Joe Bell – Brøndby IF (Danish Superliga)

It was a warm welcome to the Danish Superliga for Joe Zen Robert Bell. Back from a few training games in Portugal and immediately into the starting eleven for Brøndby for the first game back after the winter break. Away to Nordsjælland. A game that they were expected to win. Bellinho debuting at the base of a five-man midfield. And Brøndby delivering a comfortable enough victory, true to expectations.

Brøndby had the better of the first half in snowy conditions but had to wait until the second half to finally see the net ripple. Carl Björk should have scored in the 48th with a diving header open at the back stick but no worries because Anis Slimani was in the right place to turn one home on 56’. Initially the goal was ruled out for offside but they overturned it on VAR. Ten mins later Slimani slid one through for Andreas Bruus running in from the right wing and he slammed it under the keeper for 2-0. That was how it finished. Catch some highlights here.

Joe Bell slotted easily into the midfield role vacated by Morten Frendrup who recently signed for Genoa in Italy. Striker Carl Björk was the other debutant, staring for BIF in place of the club’s top scorer Mikael Uhre who has moved to Philadelphia Union in MLS. They also lost a number of other key players from last season’s championship squad in the summer so there is a bit of pressure on Bell (and Björk) to fill those boots if Brøndby are going to hang in the title challenge. That quest took a boost when FC Midtjylland (fresh off a 1-0 Europa Conference League win over PAOK a few days earlier) were dropped 2-0 at home by AaB to tighten everything up at the top. That result means that FC København move into first after winning 2-0 over OB. Only three points separate the three of them now.

To be honest, it was a quiet debut for Bell. He was solid but unspectacularly so. He did spray a couple of passes in the first half but settled in nicely after that and overall proved a sturdy and reliable presence in midfield, although the deeper role did mean there wasn’t much sight of his attacking abilities. Here, have a pass chart...

Lots of green there, that’s what we wanna see. Prior to the game, as the teams were warming up, he got his first genuine glimpse of the legendary Brøndby fanbase. He spoke in an interview a week or two back about how everybody in the world is aware of the passion of Brøndby fans, which was a slight exaggeration but they definitely have a glowing reputation. Good fans that they are, they didn’t waste any time in debuting Joe Bell’s new terrace chant (Carl Björk got one too, don’t worry)...

“JOE BELL... JOE BELL... la la la la la la la la!”

Arguably not as melodic as the one they sang to the tune of Dolly Parton’s Jolene back in Viking but it’s pretty good. Didn’t do a lot with the rhyming possibilities of a bloke called Bell but it’s catchy which is what matters. Get this going at All Whites games if they ever play in Aotearoa again.

And this was at an away game. Imagine what it’ll be like next week at home.

Joe Bell: “It was amazing. What an experience it was with the fans. I have never played in an away game like that before! It's probably just a small glimpse of what awaits next week, so I'm looking forward to it. We grew into the fight. Tactically we were better in the second half than in the first and it resulted in two goals. We came from grass to artificial turf today, so of course it all went a little faster, but we were better and faster in the second half and one step ahead. That was good.”

Also this may seem like bland, generic praise...

... but Ståle Solbakken is the current manager of the Norwegian national team so he’s following the Eliteserien as closely as anyone. Plus he’s saying that about a Brøndby player and as a former manager of FC København that’s suddenly a much heftier compliment. Big rivals, those two teams. Both got kiwi midfielders too in Joe Bell and Marko Stamenic (albeit Marko’s out on loan atm).

Up Next: Tuesday 1 March at 7am, Brøndby vs SønderjyskE (NZT)

Chris Wood - Newcastle United (English Premier League)

Good chat from Gary Neville there.

The latest quest for The Woodsman and Newcastle was a trip away against West Ham. A team that Chris Wood has a very good scoring record against, great opportunity to open his account for the new club, although they had to do it without Kieran Tripper, who broke his foot last week, and also Allan Saint-Maximin who missed this one with a knock. Not ideal... although perhaps without ASM in the team there’d be more focus on getting distribution towards Woodsy?

Early doors it looked alright for Newcastle as they knocked the ball around with a heap of possession. However without Saint-Maximin they were a bit predictable, a bit too formulaic, and other than a Joelinton shot on target from a tight angle they didn’t have a lot to show for their early yarns. Whereas West Ham were fine playing without the ball. They hit the crossbar as Jarrod Bowen snuck in behind on the right, Martin Dubravka with a crucial touch on that shot. Then Craig Dawson made a sharp run ahead of his man from an Aaron Creswell free kick in the 32nd minute and his header made it 1-0 to WHU.

