There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fernando Cabido provided it, and the 8.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mosta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mosta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Gzira United will make the call about Afeez Bankole this week. Mosta have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
In brief
Player ratingsBohlale Thaba was on a different afternoon to everybody else
A brace, and Bohlale Thaba takes the afternoon — 8.84
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bohlale Thaba provided it, and the 8.84 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Mosta and Sliema Wanderers, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Chibuzor Emmanuel 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Mosta pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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 have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mosta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Mosta and Birkirkara in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matthew Bolaños 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 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fernando Cabido will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mosta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Prince Chibuzor Emmanuel and Mosta agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Marked 8.77 — 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mosta will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martin Tankovic will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mosta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Akpan Udoh 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.
6 goals in one match, Louka Vandenbossche on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Mosta and Naxxar Lions.
9.08. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mosta will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mosta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Chibuzor Emmanuel 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.
A season average of 7.30 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings10 Nov 2036
Fernando Cabido was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.21. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mosta will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matthew Bolaños 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.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of 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.
Player ratings3 Nov 2036
Bohlale Thaba was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.65. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mosta will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Chibuzor Emmanuel 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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Zabbar St. Patrick spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
8.29. 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.