Ivan Borg

Attacking Midfielder (R) - Mgarr United
30 Jun 2029
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Marked for Ivan Borg

150 Edition

The Mgarr United Chronicle

11 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad11 Jun 2029

Nicholas Pulis damages knee ligaments — 85 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 85 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.

Transfer targets11 Jun 2029

Tarxien Rainbows tell Mgarr United: Marko Musulin is not for sale

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.

Squad11 Jun 2029

Tempers go at Mgarr United

Arkady Gyulushanyan 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 targets11 Jun 2029

Mgarr United try to borrow Freddie Godden

Santa Lucia 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.

Transfer targets11 Jun 2029

Mgarr United try to borrow Lefa Ngwenya

Valletta 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.

Market11 Jun 2029

Talks stall between Mgarr United and Arkady Gyulushanyan

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

The dugout11 Jun 2029

Xheron Osma 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.

Squad11 Jun 2029

Ivan Borg 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.

Market11 Jun 2029

Jan Busuttil linked with a move away

The name of Jan Busuttil keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mgarr United say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

Back issues
147 Edition

The Mgarr United Chronicle

21 May 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad21 May 2029

The knee: Nicholas Pulis out for 109 days

109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mgarr United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

The terraces21 May 2029

Supporters organise against the Mgarr United 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.

Boardroom21 May 2029

Pressure builds in the Mgarr United boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

The dugout21 May 2029

Victor Agius: 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.” Mgarr United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad21 May 2029

Words exchanged at Mgarr United

Dylan Sargent 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 dugout21 May 2029

The manager has not finished forgetting Nicholas Pulis's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

Squad21 May 2029

Jeremy Calleja stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Jeremy Calleja and Mgarr United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout21 May 2029

Abdoul N'Doye has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Mgarr 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.

Squad21 May 2029

Words at Mgarr United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Borg 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.

In brief

138 Edition

The Mgarr United Chronicle

19 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match17 Mar 2029

Mgarr United come up short against Sirens

Sirens left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout19 Mar 2029

No hiding place for Lenny Mattocks

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lenny Mattocks, and the manager let it.

The dugout19 Mar 2029

Jacopo Brambilla faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jacopo Brambilla after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout19 Mar 2029

Abdoul N'Doye has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Mgarr 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.

Player ratings19 Mar 2029

Abdoul N'Doye runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad19 Mar 2029

Jan Busuttil suspended

One booking too many, and Jan Busuttil sits out. Mgarr United lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.

Squad19 Mar 2029

A row about effort at Mgarr United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Borg was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout19 Mar 2029

Somebody else is better right now than Zeca

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.

Market19 Mar 2029

Abdoul N'Doye linked with a move away

The name of Abdoul N'Doye keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mgarr United say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

135 Edition

The Mgarr United Chronicle

26 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces26 Feb 2029

Supporters organise against the Mgarr United 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.

Squad26 Feb 2029

A knee injury of the worst kind for Isaac Ellul

19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mgarr United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Boardroom26 Feb 2029

The scrutiny sharpens at Mgarr United

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mgarr United is running low.

Player ratings26 Feb 2029

No sign of nerves from Feyi Afuape at 20 — 7.86

The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Feyi Afuape did not need any: 7.86, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Match24 Feb 2029

Mgarr United end the wait against Zurrieq

It had gone 7 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Squad26 Feb 2029

A falling-out at Mgarr United

Nicholas Pulis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The terraces26 Feb 2029

One of their own: Feyi Afuape

He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Match24 Feb 2029

Mgarr United see off Zurrieq

Three points for Mgarr United, 1‑0 the final word against Zurrieq in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The dugout26 Feb 2029

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Jacopo Brambilla, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief