Flying Kiwis – January 30
Tommy Smith – Ex-Ipswich Town (English Championship)
Not a lot of developing news here or anything, but before Smithy left Ipswich for Colorado he was given a few lovely send-offs by the club he’d served for a more than a decade. The best of them was his appearance in the ‘FanZone’ tent before the game against Wolves (they lost 1-0 but meh), basically a meet and greet and farewell with the Town fans and an awesome gesture by both club and player.
Tommy Smith: “In an ideal world I would probably have been here playing every week and not even given it a thought, but as it has been the manager here has made it clear to me that opportunities were going to be limited. I had to make a career-based decision and try to take the emotions out of it, but it really is a fantastic opportunity for me. It’s a fantastic league to be a part of - they do things so differently - and it is a league I’ve spoken about before and said I’d like to experience it at some point in my career. Maybe that’s come a little earlier than I would have anticipated, but having spoken to people at the Rapids and seen how ambitious they are, it’s great to be a part of that and building their dream of winning another MLS Cup.”
Ipswich Star: “After his family returned to the UK from New Zealand, Smith signed on as an academy scholar in 2006 and has never looked back, making his first team debut in 2008. His 267 appearances is the most made by any graduate of the club’s academy and during his time with the Blues he has played at a World Cup and the 2012 Olympic Games.”
And now for the Oscar ‘In Memorium’ montages…
Almost enough to bring a tear to the eye. So here’s a happier one from Colorado to finish, looking forward rather than backwards:
Up Next: Lovin’ Colorado…
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Not such a good one this week. In a relatively even game, in which the PECers shaded possession but actual shots at goal were almost identical, the game looked like it might be headed for a draw after Bryan Linssen’s first half goal was cancelled out by Younes Namli. That was until Mason Mount’s wonderful free kick knicked the points for the visitors with around quarter of an hour to play. Sounds like Zwolle were a little too impatient in possession and you can kinda see that from Thommo launching 12 attempted long balls. Hence he had a few less passes than usual, hence his averages were down, hence he didn’t quite look the indomitable hero of usual. Can’t win ‘em all, aye?
With Feyenoord winning this week, that drops Zwolle down to fifth on goal difference, five points ahead of Vitesse in sixth and six points behind AZ Alkmaar in third. Doesn’t get any easier next week either when they travel to league leaders PSV. And if you were wondering, Marco Rojas was an unused sub for Heerenveen in a 2-1 win over Sparta Rotterdam. Did score twice in a game for the reserves though.
Up Next: Away to PSV Eindhoven at 7.45am on Sunday
Aimee Phillips – Spartak Subotica (Serbian Super Liga Zene)
Joining the Flying Kiwis ranks now is Footy Ferns fringer Aimee Phillips, fresh from being one of the absolute stars for Canterbury Pride in the national league and generally just being one of the best club players in Aotearoa.
She signs with Spartak Subotica in Serbia, a club doing to the rest of Serbia what Katie Rood’s Juventus are doing to the rest of Italy. So… games might be tough to come by in the initial stages but just getting into that professional environment will be huge. Another graduate from the Football Ferns Development Programme as well, so they’re living up to their words when it comes to getting players overseas contracts. Another kiwi player who could be playing Champions League as well, following on in Ali Riley’s glorious footsteps.
Aimee Phillips: “I am most looking forward to taking my game to another level. I am also looking forward to living in Serbia because it is a beautiful place and it's in Europe which is an opening to endless opportunities and beginnings.”
Up next: The Serbian league’s on break until the start of March
Meikayla Moore – FC Koln (German Frauen-Bundesliga)
But wait there’s more! Phillips signed in Serbia, while her Canterbury teammate and recent Fernie First XI member Meikayla Moore has also gotten that pro deal inked as she’s linking up with Amber Hearn in FC Koln. With only two wins all season, Koln could use the defence too. 43 goals conceded in 11 games. The German Bundesliga is a strong competition but CJ Bott was able to earn immediate regular status for USV Jena this season so there’s hope here that Moore won’t have to sit on the sidelines for long… that stuff resumes in mid-February, with only rescheduled games over the next two weeks and Koln ain’t got one of those.
Meikayla Moore: “I am really looking forward to the challenge of training and playing against some for the best players in Europe. The Bundesliga is one of, if not the strongest league, for women's football. It's the next step in my football career, it's another dream of mine ticked off. Going professional, alongside other team mates is exciting and I'm relishing the challenge.”
Sweet, now here are some more quotes, translated from the club’s website:
Willi Breuer: "We are pleased that we have managed the international transfer of Meikayla. We hope that with her we will get more stability in our defence.”
Meikayla Moore: “So far I've only played in New Zealand. Being allowed to play in the Bundesliga for [FC Koln] is an exciting adventure. I want to evolve here and help the team.”
