Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)

Woody gets to lead this week because Woody found himself in all sorts of action.

First off, there was more Massimo Cellino madness as the embattled Leeds owner threatened to refuse Sky TV entry into the ground over a furious row at how the fixtures (especially at this busy time of the year) are scheduled around telly broadcastings. He backed down and reluctantly let them in after the Football League threatened all sorts of repercussions, although the club did chuck out a strongly worded statement of ongoing frustration. An excerpt:

“The Football League regulations are supposed to be there to protect the integrity of the sporting competition, not to be used as a stick to beat the club on behalf of Sky. Leeds United Season Ticket holders have had enough of these fixture changes, the players and staff have had enough, and Leeds United Football Club has had enough.”

But anyway the cameras turned up and they got a decent game for it. Woody started once more, despite ongoing criticism about his finishing and his form, with his manager Steve Evans showing him every bit of support. Up against second-placed Derby, this was a tough task and Leeds were coming off only one full day of rest (Derby with a whole extra one). It showed. A really soft 13th minute opener to Derby’s Jeff Hendrick, slipping in behind with neither centre back bothering to take action. Sol Bamba made amends for his part in that three minutes before the break though, side-footing in one from close range to cap a nice spell of pressure for 1-1.

There were aggressive chants at Sky TV in the crowd and there were cheers and laughter when the referee needing to be replaced at half time with an injury. Things got a bit tetchy after that, however with 71 played, this happened:

Wood’s first goal in four games and a middle finger to the critics… though he went with the tongue out instead. Sharp movement there to find the space and a great cross in from Scott Byram. 2-1 to Leeds, but there was one more bit of action. Tom Ince, playing off the bench, shooting with his left boot and wrestling back a point for Derby. 2-2 final score. Wood had to leave the game after 75 minutes with an injury. He left to a standing ovation.

That was following their game on the weekend, when they went to Nottingham Forest and came away with a hard earned draw, this time scoring the late equaliser themselves. It was a weird sort of game. The usually direct Leeds dominated possession for long spells, even if Woody wasn’t getting too many breaks in the first half, only to fall behind thanks to some sloppy defending. Like, terribly sloppy defending, both centre back and keeper rushing out and missing the ball. The game opened up in the second with Wood slicing one shot wide before failing to convert a better one. However Sam Byram, out of contract at the end of the season and unlikely to sign a new one, slammed in the tying goal with ten minutes to play. Both teams then missed great chances to win (NF’s Oliver Burke nearly bursting the ball against the stanchion from distance) but as the gaffer Evans said:

“We were the totally dominant team playing all the football – we made enough chances to win the game and if they’d won, it would have been a travesty.” – Steve Evans

Wood got in all 90 minutes, with four shots but only one on target. Leeds may not have made their chances all stick this week, settling for a couple draws, but they’re now six games unbeaten and slowly rising up the table.

Up Next: Home to MK Dons at 4am Sunday (NZT)

Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)

Here’s the good news on Winnie’s front:

“Winston Reid and Victor Moses are running outside and are both on schedule to join training in early January. We will have more details on their recovery from their respective hamstring injuries next week.”

That was from Stijn Vandenbroucke, WHU’s ‘Head of Medical and Sports Science’, while Slaven Bilic has said similar things about a swift recovery and an imminent return to training. Lovely to hear. There’s even talk that Reid, Dimitri Payet and Victor Moses could all be back for the game against Liverpool on the weekend. It’s a New Years Miracle.

Although despite the odds, West Ham really haven’t done that poorly without them all things considered. Working with scraps and Andy Carroll for attacking prowess (a little unfair, maybe), they slumped to an eight game winless streak but that included five straight draws so the points were still ticking over. Reid got hurt after the 0-0 draw with Man Utd. In his absence they drew 0-0 with Stoke, 0-0 in Swansea, 1-1 at Aston Villa and then broke the streak with a come from behind 2-1 win at home to Southampton. Ginge Collins did a pretty superb job deputising for Winston in the midst of an injury crisis and the (timely) return to fitness of Alex Song has really helped their midfield out defensively. Andy Carroll scored the winner against Southampton, a 79th minute header after Michael Antonio (summer signing from Notts Forest) had scored his first Premier League goal ten minutes earlier. Carroll’s goal almost made up for the shocking barnet he was sporting. Almost but not quite…

That’s a three-braid effect merging into a single braid tailing down at the back. They’re calling it the armadillo. May God have mercy on our souls.

