FG caught up with Jamie Bosio on a number of topics, including the Gibraltar women’s futsal team’s recent trip to Northern Ireland, his futsal club side Bavaria and how it feels to also be back in 11-a-side action after over a year injured, for Lincoln’s Intermediate side.
Bosio spent more than a year out injured but made his return with Lincoln’s Intermediate side in the latter stages of 2019 – how does it feel to be playing again? “It feels good and it has been a long road with many physical and mental challenges but I feel much stronger as a result of it.”
The midfielder, who has been capped multiple times by the national team, would understandably be a player of interest for a number of sides in January, but for now he is happy where he is: “At the moment I have no immediate playing plans but to continue with this young and talented Lincoln U23 side. Also, I’d like to focus on my future in Futsal, not just coaching but also playing in the next few years.”
Bavaria, who Bosio is involved with at a domestic futsal level, sit 7th in the league at the moment, just outside the top six spots – how does the 28-year-old view his sides season thus far? “At the moment I feel that at Bavaria we’ve had a solid start to the league season. We have one game left in the first round and our objective this season was to try to finish in the Top 6 after the league split.
This is still achievable with one game left. We’ve had a tough run of games but the performances have shown us that there is a lot of potential in our all local squad.”
A recent career development for Bosio, who outside of sport is also a teacher, is to move into coaching – most recently the Women’s Futsal National Team who are currently coached by Gayle Langtry – how has the transition from playing to coaching gone? “Being a teacher, the transition to coaching has been relatively easy as many of the traits I also find in my work life. It’s just the additional pressure of developing your knowledge in the sport, which I have been doing for the last 4 and a half years.”
The Women’s Futsal National Team continued their development over the weekend when they traveled to Northern Ireland for a double-header against their hosts – how does Bosio feel the team did? “The Gibraltar girls put on two gutsy performances against a much older and experienced opponent. Our team is relatively new to the sport of Futsal so to play the way we did, particularly in the second game, shows a lot of promise for the future.
We have some young and exciting players like Shani Robba, Reighann Olivero and Tiffany Viagas who at such a young age will only benefit from these kinds of experiences. The future is bright in Futsal!”
Lincoln Red Imps and Gibraltar defender Joseph Chipolina could be out for up to a year with a long-term injury.
The injury dates back to Lincoln’s win over Manchester 62 in December 2019 which saw Joseph Chipolina subbed off at half-time. The 32-year old has ruptured his ACL with the projected timeframe on his return is believed to be given 9-12 months, depending on the operation.
The injury will be worrying for club and country; Joseph has been a pivotal figure every time he has walked out onto the pitch and will be a huge miss especially at this part of the season.
With a squad not blessed with many more experienced Gibraltarians, compared to previous seasons, new manager German Crespo will need to look towards his younger players such as Julian Del Rio, Craig Galliano and Ethan Thorne-Llambias to fill the void.
The festive period has brought us more managerial changes with Lincoln & Brunos Magpies announcing their new appointments ahead of the league restarting in less than two weeks.
After defeat to St Joseph’s in mid-December, Lincoln brought an end to Victor Afonso’s time in charge of the club with U23 coach Malcolm Martin leading the team out in their final game of 2019 against Manchester 62.
From a rumoured 4 man wishlist, it would be Germán Crespo Sánchez who would get the nod to take Lincoln forward into 2020. The 44-year old led Real Jaen to 101 points last season, winning the regional league, but missed out on promotion when they lost 3-0 Algeciras CF, who would later go on and win promotion to Segunda División B.
The other managerial change is one which caught us by surprise, which was the departure of Alfonso Cortijo as Magpies head coach after just over two months in charge. In the 5 games Cortijo took charge, Magpies won 3 and secured a spot in the Championship Group.
Spanish media outlet Europa Sur announced that Magpies had signed defender Javi Gallardo from Algeciras and also Juan Mari Sanchez, the ex-Gibraltar Phoenix & FC Boca Juniors manager.
