Valletta president Victor Sciriha today said he was convinced that the club will be a big surprise in this season’s competitions.
With Valletta facing newly promoted St Andrews tomorrow in their opening League match, the citizens organised a news conference to explain what has been going on since coach Paul Zammit took over.
Sciriha said he believed in the squad the citizens have at present. “There have been those who have been saying that Valletta will finish fifth or sixth this season, but I am sure these people do not know anything about Maltese football,” he said.
He said the return of Paul Zammit to coach the team should produce the desired results. “We worked hard to get him back soon after we saw that he might be leaving the Stripes,” he added.
Sciriha went on to say that despite earlier comments in past years that he might leave the club, he was still the president simply because it was difficult to leave Valletta FC. “I am sure that it will never be easy for anyone to lead a glorious club like Valletta. People have to be dedicated and work very hard to reach the club’s aims and targets. Here the fans are demanding and they consider it a disaster to pass a season without winning anything,” he said.
Sciriha said that after the Europa League elimination, a lot of work had been done and he wanted to thank everyone involved at the club – coach, players and administrators.
Coach Paul Zammit started by thanking Birkirkara FC for the past six years he had been at their helm.
He then went on to explain what went wrong at the start of this season. “I have already had the opportunity to say that we were not really well prepared for the Europa League matches. The team had been depleted through the absence of players who left the club and others who were suspended. Those were difficult weeks ahead of that commitment.
“Yet, I must thank the president and the administration for their full backing. When coming back here, there was nothing, but today, things are different. I can say that we have gone through 10 hard weeks of training. I want to give a direction to the club and an identity to the team – those are my main aims.
“It is a long term project because we all believe that Valletta FC always has to be considered as a top club,” he exclaimed.
Zammit went on to say that he was satisfied with what had happened so far. “We work under a lot of pressure. Even the players are aware what it means to play for Valletta FC, a club with such a glorious past.
“Our plan includes the gradual introduction of youths into the senior squad. We already have some interesting youngsters training with the main squad, but we intend to have more in future.
“We have become aware that the team cannot be changed every season. We must have a solid basis to build upon. For the Europa League matches, we were restricted in our selection. It was not healthy for Maltese clubs to play such matches in June. We were not prepared, although both Hibernians and Birkirkara showed continuation and fared better,” he said.
Zammit has built his squad on a basis of Maltese players (including goalie Henry Bonello) as well as foreign players who, so far, seem to have fitted in perfectly into the club’s project.
Zammit added: “To play for Valletta FC, any players must be talented. This increases competition among the players in the squad and I am sure that this helps the club not only as a team, but also the players on an individual basis.
“Now comes the moment of truth – the first league match. It is in these forthcoming two rounds of the league that we have to assess our potential. We are aware that both Hibs and Birkirkara have very competitive squads. We have to compare ourselves with them in the knowledge that there are other clubs like Sliema, Balzan and Floriana who could also be potential challengers. In fact I am expecting a difficult championship, especially at the top,” he said.
Zammit concluded by saying that he was lucky to have found such a strong combination of administrators and technical staff all eager to work hard to see the City team back at the top where it belongs. He said: “The players are now at a good physical level. But the team might be undergoing morning training sessions as well as this will help the side to show improvement. And that should induce the numerous City fans to come back and support the team they love so much.”
His squad of 23 players includes three goalkeepers and three Under 19 players. The others, including six strikers, are all senior players all showing eagerness to play in his starting line-up.