Flying Kiwis – November 3
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
It’s a bit worrying that after three games and an international break since Winston Reid picked up what was considered a minor hip injury, he still hasn’t played.
He is back in training now though, so signs are pointing towards a return before long. Co-owner David Gold happens to think that Winston may even be back this weekend.
Without him the Hammers slumped to a 2-0 loss away to Watford – their first away loss in the league this season. The impressive Odion Ighalo scored both goals in a man of the match performance (although the first could have been an OG). It was a supremely disappointing effort from West Ham. Manager Slaven Bilic manager suggested that maybe squad fatigue was to blame, whatever it was they were dominated from start to finish by the promoted side. Andy Carroll’s awful clearance allowed for Ighalo to open the scoring six minutes before half time and then three minutes after it he made it two after James Tomkins missed a cross under his foot. Pretty slapstick stuff. Ighalo was also on the end of a vicious foul from James Collins near the end that earned the Welshman a red card.
With Collins now suspended, and Tomkins having made a hash of that second goal, Reid and summer-signing Angelo Ogbonna had better be back soon. They’re needed.
Hey, but at least the Winston the Patriot is still making appearances.
Up Next: West Ham vs Everton, 4am Sunday (NZT)
Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)
Poor old Steve Evans, what has he got himself into? He talked some big words after the draws last week about getting the home win monkey off this team’s back after 7 months. It didn’t happen.
Up against Blackburn Rovers in a rare Thursday night game, there was nothing rare about the performance. It was more of the same. In fact, probably worse. Blackburn scored through Craig Conway after only 17 seconds and within six minutes they were 2-0 up, Jordan Rhodes this time. Captain Sol Bamba made the mistake that allowed the first goal and they were cut to pieces by Tom Lawrence in the build-up for the second. They had a few chances to crawl their way back into the game after that but weren’t good enough to take any of them. Tom Adeyemi headed one off the post late in the first half, while Mirco Antenucci had a shot into the side-netting and one in the second half that went straight at the keeper. Leeds had a lot of ball in that second half but could fashion a thing and now Bamba is suspended for their next game after picking up a yellow. 2-0 was the final score, Leeds slip to 18th on the table. Three points off the bottom.
As for Woody, there’s no consolation there. He was subbed off after 69 minutes of ineffective striking, his poor form starting to become a problem. His new boss even called him out for it:
"I don't think there is anyone in British football who didn't think Chris Wood was a fantastic signing for the football club. But the big fella needs to give us a lot more than he has been doing." – Steve Evans
Wood had been more of a target man under Uwe Rosler, usually a lone striker, and now Evans is using him with a second striker. Whether or not that’s the issue, can’t really say. But there are expectations on his shoulders with that transfer fee and the supporters are already impatient. Hell, it’s been nearly eight months since they last witnessed a win at Elland Road.
Evans named the same starting XI for the third consecutive game, all three of his games, yet in that time the team has only scored twice and both were from penalties. Don’t expect that stability to continue, Evans reckons the club needs “five or six” new players, and is planning on getting to work over the next couple weeks with a few emergency loans.
And as if that’s not bad enough, the club’s in a state behind the scenes too. Controversial owner Massimo Cellino is currently appealing the football league disqualification that he was slapped with for tax evasion. His second such ban since he bought Leeds, apparently this one was something to do with importing a Range Rover without paying the right figures. If upheld, he’ll not be allowed to have any say or action in the running of the club until next June, once this season ends.
In 18 months, Cellino has sacked five managers and has a reputation for being stubborn and fierce (unlike his team at the moment – burn!) but it seems he’s finally being broken – and in some odd ways:
“I’m losing my balls. Ten years ago, I had more balls but since I came here it’s been a nightmare. Now I have a low quality of life. I feel shame when I walk to the shop to buy cigarettes if we lose a game. I convinced my family to come here and they have run away.”
So maybe it wasn’t a shock that it was announced over the weekend that Cellino has agreed to sell his 75% majority stake in the club to the same fan group that tried to bid for the club a few months ago with the help of Russell Crowe. Yes, Gladiator Russell Crowe. He backed out, but they’re still around, though this all depends on whether they can muster up the cash, otherwise there could be the threat of a bidding war.
