However, with every cloud comes a silver lining, and I saw this as an opportunity for us to focus on the domestic league this season, and ensure that come next season we would be competing in the Champions League again. But this was seemingly not to be; another disastrous start to the campaign, which again saw us being eliminated from the first round of the FA trophy, this time to Floriana, and inconsistency in the league saw us occupying a lowly 5th position at the start of February, 14 points off the pace.
Something really had to be done. The squad which had traveled far and wide in the Champions League the previous season was growing old, and the new recruits which I had brought in since did not have the impact I was hoping for (although one of them had proved to be a gem).
To show the extent of our troubles, it is enough to mention that by the start of February, my top scorer was a central defender, with just three goals. Thus I kindly asked the board to eliminate any restrictions on our scouting range, and after complying, I was then free to scout the world for talent.
In the January transfer window 7 new players were brought in, six of which were Nigerian, and the other Libyan, amounting to £850K (one of these players was attracting interest far and wide, and had offers from Barcelona and Real Madrid, amongst others, rejected!) After training facilities were improved the previous summer, several new coaches were brought in, the highlight of which was Michael Carrick.
After undergoing so many changes, I was afraid results would, if possible, turn even worse. However, it was not so, and we went on a great run of form, finishing the season on a run of eight consecutive victories, which saw us run Sliema close to first place, finishing just one point behind in second.
The new signings had clearly worked their magic, with six of the seven finishing in the best 11 for the season (and the one that didn't was because I bought two left wingers), and one of them scoring 9 goals in 13 appearances to finish top scorer (the central defender Akanji went on to score an impressive 7 goals). Note that 13 goals were scored in the first 15 matches of the season; 33 were scored in the last 13 matches!
This influx of foreigners however, brought with it a moral, if anything, problem; my team at the start of the 2019-20 season (just after the summer transfer window opened) comprised of 10 Maltese players, 11 Nigerians, a Brazilian, a Libyan, and an Uruguayan. This meant my team was more foreign than Maltese. However, the positives here far outweigh the negatives, and I am certainly not going to wait for Maltese talent to catch up with the quality of my team, I will just simply ensure that my scouts are correctly placed to catch any budding Maltese talent, until then, I will only buy the best possible players for my team.
Mdina moved 18 places up the European ladder following the 18-19 season to 315th position, while the Maltese Premier League also rose, by 73 places, to 240th place.
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