Marked for Karl Camilleri
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Dec 2030
A fracture rules Gustavo Campos out for 93 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Naxxar Lions will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match21 Dec 2030
Tarxien Rainbows will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Naxxar Lions were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings23 Dec 2030
A brace, and Yeangel Montero takes the afternoon — 9.98
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yeangel Montero provided it, and the 9.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings23 Dec 2030
Marked 9.33 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad23 Dec 2030
A season average of 7.51 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market23 Dec 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Naxxar Lions, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
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Squad23 Dec 2030
Words at Naxxar Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tashov 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 terraces23 Dec 2030
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Dominic Xuereb 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.
In brief
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Player ratings
Vitinho was on a different afternoon to everybody else
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The dugout
A satisfied Sinan Ozdemir
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The dugout
The team sheet said everything about Gabriel Costa
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Nov 2030
A fracture rules Gustavo Campos out for 125 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Naxxar Lions will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match23 Nov 2030
Beaten 0‑3 by Sliema Wanderers, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
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Squad25 Nov 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Naxxar Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matthew Grech, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Rosiel 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.
Boardroom25 Nov 2030
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings25 Nov 2030
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Sinan Ozdemir to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Nov 2030
135 days out for Gustavo Campos after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Naxxar Lions will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Yeangel Montero
13 goals and a season average of 7.36 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Tashov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad18 Nov 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Naxxar Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings18 Nov 2030
Ninety minutes of Yeangel Montero at his very best
Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Naxxar Lions.
The dugout18 Nov 2030
“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.
Match16 Nov 2030
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout18 Nov 2030
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Sinan Ozdemir was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Naxxar Lions dressing room was either.
The dugout18 Nov 2030
Gabriel Costa 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 Gabriel Costa is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout28 Oct 2030
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Squad28 Oct 2030
Dmitry Tashov 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.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Rosiel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Oct 2030
Hamrun Spartans left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout28 Oct 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matthew Grech, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Oct 2030
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sinan Ozdemir after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Oct 2030
When it matters, Rosiel plays
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.
Market28 Oct 2030
The name of Gabriel Costa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Naxxar Lions say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Sep 2030
2 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Philip Tabone damages knee ligaments — 34 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 34 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match25 Sep 2030
A 2‑2 win over Gzira United, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Vitinho was unplayable
Successful dribbles: 34. 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.
Match25 Sep 2030
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Gzira United kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Naxxar Lions will be asked about the last half hour all week.
The dugout30 Sep 2030
“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.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Marked 7.61 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Up for the corner, and Luke Fenech delivers — 7.36
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Luke Fenech scored, was marked 7.36, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The dugout30 Sep 2030
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From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Aug 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Naxxar Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom26 Aug 2030
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Naxxar Lions
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
The dugout26 Aug 2030
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Squad26 Aug 2030
Paul Barbara 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.
Market26 Aug 2030
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Kenneth Xuereb is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market26 Aug 2030
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Matteo Galea is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market26 Aug 2030
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Luke Grech is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market26 Aug 2030
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ivan Busuttil 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.
The dugout26 Aug 2030
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Aug 2030
Gabriel Costa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Aug 2030
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.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Paul Barbara 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.
Squad19 Aug 2030
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets19 Aug 2030
A loan enquiry to Hibernians: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout19 Aug 2030
Matthew Grech 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 Naxxar Lions, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market29 Jul 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christian Gauci will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Naxxar Lions the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Naxxar Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout29 Jul 2030
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Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
Naxxar Lions asked and Birkirkara said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Words at Naxxar Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rosiel 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 dugout29 Jul 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shaun Dimech, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
Hibernians have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout29 Jul 2030
Shaun Dimech 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 Shaun Dimech is on it.
Market29 Jul 2030
The name of Gabriel Costa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Naxxar Lions say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Jul 2030
Shaun Dimech breaks a bone — 34 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Yeangel Montero 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 targets8 Jul 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Valletta have kept their man, and Naxxar Lions go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout8 Jul 2030
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Squad8 Jul 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rosiel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets8 Jul 2030
A loan move for Rashed Al-Tumi is in the works
Naxxar Lions have made the call to Birkirkara. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Boardroom8 Jul 2030
5 new boys at the Naxxar Lions academy
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
The dugout8 Jul 2030
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 Yeangel Montero is on it.
The dugout8 Jul 2030
Matthew Grech 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 Matthew Grech trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Jul 2030
A fracture rules Shaun Dimech out for 43 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Naxxar Lions will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market1 Jul 2030
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Naxxar Lions have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout1 Jul 2030
Matthew Grech: 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.” Naxxar Lions have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad1 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Naxxar Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 Jul 2030
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Squad1 Jul 2030
21 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 Jun 2030
Shaun Dimech breaks a bone — 77 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout3 Jun 2030
Simon Cilia: 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.” Naxxar Lions have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad3 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Naxxar Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout3 Jun 2030
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Squad3 Jun 2030
53 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Transfer targets3 Jun 2030
A loan move for Tom Donaghy is in the works
Naxxar Lions have made the call to Valletta. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets3 Jun 2030
A loan enquiry to Birkirkara: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets3 Jun 2030
Hibernians have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout3 Jun 2030
Shaun Dimech has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Naxxar Lions 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
Upbeat
Squad27 May 2030
85 days out for Shaun Dimech after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Naxxar Lions will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad27 May 2030
Rosiel 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 dugout27 May 2030
Rosiel has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Naxxar Lions 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
Upbeat
Squad20 May 2030
Shaun Dimech breaks a bone — 94 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad20 May 2030
44 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad20 May 2030
Yeangel Montero 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.
