Matt Garbett – Falkenbergs FF (Swedish Allsvenskan)

What in the sweet smell of success is going on with Matty Garbett? Last year he’s doing his thing for Western Suburbs and Ole Academy and for New Zealand at the U17 World Cup and then he gets a move to top flight Swedish club Falkenbergs and what’s more is he even got a couple cup appearances in for the first team before the pando came along. That’s all sweet, it’s been one of the best emerging Flying Kiwis storylines of the year in fact. But if one football blogsite is to be believed then it could soon get a whole lot better...

Footy Insiders 24/7 ran stories on consecutive days about Matthew Garbett, these were the headlines...

Exclusive: Everton set sights on signing young centre-forward after big development

Exclusive: Man City set sights on signing Everton-wanted striker after agent deal agreed

Damn right they were exclusives, nobody else seemed to have a clue. All the other mentions of this source back to these two original articles. The first one mentions that there was another “Premier League big gun” interested in the teenager’s services and then the second one confirms that club to be Man City. Both of them refer to Garbett in such glowing terms as “wonderkid” and “rising star” and “one of the most sought-after teenagers in Europe” and “centre-forward sensation”.

Now, not to burst the bubble or anything because it‘s pretty amazing just to have his name mentioned in this capacity given he was playing Central League a year ago... but this smells pungently like shenanigans. There may very well be interest in him from both Everton and Manchester City, not to mention “clubs in Germany, France, Holland and Belgium”, but this was very clearly a coordinated media plant and wouldn’t you know it both articles quite nicely bury (despite alluding to it in the headlines) the most important and exciting aspect which is this part...

See, now that’s the real deal. New Era Global Sports are an English based agency that seem to have a pretty modern and all-encompassing approach to what they can offer their clients, including Rio Ferdinand whose face is one you see plastered all over their website (and Rio was quick off the mark in congratulating Garbett with an IG comment), as well as his fellow Ferdinands: brother Anton and cousin Kane. Their current batch of players mostly includes lower league or young British players, some of the known names being Ashley Williams, Michael Keane, Mason Holgate, Fara Williams, Neil Taylor, Josh and Jake Murphy... so yes, there does seem to be a big Everton connection. No surprises that they were the first to be milked for a Matty G story.

Add that all together and not sure if you wanna hold your breath for a transfer to Manchester City later this year but if NEGS are gonna hype him up for a transfer then a transfer to England seems likeliest given that’s where almost all their connections are. And, hey, aim for the moon and if you miss then you land amongst the stars. Matty Garbett’s all of a sudden seeing his name in the company of some serious clubs and that can only be a positive.

Up Next: FFF’s first league game is 5am next Tuesday against Häcken (NZT)

Sarpreet Singh - Bayern Munich (German Bundesliga)

Cheeky appearance there for Sarpreet Singh. His first proper game back, a midweeker for the reserves against Preußen Münster. Dramatic game too. They fell behind from a long ranger in the first minute of the match but were back on level terms when Kwasi Okyere Wreidt poked one in in the fourth minute and then Oliver Batista Meier curled in a free kick from the edge of the are in the 18th min to put Bayern in the lead. But they couldn’t hold on into the break, a chest and volley in the box doing the trick.

A bit of a quiet game from Singh although he did go close with a crack from outside the box in the second half that drifted past the post and he was booked midway through that second stanza. The game was even until the 88th minute when a lovely team move (that didn’t include Singh) led to Wreidt getting through on goal and sliding in the winner. 3-2 to BM2. That win lifted them all the way up to fourth on the ladder, only goal difference between them and second and this is a team that was promoted last year. Singh played as a left-winger in a 4-2-2-2 formation, similar to how the Welly Nix have been setting up for comparison (Singh in the McCowatt/Piscopo role), and was replaced with the fifth and final sub in second half stoppage time.