Magpies unveiled their new manager this afternoon, while saying that Juan Mari will be joined by his coaching team of Jose Ortega and Adrian Conde. The trio will be working alongside existing coach Garry Turner-Bone and goalkeeper coach Benjamin Parody.
With the first round of fixtures complete and the league split into two groups – here’s our team by team review of how each has performed so far this season.
Europa FC (Position: 1st – Championship Group)
Full of confidence from their Pepe Reyes Cup victory, Europa started their league campaign with an emphatic 4-1 win over rivals Lincoln – who they had beaten for the Pepe Reyes Cup, just five days prior.
Apart from their fortunate draw against St Joseph’s, and a couple of minor wobbles against Glacis & Lions, the Greens have rarely looked troubled this season and would arguably be favorites to win the league this season.
St Joseph’s (Position: 2nd – Championship Group)
Seen by many as the “team to beat” this season – Saints have really pushed on from their success in the Europa League and become very strong title contenders.
Juanfri & Boro have picked up from where they left off last season with 27 goals so far between them and will be hoping to carry it on into the Championship Group.
Lincoln Red Imps (Position: 3rd – Championship Group)
An injury-plagued first few months has left the current league champions in third, four points off leaders Europa and two behind St Joseph’s – both teams which the Imps have recorded losses against this season.
With a replacement of manager on the horizon and the January transfer window opening in a few weeks – the Imps will be looking to spend big and try to turn their current deficit around.
Lynx FC (Position 4th – Championship Group)
Unbeaten in their opening five games, Lynx has turned a lot of heads this season by what may be seen as overperforming this season (considering when you look at how much clubs around them are spending).
The Croatian trio of Bukvic, Kokorovic, and Marcius gave Albert Parody the foundation to build a team that he has cleverly done. With his star man Marcius gone, Albert would need to find an ideal replacement quickly, while also find a full-back, which we have singled out as a weak point in his team.
FCB Magpies (Position: 5th – Championship Group)
There was a lot of promise surrounding Magpies at the beginning of the season. Last season’s Second Division champions had already been planning for the National League from early this year and looked to be putting a strong squad together.
Any promise was quickly dashed when Magpies were hammered 6-0 by Europa which then followed two straight defeats and the sacking of head coach David Wilson in-between.
The replacement with the experienced Alfonso Cortijo was a great choice and will now see how he fares in January when he is able to clear the deadwood from his squad and bring in his own style of players.
After a slow start, Lions managed to pick the pace at the end of October and since then, recorded 4 wins from 5 games to secure a spot in the Championship Group on the final round.
As expected, it will be difficult for Lions to compete against the top three but will be using this opportunity as a time to give valuable experience to Ferri’s younger players – while this is also a great chance to entice sponsors and help the club gain some revenue in the process.
Mons Calpe (Position 7th – Challenge Group)
This season has definitely been one to forget for Mons Calpe, compared to others. After competing at the top. the team found themselves scrapping against Lions which they would end up missing out on.
With their financial problems rising up once again, questions have been raised about whether Mons will even put out a team for the second half of the season.
Manchester 62 (Position: 8th – Challenge Group)
It looks like a choice between Mons or Man62 for the winner of the inaugural Challenge Group trophy. After Jeff Wood and Juanfran Fernandez Perez, the club appointed David Wilson as their new head coach – one which we feel is the right choice to take this young squad forward.
Wilson would already have an eye on a number of players he’d like to bring in, but one player which he may have trouble trying to hold down is Gibraltar U21 international Kian Ronan who has been excellent so far – we will be surprised if his competitive nature will see him wanting to play in the bottom group.
FC Boca Juniors (Position: 9th – Challenge Group)
After pulling together a squad at the expense of Gibraltar United – things looked quite promising for Boca with the squad which they were putting out in pre-season.
But, the lack of team gelling was clear to see, and the wrong choice of manager to go with it – Boca found themselves dropping lower and lower down the table – when you throw in a lack of funding by the final month or two of the season, it’s a good thing they didn’t move up group.