Also, what up son!

Up Next: Home to Liverpool, 1.45am Sunday (NZT)

Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)

Two more wins this week and Ipswich have a clear hold on sixth place and the final playoff spot. We’re past the halfway stage of the season now, so while a four point lead over seventh still doesn’t mean anything substantial, they’re also only four points off third. Judging by the state of their squads and their results, it sure looks like Middlesbrough and Derby will have automatic promotion as their minimum aim but then Ipswich were in second and only a point off Bournemouth at the top at this exact stage last season. All that really matters is that they’re in the race.

First off was a Boxing Day slugger against Queens Park Rangers. A few too many Christmas mince pies all around or something because it was pretty slack on the pitch and pretty quiet in the stands as well. But after a drab 45 minutes, Junior Hoilett popped up to give QPR the half time lead out of almost nowhere.

Town improved after the break and were able to fashion a couple things, mostly from crosses. But they almost fell 2-0 when Leroy Fer got in behind the defence, only to round the keeper too tightly and have his effort saved as Dean Gerken recovered to throw a glove at it. Then, 13 minutes from defeat, Ipswich finally broke out. Daryl Murphy’s shot was blocked but it looped up to Jonathan Douglas who smartly and acrobatically bicycled it into the net. They weren’t done there either. With a fitting and uninspiring draw nearing to a close, a floating cross to the far post by Ainsley Maitland-Niles was met on the rise by captain Luke Chambers. A 92nd minute winner to really boost their season. It was Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's first loss in charge of QPR.

Hey but then Ipswich went and one-upped that by inflicting only the second defeat of the season on Brighton & Hove Albion, and they did it on the road too. Compared to that Boxing Day game, this one was a blockbuster. Action at each end made for a really entertaining game. Ipswich found plenty of success attacking quickly down the flanks and Kevin Bru rocked one off the post early, while Brighton’s midfield were making things happen down the centre. If it weren’t for a simply brilliant save by Gerken then BHA would’ve taken the lead. Instead they fell behind as Daryl Murphy capitalised on a poor back pass, intercepting it and then ripping one across the goalie and in off the post. Both sides would hit the post again and Bobby Zamora would flick the crossbar later on with Brighton searching for an equaliser. But following that scare, the Town defence – led by Christophe Berra in particular – saw the game out for a massive victory against the third placed team.

It also happened to be Ipswich’s fifth away win in a row, equalling a club record set in 1976 by a Bobby Robson-managed side that would finish third in the First Division that season.

Smithy played all 180 minutes, putting together a pair of fine performances. He was called upon plenty in each game and he did all that was asked of him, protecting his goal in a variety of ways as he picked off crosses and shuttled away attackers. Just what we wanna see. He also rose into the top 50 all-time appearances for the club – and the top five since 2000.

Up Next: Away to Burnley, 4am Sunday (NZT)

Bonus FKs

Since the rest of these fellas are all either injured or their leagues are on Xmas break, there’s a bit of a shortage of content for the day (which has already been pushed back a day to sneak in the midweek Champos). So instead of selling your fine self short on a welcome page view for our grateful website, here is some bonus… RETRO RICKI!

Ricki Herbert dropping some lofty (and a couple realistic) goals for New Zealand football on ESPN FC, where he lists his ‘Five Wishes for New Zealand football in 2016’:

1. All Whites to qualify for Russia 2018
2. Develop a new, top overseas player
3. Top four finish for Wellington Phoenix
4. Rio Olympics semifinals for women's team
5. Strengthen the national domestic competition

Numbers three and five are already in progress, though the Nix could use a few wins on the bounce if they’re gonna get fourth. Number two feels like one you can’t really plan for but best of luck, we’ll be keeping an eye on it – it’s kinda the purpose of this whole article. But one and five… mate. You may be dreaming there, pal. (For the record, five is probably more likely than one). Read his explanations through the hyperlink above.​