But just as with last week he wasn’t a part of the reserves side that lined up for their weekend game. Those ressies were able to battle away to a 1-1 draw with Eintracht Braunschweig. They scored early through Fiete Arp although he got injured in the process and they ended up playing 78 minutes with ten men after Josip Stanisic was sent off conceding the penalty which levelled the game (the first yellow for the foul, the second for arguing). BM2 did bloody well to come away with a draw considering the matches keep coming hard and fast with another midweeker on the horizon which’ll hopefully feature Singh again... unless he’s held back for the DFB-Pokal semi-final the day after against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Sarpreet Singh’s got bigger fish to fry on his weekends however, as he was again included on the bench for the top side as they beat Bayer Leverkusen 4-2. Didn’t feature though, they only used four subs on the day which was a tad annoying. Bayern fell behind early but then scored four straight to win pretty comfortably against another one of those dangerous opponents and they’re looking even more likely than ever before to lift that Bundesliga trophy – two more wins from their final four games will do it. Singh might have a better chance to get out on the park next week because both Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller are both suspended for yellow card accumulation. Both are still available for the cup semi-final, btw.

Here’s another of those Players To Watch features that happens to include Sarpreet Singh:

“After impressing in Australia’s A-League with Wellington Phoenix and at the FIFA U20 World Cup, Bayern signed Singh for the reserves, but he immediately impressed first-team boss Niko Kovac, who included him in pre-season and on the bench for the Supercup at Borussia Dortmund. On Matchday 15, he was handed his senior debut by Hansi Flick, becoming just the second New Zealander after Wynton Rufer to appear in the Bundesliga.

When not with the first team, Singh has been a regular under Hoeneß with the reserves, chipping in with seven goals and seven assists from both attacking and more holding midfield roles. He got two of those goals from the bench in a 4-2 win over Viktoria Köln: one a driven effort from 20 yards, the other a cool finish from just over the halfway line into an empty net in injury time. The most internationally experienced player in the reserves faces stiff competition to break into the first-team’s extremely talented attacking line-up, but appears the closest to doing so.”

They’re all basically the same but it’s still fun to see his name stay in the rotation.

Up Next: Okay so Bayern’s next league game is vs Mönchengladbach, Sunday at 4.30am, while the cup semi-final is at home against Eintracht Frankfurt at 6.45am on Thursday and the reserves face Zwickau at home on Wednesday at 5am (all NZT)

Meikayla Moore – MSV Duisburg (German Bundesliga)

As far as important goals go, that stoppage time strike from Kristina Maksuti is right up there for the Zebras. A win against FC Köln would have been massive in their quest to remain in the German top flight but as the clock ticked over ninety minutes they were staring at a 1-0 defeat that could have been inversely devastating to those hopes.

Meikayla Moore, playing in midfield again, came up with a massive early block as MSV Duisburg scrambled to keep the game level and they were able to keep it scoreless into the break despite their opponents having all the decent chances in a game where the stakes were palpably high and the rain wasn’t helping matters either. But FC Köln broke the deadlock soon after the resumption with a back-post header from a corner and the Zebras were in big trouble.

A clearance off the line from Irishwoman Claire O’Riordan was all that kept them from going two behind and with less than half an hour to go they ran out three subs at once, a triple change to try and alter the course of the match and potentially their season. And it must have felt like it simply wasn’t gonna be their day when one of those subs had a shot tipped onto the post and it rolled back along the line for half the length of the goal but never crossed it. Things were desperate at the end there. Pumping the ball into the box by any measure. Moore flicked on a header that led to a shot which was saved and the resulting clearance ended up with the Duisburg keeper who had wandered all the way into the other half to lob it back into the mixer... where a brilliant header from Maksuti earned her team a valuable point. And on Meikayla Moore’s 24th birthday no less.

That point meant they didn’t lose any ground on FC Köln and that stability proved even more important come the weekend games a few days later where Duisburg were beaten 2-0 by SC Sand while Köln claimed a 1-0 win at home against SGS Essen thanks, of course, to a last minute goal. The second game wasn’t nearly as dramatic for the Zebras. Moore played ninety minutes in both and was booked in the Sand match (no Paige Satchell again, she’s apparently not with the club after coming back home for lockdown – Sand were knocked out of the cup this week and are nailed on for a midtable finish so not really much point).