Chris Wood was being targeted more from crosses, that’s true. However the quality of those crosses wasn’t great – one of the better of them was when Wood bounced off Kurt Zouma near the corner and whipped in a sharp ball that nobody could get on the end of. Set pieces were a better outlet for them with their size. Wood was used plenty with those aerial efforts, as he has been every game for the Magpies. Eventually they did draw level in first half stoppage time though it was a defensive error that allowed for it as an uncharacteristically poor header from Declan Rice allowed Joe Willock to stick a toe on a loose ball in the six yard box and it crept in off the far post, goal-line technology confirming that it had crossed the line.

The second half wasn’t very interesting. The rain picked up and every cross into the area towards Wood seemed to be overhit. West Ham began the stanza better but couldn’t capitalise on a few set pieces. Lots of end to end footy but not a lot of clear chances for either side. Ultimately it was a day for defenders as it ended 1-1, another game without a goal for Chris Wood but more importantly Newcastle remain undefeated since he joined. Three wins and two draws. Amazingly they’ve already equalled their points tally from before he signed (11 points in five games vs 11 points in 19 games).

Also, while they did have a right ol’ ding-dong physical battle all afternoon, there’s absolutely zero evidence that this actually happened...

Eh, we can always pretend.

Up Next: 4am on Sunday away to Brentford (NZT)

Liberato Cacace – Empoli (Italian Serie A)

Second Serie A appearance for Libby. After a dozen minutes off the bench in a 2-0 loss to Sampdoria he now has as many Serie A games as Sarpreet Singh has Bundesliga games and Bill Tuiloma has Ligue 1 games. On the ‘Kiwi Blokes In Top Five Euro Leagues’ standings – of which he was the tenth inductee – he could move up to sixth in a couple weeks with Lee Norfolk (3) and his national team manager Danny Hay (4) very much in his sights. Could even catch Simon Elliott (12) by the end of the season. Yeah, it’s mostly all Premier League dudes as you’d imagine.

The damage was done early in this match. Sampdoria scored twice inside the first half hour courtesy of Fabio Quagliarella, the 28-cap Italy international who is 39 years of age and still banging them away. It may have been a different story had Empoli been more clinical with the score still at 0-0. First an Andrea Pinamonti poor touch let the chance escape him before Szymon Żurkowski rushed in and blazed over. But they messed it up and then Quagliarella managed to slip one in on an angle despite slipping as he struck on 14’ and then after Nedim Bajrami missed a decent look to equalise it was Quagliarella again on 29’ again somehow getting a shot away despite close pressure from the Empoli defence. Sampdoria then sat back with more control in the second half to clinch it.

Similar to his first appearance, Cacace was solid. Very tidy in possession, only losing the ball on three occasions: one was a mistake trying to nutmeg a guy on the dribble after being trapped on the wing. The other two were crosses into the area which the keeper claimed comfortably, the first lifted in, the second driven low after he’d beaten a man down the wing with a nice run – the latter proved to be the final kick of the match. All of those instances on attack which shows he was getting forward with energy and intent. Sampdoria were very much trying to ease through to victory at that stage so there wasn’t a hep of defensive stuff needed but Cacace did what he needed to do well enough. Definitely cannot say he’s looked overawed at this level. Exciting times... especially if he gets some game time in the next match.

Up Next: Rather exciting one, home to Juventus on Sunday at 6am (NZT)

Sarpreet Singh - SSV Jahn Regensburg (German 2. Liga)

Call this one the Sarpreet Singh Revenge Game. Away against Nürnburg, aka the club he spent the first half of last season on loan at before leaving midway through having hardly gotten any decent game time. This was a chance to show the buggers what they missed out on.

It was a funky opening to this game. Regensburg began to churn out the chances after about quarter of an hour. David Otto touched a Singh corner kick on target at the near post but it was saved. Singh was then warned by the ref after nicking a dude with his sprigs getting to a bouncing ball slightly late. Gotta leave them in now and then. Revenge game and all that.

But Nürnburg came back at them hard and after a number of frenetic defensive moments, largely salvaged by the fact SSV were able to get numbers back, they were caught out as a flick on down the left edge of their defence took the fullback out of the play and created an overlap. Good cross in from Mats Dæhli and then Pascal Köpke showed good strength to hold off his marker and head in from a standing position. Regensburg perhaps shoulda been level a couple mins before the break as Singh chipped in a cross from the right which was took close to the keeper but the punch away only went as far as Max Besuschkow who lifted his half-volley over the top. Safe to say they soon regretted that one.

