“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 The request is on a desk at Valletta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Odah Marshall 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 Odah Marshall signs something — a contract at Valletta or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valletta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Lapidar Lladrovci 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matteo Grech will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valletta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valletta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valletta can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valletta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Naxxar Lions will make the call about Matteo Grech this week. Valletta have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Valletta has been clear about where Matteo Grech stands, which is more than many ever get.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valletta can pretend not to have heard.
Lapidar Lladrovci 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Valletta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Justin Zammit has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valletta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Valletta know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“I watch every Valletta game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Floriana runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Valletta can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valletta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Valletta game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Floriana runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Justin Zammit has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valletta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Odah Marshall 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.
Odah Marshall 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.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Maringá: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Emmanuel Mbende 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.