Flying Kiwis – January 24
Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)
It all happened so quickly. Last week Chris Wood was doing his typical thing as a late sub for Newcastle, this week he’s a newly minted Nottingham Forest player. A six month loan with an obligation to purchase his services on a permanent basis should certain unspecified criteria be achieved (avoiding relegation will be one, probably an appearance/goal buffer too in case of injury/poor form). Wood will wear the 39 jersey for Forest. There’s officially a new Sheriff of Nottingham.
Back in December there had been some sturdy chatter that Newcastle had no intention of moving him along and Woodsy himself was happy to stay and fight for his place. Then again, that was at a time where he’d always been no worse than the backup option, playing at least some part in pretty much every game. Then Alexander Isak got fit again which for the first time also coincided with a healthy Callum Wilson... and in the two games in which all three of the Toon strikers were available at once, Wood was an unused sub and then a 96th minute sub.
He wasn’t likely to get much playing time over the next six months and the writing was already on the wall for his long term prospects from the moment he signed. He served a very valuable purpose for Newcastle but with that purpose achieved it made sense to listen when Forest popped up offering him a starting role at least while Taiwo Awoniyi is out injured for the next two months.
The main reason to stay at Newcastle would be to see out what’s been a brilliant half-season so far, and maybe sacrifice any hope of regular minutes for a rare chance of playing some Champions League next term – the only chance that Wood’s ever gonna get unless he leaves England. But then it’s going to take a lot of bench-warming to make that dream happen. Worth it? Probably not.
And thus events did transpire.
Chris Wood: “It’s a great feeling and I am very thankful to be here. Nottingham Forest is a massive club which I have come up against a number of times, but it’s nice now to be able to pull on the red shirt and fight for the club. You can see the transition over the past 18 months and it’s progressing in the right way. It’s a project that’s going in the right direction. It’s a club looking up rather than anything else, it’s going to take a lot of hard work, but it’s a squad that’s pulling together. I’ve been in this league a long time, so hopefully I’ll bring a lot of experience to try and help the younger lads out and bring everybody together. As a visiting player, it’s always been a hostile atmosphere at The City Ground. The crowd are loud and strong, so I’m thankful to have that passionate fanbase on my side now and I can’t wait to get playing there.”
Forest needed to get Wood registered before midday the day before their game against Bournemouth if he was to be eligible to play. They snuck that transfer in under the wire and there ya go. No time to catch his breath. He was into the starting line-up away against Bournemouth without even having the opportunity to train with his new teammates.
Steve Cooper set up his team in a Christmas Tree 4-3-2-1 formation with Woodsy up front and Morgan Gibbs-White and Brennan Johnson backing him up as the tens. And despite a few instances of Wood and his new bros not being on the same page, there was also one low early cross from Serge Aurier sent in his direction. Close enough to the keeper for him to get there first, Wood then leapfrogging him on the end of his run, but the intent was the key thing. Newcastle weren’t doing such things.
Forest started well, with MGW testing the keeper early. Plenty of decent attacking instances including a goal for Ryan Yates which was eventually overruled for a narrow offside. Wood had been one of the first in amongst the celebration but they’d have to wind it back and start again. What Wood really wanted was a chance like Keifer Moore got up the other end when he headed over from about eight yards wide open. NF on top with most of the ball but Bournemouth looking more than decent on the break.
Unfortunately it was the rapid transition attacks that won out. Dango Ouattara made a sharp run down the right edge for the Cherries before sending in a low cross towards Jaidon Anthony who took one touch to steady himself on the move then, without breaking stride, slipped in a sneaky finish to give Bournemouth the lead. They should have soon made it two but Moore couldn’t score 1v1 nor could Jordan Zemura on the rebound thanks to a goal-line block by Joe Worrall.