At only a goal down, the game was still poised if Regensburg could start the second half well and put some pressure on. Instead it went the other way. Nürnburg with a jump in intensity in front of their home crowd and in the 55th minute they were 2-0 up as Taylan Duman struck running onto a pull-back in the area with the SSV defence on their heels. Damn.

Regensburg had no choice but to open things up more and while that did lead to them getting the ball around the Nurnburg penalty area a little more than they had been, it also left them vulnerable to counters such as when Duman drove forward and smashed one off the crossbar (then hit his own follow-up on target for an easy save). Changes had to come. Thus 64 minutes into the contest, Regensburg made a triple sub. They’d already made one at HT, now here were three more. Singh amongst them. Who cares what happened afterwards. Final score was 2-0. Since the start of December, SSV Jahn have won once and lost seven.

Up Next: Jahn Regensburg vs Düsseldorf on Monday at 1.30am (NZT)

Alex Greive - St Mirren (Scottish Premiership)

Seems that AG timed his rapid rise just right. Cramming all these milestones into the last month like he was in a hurry or something, maybe he was merely making sure he didn’t miss his window of opportunity. Remember how his manager was waxing lyrical about him last week? Well that same manager, Jim Goodwin, has since been hired away by Aberdeen. Guts.

Regular number nine Eamonn Brophy has been out injured with a bad ankle allowing for Greive’s run of starts. It had been feared that Brophy would miss most of the rest of the season though scans have been more positive. Goodwin said a few days back that 3-4 weeks is a more likely frame for his return. Meanwhile out of favour striker Lee Irwin has been released to join Ollie Whyte and Logan Rogerson at FC Haka which is a funny coincidence.

Away to Livingstone, Greive got another start up top for the Saints under their caretaker manager although this wasn’t quite St Mirren at the level we’ve seen from them in recent weeks. Very much the second best side on display in the first half, the Buddies struggling to muster much at all in attack, and then they went behind on 55 mins. Brad Anderson on the end of a low cross which he poked onto the post, the ball then bouncing back into he and defender Joe Shaughnessy before going in off the inside of the post the second time. Depending where you look, it’s been credited to both Anderson or as a Shaughnessy own goal.

That had St Mirren’s unbeaten streak in some bother but in the 78th min a loose clearance fell to Greg Kiltie on the edge of the box and his low driven volley snuck through a crowd of players and into the net with the keeper unsighted. Their only shot on target all match. They’d then survive a red card in the 83rd, Charles Dunne sent off for a stray elbow whilst competing for a header (didn’t look deliberate tbf and the club have appealed the decision), however they hung on there for a 1-1 draw that extends their unbeaten streak to seven games. Drops them a place to seventh but if they win their game in hand they could go fourth. That game in hand is against last-placed Dundee this midweek.

Greive was subbed off with twenty to play. Probably his roughest start for the Buddies yet as he only managed 20 touches in 70 minutes. He worked hard but was isolated a lot of the time. One shot off target. He did have a 91.7% passing success rate despite the limited touches so that’s something.

Since that game, St Mirren have announced that they’ve hired away Morecambe’s manager Stephen Robinson to be their new gaffer. Gonna cost them some compensation too so you know they’re keen. Sneaky note here is that Morecambe are chasing AFC Wimbledon in the League One relegation scrap so this does Nik Tzanev a decent favour in the process, another wee coincidence.

Up Next: Thursday at 8.45am away to Dundee, then Sunday at 4am against Hearts (NZT)

Nando Pijnaker & Max Mata – Sligo Rovers (League of Ireland Premier Division)

In last week’s FKs, there was a point made about how Nando Pijnaker always seems to follow other kiwi players at his club gigs. He spent a short time with all his Ole Academy buds at Torslanda. He joined GC Zürich while Max Mata was there. He signed for Rio Ave soon after Ollie Whyte had left there. He played with Callum McCowatt and Eli Just on loan at FC Helsingør. Then he replaced Ryan De Vries at Sligo Rovers. Well it turns out it goes deeper than that because now he and Max Mata are getting the band back together...

Max Mata didn’t have a great time of things with Real Monarchs last year, he wasn’t really given a heap of opportunities as the season went along and thus only scored 2 goals in 955 minutes all up. But once upon a time he scored in bundles on loan for Estonian club Nomme Kalju and one of his teammates there was a bloke by the name of Sander Puri who now plays for Sligo Rovers. As now, of course, does his former GCZ teammate and compatriot Nando Pijnaker. The pair even made their All Whites debuts off the bench in the same game – the 1-0 loss to Lithuania in 2019.

