Flying Kiwis – December 6
Matthew Garbett - NAC Breda (Dutch Eerste Divisie)
Not gonna lie, we were skating on some thin ice with the Flying Kiwis this week. The ladies were all on international break and the fellas weren’t getting up to much... until Matthew Garbett, on Tuesday morning, came through to save the weekly roundup with a leading performance.
A goal and an assist in a 5-0 win away against Jong PSV (aka the PSV reserves), in what was by far his finest performance of the season to date. Two assists if you count winning a penalty as such because he did that too. There was also a yellow card in there... but to balance that out he completed 27/30 passes and a couple of successful dribbles and was fouled four times. And he made three tackles in case you were worried about the defensive output. He worked hard. He got the rewards.
Although, to be fair, his goal was a weird one. The Breda boys were busy claiming a penalty after a perceived nudge in the area, while the Jong PSV keeper tried to roll the ball out quickly and keep things going, perhaps distract from the previous incident. Well, he distracted them alright. Garbett rushed up and stole the ball then slotted it past the goalie for 1-0 after 13 minutes. It happened so suddenly that the camera didn’t even catch it properly.
It was a slippery evening in Eindhoven so that might explain how Garbett later almost gave up a generous one of his own, losing his footing to cough up the ball about thirty metres out with the subsequent attack ending up with the crossbar getting rattled. But they survived that scare and then within a minute of the second half getting underway they’d won a penalty. Funny thing is Garbett looked to have given up on the long ball that was heading his way and then the Jong PSV keeper came rushing out and clattered him anyway. Didn’t even do anything and he’d won a penalty, that’s how influential he was in this game. Then later on he produced a delightful chip in behind for Sigurd Haugen to score another.
Chuck in two other goals that weren’t Garbett-related and this was NAC Breda’s biggest win of the season. Just like last term, it seems they’re now outgrowing a slow start (during which time Garbett was mostly out injured). Not only are they now up to seventh but they’re actually only four points off second – aka automatic promotion. Willem II are running away with things but beneath them it’s all on. At the very least Breda should be able to kick on in the second half of the campaign and make the playoffs.
Matt Garbett: “It was a wonderful evening. What else can you ask for after a 0-5? This is the boost we needed. Compliments to everyone. This was a perfect evening.”
Up Next: NAC Breda vs TOP Oss on Saturday at 8am (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Wasn’t too shabby for Ryan Thomas and PEC Zwolle either, who laid the beat down upon relegation-threatened FC Volendam for a 5-0 win of their own...
You don’t have to ask if Thomas played because he’s back now to being a regular starter. During the international break he did 70 minutes in a friendly. He followed that with 59 minutes in defeat against Waalwijk last week. This game saw him hit a new season’s best with 84 mins. Just causally hanging out there in the midfield winning four tackles (equal most in the game), completing 87.3% of his passes, and generally just ensuring that the blokes in front of him could do what they do best.
Which, other than a few hints early on, they didn’t really start doing until the last half hour. This game was still scoreless after 55 minutes when Zwolle dodged a bullet as a long shot was parried towards a Volendam forward who blasted it over the top on the volley. A rare chance for the home side but proof that Zwolle needed to be a little sharper than they had been. So they were. Three minutes later they took the lead in a move that involved Ryan Thomas securing possession on halfway and Odysseus Velanas finishing things off.
Three minutes after that, Velanas set up Ferdy Druijf to make it 2-0. Five minutes later Druijf scored his second and it was 3-0. Three goals in eight minutes to absolutely take the game away from their opponents. Lennart Thy would eventually scored a fourth which was the signal for Ryan Thomas to take his rest. Druijf still had time to complete his hat-trick towards the end. Incredibly, Druijf had only just been subbed on when all the goal-scoring began.
Needless to say this was Zwolle’s biggest win of the season, in fact you’ve got to go back to September 2019 for the last time they scored five times in an Eredivisie game, and April 2019 for the last time they won by five goals. This was their second instance of scoring more than two in a league game since being promoted. It was their third clean sheet of the term – Thomas has played in two of them. Good yarns all around.
Up Next: PEC Zwolle vs NEC Nijmegen on Sunday at 8am (NZT)
Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)
It was like a Burnley reunion as Forest faced Everton on Sunday morning NZT. Chris Wood up against his old manager Sean Dyche, as well as ex-teammates James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil. Sounds like a game stacked with narrative potential... unfortunately it was a bang average evening of footy... until maybe the last twenty minutes.
Everton have just had a massive points deduction (maybe it’ll get overturned on appeal, we’ll find out eventually). Forest haven’t been in great form lately and pressure is growing upon manager Steve Cooper. Both teams played like they were carrying that weight, keeping things quite tentative.