Not quite the dream debut then. 1-0 down at half-time and yet to stamp his foot down. There were a couple times when Wood’s Newcastle tendencies slipped out and he pressed hard from the front before realising there was nobody there to help him. Remarkably Nottingham Forest had only scored two away from home this season - the fewest of any team in the four divisions of the Football League. So it’s not like Wood has joined a team that’s full of shots and chances... but then that’s why they wanted him, to help fix that.
The second half was more of the same. One sharp cross in his direction but Gibbs-White got in his way and they both missed it. A few more crosses that weren’t so well placed. He followed up on a MGW shot that the keeper parried wide enough to avoid a Wood tap-in. Otherwise there were some useful instances of Wood throwing his physicality around up top but yeah the whole zero training sessions thing did seem to be a factor with very limited service appearing in his direction.
Wood was subbed off as part of a triple change with quarter of an hour to go... and the bloke who replaced him, Sam Surridge, later scored the equaliser as he just managed to stay onside to tap in his first Premier League goal with about five remaining. Surridge is a perennial substitute who has only started one of his 13 league appearances this season so need to worry about him scooping up Wood’s role... although he might get a run during the next couple games: the League Cup semis against Manchester United, which Chris Wood is cup-tied for having already played for fellow semi-finalists Newcastle.
Anyway, it ended Bournemouth 1, Newcastle 1. A point away from home. No dramas there.
Up Next: Annoyingly the next game that the Woodsman is eligible for isn’t until Monday 6 February at 3am when Forest host Leeds United in the Prem (NZT)
Anna Leat – Aston Villa (English Super League)
Fresh from a relatively simple outing in the win against Spurs, Anna Leat was back in the line-up again for what shaped as a much trickier task... away to Manchester City. An unchanged eleven from Carla Ward’s team after the manager was given a new contract during the week. That’s what we like to see.
Leat confidently punched away the first corner she faced although there was a sketchy moment with a first-time pass towards her right back that got intercepted in the corner, leading to a Bunny Shaw shot... though Dan Turner was in close attention to deflect that thing out for a corner. That was the third shot that Shaw had taken within the opening five minutes, thankfully she was closely attended each time. Shaw – a former teammate of Erin Nayler’s at Bordeaux – has been one of the form strikers in the WSL this season. By the way, that intercepted pass was the only one that Leat would misplace all day excluding long balls (of which there weren’t very many – Leat’s ability on the ball shining through once again).
‘Twas a bright start from City with Chloe Kelly also smashing one into the side-netting, but nothing to draw a save out of Leat and once Villa’s midfield were able to hang onto some possession things soon levelled out. That is until Man City took the lead in the 28th when Shaw made use of her gravitational pull by drawing in a couple defenders and slipping a superb pass in behind for Deyna Castellanos. The Ecuador midfielder ran through to finish one on one. Leat did all she could and it wasn’t nearly enough. Really nice goal... but the lead would only last a couple of minutes. Cross from Rachel Daly. Shot from Kirsty Hanson. Keeper got a hand to it but it still looped in. 1-1 after 31 minutes.
If anything it was Villa who looked more likely to score across the rest of the half. Leat did end up making a couple saves but easy mahi there. Meanwhile any time that Rachel Daly or Kenza Dali could get running at the City defence they looked dangerous... if not for MCY’s offside trap they may well have scored again.
Villa beat City earlier in the season and while Manchester City have upped their standards since... so have Aston Villa thanks to the transfer market (Jordan Nobbs and Lucy Staniforth, what up). Both teams kept at it believing they could find a winner. Hanson hit the post for AVL early in the second half (she’s on loan from Man Utd so a bit of extra motivation there), meanwhile Shaw went close at the other end with a header. Ellie Roebuck had to dive to stop Dali’s volley. Then Anna Leat matched her with a great low save rushing out on Shaw and then again from another tight angle at the very end.
Final score: 1-1. Very commendable from an Aston Villa perspective. They’ve taken four points of Manchester City this season and are sitting pretty in sixth place on the ladder with very realistic designs upon rising at least one more spot by the end of it.
