3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Franklin Sasere 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.
Marked 8.23 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leandro Lacunza and Birkirkara agree another 3 years.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Birkirkara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Birkirkara have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
216 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessandro Rossi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Birkirkara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Zach Muscat 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.
Marked 8.54 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The shirt still fits. Neville Aquilina is back at Birkirkara, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Isaac Cutajar is a Birkirkara player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
The shirt still fits. Ryan Fenech is back at Birkirkara, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Jan Busuttil 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Birkirkara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alessandro Coppola 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Franklin Sasere signs something — a contract at Birkirkara or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Birkirkara that is a harder question to answer.
No fee and no fanfare: Julani Archibald’s time at Birkirkara ends with a handshake, and Valletta collect a player for the price of his wages. Somebody will call it shrewd; time will name who.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Birkirkara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Kevin Stella is 20, and Birkirkara have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Birkirkara that is a harder question to answer.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Birkirkara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Still no offer on the table, and Shaun Dimech’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Youssef Omar is 34, with 1 appearances behind him, and Birkirkara will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
“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 Birkirkara, 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 Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Birkirkara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Zach Muscat 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Birkirkara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Alessandro Coppola 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leandro Lacunza trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Birkirkara would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Birkirkara can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Birkirkara will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
“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; Birkirkara are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Birkirkara can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Birkirkara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Franklin Sasere 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Birkirkara can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Birkirkara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alessandro Coppola 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.
Zach Muscat 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Birkirkara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Birkirkara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Birkirkara have had the benefit of 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 Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Julani Archibald 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 Birkirkara 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 Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Macula trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Birkirkara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Julani Archibald will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Birkirkara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Zach Muscat 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Birkirkara can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Jan Busuttil 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Birkirkara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Zach Muscat 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara 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; Birkirkara are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jacques Bayo signs something — a contract at Birkirkara or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
101% of the income goes out in wages at Birkirkara
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
“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 Birkirkara know it.
Zach Muscat 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Leandro Lacunza signs something — a contract at Birkirkara or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jacques Bayo signs something — a contract at Birkirkara or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Birkirkara would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“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 Birkirkara, 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 Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Birkirkara has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.64 — 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 3 saves does not settle it either way.
4 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.
Zach Muscat 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 offer from Dinamo Tbilisi for Franklin Sasere 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.
Alessandro Coppola 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Birkirkara can pretend not to have heard.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Birkirkara have had the benefit of it.
Zach Muscat 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 phone has started ringing about Donovan Makoma again, and this time the name on the line is Valletta. Birkirkara are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Birkirkara has been clear about where Jere Vrcić stands, which is more than many ever get.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
34 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
237% of the income goes out in wages at Birkirkara
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried 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 Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Position 1, 29 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Mosta go through and Birkirkara go home, 1‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Birkirkara have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Zach Muscat 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.
A 1‑0 win over Tarxien Rainbows, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Marked 8.54 — 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Marked 9.31 — 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.
Alessandro Coppola 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
280% of the income goes out in wages at Birkirkara
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Jan Busuttil 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Birkirkara that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Birkirkara that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
0‑3 to Floriana, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Birkirkara can pretend not to have heard.
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Birkirkara are no longer polite ones.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Zach Muscat 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Birkirkara know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The medical room confirms 91 days on the sidelines for Rafa Santos, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
280% of the income goes out in wages at Birkirkara
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Marked 8.10 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
It needed Franklin Sasere to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Hamrun Spartans, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
4 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.19 — 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.
It needed Franklin Sasere to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Naxxar Lions, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Manuel Morello trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Jere Vrcić has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Birkirkara know, and have known for weeks.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Birkirkara know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Birkirkara, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 5 of the 25 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Alessandro Coppola 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
486% of the income goes out in wages at Birkirkara
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Zach Muscat 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.36 — 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.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Birkirkara have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jacques Bayo signs something — a contract at Birkirkara or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Birkirkara know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Jere Vrcić has let it be known that he does not like the way Birkirkara are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jere Vrcić. 2‑1 against Zabbar St. Patrick, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Alessandro Coppola 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
332% of the income goes out in wages at Birkirkara
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Birkirkara have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Zach Muscat 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Angelo Gatt is 15, and Birkirkara have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Simon Sultana is 16, and Birkirkara have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
He is 16, and nobody at Birkirkara signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
“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 Birkirkara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alessandro Coppola 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jacques Bayo signs something — a contract at Birkirkara or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Birkirkara, 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 Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Julani Archibald is 35 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Birkirkara know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A new face in his position, and Matthew Grech suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Birkirkara have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Zach Muscat 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Birkirkara has been clear about where Nathan Cross stands, which is more than many ever get.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Birkirkara can pretend not to have heard.
199 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Birkirkara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Matthew Grech has come up in conversations Birkirkara were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.