Marked for Simphiwe Dumisa
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at Gzira United 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.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad7 Feb 2028
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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Luís Riascos 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.
Market7 Feb 2028
He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mohammed Rasasa and Gzira United agree another 3 years.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Gilbert Portelli
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Gilbert Portelli has come out of that comparison in the side, and Gzira United have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
Johan Bonilla 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 Johan Bonilla is on it.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brian Muscat, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jan 2028
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market10 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Naxxar Lions waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gzira United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market10 Jan 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match8 Jan 2028
7 matches without a win, and then this, against Valletta. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Edoardo Colombo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match8 Jan 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: André. 2‑0 against Valletta, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luís Riascos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Nov 2027
Position 12, 6 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.
Market8 Nov 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Edoardo Colombo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match6 Nov 2027
Hamrun Spartans left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marc Van de Bovenkamp 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.
Match8 Nov 2027
Position 12, 6 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.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Harry Bridle named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Harry Bridle is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Oct 2027
18 matches without a win for Gzira United
The run now stands at 18, and the questions being asked around Gzira United are no longer polite ones.
Match11 Oct 2027
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market11 Oct 2027
Harry Bridle hands in a written request
“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.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Edoardo Colombo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market11 Oct 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Isaac Muscat is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market11 Oct 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Antonio Cilia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match9 Oct 2027
Zabbar St. Patrick left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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 0‑1 Karl Gatt left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Gzira United's wait for a win
17 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gzira United has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad4 Oct 2027
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Giovanni Galea could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 9.23
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 9.23, 2 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Match29 Sep 2027
A 3‑3 win over Marsaxlokk, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market4 Oct 2027
Staša Bastić hands in a written request
“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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Marked 7.83 at 14, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Máxuell Maia and Gzira United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 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 Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces4 Oct 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 16-year-old it feels ownership of. Giovanni Galea has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Gzira United's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gzira United has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad30 Aug 2027
15 days out for Simphiwe Dumisa after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gzira United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market30 Aug 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 Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Edoardo Colombo 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
At 25 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luís Riascos 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
Johan Bonilla has become a man the manager trusts
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Aug 2027
22 days out for Simphiwe Dumisa after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gzira United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market23 Aug 2027
Brooklyn Borg hands in a written request
“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 dugout23 Aug 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad23 Aug 2027
Brooklyn Borg is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mihajlo Stojanović and Gzira United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Johan Bonilla has improved at 31, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Simphiwe Dumisa out for 29 days
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.
Market16 Aug 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 Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Andrew Borg is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Edoardo Colombo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
At 26 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Gzira United asked and Valletta said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market16 Aug 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Máxuell Maia’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market16 Aug 2027
Gzira United have let the market know Yannick Caupers can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market16 Aug 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Gabriel Mentz leaves Gzira United the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Aug 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 Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Simphiwe Dumisa out for 36 days
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.
Squad9 Aug 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 Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luís Riascos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrew Borg and Gzira United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Staša Bastić 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 Staša Bastić is on it.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tokollo Makgolane, and the manager let it.
Market9 Aug 2027
The name of Edoardo Colombo keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Gzira United say nothing, which says plenty.
Market9 Aug 2027
Still no offer on the table, and Roh Sang-hyun’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Aug 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
43 days out for Simphiwe Dumisa after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gzira United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad2 Aug 2027
Edoardo Colombo 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 targets2 Aug 2027
Gzira United asked and Valletta said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Gabriel Mentz 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Samuel Grima has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market2 Aug 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Patrick Vella has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market2 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jonathan Bajada has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Jul 2027
52 days out for Simphiwe Dumisa after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gzira United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad26 Jul 2027
Edoardo Colombo 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Mentz 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 dugout26 Jul 2027
Gabriel Mentz knocks on the manager's door
“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.
Market26 Jul 2027
André linked with a move away
The name of André keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Gzira United say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
Edoardo Colombo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Mentz 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 dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simphiwe Dumisa, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 May 2027
“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 dugout17 May 2027
Simphiwe Dumisa: 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.” Gzira United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad17 May 2027
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.
Squad17 May 2027
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 dugout17 May 2027
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.
The dugout17 May 2027
Deacon Abela 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 Deacon Abela trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Apr 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Edoardo Colombo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes 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. Marc Van de Bovenkamp 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
Edoardo Colombo 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Mentz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Simphiwe Dumisa has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Deacon Abela gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Máxuell Maia. Gzira United will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Market5 Apr 2027
The André story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until André signs something — a contract at Gzira United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 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 Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marc Van de Bovenkamp 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.
Market29 Mar 2027
The Máxuell Maia talk will not go away
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 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 Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luís Riascos and Gzira United agree another 3 years.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Mentz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Simon Mercieca and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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 Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout15 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Edoardo Colombo 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Mentz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Simphiwe Dumisa
“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
Uneasy
The dugout8 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.
Market8 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Máxuell Maia and Gzira United agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Edoardo Colombo 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Gabriel Mentz 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Giovanni Galea has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market8 Mar 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Timothy Mangion is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market8 Mar 2027
The André story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until André signs something — a contract at Gzira United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tokollo Makgolane trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 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 Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Mar 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 Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Mentz 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.
Market1 Mar 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“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.
Market1 Mar 2027
The Máxuell Maia talk will not go away
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Feb 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Edoardo Colombo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Mentz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Angelo Scicluna and Gzira United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tokollo Makgolane, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Floriana keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Gzira United 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
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets1 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Mentz 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 Simphiwe Dumisa, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The Máxuell Maia talk will not go away
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Somebody is after André’s shirt
A new face in his position, and André suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Gzira United have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Gzira United's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gzira United has to find a result from somewhere.
Match2 Jan 2027
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Gzira United can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad4 Jan 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 Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simphiwe Dumisa, and the manager let it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Luís Riascos 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
No place for Harry Bridle in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Gzira United are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Gzira United pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Chrisnovic N'sa commits to Gzira United for another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Mentz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match5 Dec 2026
A goal on 95 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Robert Fenech 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
It needed André to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Sliema Wanderers, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Tokollo Makgolane has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Karl Gatt: “We have to be better”
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Robert Fenech
“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
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tokollo Makgolane arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Tokollo Makgolane has, at Gzira United, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tokollo Makgolane and Gzira United agree another 3 years.
Squad9 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 Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Mentz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match7 Nov 2026
Hamrun Spartans left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Match9 Nov 2026
Half the programme played, position 7, 13 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Luís Riascos
“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.