Europa Point (Position: 10th – Challenge Group)
The heights which Europa Point once found themselves seem like an eternity away. Now, they find themselves struggling at the bottom of leagues while scratching at results.
Credit to them though, they have found a number of good players, such as goalkeeper Conor O’Keefe, who has been their standout performer while also giving some valuable game time to experienced striker Jeremy Lopez, and 17-year old Omar El Yettefti; we sure clubs will be keeping an eye out on the teenager in the next few years.
Glacis United (Position 11th – Challenge Group)
From the glory days of Glacis in the past, the club has been hit with a prime example of how money has changed football. From winning trophies, Glacis now find themselves fighting in the bottom half for most seasons with very little hope of ever returning to what they used to be.
The club has been a stepping stone for players such as Michael Ruiz to get regular action in the top flight, while using the experience of Jonny Di Toro and Michele Di Piedi to pass on their knowledge to their young squad.
College 1975 (Position 12th – Challenge Group)
Unfortunately, College has turned out to be the league’s whipping boys with a goal difference of minus 62 and recording heavy defeats on six occasions.
It is quite bizarre when you see 18-year old Zayne Da Costa rarely featuring in the National League, yet he is top goalscorer of the Intermediate League with 10 goals – maybe we will something different from College in 2020.
Lincoln Intermediate
maintained their 100% record in the Intermediate League this season when they
beat Glacis Intermediate 4-0 on Sunday, with the return to action of Jamie
Bosio and Pibe an added bonus for both Malcolm Martin’s side, as well as
Lincoln’s first team in the second half of the season.
Lincoln, who won the Intermediate League
and have actually yet to lose a league game since the division was created,
beat a Glacis side who before the game had only lost one of their eight
fixtures, with a lot of the younger players in the Glacis team featuring for
both the main and U23 sides.
As well as the side having been a springboard for some of their younger talent, such as Julian Del Rio and Craig Galliano, to make appearances in the first team this season, the U23 side have also acted as a first playing step in the return to first team football of both Jamie Bosio and Pibe. Bosio, who missed 14 months of football after suffering an injury for Gib United last season, joined Lincoln’s Intermediate side both as a way to get back into the game, after Gib United went bust in the summer, but also to help Lincoln’s youngsters both on and off the pitch using his experience, having played for the national team 12 times. The midfielder returned as a sub last week and was afforded a standing ovation against Manchester 62’s Intermediate side upon his return, while he also played 30 minutes vs Glacis Intermediate yesterday.
Meanwhile, for Pibe, who joined Lincoln
from Mons Calpe in the summer, the striker will be looking to get back into
regular first team action soon, helping to spearhead an impressive attack on
paper for Lincoln – although he will have stiff competition to earn his place
up top for Victor Afonso’s side, with the likes of Kike and Idelino Colubali getting
in on the goals this season already.
For Malcolm Martin, the aim will be to
continue developing the next generation of Lincoln youngsters with the aim of
getting them as regular first team players, especially when you consider the
likes of Roy Chipolina, Lee Casciaro and Kyle Goldwin are all 34 or older – he’ll
also be hoping to catch the eye as a manager too, with there being a belief
especially within Lincoln circles that he could make the step up to coach one of
the youth national sides in the not too distant future.
We caught up with Lincoln Red Imps Women’s captain Tiffany Viagas to get her thoughts on her sides recent win over Lions, the development of Women’s football over the years and more.
Lincoln maintained their 100% start to the Women’s League with a 4-2 win over Lions – Tiffany reflected on her team’s performance, “The team put in a strong performance against a tough side. Our quick passing and movement off the ball made us a threat going forward, creating numerous chances in the opposition’s box. The whole team worked hard throughout the game, which saw our efforts rewarded with the 3 points, giving us a 6 point lead at the top of the league. However, the result was overshadowed with the injury of our player Shania. I hope she recovers soon!”
We asked Tiffany how she’s felt Women’s Football has developed over the years, “Over the past years, women’s football in Gibraltar is becoming more popular in the younger age groups. The Under 16s national team came second out of four teams at a development tournament in Malta, which saw them win against Albania (3-0) and a draw against Andorra (1–1). There is definitely a bright future ahead for the national team and for the women’s league but we need help from the association to get allocations in order to keep on improving and keep players motivated.”
