Flying Kiwis – April 28
Chris Wood (fourth from left) celebrates winning the Championship title! (via Leicester Mercury)
Flying Kiwis will keep you up to date on the endeavours of New Zealand sports folk overseas. Not the battlers, mind you, but the genuine overlooked and underappreciated superstars that for some ridiculous reason don’t get a look in on local media.
Chris Wood – Leicester City (English Championship)
It was a busy week for los championes. If anyone thought they were done after wrapping up promotion, they were wrong. Two games in 4 days, both away, yet Leicester City won and kept clean sheets in each of them. First of all they snuck past Bolton 1-0, with Chris Wood coming off the bench to set up the only goal of the game – his fourth league assist of the season – and it was that goal that sealed the Championship title for Leicester City FC! Wood was rewarded with a start on the weekend, playing 82 minutes, the most he’s managed in the Champo all season. In a loaded squad, Wood has had to fight for opportunities, starting seven league games all season with 19 further appearances off the bench. He seems to remain in the club’s plans for the Premier League next season, where his size and strength will be an added advantage against superior defenders.
With only one more game to go, LCFC have long since established themselves as the cream of the crop. How they fare in the big time is something only time will tell, though their squad seems more prepared than most for the step up. Three Leicester players were announced in the PFA Championship Team of the Year, center back Wes Morgan, midfielder Danny Drinkwater and keeper Kasper Schmeichel (son of Peter – and former City player). Winning the Championship does not always convert into relative EPL success. Cardiff won last year and are headed for relegation in last place, while playoff winners Crystal Palace are the highest placed of the promoted three. But this team is healthy financially, stacked with enough talent to hopefully make the jump, and managed by a clever tactician and leader in Nigel Pearson. While the Foxes have done the yo-yo promotion-relegation thing in the past, maybe this time they can make it stick?
Up Next: The Foxes host Doncaster at 11.15pm Saturday (NZT)
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
Winston Reid was unable to get to Berahino's shot. WHU lost 1-0.
The Hammers really don’t have any grand delusions. Not for this season. The fans may be upset at the direction the club is pointed in, but Sam Allardyce would have said all along that avoiding relegation was the only target, and this they have achieved with time to spare (unless something crazy happens at the bottom of the table). Thus you can forgive them for kinda phoning it in for the rest of the season. An early Berahino goal sent West Ham to a 1-0 defeat at West Brom on Sunday, Reid playing the duration. Winston Reid is well and truly back in the starting XI now, getting in some good football at least. Potentially these last two games coming up ion the EPL season could be his last for West Ham, with a busy transfer window in the wings. Centre back partner James Tompkins came off injured after half an hour, replaced by James Collins – who had kept Reid out of the team with his mid-season form as Winston returned from injury. The defence was pretty commendable, despite the early setback, but as per usual, the Hammers were pretty limp on attack. But the important thing is that they’ll be playing EPL footy next season.
Up Next: West Ham vs Tottenham, 11.45 Saturday night (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)
The dream is over for another year. In two crucial games this week, Ipswich drew with Bournemouth and lost to Burnley. This after the Watford loss and Ipswich are officially out of the playoff hunt. It was a long shot anyway and now it’s over. It wasn’t a failure of a season at all, just a slightly underwhelming one, and this is a squad that isn’t ready for the Premier League yet anyway. A more controlling midfield and another scoring option in the very least are needed first. And bench depth. So much more bench depth. Defensively they look very good though. First choice centre backs Christophe Berra and NZ’s Tommy Smith have been almost ever present and always dependable. Those two have clearly been the team’s best performing players over the season. Then add in a pair of solid fullbacks, Aaron Cresswell (who made the PFA Championship Team of the Year) and Luke Chambers and the back four is very good. A perfect foundation.
The Bournemouth game was a crucial one for both teams. Neither could really afford to lose. In front of their biggest crowd of the season (and on a Tuesday night!) the Trotters twice took the lead. But a brilliant overhead kick from Steve Cook and an 80th minute equaliser (via a deflected free kick) from Matt Ritchie saw the spoils shared. Both teams stayed in the race with that result, though the three points would have been crucial for either. And just a few days later, Reading, Blackburn and Brighton all won, meaning that both teams miss the playoffs officially after the latest round. Tommy Smith was impressive here, making a number of tackles and even setting up the second goal with a flick-on header from a free kick.
Against Burnley on the weekend, Smith played his standard 90 minutes. His impact was lessened against the second best team in the league, and he picked up his first yellow card in a month. Burnley won 1-0 in a tight one. Tommy Smith and Ipswich have one more game before a well deserved holiday.
Up Next: A visit form Sheffield Wednesday to close the season out at 11.15pm Saturday night (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
There was a bit of a comedown after the unprecedented heights of last week. The club winning their first ever trophy is clearly going to be the highlight for a long time. Plus with Europa League footy already bagged just by qualifying for that final, the rest of the season is nothing more than a victory lap. Ryan Thomas is a PEC Zwolle hero now after his final brace – it’ll be hard to keep him out of the lineup moving forward. He started on the weekend against the always dominant PSV Eindhoven, playing 58 minutes. He wasn’t nearly as threatening as against Ajax, playing in the same left einger position, and was taken off with the score at 1-0 to PSV. Zwolle equalised, but lost to a 74th minute winner to former Fulham forward Bryan Ruiz. Ji-Sung Park played 90 for the visitors also. Thomas only managed one shot (off target) and drew a couple of fouls. It was an average outing for a player who can expect to feature prominently in 2014/15 as Zwolle take on the secondary might of Europe. And, hey, how about that cup win last week!
Up Next: The final game of the season, away to FC Twente at 4.45 Sunday morning (NZT)