Basarab NicÃÂ Panduru (born 11 July 1970) is a Romanian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently television pundit for Orange Sport.
Born in MârzÃÂneÃÂti, Romania, Panduru started his professional career with CSM Reà Âià £a where he played between 1987 and 1990, before being signed by Steaua BucureÃÂti at the beginning of 1991. Panduru's first game with Steaua was in the Romanian Cup, when the Steaua's officials did not take into consideration that just prior leaving CSM Reà Âià £a, Panduru was set to miss the next game due to yellow cards, therefore Steaua BucureÃÂti lost that game after a federal decision.
As soon as he joined Steaua BucureÃÂti he became an important part of the team. In 1995, however he left Romania to play for Benfica. The life in the capital of Portugal was not that easy, and he was loaned to Neuchâtel Xamax for half a season, before re-joining Benfica at the start of the 1996âÂÂ97 season.
In 1998, he was bought by S.L. Benfica's rivals from FC Porto but failed to make an impact. During the summer of 1999, Panduru was close to sign a contract with Brazilian club Internacional Porto Alegre however, the transfer did not materialize. Then Panduru signed for SC Salgueiros on loan from Porto, his third team in Portugal but after only half-a-season and long-term injuries Panduru decided to retire and become coach.
During his career Panduru earned 22 caps for Romania, scoring one goal, and was in the squad for the 1994 World Cup.
Panduru's first coaching agreement was the one with Poli AEK TimiÃÂoara, signed in 2002. At TimiÃÂoara he met his former teammate from Steaua BucureÃÂti, Anton Doboà Â, now the team's co-owner. The couple worked well together for a while, but in 2004 Panduru basically sacked himself when he made a bad remark, by saying: "The defenders are not footballers, they are only the ones who help the footballers". What Panduru did not take into consideration was that Anton Doboà Â, his boss, played as a defender.
He signed a new contract, this time with Oà £elul Galaà £i for the second half of the 2004âÂÂ05 season without a league game, he left the team to sign with FC Vaslui in the summer of 2005, from where he was sacked after only few games. He was then the coach of Farul Constanà £a before being sacked by the team owner after poor results.
At the end of October 2007 he signed on to manage second league team Progresul BucureÃÂti.
In September 2009, Panduru was announced the new Director of Football of Steaua BucureÃÂti, but on 14 May 2010, he resigned from this position, after a mutual agreement with the club's owner George Becali.