Ħamrun Spartans coach Manuel Blasi hailed his team’s character as the Reds upset title challengers Hibernians to soar to second in the Premier League standings on Monday night. 

It was a remarkable performance from the Spartans who are starting to provide the right signals under the charge of Blasi.

The Italian, in his first management job, is slowly giving the Reds the identity he has been craving for since replacing Giovanni Tedesco in the summer.

The Reds were off to a storming start when surging into a two-goal lead and although Hibernians managed to pull a goal back just before the interval, Ħamrun showed great character to secure a remarkable win against more-quoted opponents.

“This was a very important victory for us,” the former Fiorentina and Juventus midfielder told the Times of Malta yesterday.

“We were coming into the match on the back of a damaging defeat to Mosta and our mindset was clear... get the three points to recover lost ground from our previous outing. Against Mosta, I was disappointed with the performance of the players but certainly I only have words of praise for my team for the response shown against Hibs. 

“The players showed the right attitude as they always wanted to play the ball and make sure we never throw away possession, something I look for in my teams... so we are heading in the right direction.”

Blasi, however, believes that the Spartans are far from a finished article and he is determined to continue helping his players maximise their potential as he looks to leave his mark in his first major management job.  

“There is no doubt that the team is gradually growing from one game to the other,” Blasi said. 

“As a coach it is my job to make sure that the team improves. I am blessed to have a very good group of players who are very committed to the cause and that work so hard on the training pitch.

“Such an approach makes it easier for me to implement my philosophy and help the team reach the objectives we have set.

“For me Malta is the start of what hopefully will be a long management career. My goal this year is to help the team keep its place among the pacesetters in the standings.

“Then when we enter the crucial phase we will try and get the best possible result to hand the club and the fans as much satisfaction as possible.”

This year’s Premier League campaign is turning out to be hard to predict with the likes of Valletta, Birkirkara, Balzan and Sliema Wanderers experiencing quite a tricky start to the season while the lesser lights, such as Sta Lucia, Mosta, Senglea Athletic and Sirens are pushing well above their weight. 

Blasi admits that such a level of unpredictability makes this year’s championship far more complicated.

“This year’s Premier League campaign is very balanced with all teams on an even keel,” Blasi said. 

“There are no matches that one can say it’s easier than others as on their day all teams in the division are capable of beating each other.

“That means that we cannot underestimate anybody. It’s important that we approach every match with a winning mentality, irrespective of who we will be facing. Obviously, the more you win matches the more you gain confidence and belief that you can succeed.

“Next up we have another tough assignment against Birkirkara, who is a squad full of top players. We need to keep our firmly on the ground and try and give everything we have to get the best possible result.”

During the last week, Maltese football was put under the spotlight following Malta’s disappointing 1-0 defeat to the Faroe Islands that saw the team slide to bottom of Group F in the Euro 2020 qualifiers. 

Bjorn Vassallo, the MFA president, announced that talks are in place to see several Maltese players join an Italian club to play in the Italian Serie C. Blasi said that the MFA’s idea could be a step in the right direction to improve the fortunes of the national team.

“I think it’s a good idea. It’s important for Maltese players to train on a professional basis as it will help them to grow from all aspects of the game,” Blasi said. 

“Here in Malta there are very good players that would surely do well in the Italian league. It would be great for Maltese football that the national team will reach a level of performance that can see them challenging for qualification to a major final, such as the European Championships.

“Iceland, despite being a small country, achieved that feat and I don’t see why Malta cannot aspire to that. But it can only be attained with a serious project.”