Pretty badass, to be honest, seeing these kiwi players making the rise to the top ranks like this, particularly the women for whom this has never really been a career outside of America or England in the past. And most of them are proving it’s well within their depth too. Phillips, at 26, has been knocking on the door for a little while now whereas 21 year old Moore is getting in early as a serious emerging talent since Abby Erceg retired from the national team. By the way, a little more talk about her returning this week too. Sounding more and more possible.
Up Next: Sunday Feb 18, 11.00pm at home to FFC Frankfurt (NZT)
Bill Tuiloma & Jake Gleeson – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
It’s nothing much to say that Bill Tuiloma has re-signed with the Timbers. It was all but inevitable already (unless Uncle Tony weaved some Colorado magic like he did with Deklan Wynne) so we were really only waiting for the official confirmation and, what do ya know, here it was… along with two other fellas – El Salvador’s Andres Flores who played under the new Timbers manager for New York Cosmos and Gambia’s Modou Jadama who’s been signed out of another USL club and will be competing with Tuiloma for defensive places.
GM Gavin Wilkinson: “As we continue preparations for the 2018 season, we are pleased to add Andrés Flores and Modou Jadama to the roster, and to welcome back Bill Tuiloma for a second year. These players are very important additions to the roster and we look forward to each player’s contributions to the group this season.”
Unsurprisingly the talk is about providing “quality competition at a number of positions” so you know they’re not gonna push Tui straight into that first team. But he will get his chances to compete through pre-season and beyond. The owner obviously rates him, he was talking him up on twitter not so long ago (Merritt Paulson).
Oregon Live: “While Tuiloma did not break in to the first team last season, the Timbers believe he can play an important role this season. Timbers owner Merritt Paulson wrote in a Tweet Tuesday that the club expects Tuiloma to see minutes on the backline this year and also provide depth in defensive midfield.”
Up Next: MLS kicks off in March
Rosie White – Boston Breakers (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Weeeeell that sucks.
Katie Bowen’s team’s already relocated from Kansas City to Utah, a year after Abby Erceg’s team moved from Western New York to North Carolina, now the turmoil continues with Rosie White’s Boston Breakers ceasing operations altogether. It means the league will move to a nine-team season, with each team playing each other three times.
As for the players left behind? There’ll be a dispersal draft (those Americans do love their drafts!) tomorrow (Wednesday NZT) with all players aligned with the defunct Boston side eligible to be snapped up elsewhere. They can opt out of the draft if they so desire. So hopefully that means Rosie will still have an NWSL contract this time next week, possibly even linking up with one of the other kiwis out there. It’ll also mean that of the quartet that played in the 2017 season, Abby Erceg will be the only one left at the same club in 2018.
Up Next: ‘Dispersal Draft’
Jeremy Brockie – Mamelodi Sundowns (South African Premier Soccer League)
Sounds like the new club’s working out alright, even if the lads could only manage a 0-0 draw away to Kaizer Chiefs. Difficult game though, by no means a terrible result. Brockie was a substitute in the 57th minute, getting some good time out there and playing pretty well in the process. Sundowns went hard for the winner after Brockie came on, looking to hit him with crosses, with Percy Tau hitting the post and Brockie himself whacking one off the crossbar. Again, not a terrible result. They’re still four points clear at the top of the table after Cape Town City (MS’s next opponents) could only themselves draw away at Bloemfontein Celtic.
Here’s some sleuthing done by Soccer Laduma into Brockie’s transfer fee as well. Hard to know entirely what to believe with football fees, seems like almost everything’s an ‘undisclosed fee’ anyway. Good business either way, of course. 8mill Rand works out to be around NZ $920,000.
Soccer Laduma: “Originally, the transfer was said to be worth in the region of R12 million, but it has since been reported by the Siya Crew that it was significantly less. According to the report in issue 1057 of Soccer Laduma, Sundowns reportedly splashed out R8 million for Brockie – the same amount spent on Aubrey Ngoma. This means that owner Patrice Motsepe saved R4 million from the original fee they were going to pay for him, and paid R5 million less than his market value, which is said to be R13 million, according to Transfermarkt. Reflecting on this, it looks as if Sundowns got Brockie for a bit of bargain by waiting just six more months to sign him.”
Plus, if you don’t mind getting a bit emotional, check out the incredible story of Jerry’s wife Jessica and her surrogate pregnancy journey. Got a big profile on Aussie telly this week, truly a great tale.
Up Next: Saturday at 7.00am away to Cape Town City (NZT)
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
David Moyes: “There are a few getting closer to coming back. Michail Antonio is doing a bit of training, Jose Fonte is doing a little bit of training, so we’re getting a few more back as go along, but every club is the same. We’ve all had really difficult schedules over Christmas and the New Year and the games are taking their toll. With us now having Premier League midweek fixtures in January, it is not easy, especially after FA Cup ties. I don’t think Antonio, Fonte or Winston Reid will be available for the Wigan match.”