Unfortunately there wasn’t much else going on in the WSL worth recapping... unless you like ice-skating. Three of the six games this weekend were postponed due to poor weather. That included Tottenham versus Leicester City and also Brighton vs Arsenal. CJ Bott and Rebekah Stott therefore had to settle for short notice training sessions instead of games.
Both of them did also have matches in the midweek with Conti Cup fixtures to be caught up... but neither played there either. For Bott, it was a case of Leicester rotating things with only a small chance of making the knockouts. They only picked three players on the bench and Bott wasn’t one of them. She was rested after a tireless effort in the win over Brighton only three days earlier, one of four changes to the eleven made by gaffer Willie Kirk.
Leicester were up against Manchester City needing to win to have any chance of progressing. They didn’t win... but they did defend valiantly for most of the game right up until the 90th minute when Filippa Angeldahl scored the winner for City. The Foxes bow out in the group stage. Oh well, so it goes.
Brighton are also out despite a 0-0 draw and a penalty shootout win for the bonus point against West Ham last week. Annoyingly Rebekah Stott wasn’t even in the matchday squad. New manager Jens Scheuer wanted to give his struggling team a chance to make the knockouts – which they would have achieved had they found a winner against West Ham. Didn’t happen, they’re out too. Stotty’s still awaiting her first appearance of the season.
By the way, those Conti Cup quarter finals are happening this midweek. Aston Villa are there and have a ruthless trip away to face Arsenal. Probably will see Hannah Hampton start that considering Leat’s gotten the last two league games... but we’ll see how it goes. The other quarters are: Bristol City vs Manchester City, Liverpool vs West Ham, and Spurs vs Chelsea.
Up Next: Arsenal vs Aston Villa in the WSL Cup quarters on Friday at 8.45am, then Villa vs Fylde in the FA Cup fourth round on Monday at 7am (NZT)
Abby Erceg – Racing Louisville (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Hold on, wait a minute, something ain’t right with that title. Racing Louisville!?
And there it is. In a sudden blockbuster trade, the North Carolina Courage traded Abby Erceg and Carson Pickett to Racing Louisville in exchange for Emily Fox (recently seen playing fullback for the USA against New Zealand). Didn’t see that coming, did ya?
This the latest in a long procession of Courage trades with a clear rebuilding focus. They’ve been dismantling everything to hoard young players and start again. However considering that Erceg has captained NCC since day one, signed a new multi-year contract last season with the intention of playing out her career there, was completely settled in the area, recently confirmed her international retirement in order to prioritise club footy for the rest of her career, and has stuck with the Courage through thick and thin over a rough few years... this one was a shocker.
Particularly after Erceg hinted in a statement thanking Courage fans for their support over the years that this wasn’t a trade that she’d asked for or expected. Not that it’s at all disappointing to see. The Courage have been a weird organisation ever since the Paul Riley scandal and that’s been reflected in results, missing the playoffs entirely in 2022. They clearly want to start from scratch, trading away top players for draft picks, a strategy which had Erceg tweeting out last week: “Yup, it’s official. We still suck at trades in 2023”. Dunno if that insubordination had anything to do with this trade, more likely they were gonna flip her regardless, but getting off that ship and onto a more stable one seems like the best thing for a 33yo central defender either way.
Plus they’ve packaged Abby Erceg and Carson Pickett – who are partners off the pitch – together which is the one genuinely kind thing about how this went down. Back when Erceg was dating Kristen Hamilton the Courage traded KH away while Erceg was on international duty... pretty savage. Pickett’s a fullback with outstanding crossing ability, capped by the USA and led the entire NWSL in assists last year. So while RL did give up an extremely good young player in Fox, they’ve gotten back two top tier veteran leaders in defence – an area they needed plenty of help with.
