Flying Kiwis – July 23
Finn Surman - Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
These things don’t tend to stay secret for very long, so by the time Finn Surman was unveiled as a Portland Timbers player we’d already known what was coming. Yet another Wellington Phoenix player moving to a top tier league around the world – and the third Nix Academy graduate to net a significant transfer fee in the past few weeks, following on from Alex Paulsen’s move to Bournemouth and Ben Old’s move to Saint-Étienne. All three of those transfers are understood to have topped the incoming fees arranged for Sarpreet Singh (Bayern Munich) and Liberato Cacace (Sint Truiden). Outrageously good business from the Nix and a magnificent representation of the calibre of players they’ve been developing.
Surman joined the Phoenix Academy back in 2019 as a 15-year-old, moving from Selwyn United in his home city of Christchurch (shortly after Matt Sheridan made the same trip – now they’re both in the same NZ Olympic squad). He leaves five years later with 48 A-League appearances to his name, most of those coming last season where he played almost every available minute (he was subbed as they chased a goal in extra time of the elimination final but was everpresent up until then), forming a powerful partnership with import Scott Wootton for the best defence in the A-League. He’s signed a contract with Portland until 2026, with a club option for one further year if so desired and will link up with them permanently after the Olympics.
PTFC General Manager Ned Grabavoy: “We are delighted with the acquisition of Finn Surman. Finn has shown great promise at an early stage in his career, and our club is excited to continue supporting his development to take necessary strides forward as a player. We believe he has the skillset and attributes to succeed in MLS, and we look forward to welcoming him to his new home here with the Portland Timbers.”
PTFC Head Coach Phil Neville: “We are really excited with the signing of Finn. He’s a great, young defender to add to our stable of defenders. We have tracked him for a long time and seen his growth throughout. He is now competing in the Olympics, and I think he will come back and bring another quality to the team that we’ve been looking for.”
The move emerged while Surman was away with the All Whites at the Oceania Nations Cup last month nad he’d already dropped by Portland to take care of the formalities prior to linking up with the NZ U23s in Paris for the Olympics. The Nix have done particularly well to get what sounds like a big (undisclosed) fee for him given that he only had one more year on his deal. Remember also that Surman is younger than both Paulsen and Old. Curiously, he’s the third young A-League player to have transferred to an MLS team recently after Guiseppe Bovalina (19yo, Adelaide) joined Vancouver Whitecaps and Jake Girdwood-Reich (20yo, Sydney FC) joined St Louis FC. All three were for significant fees.
The question now is how soon Surman will make his debut. He’s young enough that they won’t have signed him with the expectation to go straight in there, but established enough that he’s probably not going to play reserve team football for the rest of the year. The Timbers defence actually hasn’t changed that much since Bill Tuiloma left 18 months ago - they’ve still got blokes like Dario Zuparic, Larrys Mabiala, and Zac McGraw hanging around in the central defender stable. A very multi-cultural group. Zuparic is Bosnian, Mabiala is French/Congolese, McGraw is Canadian. Miguel Araujo of Peru has also made a number of starts at CB, as has Kamal Miller who is also Canadian. Might as well chuck an NZer in there too. However, all of those five guys are at least 27 years old, with Mabiala soon to turn 37 (and expected to retire having barely featured this year). Surman’s addition is clearly about getting younger in that position.
Doesn’t seem like they’ve been able to settle on a defensive duo yet which could be an opportunity for Surman to sneak in there a little sooner than expected. The Timbers started the season poorly winning just two of their first 12 matches... but since then they’ve been pretty good with the attack began to click. Even after a 3-2 loss to LA Galaxy they’re still sitting eighth in the Western Conference at the Leagues Cup break (one spot ahead of Michael Boxall’s Minnesota United) and should back themselves to keep rising when things get back underway.
Of course, this is also a club with a strong lineage of kiwi players. At the MLS level we’re talking about Jake Gleeson and Bill Tuiloma, though prior to their MLS inclusion they also had the likes of Gavin Wilkinson, Aaran Lines, and Cameron Knowles pop by. Wilkinson went on to do some coaching with the franchise and was the technical director there for a long time (until he was booted out after it turned out he’d helped cover up a coaching scandal with the women’s team). Wilkinson was briefly hired by Sporting KC but fan backlash meant that he only lasted about a week.
In happier news, Knowles also pursued a coaching career with Portland and beyond... in fact he was Michael Boxall’s interim manager at Minnesota earlier this season and remains with the Loons as an assistant. Additionally, Ian Hogg spent part of the 2012 season with the Timbers, playing for the reserves before getting injured and failing to earn a longer contract. The Timbers also drafted Stuart Holthusen in 2018 but did not sign him. And Tim Payne spent a bit of time with the Timbers 2 squad in 2015 and 2016. Only the Vancouver Whitecaps can challenge that quantity of Aotearoa x MLS legacy.