We asked Tiffany what she would like to see in Women’s Football for the game to continue to improve, “I would like to see other clubs in the men’s premier division putting out a team in the women’s league. This way we can get more women involved in the game and making the league more exciting for all teams involved. I would also like to see the senior national team going to participate in competitions such as the Euro Qualifiers as I believe we have a strong and hard-working team and showed in our previous tournament at the Island Games that we are no pushover.”
Tiffany gave us an insight into how her trial with FC Twente Vrouwen went last summer, “My week’s trial at FC Twente was a dream come true. Shania and I trained for a week with the Eredivise champions, where we trained with Dutch national team players. We would train once or twice a day, and we worked on different aspects of the game. We also played a match with FC Twente against German side Borussia Bocholt, where we were able to make a good account for ourselves. Shania and I both received very positive feedback from the head coach and a return to the club is very close by. The experience was amazing and I learned a lot during my time there. I would like to thank Bennie Brinkman for making this possible.”
Finally, we asked Tiffany what her aims are for football – “My aim is to keep working hard and to hopefully turn my dream into a reality which is to play football aboard at a professional club and keep representing and giving it my best when playing for the national team.”
As we get closer to the league split after the first round, St Joseph’s Juanfri and Lincoln manager Victor Afonso pick up Player of the Month and Manager of the Month for October.
FG Player of the Month – Juan Francisco ‘Juanfri’
Garcia Pena (St Joseph’s)
With most of the top 3 only in action once or twice this month, October was never likely to have too much of a say in the title race, but St Joseph’s, who did play twice, made sure they kept up their unbeaten start to the season. With 7 goals in 2 games, as well as consecutive TOTW appearances, Juanfri edges his team-mate Boro, who got 5 in 2, to the top spot this month. Like last season, the vast majority of Saints goals come from this pair, and if they stay fit, they could be key for the title race in 2020.
Juan Francisco ‘Juanfri’ Garcia
Pena (St Joseph’s)
Salvador Manuel ‘Boro’ Alegre Delgado
(St Joseph’s)
German Cortes Narvaes (FC Boca
Gibraltar)
FG Manager of the Month – Victor Afonso (Lincoln Red Imps)
With seemingly so few games in October, this was actually a hard decision to make with regards manager of the month. The only two coaches to win two games were Raul Procopio and Lincoln’s Victor Afonso, but on paper Lincoln’s two games were the harder matches so we’ve chosen to give the Lincoln manager the award for a second consecutive month. A special mention should go to now-former Boca manager Juan Maria Sanchez, who led Boca to a draw and win in October but stepped down from the club this morning.
With nearly two-thirds of the first round
of fixtures already taking place, and only 24 matches left before the National
League splits in two at Christmas, we look at where each of the 12 teams are,
and their chances of reaching the top 6 by Christmas and the end of the first
round.
1st Place – Lincoln Red Imps –
18 points – 4 games left
100% they will be in the Championship
Group. Lincoln’s opening-day loss to Europa has been forgotten about by the
side, who have won their next six in a row. The only major challenge left
before Christmas will be against St Joseph’s – three points would be important
as well as set a market to the rest of the league.
2nd Place – St Joseph’s FC – 17
points – 4 games left
Like Lincoln, Saints will be in the top
six. The late draw vs Lynx wasn’t ideal, but St Joseph’s have been good this
season and are threatening to make the title-race a three-team affair. As long
as they keep the front two of Juanfri and Boro fit and firing, Saints are a
match for anyone – a result vs Lincoln before the New Year would be a massive
statement of intention.
3rd Place – Europa FC – 16 points
– 5 games left
Again, Europa are one of the teams
definitely going to the Championship Group. Bar a dramatic draw vs St Joseph’s,
Europa have rarely looked troubled all season and if they see through the game
vs Lynx with no hiccups, they are likely to be top come the split. January will
be interesting for Europa – do they stick with the squad that has served them
so well so far, or add one or two players in the window who may potentially be
the difference between a title and no title?