After this trade, Denise O’Sullivan is now the only player remaining from the Courage’s starting line-up in the 2019 NWSL grand final. Absolutely wild how they just tore that whole thing up (a lot of those players did request to leave... but that also ain’t a good sign). With Erceg linking back up with striker Jess McDonald in Louisville, they now better resemble that last NCC title team than the current NCC squad does. Aussie Alex Chidiac also plays for Louisville, who are coached by Sweden’s Kim Björkegren. This’ll be RL’s third season in existence and so far they’ve finished ninth each time.
Kim Björkegren: “This is a big move for us. Obviously Emily is a player of high quality. This trade, however, returns a great player at the left-back position in Carson and gives us a veteran central defender in Abby. Both players have great experience and talent and can help lead this team. Abby is great central defender. She is strong and good in the air. Her first touch is really good and very good even under pressure. Her leadership and quality will help this young group a lot. I coached Carson for a short while in Cyprus. She has a great personality, she is positive and, of course, she is a very good player. Her left foot is probably not just one of the best in the league but in the world.”
Abby Erceg: “I am excited to be joining Racing Louisville for the 2023 season. They are a young but progressing team in the league, and I am ready to bring in some of my experience in the hopes that we can all reach the utmost potential of the team together. I am optimistic that the new challenges and opportunities that are to come will continue to develop my career as a player, and I am looking forward to meeting all the girls soon.”
Righto, let’s just run through this all quickly...
Abby Erceg has played 157 times (and counting) in the NWSL including 10 playoff games, scoring 8 goals.
Add in another 13 games with 2 goals in the Challenge Cup.
She’s won three NWSL championships (all as captain) as well as one Challenge Cup title.
NWSL Defender of the Year in 2018.
One NWSL Best XI selection and two Second XI selections.
Two Challenge Cup Best XI selections.
Eight career Team of the Month selections (fourth most all-time).
Hopefully now that she’s on a more ambitious team she can now resume adding to those honours.
Up Next: New season starts in late March, with the Challenge Cup and NWSL running concurrently this year
Alex Greive - St Mirren (Scottish Premiership)
There was no way through over 120 minutes as St Mirren met Dundee FC in the Scottish Cup fourth round. That’s a long time for the Buddies to be held down by a team in the division below them. Alex Greive didn’t start but he was one of two blokes subbed on after 45 minutes, along with Ethan Erhahon, and it was he who went closest to putting St Mirren into the lead. Some prime poaching from Greivesy hanging around that six yard box while some head tennis took place... but unfortunately the flag flew up for an offside earlier in the move as he wheeled away in celebration having slotted that thing past the keeper and into the net.
St Mirren had survived a few sketchy moments in the first half but after that they were easily the dominant force. Just a matter of whether they could find a bloody goal or not. In extra time they would have loved for Greive to be involved in a three-man scramble around that six yard box again but alas it was a bunch of defenders and they all missed.
Thus off to penalties we went and... yeah no dramas there. Both teams missed their first efforts but then St Mirren scored three in a row, including Greive with the third overall (calmly drilled bottom corner to his left, keeper sent the wrong way). Meanwhile Dundee FC continued missing until the shootout was over. Saints keeper Trevor Carson made three saves in the shootout. Not quite Anna Leat levels but close.
0-0 after 120 minutes. St Mirren advance via a 3-0 penalty shootout tiebreaker. The Buddies are into the fifth round... where some bugger drew them up against Celtic.
Up Next: Sunday at 4am against Motherwell back in the Premiership (NZT)
Katie Rood - Heart of Midlothian (Scottish Premier League)
This Hearts team is really getting amongst it. After a 0-0 draw with Rangers last week, they’ve bagged a three-pointer away from home beating Aberdeen 1-0 thanks to an Emma Brownlie free kick with twenty to play. Rood started on the wing and got 82 minutes. Little bit of a quiet one within a very scrappy game in which Hearts had to dig deep to find a winner which extends their buffer in fourth place to eight points.
