91 minutes played. Patrick Schmidt found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Hibernians went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
“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 The request is on a desk at Tarxien Rainbows, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marked 8.16. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tarxien Rainbows.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Kyle Gatt 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 dugout1 Oct 2029
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 Jonathan Scerri left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ivan Brincat
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Valletta scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kyle Gatt 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.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Jonathan Scerri was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Tarxien Rainbows dressing room was either.
Nobody at Tarxien Rainbows is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tarxien Rainbows 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 Ivan Brincat trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Érico Júnior has let it be known that he does not like the way Tarxien Rainbows are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Tarxien Rainbows was different afterwards.
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Zabbar St. Patrick. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Tarxien Rainbows will try again when the window opens; Birkirkara may not be selling by then.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kyle Gatt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Jonathan Scerri could afford to be generous.
0‑4 to Floriana, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Birkirkara have accepted the money. What Tarxien Rainbows do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Tarxien Rainbows has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Tarxien Rainbows close the window on a squad of their own making
5 in and 7 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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Tarxien Rainbows asked and Hamrun Spartans said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$1.0K was the most the club would pay and Hibernians were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
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.
Kenneth Gatt and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Kyle Gatt 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.
Position 10 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tarxien Rainbows will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Patrick Schmidt 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tarxien Rainbows know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Kwasi Donsu 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Neville Deguara and Tarxien Rainbows agree another 3 years.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Jonathan Scerri on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kyle Gatt’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Tarxien Rainbows needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tarxien Rainbows know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Gzira United will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Tarxien Rainbows were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Kwasi Donsu 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alan Mintoff and Tarxien Rainbows agree another 3 years.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
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.” Jonathan Scerri, on a 4‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
13 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tarxien Rainbows, another week without a signature from Kwasi Donsu.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tarxien Rainbows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
8 goals in one match, Vinicius Nunes on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Tarxien Rainbows and Hibernians.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tarxien Rainbows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tarxien Rainbows have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Kwasi Donsu 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tarxien Rainbows know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
$13.0K settles it between the clubs for Alan Scicluna
Birkirkara have accepted the money. What Tarxien Rainbows do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 11 signed and 10 gone
That is the business done at Tarxien Rainbows until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tarxien Rainbows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everything agreed with Hamrun Spartans, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
10 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Alfred Borg clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tarxien Rainbows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Tarxien Rainbows has to find a result from somewhere.
At 31 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
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.
Tarxien Rainbows asked and Birkirkara 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. Matteo Ellul 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.
73 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tarxien Rainbows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Alfred Borg has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarxien Rainbows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Érico Júnior and Tarxien Rainbows agree another 1 years.
94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tarxien Rainbows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The deal that would have taken Vinicius Nunes to Naxxar Lions has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Tarxien Rainbows with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Érico Júnior has improved at 35, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarxien Rainbows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Tarxien Rainbows have made the call to Gzira United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Patrick Schmidt signs something — a contract at Tarxien Rainbows or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tarxien Rainbows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Tarxien Rainbows 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 Tarxien Rainbows can pretend not to have heard.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Érico Júnior 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tarxien Rainbows, another week without a signature from Kwasi Donsu.
115 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tarxien Rainbows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Patrick Schmidt 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.
129 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tarxien Rainbows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Tarxien Rainbows people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Tarxien Rainbows, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarxien Rainbows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tarxien Rainbows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Tarxien Rainbows. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
Patrick Schmidt 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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Patrick Schmidt's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tarxien Rainbows know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Tarxien Rainbows would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tarxien Rainbows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Patrick Schmidt signs something — a contract at Tarxien Rainbows or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tarxien Rainbows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Luke Anthony Borg 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 words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
Kwasi Donsu 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 words a physio says slowly. 67 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Tarxien Rainbows can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarxien Rainbows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tarxien Rainbows know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Matthew Vella was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Érico Júnior a promise
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tarxien Rainbows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Patrick Schmidt 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anthony Lokosa signs something — a contract at Tarxien Rainbows or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tarxien Rainbows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Alfred Borg has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tarxien Rainbows have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Patrick Schmidt 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 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.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Patrick Schmidt was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tarxien Rainbows, another week without a signature from Kwasi Donsu.
118 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tarxien Rainbows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matthew Grech and Tarxien Rainbows agree another 3 years.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anthony Lokosa signs something — a contract at Tarxien Rainbows or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutCláudio Murici asks for a word with the manager
125 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tarxien Rainbows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Tarxien Rainbows can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Tarxien Rainbows until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Naxxar Lions moved on, Vinicius Nunes reports back to Tarxien Rainbows, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Patrick Schmidt 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Érico Júnior and Tarxien Rainbows agree another 1 years.
132 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tarxien Rainbows lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The offer from Marsaxlokk for Marko Musulin 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Tarxien Rainbows have done the hard part with Hamrun Spartans, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Patrick Schmidt and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Marko Musulin 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 name of Vinicius Nunes has come up in conversations Tarxien Rainbows were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“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 Tarxien Rainbows, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Tarxien Rainbows has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarxien Rainbows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Marko Musulin 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 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Tarxien Rainbows 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 Tarxien Rainbows can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Musulin 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Peter Grima 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Timothy Portelli 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.
“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 Tarxien Rainbows, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marko Musulin 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 Dec 2027
Jacques Bayo 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“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 Tarxien Rainbows, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarxien Rainbows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.67 — 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 Marko Musulin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Peter Pisani 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. Karl Farrugia 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tarxien Rainbows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Patrick Schmidt 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jacques Bayo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Érico Júnior
“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 Tarxien Rainbows, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Jacques Bayo 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Ivan Cachia 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.
“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 Tarxien Rainbows know it.
“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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tarxien Rainbows can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tarxien Rainbows they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacques Bayo 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.
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Alfred Borg was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Tarxien Rainbows dressing room was either.
Floriana next, and one man in the Tarxien Rainbows dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Tarxien Rainbows, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tarxien Rainbows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Marko Musulin 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.
Half the programme played, position 9, 15 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.