In the end the transfer window passed with three signings and two releases. Cillian Sheridan turned up good to go as soon as January began. Mitch Nichols and Reuben Way were given the flick after pretty unglamorous contributions over the first half of the season. Then Antony Golec and Justin Gulley were signed to fill things out.
Hamilton Wanderers hosting Canterbury United and really absolutely desperately needing a win to halt their downward spiral and keep their semi-final hopes alive. Lose and it’s basically all over for anyone outside the current top four.
As long as the Phoenix keep battling for points away from home and winning the ones in front of their own crowds then they can still make a real push for the top four. That’s the aim. This result did a little bit of damage to those hopes but it did a lot more damage to the Newcastle Jets trying to sneak back into the top six.
In the proper punk attitude of revolt, both gaffers flipped a middle finger to midweek tradition and named unchanged lineups from the weekend. Probably not too much choice for the WeeNix given the senior side are away in Newcastle for tomorrow night’s game, while Team Welly didn’t need to change anything following their six-goal explosion against Hawke’s Bay.
Liverpool cannot win the title this season. It must not be allowed to happen. We cannot open that pandora’s box and unleash such hitherto repressed joy upon the world. You Liverpool fans have suffered enough already and that’s why you need to suffer some more, for all the rest of us.
At this point there’s nothing special about when Chris Wood plays at Old Trafford or Anfield or Stamford Bridge, etc… he’s done it all before. When he manages to score goals at those hallowed turfs of English football though, that’s another story.
This season’s had all sorts of funky narratives but the one that matters most is this: Who can stop Auckland City? Like an asteroid heading for the Planet Earth, the Navy Blues just continue on their path unobstructed.
The dull light of the crescent moon peeked through the heavy cloud cover, casting dark shadows across the land. A heavy breeze barged through branches and leaves with utter disregard. Perhaps it would rain overnight. It was certainly long overdue.
The Phoenix needed to sign one player, instead they signed two. Justin Gulley and Antony Golec. A couple of defenders to bolster the ranks of what to be fair was already a pretty well-stocked crew but depth is always handy and competition for places, as Mark Rudan keeps on saying, is a crucial part of a competitive team.
The A-League draw always seems to do some weird things for the Wellington Phoenix and at the moment they’re embarking upon the gentle first steps of a 50-day stretch between games at Westpac Stadium… in as much as a trip to Perth can be considered the ‘gentle first steps’ of anything.
We’re in a World Cup year now, folks. Building towards the big show. Lots of football to be played between now and then and all of it is going to revolve in at least an abstract way if not an outright specific way around France in June.
Transfer season continues with the Flying Kiwis. This time it’s Katie Rood on the move, joining Lewes FC on loan for the rest of the season. This is a move that means a drop down from the Super League to the Championship division below it but for a player who has only played 106 minutes in the league this season (scoring a goal in that time, mind you), it makes a lot of sense.
Big deal on Saturday, friends. Big deal indeed as Auckland City welcomed Eastern Suburbs to Kiwitea Street for a good old fashioned top of the table clash, the unbeaten defending champs putting their perfect record on the line against the form team in the competition.
A quality keeper doesn’t always get the opportunity to show their worth. You don’t really want them to, if a keeper’s getting his jersey all muddy then something’s going wrong in front of them. But when a quality keeper does show their worth, then you’re really in for a treat.
The Welly Nix have been playing with house money for ages now. And they’d snuck a few lucky breaks along the way so a game like this was always coming. Rudan didn’t seem too worried. Still sixth on the ladder.
60 minutes across three subs appearances in the first half of 2018-19 Eredivisie. Clearly something had to change if the 27 year old wasn’t going to spend his prime years riding the pine. And something has happened. He’s left.
A few weeks ago it was leaked from the club that Marco Rojas was available for transfer if the right offer came along. Last week Marco Rojas himself said that he intended to leave if the right offer came along. Now it appears that the right offer might have come along.
Starting at the bottom this week, not the bottom of the table but the bottom of the country where Southern United hosted Hamilton Wanderers at an immaculate looking Forsyth Barr Stadium. Pretty as a picture it was…
Tell you what, amongst everything else that was a just remarkably entertaining game of football. Six goals, with late drama and heaps to discuss. Plenty of tactical nuance and a liquorice all-sorts of frantic and enthralling football.
Clubs usually make a big deal about incoming transfers but those folks in the outgoing mail don’t always get the most gracious departures. The Wellington Phoenix sprung a stunner the other day when they released Mitch Nichols and Reuben Way.