Flying Kiwis – January 5
Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)
Ipswich came into their crucial fifth vs sixth game against Burnley with the chance to record a club-best sixth straight away victory. That didn’t happen. But they got plenty out of it all the same.
Burnley responded to getting relegated from the Premier League by keeping a hold of most of their top players and the cash they did get they reinvested, spending £9m on striker Andre Gray. Gray played up top with Welsh international Sam Vokes, a powerful duo for Tommy Smith and Christophe Berra to deal with but they did so superbly in one of their best combined performances in a long time.
Although it was Berra that was the fella stuck fighting in the trenches. He went down heavily after an aerial challenge with Vokes and barely moved for a few minutes as the medical staff came on to attend to him. This is a dude that lost a couple teeth in a win over Charlton a few weeks back. He’s also been playing with a protective headband but he was soon back on his feet and good to go the full 12 rounds.
“It seems like he’s taking the brunt of it and I’m getting away scot-free at the moment, so I’m sure there will be some coming my way shortly. I think he just needed to man up! Seriously, though he showed great character to carry on and get that clean sheet.” – Tommy Smith
Soon after it was Smithy that almost gave Ipswich an early lead, turning a header back across the goal from close range but it was straight at the keeper. Then Gray gave Town a big let off, side-footing past the post from the penalty spot after finding a bit of rare space in the box. Burnley actually did get the ball in the net in the first half, a header at the far post from Ben Mee off a corner, but it was (rather harshly) called back for a foul.
In fairness, it was a game of few clear chances, though it was hardly a boring affair. Both teams defended frantically and attacked with energy. It finished 0-0, a valuable away point for Ipswich and they left cheerfully to a fee boos and jeers from the home fans.
“The gaffer said straight after the game that he’s delighted if we’re coming off the pitch and the crowd are moaning at us rather than taunting us when we’ve been beaten.” – TS
Berra got most of the man of the match nods, although Smith was hardly ignored. TWDT.com called his an “outstanding display”. After coming through a tough stretch of games against Derby (currently second), QPR (mid-table but recently relegated), Brighton (fourth) and Burnley (fifth) with seven points, Ipswich now have a FA Cup game against Portsmouth (Lg2) and a run of winnable Championship games against teams below them – including against Chris Wood’s Leeds, a Flying Kiwis Derby. Now is the time to make bank, yo.
Meanwhile the Tractor Boys have bolstered their (pretty skint) side with the loan signing of Paul Digby from Barnsley (Lg1) with Mick McCarthy hoping to snap up the 20 year old permanently in the summer. He’s a versatile youngster though primarily a defender. Smithy’s given him the initial tick of approval:
“He’s been training with us for a couple of weeks now so seems a good young player who can stamp his mark and improve the squad overall.” – TS
Like this, we assume:
Up Next: Home to Pompey in the Cup, 4am Sunday (NZT)
Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)
“We were poor for 90 per cent of it. Five letters, starts with the letter ‘s’ – work it out for yourself. We weren’t good and the opposition weren’t good either. It wasn’t a game for the purists.” – Steve Evans
So… not great then gaffer? Presumably he means ‘shite’ as well, in case you were still working on that riddle. The game in question was a 1-1 draw with Milton-Keynes Dons and Chris Wood didn’t play. The only reason Leeds even got a point against a team fighting relegation was an 87th minute own goal by Anthony Kay. And it was not a pretty OG either, the dude kinda inexplicably just heads it down towards his own goal:
Yeah so let’s ignore the game. Souleymane Doukara played in place of Woody, who if you’ll remember left the field early last game and failed to recover from that hamstring tweak. Only the second game he’s missed in the league this season, keeper Marco Silvestri and winger Stuart Dallas are the only ever-presents.
Phil Hay in Yorkshire Evening Post:
“Wood, who has eight goals this season but has been criticised for his finishing and his impact in general, was made in absentia to look like a fairly crucial cog. Evans, who has enquired about Stoke City’s Peter Crouch and wants to sign Norwich City’s Kyle Lafferty, discovered on Saturday that he has no real alternative to Wood in a system which uses only one forward.”
Steve Evans:
“It’s amazing. When you take a good player out of your team, what was looking like not such a good player suddenly becomes a great player”
Liam Bridcutt:
"Wood has been brilliant for us for the past few weeks. He has been a key player for us, and it was a bit of a blow to miss him today. Today's performance probably showed that we need him a bit more."
A complicated situation for Wood, really. He’s accidentally shown how valuable he is and the club now has to act to make him less valuable by bringing in a rival for is position. Being a lone striker is often a thankless task, but then it’s Wood’s finishing that’s held him back this season. We’ll keep an eye on the situation for ya.
Up Next: Home to Rotherham in the Cup, 4am Sunday (NZT)
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
As we pretty much guessed, Winston Reid wasn’t ready to return for the Hammers game against Liverpool. But Dimitri Payet was. The French playmaker came off the bench for 25 minutes and looked every bit the player he was in the first few months of the season, massive news for WHU.
Granted, it does help when you can bring him on already up 2-0. Goals from Michail Antonio and Andy Carroll giving the Hammers their first double over Liverpool in 52 years. A fantastic team performance that left Jurgen Klopp raging at his Reds. Mark Noble had his best game in ages, a true captain’s effort in midfield, while Angelo Ogbonna and James Collins might make it hard for Winston to even get his starting role back. They were superb.
And with that, West Ham are up to sixth on the Premier League table. Unbeaten in seven games and with the cavalry on the way back and the transfer window open. As always there are rumours that Winston will be leaving but 95% of transfer rumours are pure rubbish and the other 5% are leaked by teams to gauge the state of the fans. On the injury front, Manuel Lanzini is set for a spell on the side-lines with a new knock but WHU co-owner David Sullivan says:
"We expect Winston Reid and Victor Moses to be ready for the Wolves FA Cup game on Saturday.”
They’re stressing a competitive team for that one, a nice way to get the squad going. Alex Song also got a run for the U21s and should be an option.
Up Next: West Ham vs Wolverhampton, FA Cup, 4am (NZT)
Bonus FKs
You’ll have gathered from the above that only one FK actually played this last week. The rest are either injured or on winter break and Ricki Herbert hasn’t bothered to grace us with another written addendum to discuss. So instead, feast upon this marvellous haul of the best Flying Kiwis goals (so, those featured in this column and thus readily available) of 2015. Crash, bang, pow.
5. Tommy Smith vs Norwich
The only one here from last season, which was a pretty dry one. Smithy’s goal may not look like all that much but if briefly drew Ipswich level in the second leg of their playoff semi against the team that’d eventually take the final Premier League spot for this campaign. Ipswich lost 4-2 on aggregate.
4. Chris Wood vs Bristol City
A bit of classic Woody from early in the season. Cutting in and curling it within the post, lovely stuff. On the left peg too!
3. Marco Rojas vs AC Lugano
Second game of the season, Rojas picks the ball up on the edge of the box and curls that sucker home.
2. Ryan Thomas vs Roda JC
A beauty from Thommo in a big hiding handed out to Ivan ‘The Godfather’ Vicelich’s old Dutch team. Thomas also scored from the penalty spot in this one.
1. Chris Wood vs Derby County
Yeah, gotta be. Woody’s late winner against Derby was simply splendid. And the fact that it decided the game gives it even more pertinence.