“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 The request is on a desk at Tarxien Rainbows, and it is not being withdrawn.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Tarxien Rainbows have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Tarxien Rainbows has to find a result from somewhere.
He is 20, and nobody at Tarxien Rainbows signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Miroslav Marković trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A new face in his position, and Marko Musulin suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Tarxien Rainbows have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
8 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Miroslav Marković trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Marko Musulin keeps the shirt for now, at Tarxien Rainbows's convenience rather than his own.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tarxien Rainbows can pretend not to have heard.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
7 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tarxien Rainbows can pretend not to have heard.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marko Musulin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tarxien Rainbows, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The fee is $32.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Sliema Wanderers drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
He is 16, and nobody at Tarxien Rainbows signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Marko Musulin keeps the shirt for now, at Tarxien Rainbows's convenience rather than his own.
The offer from Hamrun Spartans for Marko Musulin 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.
$1.2M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Add another name to the list: Hamrun Spartans have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Marko Musulin. The answer from Tarxien Rainbows has not changed — yet.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tarxien Rainbows, another week without a signature from Petar Panić.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tarxien Rainbows has been clear about where Kyle Gatt stands, which is more than many ever get.
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
“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 Tarxien Rainbows, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Sogdiana for Anthony Lokosa 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Patrick Schmidt and Tarxien Rainbows agree another 3 years.
The phone has started ringing about Marcus Grima again, and this time the name on the line is Naxxar Lions. Tarxien Rainbows are listening politely and promising nothing.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tarxien Rainbows, another week without a signature from Wesley.