The words a physio says slowly. 96 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 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 Gzira United know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kauã Davi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
14 shut-outs in 21 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Thabang Molefe has been having a lot of them.
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 Rudzani Thobo is on it.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gzira United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aikins Kwabena Antiedu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gzira United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã Davi 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Gzira United can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
13 clean sheets from 20 appearances at Sirens. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
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 André is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Johan Bonilla signs something — a contract at Gzira United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Marcos Ramos damages knee ligaments — 118 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 118 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gzira United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Liam Cunningham 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Gzira United can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
“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.
Marcos Ramos damages knee ligaments — 132 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 132 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gzira United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kauã Davi 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Naxxar Lions have kept their man, and Gzira United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
12 shut-outs in 16 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Thabang Molefe has been having a lot of them.
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.
In brief
The dugoutGabriel Mentz knocks on the manager’s door
“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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Kauã Davi 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.
Robert Kakeeto 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Kevin Piedrahita will call it something else in private.
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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gzira United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Liam Cunningham.
The deal with Hibernians 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gzira United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 Gzira United know it.
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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Kauã Davi 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Naxxar Lions have kept their man, and Gzira United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Liam Cunningham 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 Gabriel Mentz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“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.
Liam Cunningham 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.
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã Davi 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Gzira United can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“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.
Liam Cunningham and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã Davi 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.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Gzira United know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Gzira United will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
In brief
The dugoutZé Artur asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutRudzani Thobo has become a man the manager trusts
Loan watchThabang Molefe’s loan is measured in nothing happening
“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.
8 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gzira United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kevin Piedrahita and Gzira United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Nov 2028
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.
Luís Riascos 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.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mario Farrugia was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Gzira United dressing room was either.
7 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.
“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.
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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Gzira United are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kauã Davi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
“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.
Position 11 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
6 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.
Liam Cunningham 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 Kauã Davi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Liam Cunningham 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.
“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 Gzira United know it.
Squad16 Oct 2028
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.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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.
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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutLuís Riascos knocks on the manager's door
“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.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gzira United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
5 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.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Gzira United will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Liam Cunningham and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã Davi 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.