4th Place – Bruno’s Magpies –
15 points – 3 games left
Magpies should really be safe now. A little
wobble with three defeats in a row raised some doubts over the side, but the back-to-back
wins vs Europa Point and Boca means they should get over the line at Christmas.
They have hard fixtures vs Lincoln and St Joseph’s to come, but by the time
they face Manchester in their last game, we’d be surprised if their top six
spot wasn’t mathematically secured. The challenge will be whether they invest
even further on new players in January, especially with new manager Alfonso
Cortijo undoubtedly wanting some of his own players in.
5th Place – Lynx FC – 14 points
– 4 games left
Lynx have a fairly nice run-in in which to
accumulate points before the Championship Group, which they seem certain to get
into. If they can ensure 7 to 9 points against Manchester, College and Glacis,
then Albert Parody’s side will be in a healthy position post-Christmas – the draw
vs St Joseph’s showed they can make life difficult for the top three as well
and teams won’t necessarily want to play them.
6th Place – Mons Calpe SC –
11 points – 3 games left
Having points on the board is traditionally
better than games in hand, as the cliché goes, but it looks like going to the
wire for Mons Calpe. Two of their last three games are against St Joseph’s and Europa,
making the match vs Manchester 62 a must-win. Even then, 14 points isn’t
guaranteed to be enough. They were stubborn vs Lincoln though, and there is
every chance of nicking a result against one of the current top 3, but if they
don’t, it will be a nervy end to the year for Leo Vela’s side.
7th Place – Manchester 62 – 7
points – 5 games left
Looking purely at the table, you’d say
Manchester have the best chance of jumping into the top six from the bottom six
sides. However, only one of their last five games is versus a team below them,
which make new manager David Wilson’s task that bit tougher. The big two games
will be against Mons Calpe and Europa Point – especially the game against Mons –
if they can beat the team above them on the 30th November, and
follow it with a win vs Europa Point, then they may have a chance of top six,
depending on other results.
8th Place – FC Boca Gibraltar
– 6 points – 4 games left
Boca aren’t in a bad position table wise,
but the fixtures are not too kind to them, given they face Europa and Lincoln
in their next two matches. After that though, they’ll need to beat Glacis in order
to set up a tantalising final round game vs Lions. Talk of off-the-field issues
at the club will need to be shaken off as soon as possible if the club wants to
take that sixth spot and work from there in 2020.
9th Place – Lions Gibraltar –
6 points – 4 games left
Whisper it quietly, but Lions could have a chance
of sneaking into the top six while no one is watching them. The win against
Manchester was vital, not just because it was their first of the season, but
because it kept their Championship Group hopes alive. Three of their remaining
four games are against fellow bottom six sides, including matches vs Glacis and
College, while their final game against Boca could be a winner-takes-all
fixture depending on how Mons finish. Albert Ferri has made his team more
resolute defensively; if they can improve on their poor scoring form so far,
then we may see last season’s 9th place team end in 6th.
10th Place – Europa Point FC –
5 points – 3 games left
Despite only being a point behind Lions and
Boca, and only two off Manchester, the lack of games left for Europa Point
means that a top six finish in truth seems unlikely. To achieve this, the side
would have to beat Manchester and College, while most likely also getting a
surprise result against St Joseph’s too. Even then, they would still be relying
on other team’s results going in their favour – it isn’t looking promising for
Allen Bula’s side.
11th Place – Glacis United FC
– 3 points – 5 games left
Glacis have slowly built themselves back up
after a heavily disrupted start to the season, and while qualifying for the Championship
Group does seem beyond them, they could still have an influence on who does
make the top 6. Games against Boca and especially Lions will be tight affairs
and if Glacis can take points off those teams, the likes of Manchester and Mons
Calpe would be the most likely beneficiaries.
