Zbigniew Małkowski

Infobox Football biography
playername = Zibi Małkowski


fullname = Zbigniew Małkowski
height =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|1|19
cityofbirth = Olsztyn
countryofbirth = Poland
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Goalkeeper
years = 1997–2000
2000–2001
2001–2003
2003–2005
2005–2008
2007
2007–2008
clubs = Stomil Olsztyn
Feyenoord
Excelsior Rotterdam
Feyenoord
fc|Hibernian
→ fc|Gretna (loan)
→ fc|Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan)
caps(goals) = 28 (0)
00 (0)
55 (0)
01 (0)
51 (0)
08 (0)
02 (0)
pcupdate = August 22 2008

Zbigniew Małkowski (born 19 January 1978 in Olsztyn, Poland) is a professional association football player, currently without a club after being released by Scottish Premier League club fc|Hibernian.

Hibernian

'Zibi' first appeared for fc|Hibernian as a trialist in a 5–0 win over fc|St Patrick's Athletic in the 2005–06 pre-season tour of Ireland. He then made a second showing in the game 24 hours later against Shamrock Rovers. He impressed Tony Mowbray, and on returning to Edinburgh was signed on a two-year contract. After initially impressing during the first half of the 2005–06 league season, [cite web | title=Mowbray hails 'keeper Malkowski | work=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hibernian/4169086.stm] he started to make errors around the turn of the year. [cite web | title=Malkowski refuses to take blame | work=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hibernian/4578282.stm]

He then made two bad errors in the club's defeat by rivals fc|Heart of Midlothian in the 2006 Scottish Cup semi-final. [cite web | title=Hibernian 0–4 Hearts | work=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_cups/4860944.stm] Malkowski retained his place for the rest of the season despite this performance. He was suspended for the first league game of 2006–07, but quickly regained his place from Simon Brown. Having kept his place under Tony Mowbray, he subsequently made two bad errors in the first match after Mowbray's departure to fc|West Bromwich Albion, the Edinburgh derby of 15 October 2006. Malkowski's errors allowed Hearts to get a 2–2 draw in a match they had been losing 2–0. [cite web | title=Hibernian 2–2 Hearts | work=BBC | url=http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/6044570.stm]

In what fortunately proved to be Malkowski's last game for the club, he made a serious error in the derby match on 26 December 2006, when he dropped a tame free kick by Paul Hartley into the path of Edgaras Jankauskas, who scored into the unguarded net. This led to Malkowski being dropped from the Hibernian squad entirely for the following match against fc|Dunfermline Athletic, being replaced by Andrew McNeil. [cite web | title=Collins makes McNeil No.1 choice | work=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hibernian/6219527.stm]

After completing loan spells at Gretna and Inverness, Malkowski was released by Hibernian on 1 September 2008.

Loan spell at Gretna

Having completely fallen out of favour at fc|Hibernian, Malkowski was loaned out to Scottish First Division leaders fc|Gretna towards the end of the 2006–07 season. He replaced Alan Main, who had signed a pre-contract agreement with promotion rivals fc|St. Johnstone. Malkowski made a positive impression at Gretna, keeping several clean sheets, including a penalty save against fc|Dundee that preserved a 1–0 win. Malkowski's performances contributed towards Gretna's promotion to the Scottish Premier League.

Loan spell at Inverness

Malkowski returned to fc|Hibernian after completing his loan spell at Gretna. He was still completely out of favour at Hibs, who had signed Yves Makabu-Makalambay to be their first choice goalkeeper. Malkowski played as a trialist in a match for fc|Falkirk, [cite web | title=Falkirk target Malkowski signing | work=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/f/falkirk/6925302.stm] who subsequently signed Tim Krul on loan from fc|Newcastle United. [cite web | title=Falkirk move for goalkeeper Krul | work=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/f/falkirk/6929718.stm] . On 31 August 2007, he joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle on a season-long loan. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/i/inverness_ct/6972993.stm|title=Malkowski heads to Caley Thistle|work=BBC] Malkowski made an error in his first match for Inverness against fc|Aberdeen, which they lost 2–1.

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=26541|name=Zbigniew Małkowski