The name of Santiago Martínez has come up in conversations Gzira United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Stephen Turnbull 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.
“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 Gzira United know it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Johan Bonilla 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Gzira United will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Brooklyn Borg is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Léo Fenga signs something — a contract at Gzira United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Gzira United, another week without a signature from Frankie Edwards.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Luquinha’s negotiating for him
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Gzira United can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Johan Bonilla 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.
“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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gzira United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
“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 Gzira United know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gévero Markiet was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Staša Bastić 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.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Casarano is saying, and nobody at Gzira United is enjoying the guessing.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Gzira United can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gévero Markiet 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.
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.
4 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gévero Markiet was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 1‑1 draw with Mosta leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mario Agius was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Gzira United dressing room was either.
Looking ahead21 Dec 2026
Gzira United take on the side everybody is chasing
Sliema Wanderers arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Máxuell Maia signs something — a contract at Gzira United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gévero Markiet was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Gzira United know which stage they are at.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Naxxar Lions in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until André signs something — a contract at Gzira United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Two goals and a mark of 9.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mateus Lima has just signed for Gzira United, and for once the answer mattered.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gévero Markiet 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lungisani Mncwabe and Gzira United agree another 3 years.
The dugout9 Nov 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.” Mario Agius, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.