Marked for Robert Simonyan
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Apr 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Birzebbuga St. Peter's, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market2 Apr 2029
Only the photograph left for Jacob Safa
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jacob Safa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Birzebbuga St. Peter's the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Apr 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 Birzebbuga St. Peter's this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Alisson Silva 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 dugout2 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Diego Farcaş
“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.
Market2 Apr 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Fran Obiagwu’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
Aleksan Aramyan has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Birzebbuga St. Peter's 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.
Market2 Apr 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Birzebbuga St. Peter's, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Mar 2029
Zach Cassar hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Birzebbuga St. Peter's can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Yamine Abair 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 dugout26 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Robert Simonyan, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Mar 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Birzebbuga St. Peter's would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
Squad26 Mar 2029
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Birzebbuga St. Peter's lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
Squad26 Mar 2029
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Birzebbuga St. Peter's lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
Market26 Mar 2029
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Birzebbuga St. Peter's money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Mar 2029
“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.
Market12 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Birzebbuga St. Peter's is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Donte Ranger in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birzebbuga St. Peter's this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Matías García 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 dugout12 Mar 2029
Andrés Bolaños 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.
Market12 Mar 2029
The Wallace story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Wallace signs something — a contract at Birzebbuga St. Peter's or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Aug 2027
“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 Alashkert, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market30 Aug 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Alashkert may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market30 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Mômô Fanyé Touré 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Alashkert
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexey Ploschadny was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad30 Aug 2027
23 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Noah to sit and watch. I want to come back to Alashkert and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Edgar Piloyan has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Alashkert 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
Uneasy
The dugout2 Aug 2027
Philip Ejike: 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.” Alashkert have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Edgar Piloyan 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
54 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Alashkert
Hakob Hakobyan 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Arsen Beglaryan has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
Edgar Piloyan has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Alashkert 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.