‘100% I will sell to the fans, if they want to buy it and look after the club. The fans are the only asset the club has. I’m sad and embarrassed. My dream was to do my best but I’ve achieved nothing and family aren’t even with me. I’m trying to protect the club but at the same time it means I have exposed myself. The result is that the fans say “Massimo it’s time to go”’
The whole situation’s a bit of a shambles. Fair to say the fans are getting fed up.
Up Next: Home to Cardiff, 8.45am Wednesday and away to Huddersfield, 1.30am Sunday (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)
One of the few teams in the Championship that’s waited longer since their last win is actually Ipswich… and they’re still waiting.
This after a 0-0 draw at home to Cardiff, which at least saw a return of the old stingy Ipswich defence. Cardiff aren’t exactly banging them in themselves at the moment (this was their third goalless draw in three days) but it’s always a good thing to see Christophe Berra and Tommy Smith back at their best or something like it.
There really weren’t many chances. If you’re looking for chances, try a different game (maybe a different column at this rate…). But that’s because two strong defences cancelled each other out. Smith and Berra made a number of clearances and interceptions, stepping up when needed and marshalling the penalty area with military precision. Plus Berra made a few chunky tackles. Smith was booked in the 45th and Town’s top scorer of last year, David Murphy, is yet to open his account.
It was probably Berra’s best game of the season and it was definitely one of Smithy’s best ones too. Plus on the couple occasions that there was a bit of room for the Cardiff attackers, keeper Dean Gerken was on form here. Step two is to start scoring goals again too.
Up Next: A couple games, 8.45am Wednesday vs Bolton before heading to Rotherham for a 4am kickoff on Sunday (NZT)
Marco Rojas – FC Thun (Swiss Super League)
It had been a terrible start to the league season for Thun, who struggled to balance Europa League qualification with their regular stuff, and compounded that with the fact that they didn’t even qualifying for the Europa League. But just recently they’ve seemed to turn it around.
Three consecutive wins has shot them up to mid-table and they even added in a Swiss Cup win in the middle of all that for good measure. Four straight wins in all comps is now Thun’s longest streak of the season.
Unfortunately these kinds of resurgences usually include a few shake ups and Marco Rojas has only played 56 minutes of those four games, the whole lot of them coming in that Cup win. Away to FC Wettswil-Bonstetten, Ridge Munsy scored a first half double in a 2-1 win. Rojas taken off with the lead already set, at least. Munsy then scored again on the weekend in a come-from-behind 2-1 win away to Grasshoppers (Marco was an unused sub). They’ll host FC Zurich in the Cup quarterfinal which will be played sometime in mid-December.
That Cup game was Marco’s first start since the beginning of October, though his FB page confirms he was injured for last week’s game and there was a break in there so it ain’t that bad. But he has fallen out of favour a bit from being a first choice option at the start of the campaign.
Up Next: Home to St. Gallen at 1.45am on Monday (NZT)
Bill Tuiloma – RC Strasbourg Alsace (French Championnat National)
Hey, they had to fight hard for it, but Tui’s lads came away from Chateauroux with a 1-0 win. Their fourth in a row, unbeaten now since the opening day of the season, to put them second on the table.
With a full strength team to choose from, unfortunately that meant that Tui sat this game out. He’s still proving himself at a club he’s only been at for two months so that’s no huge shocker. Jeremy Blayac scored the only goal in the 52nd minute in what was a tough game that RC was expected to win but had to battle, clearly having a few struggles on the artificial pitch.
Up Next: RCS vs Marseille Consolat at 8am Saturday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Count it three losses in a row for Thommo and Zwolle. Luckily they got off to a rapid start but they’re slipping back down now, settling down to seventh place.
They travelled to Groningen where they were very quickly put behind. Not as quickly as Leeds, but within five minutes Michael de Leeuw had thundered in a header at the near post. Half an hour later, Lorenzo Burnet made it 2-0. The PECers pressed for a way back into the game in the second half but never really came all that close, Groningen holding on for the win.
Ryan Thomas got in all 90 mins, playing back as an attacking left mid where he’s spent most of his time with the team. He had a couple shots off target and was able to thread a few nice passes too, but he did pick up a late yellow card.
Up Next: Hosting Heracles at 8.45am Sunday (NZT)