To make matters worse, Forest seemed to pick up a couple more defensive injuries – with Willy Boly having to be replaced at half-time while Murilo was able to drag himself through his own knock. In fact Chris Wood hyperextended his knee in the first half as well, which his manager claims he did well to battle through. But battle through it he did: playing ninety minutes for only the second time this season (the other being his two-goal effort against Luton Town). Not sure if that means he’ll be in doubt for tomorrow’s game against Fulham but if he doesn’t play then that’ll be why.
Anyway, Beto scooped a golden chance over the top for Everton while McNeil also had one cleared off the line amidst an otherwise boring first half. Second half wasn’t shaping to be any better although it was always one moment away from cracking and that moment arrived on 67’ when Dwight McNeil lashed in a fine strike after taking down a deep cross. It was only then that Forest began to threaten goals of their own. They’d probably have been happy with a nil-all... now with that taken away from them they began to offer a little more funkiness.
Wood was lurking on the edge of the box for an Anthony Elanga cut-back that never happened. Murilo drove forward and forced a save from twenty yards out. Suddenly a few more crosses were flying over. But they left it too late and went down to a 1-0 defeat. That’s four defeats in the last five for NFFC and only one win from ten since the victory against Chelsea back in early September. Less than ideal areas.
Up Next: Fulham vs Nottm Forest at 8.30am Thursday, then Wolves vs Nottm Forest at 4am Sunday (NZT)
Liberato Cacace – Empoli (Italian Serie A)
It’d be cool to be chatting Libby Cacace goals and assists and clean sheets but given how things have been tracking for Empoli this season there are three bigger hurdles to overcome in each game before those higher milestones can be considered.
Did Cacace get the start? Yes, away to Genoa he did exactly that, his third in a row and ninth overall (out of 14 games this season). In fact he even got ninety minutes.
Did Empoli score a goal? Yes, they did, courtesy of Matteo Cancellieri in the 67th minute, Cancelliering out the Ruslan Malinovskyi (37’) goal that had given Genoa the half-time lead.
Did Empoli avoid defeat? Yes, three outta three, they held on for the 1-1 draw in a pretty dull game in which poor finishing afflicted both teams.
Empoli are always bad with that but Genoa were atrocious in this game with only 1/21 total shots on target. The only surprise about the draw was that it wasn’t a goalless one. Ironically the goal that Genoa did score was a stonker from outside the area, tracing a laser into the bottom corner. Genoa also hit the crossbar in the first half. But Empoli improved after the break and earned their share of the spoils. Cacace made a couple of tackles and three clearances plus he passed the ball well (completing at 82% accuracy).
This point keeps Empoli one above the relegation zone despite having scored the fewest goals in the division and conceded the equal-second most. They have scored in four games in a row now though... the four games in a row that Cacace has started. It’s still true that he has the best on/off xG differential of any player in the Empoli squad. The best on/off goal difference of anyone who’s played more than 150 minutes too.
Up Next: Empoli vs Lecce at 6.30am on Tuesday (NZT)
Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)
Vikingpodden: It’s a bit different now from when you arrived. There was a lot of momentum, we had ten wins in a row. Now it’s been a very, I would say, disappointing finish. How do you see it from your perspective?
Joe Bell: Yeah it has been a disappointing finish, obviously. We wanted to carry that momentum on all the way to the end of the season, that would have been the dream, but football tends to get in the way of that. I think we did bounce back in the last few weeks minus this result. Disappointing. Maybe slightly better than how it went last year at the end of the season but still so much to improve on. Next year we can maybe finish stronger.
When Joe Bell returned to Viking after a difficult time of it in Denmark with Brøndby, he joined a team on a winning streak aiming for the Norwegian championship. Definitely not saying it was his fault or anything but Bell never really settled into the team’s performances even when they were still on that unbeaten streak. He was in and out of the starting line-up over the last couple months and despite that incredible position they’d worked their way into... a 4-0 loss against Molde blew the wheels off and they only won two of their last eight matches.
Those two wins were their two most recent matches prior to this week. But they ended the campaign getting smashed 5-1 at home against Rosenborg. Bell only featured off the bench, subbed on after a penalty and a red card had allowed Viking to cut the deficit to 3-1 with twenty minutes plus add-ons to go against ten men. Bellinho did give them a shot of energy but all he got to show for it was a yellow card (one of several VFK players who got booked in the frantic latter stages). Then they conceded two late, late ones. It was a shambles of a finale to what for two-thirds of it had promised to be one of the great Viking Fotballklubb seasons.
Unfortunately Joe Bell only really caught the bad bits. One of the issues has been whether he and Markus Solbakken can operate together in the same midfield when they’re such similar players. The main point of optimism there is that next season they’ll actually get a preseason to figure things out (unless Solbakken leaves – there had been rumours).
