Marked for Charles Yemi Oderinde
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Mosta
Ernest Agyiri 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Mosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Ugwu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
“I did not go to Birkirkara to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mosta and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 14 matches say the rest.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“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.
Match19 Apr 2027
Mosta in the hunt for Europe
Position 5, 33 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Mosta will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mosta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Mosta
Ernest Agyiri 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.
Loan watch22 Feb 2027
“I watch every Mosta game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Birkirkara runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Mosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Victor 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
Akpan Udoh 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
Jurgen Pisani breaks a bone — 103 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match25 Jan 2027
Mosta finish in position 5
33 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Market25 Jan 2027
The bid was some way short and Mosta did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Mosta
Ernest Agyiri 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Mosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Ugwu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match23 Jan 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Gabriel Fenech after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Dominic Busuttil, 15, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Mosta would like this to lead.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.04, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad21 Sep 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 Mosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 Sep 2026
Marsaxlokk made Mosta work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Mosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Léo Fernandes 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Gabriel Fenech, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Simon Zibo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Mosta needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Mosta have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Sep 2026
Mosta say no — this time
The offer from Gzira United for Charles Yemi Oderinde was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 9 in, 2 out at Mosta
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 9 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Mosta
Matthew Bolaños 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Hamrun Spartans left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Akpan Udoh
“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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gabriel Fenech after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Mosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and João Victor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Simon Zibo is still paying for one afternoon at Mosta
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.