Max Mata: “I’m very happy to join Sligo Rovers. When the chance came up I didn’t have to think long about it. I want to play games and I want to score goals and Ireland was very appealing. I’ve played in Europe before and done well and I definitely think I can do it again. I enjoyed the experience in America last season, with a regret of not playing as much as I would have liked. I’m very motivated to come to Sligo, play games, and score goals. I don’t think integration will be a problem being an English-speaking country.

I’m excited to experience the League of Ireland and play here. It’s just a matter of being focused and I’ll be totally committed to succeeding here. Sligo Rovers have been doing well in Ireland, I’ve spoken with the coach about what he wants the team to be and it all added up to me wanting to be in Sligo and achieving both my own targets and those of the team. I was with Nando in Switzerland and with New Zealand obviously so it’ll be a help for sure. It’ll also be good for settling into training and the team so that’s great. I’m looking forward to meeting all my team-mates and making my debut as soon as I can.”

Liam Buckley said: “We’re delighted to get Max. He’s another really good footballer and a forward player to compliment Aidan Keena, Jordan Hamilton and Cillian Heaney who has done well this pre-season. He’s done well in Europe beforehand. From a career point of view he’s on the up and we can see how driven he is and how much he wants to do well in the game. He’s still only 21 and played in the USL Championship last season so he’s coming here with good experience already. He’s most certainly a number nine and can also play in a two. It’s good to have that option. Max is in a very good physical condition and it’ll just be about getting him up to speed from a match point of view and settling into the league.

Both Jordan and Max will be with us this week hopefully and be part of training before the Bohemians game. The squad is close to completion but we remain in the market certainly. There are players out there who are of interest. It’s important to have a squad to get us through the season and that it is balanced. It’s a long season with 40+ games in all competitions and we want to make sure we’re covered. Bringing in Nando, Jordan and Max really compliments the players we have at our disposal. I’m happy with where we’re at, the players are working very hard to be ready for Saturday night and we’re looking forward to getting underway and particularly in front of our own supporters on Saturday night.”

Phew, lots of quotes there. Good context. However the lads will have to wait a wee bit longer for a potential debut. Not sure where they stand in the depth charts quite yet but chances are they’ll be eased in slowly. Either way, the LOI opener at home against Bohemian was postponed as heavy snowfall during the preceding days left the pitch in an unplayable condition. No dramas, we go again next week.

Up Next: St Patrick’s Athletic vs Sligo Rovers, Saturday at 8.45am (NZT)

Adam Thomas – Shelbourne (League of Ireland Premier Division)

Staying in the Republic of Ireland, staying in the League of Ireland Premier Division even, we’ve got a beautiful surprise signing with Adam Thomas having been snapped by by Shelbourne FC. The 29 year old has had a lot of injury dramas in his career but he’s persevered through all that to log a couple impressive seasons at NZ National League level recently as well as some NPL stuff in Australia. According to the press release, he moved to Europe of his own accord a few months back, initially based in Sweden – which probably means Torslanda given his Ole Academy connections – and then linking up with the Shels in their offseason where he’s impressed enough to be offered a contract.

SFC Head Coach Damien Duff: “Adam has shown amazing desire to come to Europe off his own back to pursue a career here. He has trained really well with us and has settled brilliantly with the squad. He has a lot of quality and has the versatility to play many positions. He is a great addition to the group”

Adam Thomas: “Training has been class with the standards really high along with the intensity and focus on position which I have really enjoyed. I’ve talked to a couple of people I know in the league and I’m looking forward to the new challenge. It’s a huge opportunity for myself to be coached by Damien Duff and from a defenders point of view with Joey O’Brien who is top class. It’s very exciting.”

Shelbourne have been a famous club in Ireland in the past. They’re 13-time LOI champions and during the late-90s and early-00s they were a regular presence in European competition. But financial worries led to their Premier Division licence being ripped up in 2007 and they haven’t been the same since then. They’ve made it back up to the top flight sporadically through the years, most recently two seasons ago when they went down again after finishing second-to-last and losing a playoff. However they won the second tier last season so they’re back in the top flight to hopefully make it stick this time. This’ll be their fourth season in the Premier Division over the last 16 years.

Their head coach, as you may have noticed, is none other than Irish legend Damien Duff. Formerly of Chelsea. Formerly, briefly, of Melbourne City and Thomas had most recently been playing for Victorian NPL side Oakleigh Cannons so there’s bound to have been some connection there. Duff did play for several years at Blackburn Rovers too but he left just before Ryan Nelsen arrived.

