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
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.
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.
Nobody at Gzira United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined 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.
Position 3, 35 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Stephen Turnbull 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 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.
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.
Santiago Martínez 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.
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.
“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.
“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.
Gévero Markiet 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.
Squad19 Apr 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.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Nobody at Gzira United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“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.
Gévero Markiet and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 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.
“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.
“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.
Position 3, 35 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“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.
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.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Gzira United now know that too.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
Santiago Martínez 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Chrisnovic N'sa, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Feb 2027
9 new faces, and Gzira United are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.26 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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.
Gévero Markiet 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Johan Bonilla 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.
Gzira United asked and Sliema Wanderers said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Zabbar St. Patrick were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Stephen Turnbull and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 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.
Léo Fenga had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Sliema Wanderers were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Two goals and a mark of 9.06 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
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.
Johan Bonilla 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 90. Marsaxlokk had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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.
Mosta 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luís Riascos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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.
Gévero Markiet 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Johan Bonilla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Hamrun Spartans left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Match28 Nov 2026
After 4 games, Gzira United finally taste it again
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Hamrun Spartans; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Position 4, 17 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“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.
A 3‑1 win over Tarxien Rainbows, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
“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.
6 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gévero Markiet and Gzira United agree another 1 years.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.64 beside his name.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Gzira United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Digão is living that version at Gzira United, and it tends to show in the first month.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Digão 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.
Gzira United asked and Floriana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Edoardo Colombo signs something — a contract at Gzira United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.