MSV Duisburg are two points clear of Köln for the second and last relegation spot but Köln do have a game in hand. Bayer Leverkusen are level with Duisburg on points with their goal difference one goal better off. Duisburg have four games remaining: Frankfurt (A), Hoffenheim (A), Turbine Potsdam (H), and USV Jena (A). Three of those are top half of the table teams, which makes that match against last-placed Jena on the final day of the season an absolute must win unless they can pick up some big results over the next week or two.

Up Next: Frankfurt vs Duisburg, 5.15am on Saturday (NZT)

Jeremy Brockie – Mamelodi Sundowns (South African Premier Soccer League)

[side eyes emoji]

See, Jeremy Brockie may be on loan at Maritzburg at the moment but he’s still a Mamelodi Sundowns player despite pretty clearly being on the outer there. His Sundowns contract ends on 30 June but there was an extension clause that the club had which came with a deadline of the final day of May. Then the first day of June he tweeted that.

Pretty obvious what that means and it’s a solution that would seem to suit all parties. Brockie needs to be somewhere he can play regularly in a role that suits his style of play and he wasn’t gonna get that at Sundowns. He’s also been a bit scarce for Maritzburg, only scoring once in 12 league games, although a lot of that has come playing off the bench. Dan Morgan and Jeremy Brockie still have the rest of that season to complete with the PSL expected to resume in July at a singular location and Maritzburg a chance at finishing in the continental spots if they can close out strong.

Also Andre De Jong is back fit again for AmaZulu to help them avoid relegation – a win in their last game lifted them off bottom. ADJ missed four months with a broken foot sustained on All Whites duty and literally no sooner had he come back into contention to play than the league got postponed. His first game available was the first game that got canned. Guts, bro.

ADJ on March 18: “It feels really good to be back amongst the boys, it was about 15 weeks being out of action, it’s been a bit of a frustration, but I’m really pleased with my progress nonetheless. For the first ten weeks there wasn’t much that I could do, I just had to keep my weight up but since then it’s been proper receptive work. It’s been hard work, working with our physio Ryan and our strength and conditioning coach Zunaid to get back to full fitness, so I’m very thankful to them all”

That was eleven weeks ago and it’ll be another four weeks at least before he can play a proper game. So take the foot fracture sit down and double it for a global pandemic, talk about frustration. He did sneak a friendly game in before the postponements at least. As for Jeremy Brockie’s future, he’s got his suitors out there. His old club SuperSport keep being mentioned. Kaiser Chiefs were keen on him before he signed with Sundowns. There’s also the A-League which would have to be a possibility considering his wife and kids are in Aussie at the moment (having gone back for lockdown). It’s been a rough couple years on the pitch but he’s only 32 and he’ll have options.

Mike Makaab, Brockie’s agent: “There are a number of clubs that are interested in his services. Jeremy is keen to do anything as long as he will get game time. At the moment that’s his priority - getting game time in a good environment. He is a great professional. He takes great care of himself. He has been unfortunate but I have no doubt that he will get back on his feet again. He is working very hard behind the scenes during this lockdown so that by the time PSL action resumes, he is ready to rediscover his goalscoring form. That’s what Jeremy is about.”

Up Next: The PSL hasn’t confirmed any fixtures yet, things are all still in discussion, and they also just lost their major sponsor of the last 16 years

Olivia Chance – Bristol City (English Super League)

Ah well, so it goes. It was mentioned that she was off contract after this WSL season and despite a pretty useful season for the Robins in which she appeared in 14 matches for the club, establishing herself as a first choice midfielder, sometimes that’s just how it works out. Her agency putting out a highlights clip of her season a couple weeks ago, in hindsight, does feel like a clue.

This comes after the season was officially concluded on a points per game basis, awarding Chelsea the title and relegating Liverpool... which puts their men’s team into some perspective. Defending European champs, about to win the league title and they put so little relative effort into their women’s team that they were relegated. After seeing Man Utd and Spurs have pretty strong seasons immediately after being promoted it doesn’t take a genius to see that resource is massive in this league, with women’s footy on the rise as it is, and that a club like Liverpool really shouldn’t have ever been in this situation. But that’s their problem. What’ll be interesting now is to see if Olivia Chance is leaving because Bristol City are moving on or because she’s got something bigger in mind. She’s proved at Everton and at Bristol City that she’s good enough for this level and her agency does seem to be pretty onto it (recurring theme of this week).

