Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)

You know when the “Reid All About It” headlines get plastered across the internet that Winston’s either had a blinder or he’s done something silly. In this case, it was the latter.

Not that he was massively unlucky for it, but his own goal via a deflection from a Ricky Lambert shot saw the Hammers’ half time lead disappear against West Brom and eventually meant they had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Here’s the moment in all of its ingloriousness:

Yeah, one he’d wish he’d closed down more or at least held his form better but not one you could ever completely blame the defender for, really. It actually came off his right arm, so if it hadn’t pinballed in then the ref would probably have been pointing to the spot anyway. (Keep ya damn arms at ya sides, Winnie!).

That goal cancelled out Mauro Zarate’s beautiful curling free kick and means West Ham haven’t won in four games since beating Chelsea 2-1. But this was a much better performance than their woeful one against Spurs, and had they been able to add a second goal before the break, when Tony Pulis brought on Lambert, then it may have been a different game. They definitely had the chances, a Cheikhou Kouyate header off target should have been the doubler.

On the plus side, with no Mark Noble for this one Winston wore the captain’s armband, which on this occasion meant chilling with a Navy Officer too.

Up Next: Just a trip to Old Trafford to play Man Utd, 4am Sunday (NZT)

Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)

Smithy’s Ipswich are now only goal difference from cracking the final playoff spot after a composed (and “ruthless”, as Mick McCarthy called it) 3-0 win away to Charlton.

Normally it’s the Ipswich defence that feels like it concedes soft goals but here it was the opposite as Smith and company played solidly throughout and keeper Dean Gerken may have even been man of the match despite the score-line (he got his manager’s vote) thanks to a number of nice saves. It wasn’t easy work either, CB Christophe Berra lost a tooth in one aerial challenge. “It won’t harm his looks,” joked McCarthy, who was full of quotes this week.

It started off poorly for Charlton with midfielder Johnnie Jackson going off with a hammy twinge in the 13th minute, which really damaged their fluidity in the middle, and quarter of an hour later Town took the lead. It wasn’t a goal that’ll lead too many highlights packages but it was a goal all the same. From the moment hat Freddie Sears bobbled his first touch in the move, the ball was kicked, headed or chested fourteen times in a row all in the air. Smith, #5 at the far post, got himself involved a couple times, keeping it alive with a chest and lob back into the middle before providing the assisting nod across for Daryl Murphy’s goal. A powerful block on his marker too, showing some good strength there (maybe a foul?).

The thing is, Ipswich didn’t exactly dominate this game. The score was a little flattering in the end, hence McCarthy’s ruthless comments, because they took their chances when they got them. The shot count was actually even and Charlton easily shaded the possession. But in first half injury time, Sears made it 2-0, doubling the lead after a clever run across the defence and a fine ball from Luke Chambers and poking it into the bottom corner (possibly with the aid of a deflection). Murphy made it 3-0 in the 68th when he polished off a slick move on attack, Brett Pitman’s dummy being the wowser there.

It was a fine defensive game from Tommy Smith as he settled in as the cleaner to Berra’s enforcer at the back – the same dynamic that worked so well last season. Both of them are coming back into great form and next up they play a televised game on Saturday morning, which usually gets picked up on Sky Sports NZ if you’re keen for some All Whites-related Championship footy (and, by God, why would you not be!?). It’s now six games unbeaten for Ipswich, only Burnley (9) and undefeated Brighton (18) can currently beat that.

Up Next: Town host Middlesbrough, 8.45am Saturday (NZT)

Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)

While Woody’s last club continues to shock everyone in second place on the Premier League table, Leeds are still in a very stuttering rebuild. A couple of wins the other week looked like a corner turned but then they were well-beaten last week and this week they suffered at the head of a man who himself should be playing Premier League too, along with Jamie ‘The Streak’ Vardy.

It was Queens Park Rangers that they played this latest game but even to say they played might be slight exaggeration. They were passengers in a dour game, creating only two chances worth mentioning. One was Lee Erwin shooting low at the keeper (Rob Green) from a tight angle when he’d have been better off squaring to Woody in the middle late on, and the other fell to Wood himself in the first half. Catching the keeper out of the box, Wood got to the ball first, rounded Greeny but hesitated to shoot from the angle or on his left peg. Instead he cut back inside, allowing a defender to get back to him. Wood then went back towards the touchline before straightening and firing high off target. A bit of a mess.

Instead the only goal of the game fell to Charlie Austin. Charlie Austin who wasn’t fit enough to start the game. Charlie Austin who was subbed on in the 57th minute without even warming up first. Charlie Austin who scored within minutes of entering the pitch.       