Tough start for Shelbourne though. They were up against St Patrick’s Athletic, last year’s runners up, and were popped 3-0. Adam Thomas was an unused sub. Immediately into the matchday squad but not quite there yet for the ol’ debut. Surely just a matter of time.

Up Next: Away to Drogheda United on Saturday at 8.45am (NZT)

Francis De Vries – IFK Värnamo (Swedish Allsvenskan)

First game of the season, get in there. Francis De Vries named on the bench for the opening League Cup group stage fixture and getting a solid half hour in there against Ängelholms FF in a 2-1 win. Came on in a double sub along with Haris Avdiu while it was still 1-0 and then Avdiu scored with one of his very first touches to double the lead. Let in a very late consolation goal but still took the points no worries. FDV played left-back. You can see him waving his arms in frustration after the concession.

Up Next: League Cup groups stage matchday two, Sunday at 1am against GAIS (NZT)

Nik Tzanev – AFC Wimbledon (English League One)

You know things didn’t go so well when the 18 players in the matchday squad, plus the nine backroom staff, combine forces after a match to refund every travelling fan after a game. It was a 480-mile round trip according to the Dons’ website so a decent amount of financial damage to go see your team get pumped 4-0 to be fair. Rate that gesture from the club. Would have been preferable to just not lost 4-0 in the first place though, to be fair. At least none of them were explicitly Nik Tzanev’s fault... though the defenders in front of him won’t be dodging any blame, there were some ugly ones in there.

The Dons are only one point ahead of the relegation zone now. They haven’t won since December 8 – that’s 13 League One games without victory plus they got bounced from the FA Cup by non-league Boreham Wood during that time too. Only thing keeping them afloat right now is that they have held on for quite a few draws.

Up Next: Gillingham vs Dons on Weds at 8.45am, then Dons vs Doncaster on Sun at 4am (NZT)

Tommy Smith – Colchester United (English League Two)

This was also one of those ‘less said the better’ games. Probably wouldn’t have made the cut had the women not been on international break, leaving a few spare rooms in the Flying Kiwis household this week. Smithy did get a full game so that was nice. But they almost conceded inside 90 seconds and did end up conceding in the 16th, 49th, and 94th minute. Colchester had good possession throughout and hit the post at one stage while it was 2-0 but they lacked the cutting edge of their opponents. Hence why Northampton Town are challenging for promotion and Colchester are hoping to avoid relegation.

Up Next: Double gameweek against Hartlepool on Weds at 8.45am and then Oldham on Sun at 4am (NZT)

George Stanger – Dumbarton FC (Scottish League One)

Go on then. George Stanger was released by Hamilton Academical a little while back and then resurfaced playing down the divisions at University of Stirling FC. Not the highest standard out there but it did smell like an in-between move at the time. And that still stocks up because he’s just gone out on loan to Dumbarton to play out the rest of the season, a leap up two divisions from where he had been. From the Lowland League (tier five) to League One (tier three).

Manager Stevie Farrell: “George is only 21 and has a lot of time on his side to progress further in the game. We're delighted to have him on board and he gives us another option in defence as we enter the business end of the season.”

Task here is to help Dumbarton avoid relegation. First step was against Alloa Athletic and Stanger was immediately into the team, playing 78 minutes at right back. Not his ideal position but he did get shoehorned in there for the Accies a bit before he was released so not entirely unfamiliar. Anyway, it was 1-1 when he was subbed off but a few mins later they conceded the winner. Lost 2-1. This was that winning goal, yikes...

Means they get overtaken on the ladder by Alloa, still two points clear of the relegation playoff spot but Peterhead have played two fewer games so it’s gonna get frisky. As it happens they play Peterhead next.

Hey and how’s this for a funky fact. George Stanger had never played League One in Scotland prior to that game, it was his debut in the division. However he did spent some time out on loan with Stirling Albion earlier in his career at League Two level. Chuck in his six appearances for Hamilton Academical in the Premiership and a couple in the Championship at the start of this season after they were relegated and before he was released (the right back games), along with his Lowlands stint and George Stanger has now played in each of the top five levels in Scotland. And he’s done it by age 21.

Up Next: Sunday at 4am, Peterhead vs Dumbarton (NZT)

Bill Tuiloma – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)

The contrasts of preseason footy. One Timbers friendly ended like this for Billy T...

Another friendly ended like this for Billy T...

He scored a screamer last season in an MLS game from a direct free kick too, not to mention the slightly more fortunate free kick he scored for the All Whites last year. The man’s sneakily becoming an undercover set piece menace. Let the fact be known.

Up Next: MLS begins with a Sunday 1.30pm kickoff against New England (NZT)

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