Marked for André
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Thomas Mintoff: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gzira United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Edoardo Colombo 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Gabriel Mentz 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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Máxuell Maia
6.99, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Gzira United had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Owen Mangion was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Gzira United dressing room was either.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
André knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gzira United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Match16 Jan 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Naxxar Lions will be the happier side with the point.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market11 Jan 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer from Tarxien Rainbows for Patrick Brincat 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Edoardo Colombo 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Gabriel Mentz 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Brooklyn Borg and Gzira United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Owen Mangion chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
André asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
A promise honoured for Andrew Borg
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Gzira United told Andrew Borg something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marc Van de Bovenkamp 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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
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 1‑2 Owen Mangion left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad4 Jan 2027
David Pace named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. David Pace is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Godwin Mintoff
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Dec 2026
“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 Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Edoardo Colombo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad28 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Luís Riascos commits to Gzira United for another 3 years.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Mentz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match26 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abiodun Adegoke. 1‑0 against Zabbar St. Patrick, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
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.” Owen Mangion, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Deacon Abela, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Dec 2026
Gabriel Mentz hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gzira United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Edoardo Colombo 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Mentz 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
No place for André on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Gzira United pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
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 0‑2 Owen Mangion left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
An afternoon Luís Riascos will want back
Marked 4.98. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market14 Dec 2026
Neil Cassar hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gzira United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Edoardo Colombo 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Justin Cauchi 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abiodun Adegoke. 1‑0 against Hibernians, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marc Van de Bovenkamp 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
7.76, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Gzira United had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thomas Mintoff, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Looking ahead
Gzira United take on the side everybody is chasing
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The dugout
André does not fit this one
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The dugout
The form table has caught Thomas Mintoff
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Nov 2026
David Xuereb hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gzira United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Edoardo Colombo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Gabriel Mentz 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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 7.64 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Gzira United had the best player on the pitch.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Pierre Agius commits to Gzira United for another 3 years.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Owen Mangion chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
7 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
Match28 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Mosta will be the happier side with the point.
In brief
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The dugout
The plan did not have a place for André
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The dugout
Thomas Mintoff dropped after a run of poor form
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The dugout
Patrick Brincat has become a man the manager trusts
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad23 Nov 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match21 Nov 2026
It had gone 10 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Edoardo Colombo 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.58, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match21 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abiodun Adegoke. 3‑2 against Marsaxlokk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Johan Bonilla at his very best
Marked 8.19. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Gzira United.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marc Van de Bovenkamp 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Owen Mangion on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Nov 2026
9 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Mentz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match9 Nov 2026
Halfway: Gzira United sit in position 9
9 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Carlo Attard and Gzira United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Something was said to André and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched Johan Bonilla
7.27, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Gzira United had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Hamrun Spartans will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Jerome Bonnici is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Edoardo Colombo 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of André
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luís Riascos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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 1‑3 Owen Mangion left the room before anybody could ask which.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
Hibernians next, and one man in the Gzira United dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 2026
The bid was some way short and Gzira United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Mentz 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
A 2‑1 win over Mosta, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Simon Mercieca is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Stefan Gauci 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mark Grech is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Johan Bonilla was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.25. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Owen Mangion could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Johan Bonilla and Gzira United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Edoardo Colombo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Gabriel Mentz 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
36 months and counting on André
Still no offer on the table, and André’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.