His goal came from a corner and Leeds looked vulnerable to those all game. Some of that should be lifted when Sol Bamba returns at the back for the next game, though whether or not Wood will be starting is another matter. The amount of chances he’s squandering is making his position in the team far from certain. Right now he’s lucky that there isn’t really anyone else. Wood does so well to get into the right positions, to win the ball and to hold it up, and (as they say in the NBA) you can’t teach size. So maybe Steve Evans decides he needs to ride this out because no other of his strikers would be able to even create some of these chances. But there’s no question that he needs to be far more clinical in front of goal.

This from Amitai Winehouse in the Yorkshire Evening Post:

Chris Wood might need to be taken out of the firing line

First, a caveat. Chris Wood actually had one of his better games in terms of winning the ball in the air and linking up play. There was also little service for him in the area. However, we’ve seen it over and over again at Elland Road - it does not take much for the crowd to get on the backs of an underperforming player. Wood looked slightly short of confidence on Saturday, and will not have been helped by the reaction of the fans. He also struggled to get on to the few opportunities that were provided for him by Stuart Dallas and Mirco Antenucci, and really should have scored when he rounded Rob Green, instead taking far too long and firing over the net. There is no ready made replacement for Wood in the Leeds squad, but it might be time to try something else against Hull, even if just to keep the Kiwi striker away from more criticism and build up his confidence.

The fans at Elland Road have not had it easy to be fair. In fact few clubs make it harder on their supporters (Newcastle, maybe?). Here’s an indication from those same YEP pages:

Up Next: Leeds vs Hull, 4am Sunday (NZT)

Marco Rojas – FC Thun (Swiss Super League)

Good news and bad news. They good news was that Thun avoided a third straight defeat with a 2-1 win away to FC Sion. Ridge Munsy scored a 90th minute winner after Thomas Reinmann’s 63rd minute own goal had cancelled out Sandro Wieser’s goal eleven minutes earlier. The bad news? Rojas didn’t play. He was one of a pretty long list of injured unavailables. And if reports are to be believed then he’ll be on that list for a long while yet. The word is that he’s suffered ligament damage to his ankle in training after apparently rolling over it. He’ll miss the last two games of 2015 and hopefully return after the winter break in February.

Up Next: Thun play FC Basel at 4am Monday, Marco’ll be chilling with an ice pack (NZT)

Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)

Thommo started for Zwolle against Ajax, the team he scored a famous double against in the Cup Final the other year, and coming off of his second career double against Roda JC. But he didn’t last ‘til the half, having to be substituted off with injury in the 41st min (and joining Marco on the Flying Kiwis Injury List).

All three Zwolle subs were forced, with Thomas Lam and Bart Van Hintum also leaving hurt, which is hardly ideal against the top side in the country. Ajax won it comfortably by two goals to nil, and it could have been more had it needed to be. Amin Younes and Thulani Serero scored the goals. One to forget for Zwolle, hopefully the injuries aren’t too bad, and also a bit of revenge for Ajax, who had gone five games without a win against the PECers until this one. No official word yet on the severity of Thommo’s knock other than that it was his knee (he had a knee problem before the season too) but it doesn’t sound too serious:

Zwolle play three more times before their Xmas break, which ends mid-January, with conditions a little more forgiving in Holland than in Switzerland.

Up Next: Away to NEC Nijmegen – one place above them – at 2.30am Monday (NZT)

Jake Gleeson – Portland Timbers (US Major League Soccer)

Once again, Gleeson took his place on the bench for the Timbers as they did their thing in the MLS Playoffs. This time, the second leg of the Western Conference Finals, deep in the heart of Texas against F.C. Dallas. The first leg had ended 3-1 to Portland, slap the Flying Kiwis tag at the top right of the page and read last week’s edition for more on that.

There was no GK injury to give Gleeson the spotlight, just so you know, but he’s got another chance next week in the MLS Cup Final. That’s after the Timbers were able to keep Dallas scoreless in the first half, maintaining that aggregate advantage without sitting back on it, before padding the lead with a goal early in the second half. But they took their eyes off the prize for a bit after that, conceding twice in five minutes between the 68th and 73rd, leaving them just a goal away from being taken to extra time. However Portland, after a late defensive stand, were able to finally seal the deal with a stoppage time goal to take the tie 5-3 overall and glide on into the final with the Western Conference title under their belts. This is Portland’s first ever final appearance and they’ll meet Columbus Crew there next week – a team former All White Duncan Oughton played for 136 times.

Up Next: 10am Monday – Columbus Crew vs Portland Timbers (NZT)