Wanderers blame stiff artificial pitch at Tigne for injuries

Sliema Wanderers have identified the stiff artificial turf pitch at their training ground in Tigne as the main reason behind an endless list of injuries that plagued their campaign so far this season.

Sliema Wanderers president Steve Abela yesterday told a news conference that the club is already in discussions with the Malta FA to install a more player-friendly turf carpet in the coming months to remedy the situation.

“Since the start of the season, each week we had to contend with players interrupting their training, suffering from all sorts of injuries,” he said.

“Inevitably, that has left a negative bearing on the performances of the team. Until this day, 14 of the 18 players in the senior squad were hampered with injury.

“We only started training at the Tigne Complex in August but we have now been forced to look at other venues to conduct our sessions. At the moment, we are close to reaching an agreement and switch training schedules to the Żebbuġ Rangers ground.

“But, this is not the way to go. So, we are planning to lay a new pitch at Tigne. In the past weeks, we have been in touch with the Malta FA who signalled their intention to give us a helping hand and deal with this problem.”

This indeed has been a very difficult start to the new campaign for the Wanderers.

After a promising pre-season, during which the Blues succeeded in lifting the Euro Cup following victories over Birkirkara and Valletta, many were of the opinion that Mark Marlow’s team would rank among the leading challengers for the major honours.

However, those predictions turned out to be wide off the mark... at least until this juncture.

In fact, the Wanderers produced a dismal showing in the first round of the BOV Premier League which saw the team managing just two victories from ten matches.

Last Sunday, the Blues’ drought of winless matches in the top flight stretched to seven matches after a 2-2 draw against Birkirkara. The result left the Blues eighth in the standings on 10 points and facing a real fight to make the Championship Pool.

Marlow admitted that having been unable to field his strongest formation for much of the season has made it difficult for his team to infuse some sort of consistency.

He also lamented some debatable decisions from the referees this season that led to Sliema’s downfall in key matches.

“I have no qualms at receiving criticism over our performances but one has to look at the issue from other perspectives,” the Sliema coach said.

“Since the start of the season we have never been able to make use of all the players in the senior squad as we always had one, two, three and even more key players missing through injury.

“Having Alex Muscat and Clayton Failla, for me the two best wingers in the Premier League, out for a lengthy period on the sidelines was a huge blow for Sliema as our play is based on pushing the ball forward through the flanks mainly.

“There were other instances this season when poor refereeing hit us badly. In my opinion, against Valletta and Birkirkara we were heavily penalised when dubious penalties were awarded to our opponents. In the end, such decisions cost us precious points.”

With the transfer window re-opening in the next few weeks, speculation is rife that the Wanderers will be effecting some changes to their squad, particularly among their foreign line-up.

Abela revealed that the club are waiting the arrival of some new players for a trial and a final decision will be taken next month.

“Apart from our Hungarian goalkeeper Victor Szentpeteri, all our foreign players have a clause in their contract that stipulates their status will be reviewed after the first six months,” he said.

“That leaves us with an opportunity to make the necessary changes in our squad. Soon, we’ll have some new overseas players for a trial.

“However, as I’ve already said, any final decision will be taken in January.”

Meanwhile, during yesterday’s news conference the Wanderers launched the club’s calendar for 2011. This includes pictures of Sliema players taken by photographer Bernard Polidano.

The Blues have also launched a new club website which can be accessed through www.sliemawfc.org.

Premier League statistics

The scorers

Birkirkara: Lattes 4; Vella 3, Galea 3 (1 pen); Cilia 2, Tabone 2 (1 pen); Fenech, Vukanac.
Floriana: Woods 2 (1 pen.), Mecerod 2; Dzhorov, Darmanin, Caruana, Agius.
Ħamrun Spartans: Spiteri 5; Pereira 4; Shields 3; Grima 2, Anizoba 2; Mangion, Fenech pen.
Red cards: Hrubsa (vs Floriana, vs Valletta), Bonnici (vs Floriana).
Hibernians: McManus 4; Cohen 3 (1 pen); Caruana, Clarke, Herrera, Farrugia, Pearson.
Red card: Pulis (vs Ħamrun).
Marsaxlokk: Effiong 7; Templeman 2; Alcorse pen, Kokavessis, Deanov, Guerreiro.
Red card: Alcorse (vs Valletta).
Qormi: Mallia 3; Frendo 2; Bjedov, J. Farrugia, Bello Osagie, Chetcuti.
Red card: Bondin (vs Ħamrun).
Sliema Wanderers: Mifsud Triganza 3, Obiefule 3; Lima, Scerri.
Red cards: Mintoff (vs Birkirkara), B. Muscat (vs Vittoriosa).
Tarxien Rainbows: Sergio 4; Ricardo Costa 3, Cristiano 3 (1 pen), Bueno 3; Caruana. Own goal: Pearson (vs Hibernians).
Valletta: Scerri 7 (2 pens); Denni 4 (1 pen), Sammut 4; Falzon 2, Pace 2; Zammit, G. Agius, E. Agius, Temile, Borg.
Red cards: Ramon (vs Floriana), Falzon (vs Ħamrun).
Vittoriosa Stars: Ewurum 3; Santos Silva 2; Edison, Micallef. Own goal: Gauci (vs Hibernians).
Red cards: Campagnoli (vs Valletta), Tarabay (vs Birkirkara), Mifsud (vs Valletta).

Next fixtures
Friday: (Tedesco Stadium) 7.30 p.m. Tarxien vs Ħamrun.
Sunday: (Hibs Stadium) 2 p.m. Qormi vs Vittoriosa; 4 p.m. Sliema Wanderers vs Marsaxlokk.
Monday: (National Stadium) 2 p.m. Floriana vs Birkirkara; 4 p.m. Valletta vs Hibernians.