Marked for Evgeny Khrapuchenko
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Apr 2028
“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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Floriana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market10 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Floriana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Paul Mbong 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Floriana
Klaidi Cela 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“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 Floriana know it.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Alen Kurtalić gets picked when it counts
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 Alen Kurtalić is on it.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Floriana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Feb 2028
Floriana up to position 2
43 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market21 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Floriana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Floriana
Klaidi Cela and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Gean Junior 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.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Daniel Troiano has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Floriana 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.
Market21 Feb 2028
Floriana have made Pablo Picón available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market21 Feb 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kenan Dervišagić signs something — a contract at Floriana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Floriana would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Feb 2028
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market7 Feb 2028
Hítalo puts it in writing
“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 Floriana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Feb 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Floriana have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match5 Feb 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Floriana did not have in the autumn.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Floriana until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Kenan Dervišagić 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 targets7 Feb 2028
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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Paul Mbong 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Evgeny Khrapuchenko commits to Floriana for another 3 years.