Squad20 May 2030
Rosiel 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 dugout20 May 2030
Gabriel Costa has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Naxxar Lions 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.
Market20 May 2030
The clock does Christian Gauci’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Naxxar Lions could ask drops and the wages Christian Gauci can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 May 2030
108 days out for Shaun Dimech after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Naxxar Lions will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market6 May 2030
“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.
Squad6 May 2030
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Naxxar Lions have had the benefit of it.
Squad6 May 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gustavo Campos and Naxxar Lions agree another 2 years.
Squad6 May 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Naxxar Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout6 May 2030
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From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Apr 2030
Yeangel Montero damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout8 Apr 2030
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Squad8 Apr 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rosiel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Apr 2030
Shaun Dimech 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 Shaun Dimech is on it.
The dugout8 Apr 2030
The manager makes an example of Simon Cilia
“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.
Squad8 Apr 2030
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Naxxar Lions would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Apr 2030
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Naxxar Lions lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market1 Apr 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Naxxar Lions can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Yeangel Montero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Apr 2030
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for James Chetcuti, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout1 Apr 2030
Rosiel has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Naxxar Lions 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.
Market1 Apr 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gabriel Costa signs something — a contract at Naxxar Lions or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Mar 2030
Yeangel Montero damages knee ligaments — 42 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 42 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Yeangel Montero 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 dugout25 Mar 2030
Gabriel Costa has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Naxxar Lions 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.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Cilia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market25 Mar 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Yeangel Montero’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market25 Mar 2030
The clock does Christian Gauci’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Naxxar Lions could ask drops and the wages Christian Gauci can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Mar 2030
Yeangel Montero damages knee ligaments — 56 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 56 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout11 Mar 2030
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Squad11 Mar 2030
Rosiel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Feb 2030
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Naxxar Lions lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Christian Gauci 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 dugout25 Feb 2030
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.
Market25 Feb 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Yeangel Montero’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market25 Feb 2030
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Naxxar Lions could get for him.
Match25 Feb 2030
Continental football is in reach for Naxxar Lions
34 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Feb 2030
Yeangel Montero damages knee ligaments — 89 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 89 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Yeangel Montero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Feb 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad11 Feb 2030
Words at Naxxar Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rosiel 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.
Squad11 Feb 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Simon Cilia and Naxxar Lions agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout11 Feb 2030
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Feb 2030
Yeangel Montero damages knee ligaments — 98 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 98 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market4 Feb 2030
“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 dugout4 Feb 2030
Karl Camilleri: 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.” Naxxar Lions have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
Window shuts: 0 in, 4 out at Naxxar Lions
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Vitinho signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vitinho and Naxxar Lions agree another 3 years.
Squad4 Feb 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Naxxar Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Words at Naxxar Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rosiel 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.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Market4 Feb 2030
Karl Camilleri is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Naxxar Lions has been clear about where Karl Camilleri stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match12 Jan 2030
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Naxxar Lions have 6 straight wins of it.
Transfer targets14 Jan 2030
The paperwork begins on Anse Ngoubi
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Naxxar Lions have done the hard part with Mosta, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets14 Jan 2030
Naxxar Lions had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Hamrun Spartans, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Christian Gauci and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 Jan 2030
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Player ratings14 Jan 2030
Vitinho was unplayable
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Match12 Jan 2030
It finished 1‑0, and it was Shaun Dimech’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Naxxar Lions.
Player ratings14 Jan 2030
Marked 8.04 — 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.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rosiel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Dec 2029
A fracture rules Gabriel Costa out for 41 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Naxxar Lions will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad3 Dec 2029
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Naxxar Lions lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match1 Dec 2029
No end in sight to Naxxar Lions's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Naxxar Lions has to find a result from somewhere.
Match1 Dec 2029
5 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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Christian Gauci 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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Rosiel 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 dugout3 Dec 2029
Gabriel Costa 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 Gabriel Costa is on it.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Sinan Ozdemir chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
Karl Camilleri dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Oct 2029
Yeangel Montero 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.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Vitinho was unplayable
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Ninety minutes of Yeangel Montero at his very best
Marked 8.42. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Naxxar Lions.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Words at Naxxar Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rosiel 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 dugout29 Oct 2029
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Sinan Ozdemir could afford to be generous.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karl Camilleri, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
Somebody else is better right now than Dominic Xuereb
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
Shaun Dimech 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 Shaun Dimech is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces21 May 2029
Supporters organise against the Naxxar Lions board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market21 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Naxxar Lions is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Naxxar Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout21 May 2029
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.
Market21 May 2029
The name of Yeangel Montero keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Naxxar Lions say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout21 May 2029
Neville Saliba 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 Neville Saliba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.