The Mtarfa Chronicle
Match6 Feb 2027
7 unbeaten for Mtarfa
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Mtarfa did not have in the autumn.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Mtarfa
João Gabriel 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 Feb 2027
Guga 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Mtarfa get the job done against Vittoriosa Stars
A 1‑0 win over Vittoriosa Stars, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Andrew Tutte
“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 ratings8 Feb 2027
Douglas Lukaku was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Patrick Busuttil out for 46 days
The medical room confirms 46 days on the sidelines for Patrick Busuttil, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Kenneth Deguara kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Gabriel Silva wants out of the dugout
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Mtarfa will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
In brief
- The dugout Conor Grant gets picked when it counts
- The dugout The plan did not have a place for Diogo Siqueira
- Looking ahead Dylan Micallef goes back to face Marsa