Craiova | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0 |
| Dinamo București | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0 |
| Pandurii Târgu Jiu | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1 |
| Steaua București | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2 |
| Viitorul Constanța | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0 |
| Voluntari | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1 |
Last updated: 27 February 2016

#### Relegation round

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 29 May 2016. Source: Competitive Matches

##### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 7 | CSMS Iași | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 15 | +2 | 39 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 8 | Universitatea Craiova | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 17 | +2 | 39 | |
| 9 | Botoșani | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 29 | 19 | +10 | 38 | |
| 10 | CFR Cluj | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 13 | +12 | 36 | |
| 11 | Concordia Chiajna | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 13 | +6 | 35 | |
| 12 | Voluntari (O) | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 19 | 20 | −1 | 29 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 13 | ACS Poli Timișoara | 14 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 36 | −22 | 20 | |
| 14 | Petrolul Ploiești (D, R) | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 18 | −9 | 18 | Not admitted to Liga II and revival in lower leagues |
* ↑ CFR Cluj would have qualified for the Europa League third qualifying round by winning the 2015–16 Cupa României, but failed to obtain a UEFA licence after filing for insolvency in 2015.
* ↑ ACS Poli Timișoara were not relegated because the winners of 2015–16 Liga II, Rapid București, were excluded from Liga I after the club went to dissolution.

##### Position by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Ground | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | L | D | W | L | D | W | L | L | W | W | L | L | L |
| Position | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |

##### Results by opponent

| Team | Results | Results | Points |
| Team | Home | Away | Points |
| ACS Poli Timișoara | 3–2 | 1–0 | 6 |
| Botoșani | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0 |
| CFR Cluj | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4 |
| Concordia Chiajna | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1 |
| CSMS Iași | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0 |
| Universitatea Craiova | 1–0 | 0-2 | 3 |
| Voluntari | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0 |
Last updated: 20 May 2016

### Cupa României
#### Round of 16

Last updated: 1 December 2015

### Cupa Ligii
#### Round of 16

Last updated: 9 September 2015

## Squad statistics
### Goals

Updated as of 20 May 2016
| Rank | Player | Position | Liga I | Cupa României | Cupa Ligii | Total |
| 1 | Abdellah Zoubir | RW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | Victoraș Astafei | LW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Sofien Moussa | CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Adrian Ropotan | CM | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | L. Marinescu | AM | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Dacian Varga | LW | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Fernando Velasco | CM | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Alexandru Benga | CB | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Toto Tamuz | CF | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Vlad Rusu | CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Michele Paolucci | CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Fabrice Begeorgi | LB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Janko Pacar | CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Bogdan Gavrilă | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Nicolae Milinceanu | CF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Valentin Lemnaru | CF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | 24 | 7 | 0 | 31 |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Last updated: 3 July 2015