Also, don’t forget to keep it green. Protect your planet. Live in harmony with the natural world instead of in opposition to it. All them good things.
Up Next: Home against Celtic at 4am on Monday (NZT)
Ben Waine – Plymouth Argyle (English League One)
Another chunk of footy for Ben Waine, subbed on in the 65th minute as Plymouth faced Cheltenham. Had a couple of chances to score within that including flicking one into the side-netting from the near post. Still looking for that first League One goal but he’s continuing to make things happen.
The Pilgrims were already 3-1 up when he was introduced. A rapid-fire double-up between Dan Scarr and Ryan Hardie meant we went from 0-0 after 25 minutes to 2-0 after 28. Taylor Perry whipped in a tidy finish for Cheltenham to halve the deficit before the break, however Callum Wright ran through to make it 3-1 just before Waine was set to be subbed on. Cheltenham soon got another one back via Alfie May... but Plymouth still looked the better side and eventually Sam Cosgrove completed a lovely fourth and that was the way it ended. 4-2. The Argyle remain in first place for at least another week.
Footnote... interesting to see Argyle claiming that the money they’ve spent in January, including on Waine, was freed up thanks to projected revenue increases. Lots of wins and the potential of promotion has seen big crowds rock up which in turn has boosted the coffers. Good sustainable footballing areas.
Up Next: Sunday at 4am, top of the table clash away to Sheffield Wednesday (NZT)
Sarpreet Singh - SSV Jahn Regensburg (German Bundesliga 2)
It’s been a long time, much longer than it should have been, but that wait is almost over. Sarpreet Singh last played a competitive game of football on 2 April 2022 before a painful dose of pelvic inflammation ruled him out for the rest of that season and beyond... realistically he already hadn’t been the same for a couple of months at that stage while he tried to play through the hurt. 2022 was a year to forget for Sadi.
The first half of his season on loan at Regensburg had been nothing short of fantastic but then the injury slowed him right down before taking him out entirely. He missed the All Whites World Cup qualifiers. He then agreed a permanent move to Werder Bremen, to end his Bayern tenure but get him back into the Bundesliga, however that fell apart when he failed his medical. So Bayern loaned him back to SSV Jahn again... only for Regensburg to fail to register him properly thus adding another three months on the sideline until that could be amended in January.
It’s not quite as long as Ryan Thomas was out for but it’s a lot longer than it should have been. Now a couple weeks after Thommo’s own return it’s time for Sarpreet Singh to do the same as Regensburg resume their campaign after the winter break.
And SSV Jahn are desperate for a revival of Superstarpreet excellence. It’s been a strange season for them so fa and butchering the rego for Singh is only part of it. After starting the season with seven points from their first three games things quickly flipped in the other direction and they’ve won just three times since to find themselves only two points above the relegation zone at the halfway stage (albeit in a crowded lower table). 17 games played and 19 points gained, with only 20 goals scored. Somehow in the middle of all that their coach was given a contract extension (same coach as was there with Singh last year so that’s fine by us) while their football director resigned in the wake of the Singh registration drama.
If there’s a silver lining to his extended absence, it’s that Singh is completely ready to go now and has even had the benefit of a few winter friendlies to give him a running start. He was subbed on at half-time of the first of those, a 0-0 draw against SpVgg Bayreuth. Didn’t lead to a goal but by all accounts he definitely gave the team a much-needed spark in attack. That was two weeks ago. He then started the next game, a 1-0 win over Austrian side Kapfenberger SV, playing 63 minutes before he took his bow. And yeah, you guessed it, he got the assist for that winning goal. And just this past weekend they split the squad for two practice games against different opponents Steyr and DJK Vilzing. Singh played 83 minutes in the second of those matches with SSV winning 5-1.
Doesn’t appear to be video of those games but there is a clip of Singh chatting with team media after his comeback game in the first friendly. Spoken entirely in German though so you may need to hire a translator.