With Brann and Tromso both dropping points in the final weekend, VFK could have finished as high as second with a big enough win. Instead they’re stuck in fourth. Outside the European spots... although that will change if rivals Bodø/Glimt can triumph over Molde in the Norwegian Cup final. In that case, VFK would get an early round entry into Europa Conference League qualifiers. So yeah: let’s go Bodø/Glimt. Get up, lads. You can do it!
Up Next: Back home for Christmas, clear the head
James McGarry - Aberdeen (Scottish Premiership)
The hope was that James McGarry would get to become the first New Zealander to play in the Europa Conference League group stages back when Aberdeen first dropped into this tier of continental competition soon after his arrival. But despite featuring in the qualifiers, he didn’t get on the pitch in the first game, then was injured for the next three, and unfortunately despite now being back in action he was an unused substitute away to HJK Helsinki in game five as well.
Then again, that might have actually been a blessing because football in Finland at this time of the year is not recommended. There’s a reason their domestic season finished weeks ago. That reason is to avoid scenes like this...
Yeah the snow was falling all game but midway through the second half it got heavy enough that they had to pause things and get three little tractors out there to plow the field and make it playable again. Took about ten minutes to do. Earlier the referee had needed to warn the away fans to stop throwing snowballs at the HKJ goalkeeper or else the game would have to be stopped. Naturally there were a few lunatics with their shirts off in the home section but yeah nah not really a game you wanted to take the jacket off for if you were on the bench.
Aberdeen did manage to fight back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 so that was something. They’ve already been eliminated though. Maybe McGarry will get his chance in the matchday six game against Eintracht Frankfurt.
McGarry did get the start at left wing-back in their Scottish Premiership match away to Hibernian a couple days later. Sadly, they lost that one 2-0. McGarry got 70-odd minutes before he was subbed - his first start since returning from injury so that’s something. This match came exactly three months after he’d made his first Scottish Prem start of all... in a 2-0 loss to Hibernians. Some things don’t change.
Two soft goals conceded. The first on 18’ was a punt by the Hibs goalie that somehow split the Dons defence straight down the middle leading to a tap-in. Then the second on 70’ was a dominant back post header from a corner kick. Both the kinds of things that have coaches in fits on the sideline.
And yet in between those two moments they were pretty decent, even hitting the post from close range late in the first half (a chance that Bojan Miovski really should have done better with). They had a decent claim for a penalty overlooked. Almost the best moment of all was when the Hibs goalie spilled one under pressure and the bro McGarry was there to stick his head on it and... hit the post. But he kicked in the second rebound, only to turn and find the ref had whistled for the initial foul on the keeper. Then Mivoski hit the post again, before a defensive clearance from inside the six yard box as the play continued. Another Miovski shot that went wide from ten yards. they had their chances for sure.
Oh yeah and Miovski also missed a penalty near the end as well. It was a game that the Dons could have won 4-1 and instead they lost 2-0. One of those days.
Meanwhile just the cheeky dozen minutes for Alex Greive off the bench as St Mirren lost 2-0 away to Rangers. The scoreline flattered them, it was a very one-sided affair. Not much more to say from a Flying Kiwis perspective so we’ll leave it there.
Up Next: Aberdeen vs Kilmarnock, Thursday at 8.45am (NZT)
Jamie Searle – Forest Green Rovers (English League Two)
FGR are committed to keeping Jamie Searle as their backup goalie. Bristol Rovers veteran James Belshaw is still there on loan with first choice gloveman Luke Daniels out injured (although getting closer to a return). Belshaw was signed on a seven-day emergency loan which has been rolled over week after week and more than two months later he’s still there and getting all the League Two starts. That doesn’t mean that Searle is on the outer. Simply that they don’t think he’s quite ready for that stage yet and want to give him a year as a cup keeper to grow into things. Although Belshaw also got the starts in their two FA Cup games so far, the pesky bugger.
Hence this EFL Trophy knockout game was pretty important for JS. Rovers are still in the FA Cup but Searle is no guarantee to get games there. Dunno about Belshaw’s future once Daniels is back but he probably can’t hang a hat on that either. So up against Oxford United – and their new manager Des Buckingham – there was a point to be made. Searle had been very good in his last couple group stage games. Now for the knockouts.
Alas, they lost 1-0. A Tyler Goodrham goal early in the second half was the difference between the two teams. Oxford United have been excellent this season, they only changed managers because the last guy got poached by a richer club, so even with Buckingham making nine changes from their previous game they still had the edge in an uneventful first half (in which Searle made his only save of the game). After conceding, Forest Green stepped things up and finished stronger. They just couldn’t find a way through an Oxford United defence that has now kept three clean sheets in a row. Damn. Not sure when Searle’s next game will come around now, might just have to content himself with training ground graft for a wee while.
