Floriana president Riccardo Gaucci has urged his players to stand up and be counted after the Greens suffered another setback in their quest of winning the league title following a 2-1 defeat to Gudja United last weekend.

It has been a few turbulent days for Gaucci and his committee after they watched their side throw away an early lead and concede two quick-fire second-half goals that condemned the team to their third defeat of the season.

Although the defeat to Gudja United has not cost Floriana their top-placing in the standings, after Valletta also suffered a 4-1 defeat to Birkirkara, however, their upset has only enabled the other title rivals to close the gap, with the top five teams in the division separated by a mere three points with just eight matches remaining.

Contacted by the Times of Malta, Gaucci didn’t hold back in expressing his sentiments on his team’s abysmal performance against Gudja United.

“It was an indecent performance,” Gaucci said.

“Looking back, I can rank that display as one of the worst I have ever seen Floriana play since I took over as president. 

“It was an unacceptable display. We were well below par both technically and tactically. There was no aggression in our play, and it was no surprise that we ended up losing the match.”

The defeat to Gudja didn’t go down well with the Floriana fans who at the end of the match hurled abuse at their players and remained outside the Centenary Stadium to confront them. However, the police quickly intervened and decided to let both teams out of the stadium from a secondary exit.

On Monday, the Floriana committee summoned a meeting with the players where a number of fans were present and here Gaucci said that the message to the players was quite clear.

“My message was one… we need to get back into our stride as quickly as possible or else we are seriously risking of throwing everything that we have built so far this season,” Gaucci said.

“Something is surely not functioning well within the team as it’s not possible that in the first round we win nine matches and draw four and then all of a sudden in the second round from five matches played we win one, draw one and lose three.

“It’s time every member of the team stands up and be counted. Before the start of the year, we were firmly in control in the title race but at this moment we have no more margin of error as all our rivals are just a couple of points behind us.”

Asked what he felt about the fans’ reaction to the defeat to Gudja, Gaucci said: “I can fully understand our fans as they have been craving to see the team win the title for almost 30 years.

“The people of Floriana want to win and I understand that but they also have to understand that the level of competition has increased too. Thirty years ago, there were maybe three teams who could win silverware but today there are six or seven who are challenging so the level has risen considerably. 

“Times have changed, but that does not meant that we can accept poor performances as everyone knows the potential of this team.”

Gaucci said that the main focus has to be their next match against Tarxien Rainbows on Friday at the Hibs Stadium.

Tarxien threat

The Floriana president is not judging their impending opponents by their position in the standings as he feels that Tarxien will surely be another difficult test.

“Our focus has to be to reignite our title push with victory over Tarxien Rainbows,” Gaucci said.

“People may look at the standings and see Tarxien at the bottom and conclude that it will be an easy ride for us, but I can assure you it will not be the case. 
“I have seen Tarxien play in the last few weeks and the team has improved considerably. They beat Ħamrun Spartans and last weekend they were unlucky to lose to Sliema Wanderers with a goal in the final seconds of the match.

“So I expect my players to approach the match fully focused and hungry to get the job done.”