Sirens did not want this conversation and are having it anyway. A manager wanted elsewhere is a manager whose next contract talk just became more expensive.
“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 The request is on a desk at Sirens, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sirens have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Hamrun Spartans is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Rafal Linetty has, at Sirens, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Sliema Wanderers wanted more than $1.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sirens can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sirens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nyanguila Kalonji trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sirens lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sirens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Sirens asked and Floriana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Hamrun Spartans 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.
Daniil Prokopchuk 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nazariy Bondar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Wesley Berghuis has written the date down.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Sirens has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
In brief
The dugoutGodwin Vella knocks on the manager's door
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sirens have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Sirens is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad21 May 2035
Words at Sirens training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Ward 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Sirens will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
The dugoutHugo Sacco asks for a word with the manager
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sirens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Deacon Abela was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sirens, another week without a signature from Diogo Casimiro.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Sirens know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jonathan Ward trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sirens. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Sirens could ask drops and the wages Cameron Manang can ask rise.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sirens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Ward was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cameron Manang trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Petar Birsa’s negotiating for him
Cailin Knock 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Cailin Knock. 2‑1 against Vittoriosa Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.38 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Ward was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
59 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Ivan Chesnakov 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.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Words at Sirens training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Deacon Abela 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad2 Apr 2035
5 new faces, and Sirens are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sirens, another week without a signature from Cameron Manang.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Felippe Bugeja’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Sirens needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sirens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Marked 8.21 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Ward was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 1‑1 draw with Fgura United leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout19 Mar 2035
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.” Interim Coach chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Cailin Knock was the best thing in any of them.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Sirens could ask drops and the wages Diogo Casimiro can ask rise.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Santa Lucia spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Player ratings12 Mar 2035
A brace, and Cailin Knock takes the afternoon — 8.60
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Cailin Knock provided it, and the 8.60 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Sirens have received the call every well-run club eventually receives — somebody bigger has noticed Interim Coach. Saying no is easy; keeping him convinced is the actual work.
Daniil Prokopchuk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Mar 2035
Words at Sirens training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Deacon Abela 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Jonathan Ward 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.
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Diogo Casimiro decided nobody was going anywhere. St. Andrews had no time left to answer.
Marked 7.93. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sirens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Sirens is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
55 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad26 Feb 2035
Jonathan Ward 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.
Basanez have made their interest known and Sirens have to have a conversation they never wanted. A manager other clubs ask about is a manager whose next contract costs more.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Wesley Berghuis has, at Sirens, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Wesley Berghuis is a Sirens player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Cailin Knock 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.
Squad19 Feb 2035
Deacon Abela 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sirens lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Diogo Casimiro 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.
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Oct 2034
Deacon Abela 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 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.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sirens lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Daniil Prokopchuk 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.
Squad23 Oct 2034
Words at Sirens training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Deacon Abela 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.
87 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sirens lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Diogo Casimiro 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.
$16.0K on the table at Valletta. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad31 Jul 2034
Words at Sirens training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco Pulgar 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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Sirens will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Sirens and Tarxien Rainbows have settled on $120.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Diogo Casimiro 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.
“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 Sirens know it.
Squad12 Jun 2034
Deacon Abela 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.
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 Cailin Knock is on it.