The EFL Trophy, aka the Papa John’s Trophy, is the same one that Ben Waine’s Plymouth Argyle made it to the final of last year. Not looking great for a repeat of that because the Fulham U21s that Matt Dibley-Dias would have been a part of were he fit went down 3-2 against Wycombe. Also a Tommy Smith captained MK Dons side were thumped 4-0 by the Brighton U21s after having kept things scoreless at half-time. A red card for a last man challenge at 2-0 spoiled things and Smithy was subbed soon after, with the team conceding twice more without him.
However there was better news for Max Crocombe’s Burton Albion, who topped Wrexham 3-2. Once again Crocombe is the scourge of the Disney+ fanbase... it was Crocombe’s Grimsby Town who knocked Wrexham out of the promotion playoffs back in the National League two seasons ago. Incredibly, Burton were 2-0 up after only three minutes. They were then 3-1 up for most of the second stanza although James McClean did get subbed on to set up a late one for Wrexham to ensure a couple of frisky moments at the end. McClean another one who can’t like the sight of Crocombe after his final international appearance ended in a 1-1 draw against the All Whites a couple of weeks ago. Also, Nik Tzanev and AFC Wimbledon’s game got postponed and will be played in two weeks so they’re still in the hat as well.
These games came hot on the heels of the FA Cup second rounders on the weekend. And... those ones didn’t go great for the kiwis either. Nik Tzanev’s AFC Wimbledon won 5-0 but he had to watch from the bench as the new number one got a cup start to go with all his league starts. Tyler Bindon was given a game off for Reading who scored an 86th minute equaliser against non-League Eastleigh... but then conceded a stoppage time winner even later. Max Mata was only an unused sub for Shrewsbury though at least they won 3-2 away against Notts County. A few of the others had already been eliminated (Smith, Crocombe). Searle’s FGR tie was postponed due to poor weather conditions.
That at least means there are at least a couple of them still in the mix though, plus the third round is when the upper tier clubs join the fun so that supplies a couple more. Here’s what we’ve got in store for round three of the FA Cup, with these games to be played on the weekend of Saturday 7 January 2024...
Shrewsbury Town (Max Mata) vs Wrexham
Fulham (Matt Dibley-Dias) vs Rotherham United
AFC Wimbledon (Nik Tzanev) vs Ipswich Town
Nottingham Forest (Chris Wood) vs Blackpool/Forest Green Rovers (Jamie Searle)
Plymouth Argyle (Ben Waine) vs Sutton United
Up Next: FGR vs Wrexham at 4am on Sunday (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
He’s back. There had been some inklings in Minnesota as to whether Boxy might have played his last game for the club given how he was at the end of his contract and all. With a new coach and a new director of football incoming, it wasn’t unreasonable to think they might decide it time to move beyond a 35 year old international centre-back. But the club had an option on his deal and the mana was too much to deny.
Michael Boxall, at the end of the season: “I'm not too worried. I'm a one-day-at-a-time guy and everything else will take care of itself down the road.”
Boxall is among 21 players under contract with the Loons heading into the 2024 campaign. With exactly 200 MLS regular season appearances to his name, Boxy is likely to surpass Simon Elliott’s NZ record of 220 next year, although he’ll need another term on top of that one to reach Elliott if you’re counting all those playoff games. Elliott made it to 247 games overall, Boxy is at 206.
Meanwhile Bill Tuiloma was already under contract at Charlotte FC though after getting iced out of the second half of the season he’ll perhaps be relieved that CFC have dumped their coach. Both Tuiloma and Boxall will be trying to impress new gaffers next year. By the way, Tuiloma is up to 129 MLS apps (5 of those in playoffs). Tyler Boyd is off-contract at LA Galaxy but has been “extended a bona fide offer” to keep him in town after the 28yo dual international scored 7 goals and provided 4 assists for LAG in 2023, reviving his career after staying a little too long in Turkey without enough reward.
Down a tier in the USL Championship, similar end of season roster moves have been announced as well. Wouldn’t claim that those ones have gone quite as swimmingly for the kiwi lads though.
Deklan Wynne has arranged a contract termination with Charleston Battery, while Jesse Randall has not had his second year option taken up. Charleston made a run all the way to the grand final where they lost on penalties but Randall barely got a look in all year while Wynne seemed to disappear down the stretch – not playing in any of their four playoff games despite having been a prominent starter for most of the year. Wynne started 24/25 games to begin... then only made three subs apps in the remaining 11.
Kyle Adams was not amongst the first list of roster moves for Louisville City, where he had a strong campaign after being traded for mid-term. No news yet on whether Trevor Zwetsloot will have his second-year option picked up by Pittsburgh Riverhounds but given how he never really established himself there and disappeared in the latter months you’d think probably not. Moses Dyer supposedly signed a multi-year deal with FC Tulsa so we should be all good there. Still waiting on Colorado Springs Switchbacks to do anything, with James Musa up in the air over there.
Up Next: Offseason days
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