Marked for Jonas Mailula
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Oualid El Hasni
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Marsaxlokk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Jun 2027
“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.
Market28 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zabbar St. Patrick waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Marsaxlokk is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Lucas Caruana 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Domantas Šimkus 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 30 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 dugout28 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Redon Mihana, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Jonas Mailula knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jonas Mailula trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market28 Jun 2027
Jake Ghio placed on the list
Marsaxlokk have made Jake Ghio available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Anger at Marsaxlokk spills outside the ground
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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Oualid El Hasni
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Marsaxlokk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market14 Jun 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 Marsaxlokk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jonas Mailula is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Jun 2027
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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Domantas Šimkus 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market14 Jun 2027
Marsaxlokk have made Domantas Šimkus available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
Oualid El Hasni damages knee ligaments — 68 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 68 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Domantas Šimkus 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.
Squad10 May 2027
“I want to play”: Redon Mihana speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
Oualid El Hasni damages knee ligaments — 75 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 75 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.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market3 May 2027
“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.
The dugout3 May 2027
Jonas Mailula: 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.” Marsaxlokk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad3 May 2027
Enrico Pepe pulls a muscle — 15 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad3 May 2027
A row about effort at Marsaxlokk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Domantas Šimkus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 May 2027
James Kirby and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager's exit leaves Ulises Arias exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Ulises Arias is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The dugout3 May 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Matías García has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
112 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Marsaxlokk lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Marsaxlokk
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Marsaxlokk is running low.
Match29 Mar 2027
14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market29 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Martin Pisani breaks a bone — 23 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Domantas Šimkus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Oualid El Hasni
119 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Marsaxlokk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces22 Mar 2027
The mood at Marsaxlokk has turned into something else
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Martin Pisani out for 30 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Marsaxlokk will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Marsaxlokk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domantas Šimkus 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
James Kirby 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
Oualid El Hasni damages knee ligaments — 127 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 127 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
37 days out for Martin Pisani after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Marsaxlokk will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market15 Mar 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 Marsaxlokk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Marsaxlokk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Domantas Šimkus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Domantas Šimkus, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
James Kirby and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Neville Tabone has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Marsaxlokk can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Martin Pisani breaks a bone — 44 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ulises Arias and Marsaxlokk agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Domantas Šimkus 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 dugout8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Redon Mihana, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Ulises Arias loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Ulises Arias's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Market8 Mar 2027
“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.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Nikolai Muscat 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 dugout8 Mar 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Marsaxlokk boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match1 Mar 2027
14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Martin Pisani breaks a bone — 51 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Domantas Šimkus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Marsaxlokk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matías García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matías García, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager's exit leaves Ulises Arias exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Ulises Arias is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Redon Mihana has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Marsaxlokk will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces22 Feb 2027
Supporters organise against the Marsaxlokk board
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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Marsaxlokk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Feb 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 Marsaxlokk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Domantas Šimkus 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for James Kirby, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market22 Feb 2027
Enrico Pepe told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Enrico Pepe has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Marsaxlokk.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Juan Corbalan 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Jonas Mailula has written the date down.
Market22 Feb 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
Domantas Šimkus 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.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Enrico Pepe 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Jonas Mailula has written the date down.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Marsaxlokk says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
Market15 Feb 2027
Window shut, Enrico Pepe still here
Marsaxlokk spent the window trying to move Enrico Pepe on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Feb 2027
Marsaxlokk are in real trouble now
Position 12, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Marsaxlokk
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Marsaxlokk is running low.
Market1 Feb 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 Marsaxlokk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Marsaxlokk close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 0 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Domantas Šimkus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Marsaxlokk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías García 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 dugout1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Redon Mihana, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
A promise honoured for Enrico Pepe
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Marsaxlokk told Enrico Pepe something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Philip Zammit without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Philip Zammit was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Jan 2027
The drought breaks for Marsaxlokk
19 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.
Match4 Jan 2027
Every point is an argument now for Marsaxlokk
Position 12 and 8 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.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Neville Tabone has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Marsaxlokk can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Marsaxlokk
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Marsaxlokk is running low.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market4 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 Marsaxlokk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Domantas Šimkus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match2 Jan 2027
A 2‑0 win over Zabbar St. Patrick, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Jonas Mailula
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Dec 2026
19 matches without a win for Marsaxlokk
The run now stands at 19, and the questions being asked around Marsaxlokk are no longer polite ones.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
Supporters organise against the Marsaxlokk board
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.
Squad28 Dec 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 Marsaxlokk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Marsaxlokk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domantas Šimkus 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Looking ahead28 Dec 2026
Zabbar St. Patrick next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 114% of everything Marsaxlokk earn
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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matías García, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 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 1‑2 Neville Tabone left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Marsaxlokk
16 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.
Match7 Dec 2026
4 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match5 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted Marsaxlokk
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Marsaxlokk can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Domantas Šimkus 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout7 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
James Kirby 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jake Ghio and Marsaxlokk agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Marsaxlokk
15 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 terraces30 Nov 2026
The mood at Marsaxlokk has turned into something else
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.
Match28 Nov 2026
0‑3 against Birkirkara, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Marsaxlokk may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 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 Marsaxlokk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Marsaxlokk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matías García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matías García, and the manager let it.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 109% of the Marsaxlokk income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Marsaxlokk
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Jonas Mailula 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Domantas Šimkus 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 ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. 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 dugout16 Nov 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.
Market16 Nov 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gilbert Xerri and Marsaxlokk agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.