Up Next: Darmstadt vs Jahn Regensburg, Sunday at 1am (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eerste Divisie)
There is positive news about the arm injury from last week, so breathe a large sigh of relief. Despite being taken to hospital to have a cast put on, with his manager suggesting a suspected dislocated elbow, nobody seemed to be freaking out about Ryan Thomas’ injury afterwards which was always a good sign. They seemed to know it was nothing serious. In fact a few days later his manager still gave him the tiniest chance of playing the very next match...
PEC Zwolle manager Dick Schreuder: “The cast was removed on Thursday, we still have to see if he is in the selection. I don't expect it.”
Naturally Thomas was not in the squad to face VVV-Venlo... but for him to even be considered tells you that he shouldn’t be long on the sidelines. The cast is already off. He’s featured in three games in the last two weeks so his match fitness is getting back up there. No reason to panic – might even see him back next week.
Without him, Zwolle were able to slip past VVV for a 2-0 win at home. Despite having 70% of possession and heaps more chances it wasn’t until minute 74 that Davy van den Berg finally gave them the lead, then Lennart Thy added a second five mins later to confirm the three points. Meanwhile Heracles had their game postponed so Zwolle are now three points clear at the top of the Eerste Divisie with both teams having played twenty matches. They’re also now 11 points clear of third place which means that automatic promotion is looking likelier than it has all season.
Up Next: PEC Zwolle vs TOP Oss on Saturday at 8am (NZT)
Nando Pijnaker & Max Mata – Sligo Rovers (League of Ireland Premier Division)
Sneaky wee preseason game against the Wigan U21s team. Ended in a 1-1 draw with Max Mata getting the goal. Mata played the full ninety. Nando Pijnaker also started and was one of six half-time changes made with an emphasis on spreading out the minutes, as you do in these kinda friendlies. All good stuff. Mata was also on target in a 5-1 win over Fleetwood Town a couple days earlier. Gonna be hitting the ground running this season, that dude.
Up Next: Heaps more friendlies where that all came from
Matt Dibley-Dias - Fulham (English Premier League)
Chucking this one up here to keep a conversation going. Dibley-Dias has been steadily rising up the ranks at Fulham and is now a regular for their U21s where he’s played in a few different positions though mostly in the midfield. Scores some banger goals too. This one here was against Porto in the Premier League International Cup, a game which Fulham won 3-0. Makes you wonder how close he is to perhaps sneaking into the first team equation.
MDD was both in Aotearoa though raised in England with English, Portuguese, and Brazilian heritage making him eligible for all four nations. His priority is Brazil for obvious reasons but NZ Football have definitely made some overtures and, let’s be honest, one of those four countries is much easier to crack than the others. Ball’s at his feet now so if he wants to play at the U20 World Cup then he can with Aotearoa. Come on Matty Dibs, you know you want to.
Up Next: Bit more U21s mahi away to Everton on Saturday morning (NZT)
Liberato Cacace – Empoli (Italian Serie A)
Yeah he’s on fire... in training. Putting in the work and staying ready having only made two appearances from 19 league games. That’s how it goes in professional footy sometimes, especially at the top level, just gotta make sure you’re good to go when the opportunity arises. Maybe they could chuck Libby up front with some of that finishing?
Cacace watched on for the duration this week as Empoli pulled off the prime result of their entire season to date with a 1-0 win against a ten-man Inter Milan side (which also sends them above Juventus on the table, thanks to Juve’s 15 point deduction). Milan Skriniar had been given a second yellow after forty minutes. Tommaso Baldanzi later scored the winner after 66 mins, less than two minutes after the 19 year old emerging playmaker had been subbed on (keeper could done better with the save but still a good strike from outside the area). Fabiano Parisi played the entire second half on a yellow but Cacace never got summoned to replace him. That was Parisi’s fifth yellow of the season though so that should mean a suspension for next time...
Up Next: Empoli vs Torino on Sunday at 3am (NZT)
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