Alrighty then. West Ham rotated a couple players and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Wigan, losing 2-0. But they did sign Portuguese international Joao Mario on loan for the rest of the season from Inter Milan so that’s something.
Up Next: WHU vs Crystal Palace, 8.45am on Wednesday (NZT)
Chris Wood – Burnley (English Premier League)
Injury Update: There is no further injury update on Chris Wood.
Up Next: Newcastle vs Burnley, 8.45am on Thursday (NZT)
Erin Nayler – Girondins Bordeaux (French Division 1 Féminine)
Shan’t be winning the French Cup this season, coz Girondins were knocked out by La Roche-sur-Yon, a second division team, with a 1-0 defeat away. Nayler started in goal but a solitary goal soon after the break was enough to end the cup dreams. There was a scary moment during the game when FCGB coach Jérôme Dauba fell ill and was taken to hospital by the emergency staff. Word is that he’s alright now and recovering well after being released the next morning though you can understand that kind of thing shaking a team. Hopefully he’s fighting fit again as soon as possible.
Up Next: Monday at 5.00am against Olympique Lyon in the league - Erin Nayler’s old team! (NZT)
Nikko Boxall – Viborg FF (Danish Superliga)
The other Boxall brother’s got a slyly impressive career going down himself. Not quite at Minnesota FC but he’s just made a solid transfer from KuPS in Finland to Denmark club Viborg FF after a successful trial back in November.
VFF Sporting Director Jesper Larsen: “Nikko delivered a very strong impression when he trained with us. He is a hard and uncompromising defender, who is also good on the ball and with good speed. We have been in touch with him for a few months and we know that he is very keen to come here. He has all the tools to become a complete defender and brings a very strong mentality with that. We expect a lot of him and look forward to the cooperation.”
Primarily a second tier club over the last couple decades, they had spent some time in the top flight recently, promoted in 2012-13 and then again in 2014-15 after getting relegated in between. But a stink season last time saw them relegated and will be in the Superliga this time around. Should mean minutes for Nikko though and they’re a decent bet to go back up.
Nikko Boxall: “It feels really good being here again. I've been waiting for a while, and now I'm just glad that everything has fallen into place. I'm very proud and excited to get started, and I'm looking forward to pulling my shirt over my head. "We have an important half season ahead of us, and the club's ambitions fit me well. I will do everything I can to help the team and club back where Viborg belongs.”
Up Next: Viborg vs Nykobing to kick the season off, Monday 5 March (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
Up Next: Pre-season training has begun…
Myer Bevan – Vancouver Whitecaps (American Major League Soccer)
EightySixForever: “Myer Bevan and David Norman Jr. were both signed from WFC2. I would have considered them prime candidates to be loaned to Fresno but that hasn’t happened yet. I take this to mean that Carl Robinson expects them to play some games. For both players it’s kind of hard to see where they would fit in. Norman Jr. is behind Ghazal, Tchani, Juarez, and probably Russel Teibert as a matter of seniority. Beven is behind expensive signings Kamara and Blondell. It’s possible that they will be loaned out to Fresno after training camp but in the meantime it’ll be interesting to see if they can force their way into the team.”
Up Next: Same as all the other American folks
Themi Tzimopoulos – PAS Giannina (Greek Superleague)
THEMI!!! Yeah boy, man of the match. And what does one have to do to achieve such an accolade? Clearly you’ve gotta score an injury time winner in a 1-0 victory away against Panionios. Duh.
Bonus Themi - here’s a scouting video of New Zealand’s second favourite current Greek All White.
Up Next: PAS Giannina vs PAOK at 2.00am on Monday (NZT)
Steven Old – Morecambe (English League Two)
That’s not a last-minute time-wasting sub either, it’s a tenth minute injury enforced one. Stevie pulled up lame and had to be replaced, with midfielder Andy Fleming coming on so that Alex Kenyon could slide into the back three. Morecambe stuck at it to take the lead in the 31st minute through Callum Lang snatching onto a poor back pass to score but opponents Mansfield were level with twenty minutes to play thanks to Danny Rose’s header (not that Danny Rose, obvs). Then Mansfield scored in the fourth minute of injury time to win it. A scrappy goal from Malvin Benning. Imagine watching that from the bench with the ice pack on the leg or whatever.
Playing in League Two and at the other end of his career, Oldie wasn’t meant to be such a regular in Flying Kiwis but he’s done so well for the Shrimps since signing in the English summer. Having been on some decent form lately, only losing once in five before this one, they’ve found some breathing room above the relegation zone so hopefully the injury ain’t much and he’s back leading that defence sooner rather than later.
Up next: Port Vale vs Morecambe, 4.00am on Sunday (NZT)
Henry Cameron – Limerick FC (Irish Premier League)
Limerick Leader: “Henry Cameron has been told he doesn’t feature in Barrett’s plans for the season – and is returning to England to find a club, despite having only a number of days to do so, as well as requiring international clearance.”
Oh well so much for that then.
Up next: Back on the hustle
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