Marked for Mailson Lima
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
Mailson Lima 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 Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Lacunza 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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Silas Alfred
“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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Jurgen Degabriele has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Hibernians 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.
Market26 Apr 2027
The name of Mailson Lima keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Hibernians say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hibernians may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 Apr 2027
Only the photograph left for Silas Alfred
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Silas Alfred will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hibernians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Mailson Lima 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 Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Douglas wants to go home
“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 Hibernians know it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
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.
Market19 Apr 2027
Ryder Matos linked with a move away
The name of Ryder Matos keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Hibernians say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager makes Mikel Kaloshi a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Hibernians. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
29 starts now, an average of 6.51, and the team sheet at Vittoriosa Stars has stopped being a question. Exactly what everybody signed up for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hibernians may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Mailson Lima 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Hibernians
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Lacunza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Duane Bonnici, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Mailson Lima knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hibernians, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Duane Bonnici: 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.” Hibernians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“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 Hibernians know it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Ryder Matos 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Leandro Lacunza 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 dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Mikel Kaloshi
“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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“50 caps was 50 more than the boy who started ever expected.” At 34 he has stepped away from the national side and has not stepped away from Hibernians.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Matteo Cardinali 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mouad El Fanis, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Jurgen Degabriele has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Hibernians 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.
Market29 Mar 2027
The Mailson Lima story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mailson Lima signs something — a contract at Hibernians or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Mar 2027
Silas Alfred has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Mailson Lima 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 Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Lacunza 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
34 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Ryder Matos gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Mikel Kaloshi knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mikel Kaloshi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Joseph Mbong has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Hibernians 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.
Market22 Mar 2027
Ryder Matos linked with a move away
The name of Ryder Matos keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Hibernians say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Mar 2027
“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; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Mailson Lima 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Hibernians
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Lacunza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jurgen Degabriele, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Ryder Matos 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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Silas Alfred gets picked when it counts
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 Silas Alfred is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Mar 2027
Birkirkara go through and Hibernians go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mailson Lima and Hibernians agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“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; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Mailson Lima 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Nobody could get near Miullen
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Hibernians
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matteo Cardinali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Ali Diakité did the work nobody counts — 6.63
10 combined actions and 6.63. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Market8 Mar 2027
“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 dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Julian Deguara left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2027
14 days out for Bjorn Kristensen after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“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; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Mailson Lima and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Lacunza 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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bjorn Kristensen, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Jurgen Degabriele has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Hibernians 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
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market22 Feb 2027
Silas Alfred has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hibernians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Mailson Lima 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 Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Lacunza 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 63 days on the sidelines for Ayanda Bophela, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikel Kaloshi, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Pedrão is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market22 Feb 2027
Hibernians have made Ryder Matos available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Douglas knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Douglas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
28 days out for Bjorn Kristensen after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market15 Feb 2027
Douglas 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 Hibernians can pretend not to have heard.
Match15 Feb 2027
Full time on the season at Hibernians
Position 7 on 30 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.88, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Douglas wants to go home
“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 Hibernians know it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Ryder Matos 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A last season at home is what Mailson Lima is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
Match13 Feb 2027
3‑4 to Zabbar St. Patrick, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match13 Feb 2027
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Hibernians and Zabbar St. Patrick in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Jan 2027
49 days out for Bjorn Kristensen after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Mailson Lima 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 Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match23 Jan 2027
Still nobody has beaten Hibernians
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Cardinali 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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Mikel Kaloshi
“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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Ryder Matos left out for the big one
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Ryder Matos will call it something else in private.
Squad25 Jan 2027
8 new faces, and Hibernians 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Douglas: 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.” Hibernians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer from Mosta for Miullen was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Leandro Lacunza 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Add another name to the list: Melita have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Silas Alfred. The answer from Hibernians has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Hibernians 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Leandro Lacunza has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Hibernians.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
102 days out for Bjorn Kristensen after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hibernians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Ryder Matos, 33, rolls back the years — 8.00
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.00 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match5 Dec 2026
It had gone 8 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Mailson Lima and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Joseph Mbong commits to Hibernians for another 4 years.
Match5 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Miullen. 2‑1 against Tarxien Rainbows, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
One of those days for Miullen
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Silas Alfred makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Hibernians's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Hibernians has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hibernians can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Mailson Lima 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 Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match30 Nov 2026
The half-term report on Hibernians
Position 7, 13 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 95% of the Hibernians income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Julian Deguara after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
3 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Match18 Nov 2026
A 2‑2 win over Gudja United, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A brace, and Miullen takes the afternoon — 8.77
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Miullen provided it, and the 8.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match21 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Hibernians's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Hibernians has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ayanda Bophela arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ayanda Bophela has, at Hibernians, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets23 Nov 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Mailson Lima 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikel Kaloshi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Hibernians's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Hibernians has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets9 Nov 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ryder Matos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
One of those days for Miullen
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Hibernians
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dexter Xuereb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The form table has caught Douglas
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Match7 Nov 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
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The dugout
Douglas asks for a word with the manager
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Squad
Douglas still has not settled
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Market
The Mailson Lima story refuses to die
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Oct 2026
Hibernians are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 12 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Mailson Lima 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Hibernians will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Hibernians
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dexter Xuereb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Douglas signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Douglas commits to Hibernians for another 1 years.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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.” Julian Deguara chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Mouad El Fanis 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jurgen Degabriele, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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; Hibernians are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Mailson Lima and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Hibernians
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dexter Xuereb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Marsaxlokk in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market12 Oct 2026
The Mailson Lima story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mailson Lima signs something — a contract at Hibernians or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Hibernians. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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 Hibernians know it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Mailson Lima 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 Hibernians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 127% of the Hibernians income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Match3 Oct 2026
Hibernians rescue it on 86 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 86. Gzira United had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“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 ratings5 Oct 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched Miullen
7.87, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Hibernians had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Hibernians
7 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Dexter Xuereb 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match12 Sep 2026
Cleiton Robozão scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Valletta, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikel Kaloshi, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Julian Deguara to a room that had heard them before.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Dexter Xuereb 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
Mouad El Fanis knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hibernians, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Duane Bonnici’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Hibernians needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market14 Sep 2026
The Mailson Lima story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mailson Lima signs something — a contract at Hibernians or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Mailson Lima 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Hibernians
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dexter Xuereb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” WaiBOP United had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Mailson Lima and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
Mailson Lima 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Hibernians have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Mikel Kaloshi has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Hibernians know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Hibernians 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Hibernians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dexter Xuereb 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.