BCFC Manager Tanya Oxtoby: “I want to thank Liv for all her hard work over the season, she has been a pleasure to have within the squad and we wish her all the best for her future.”

Ria Percival is (hopefully) still under contract at Tottenham in the English top flight, while Erin Nayler has talked of discussions to play in England recently too.

Up Next: Wait and see

Nikko Boxall – Viborg FF (Danish Division 1)

A 3-1 loss away to Kolding, not the best there. Nikko Boxall was back in the starting team and got a full game but after having taken the lead in the 13th minute through Frederick Brandhof the fellas weren’t able to hold it together and conceded in the 30th minute, the 71st minute, and then right at the very end of the game in stoppage time as they pushed for an equaliser.

The goal they scored was a cracker, at least. But there was sloppiness throughout – the leveller came from a header from a free kick conceded not long after Boxall and his keeper almost let a striker in between them with some miscommunication. Nikko nearly put VFF back in the lead soon after with a glancing header from a long throw that hit the crossbar, then early in the second half he set up a goal with a similar header only his buddy at the far post was ruled offside. Viborg were actually quite dominant after half-time but when they conceded from a proper thunderbastard of a shot at the edge of the area they learned a harsh lesson about wasting chances. Or maybe they didn’t learn it because their finishing didn’t get any better the rest of the way. The third goal was a runaway.

Lucky for VFF, Fredericia also lost (2-1 at home to league leaders Vejle). That means that VFF remain second on goal difference with two more rounds remaining... the league having been shortened due to the pandemic. Vejle are uncatchable now for automatic promotion, which is good news for Matt Conroy who is on the books there with the U19s. But it’s a disaster for Viborg since only one team is getting promoted this season (and three relegated, they’re shrinking it from 12 to 14 teams). So yeah, that sucks. Second year in a row that VFF have bottled a chance to play for promotion because of poor late season form.

Up Next: Viborg vs Roskilde, 4am on Friday (NZT)

Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)

The Norwegian season begins, finally, next week on Wednesday for us Aotearoa viewers. And it looks like Joe Bell will be going straight into the Viking first team as hoped. They’ve played a few friendly matches recently and he was a half-time sub in the latest, a 3-1 win over a second div opposition... getting a yellow card within two minutes of coming and playing the whole of that 45-min stanza. He was one of four scheduled HT changes, setting up as a defensive midfielder. It was 1-1 at the break and it was 3-1 to VFK at full time. He set up a goal in another friendly a week ago as well. Decent signs.

Up Next: 4am on Weds 17 June, Viking vs Bodø/Glimt (NZT)

Chris Wood - Burnley FC (English Premier League)

Sean Dyche: “Barnesy it still not quite right yet and Woody has a bit of a problem with his Achilles. We are waiting for more news on that. We are a bit more hopeful on Barnesy that it’s settling down, so hopefully he’ll get back into some form of training over the next week or so. We’re not sure on Woody yet. He’s going to have to take his time on that and see how that settles down. That wouldn’t be helpful if those two aren’t right but it’s an ongoing thing and we will wait on them.”

Just something to keep an eye on. Games will be coming thick and fast once the Premier League returns next month as they try to wrap everything up swiftly and with five subs available the teams that handle things best will be the ones with the deep squads... which Burnley are certainly not. Sean Dyche isn’t averse to using zero subs so it’ll be tough for them, especially if some of their top dudes are still carrying injuries.

Burnley are sitting tenth on the ladder with nine games left. Only nine points off fourth and four off sixth so if they can get a roll on then there’s plenty to be gained over those nine games. Chris Wood has scored 11 goals in 26 games so far to be tied for 11th on the Golden Boot standings alongside the likes of Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, and Anthony Martial. He’s also seven flags clear at the top of the total offsides list too with 31 of those bad boys. He dominated that one last year with 53 offsides, finishing fifteen clear of Glenn Murray in second. Keep getting those flags, son.

Up Next: Burnley’s first game back is away to Man City on 23 July at 7am (NZT)

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