12th Place – College 1975 FC –
0 points – 4 games left
Although mathematically still possible, it
is safe to say College are not qualifying for the top 6. Without so much as a
point yet this season, they have been up against it from the first gameweek,
and realistically these last four games should be used to try and improve where
possible ahead of going into the Challenge Group, where hopefully they won’t be
on the end of results such as the 12-0 and 9-1 they have suffered in recent
weeks.
We caught up with Lincoln Red Imps midfielder Sergio Molina to get his thoughts on last Sunday’s win over Lions, scoring three hat-tricks in three consecutive games and more.
Molina reflected on Lincoln’s 7-1 win over Lions last Sunday, “We knew that Lions had some tight results in their previous games and that we would need a lot of rhythm in our play if we wanted to hurt them. Luckily, our game plan worked and we beat them comfortably.”
After missing out in Lincoln’s opening 4-1 defeat to Europa, Molina has played in their last three games and has scored a hat-trick in them all. We asked him how it felt to be able to help the team win three on the bounce, “I have never scored a hat-trick in 3 consecutive games so personally, I am very happy with that. It’s also a great feeling to help the team and add three more points.”
With one more game remaining until the international break, Lincoln currently sit fourth with Europa, St Joseph’s and Lynx sitting above them – we asked Molina if this season will be more competitive than the last, “The league is quite tight at this part of the competition. I think that like last year, until practically the end, we will not know who will be champion.”
The 35-year has played for Spanish clubs such as Albacete, Real Jaen, Balona and also a short stint in Greece with Panthrakikos Komotini. We asked that with the experience he has gained, what does he think should be done so football in Gibraltar moves in the right direction – he replied, “Football is a complicated sport in terms of all things that surrounds it. I think that the most important thing is to promote the lower categories, to lay the foundations, and in the long run, the kids will progress from all aspects of football. The technical work, tactical etc and as time goes by, they will become more prepared and contribute more to football in Gibraltar so little by little, football will continue to grow.”
The newly reconstructed Gibraltar National League season is upon us, kicking off today when Lynx take on Mons Calpe at 20:30, so read below our preview, where we attempt to predict the outcome of the league.
Who will win the title? Lincoln Red Imps are looking to retain their crown again, but will face stiff competition from Europa once more, while St Joseph’s, Mons Calpe and newboys Brunos Magpies have all spent heavily to reinforce their squads and try to close the gap.
Who will finish in the top eight? The new inclusion of the “Championship Group” sees the league split and the top seven seperated and battle it out between themselves for the league. The winner particpates in the UEFA Champions League, while the two runners-up move to the UEFA Europa League (depending the outcome of the Gibtelecom Rock Cup).
Your easy choices would be Lincoln Red Imps, Europa, St Joseph’s and Mons Calpe. Gibraltar Phoenix & Gibraltar United’s withdrawal leaves more empty spots to join the aforementioned four teams. We would expect Brunos Magpies to take advantage of this, while joining them would be Lynx and Lions.
The Challenge Group? Manchester 62 should be favourites and will provide tough competition with Lynx & Lions in the Championship Group. Leo announced a host of good signings earlier on in the season and led by Dani Amaya, could be favourites to win the group. College 1975 have been very quiet throughout the summer and if the signing of ex-St Joseph’s & Lions striker Jose Luis Romero is anything to go by, they could be real underdogs to even sneak into the Championship Group.
Europa Point have had a strong finish to their preseason, their only problem would be finding enough HGP’s – they will be hoping they can pick up some from Phoenix & Gib Utd. Boca have been relatively quiet this summer, apart from the announcement of their new head coach Christian Ressa, it’s been a ‘hush hush’ transfer window so it’ll be interesting to see the team they put out on Tuesday night.
Glacis will be hoping their financial troubles behind them and try to reach the heights they did back in 2016, but with players still reportedly stating they are missing wages from the second half of last season looks like it’ll be another long season for them.
Last but not least FC Olympique, a team which looks to be struggling to get a full squad together. However, with their game against Gibraltar United expected to be cancelled, it could actually be a blessing in disguise to give the club more time to bring in much needed players and compete at this level.