Up Next: Surman will miss the Leagues Cup while he’s in Paris, but will be back long before their next MLS match against St Louis on 25 August (NZT)
Kate Taylor - Dijon FCO (French Première Ligue)
Hot off the press just as this article was entering edit mode... was the announcement of Kate Taylor’s new venture. It seemed as though it’d have to wait until after the Olympics but apparently Dijon FCO decided they simply had to let the cat out of the bag ahead of an Olympiad on their own home soil. Meaning that just a couple of weeks after Ben Old’s move to the top division of French men’s football, fellow Wellington Phoenix favourite Kate Taylor has mirrored it on her way to the top division of French women’s football.
Only Bill Tuiloma (Marseille) and Erin Nayler (Bordeaux) have previously played as kiwis in the top tier of French footy so we’ve doubled the tally in one window. Nayler also spent time with Lyon while they were dominating the continent but only as a backup, all her Première Ligue games were for Bordeaux (and were the best years of her career tbh). As for Dijon specifically, yes this is where the mustard originates. It’s also a city with a very strong women’s team. Their men are down in the fourth tier but the women have managed to hang about in the top division since promotion in 2017-18, albeit always in the bottom-half of the table. They finished eighth out of 12 teams last term, ten points clear of the drop.
DFCO manager Sylvain Carric: “Kate's signing is fully in line with our recruitment strategy. She is a young player with very high potential and who arrives with great motivation, and also with a different sporting culture. She will bring us an athletic dimension and she also loves defensive combat. She has this ability to move the ball very cleanly, whether it is right foot or left foot. All of which makes Kate an already complete player and one that will continue to grow alongside us.”
Taylor has signed a two-year contract and will wear the #26 jersey. Playing in France means getting to lock horns with some of the best players in the world since Olympique Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain regularly going deep in the Champions League. And, conveniently, she’s already in France for the Olympics so one experience can simply slide on into the other. No transfer fee for the Welly Nix though – Taylor was off contract, so it goes. But it does mean another Nix player moving onwards to a big league. It also means another young Football Ferns player taking a huge jump in their career. These are glorious things.
Up Next: Still two months before the Première Ligue gets going so plenty of time for preseason after Football Ferns duty (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
The agreement for Boxall to be released to play for New Zealand at the Olympics (16 years after his previous Olympics venture) was that he’d stay and play Minnesota United’s last three MLS games before the competition went on hiatus for a month. Therefore he’d only sit out their Leagues Cup matches. The consequence of that was arriving in Paris only a couple days before NZ’s first group stage game but at least he’d keep the employers happy. As for playing three games in seven days immediately prior to an Olympic tournament... well, fortunately, that didn’t entirely go to plan.
He played the first of those three games last week and it was covered here. After that came a midweek effort with the Loons hosting DC United, in which Boxy continued his streak of having started every game this year (the only minutes he’d missed were when he went off injured at half-time of a game against Seattle last month, recovering in time to start again four days later). Right on. But before we go any further, gotta show you this lovely happening...
Now that’s one for the heartstrings. See Boxall there ensuring the whanau on the sidelines were included in the goal celebrations. Watch that clip all the way through and you’ll see how young Carter ran back onto the pitch to share another hi-five with Boxy. They even had a banner for him in the crowd. Say, has somebody been cutting onions?
If only Minnesota United had limited the charitable mahi to that one moment. Instead they had a couple more generous offerings in them, absolutely spoiling what should have been the end of their winless streak. First they made a mess to concede a Christian Benteke goal on the counter attack after 14 minutes. Not the usual Benteke type of goal, a runaway from halfway. However, Tani Oluwaseyi was able to sneak in behind the high line and tie things back up on his return from injury (32’). Not much happened for after that until the introduction of Teemu Pukki in the second half. His presence gave the Loons some energy, leading to Pukki thumping in an 80th minute goal to make it 2-1. They’d just been on attack from a corner kick. Boxall ended up on the turf after tangling with his marker, meaning he hadn’t yet retreated as Minnesota tried to keep the ball alive. Boxall laid off a pass to Robin Lod on the edge of the box. Lod picked out Pukki. Pukki picked out the net with a strong finish. Sweet as.
That should have been the victory right there. At the very least, they shouldn’t have lost with a 2-1 lead and only ten minutes remaining. You can probably guess from the tone that they did though. Aaron Herrera nodded home in the 90th minute after Benteke had headed a corner kick back across goal and, two minutes later, the Loons defence made a mess of a free kick by leaving Benteke onside with only the keeper to beat and he did not fail. Two goals and an assist for the big Belgian. DC United won 3-2. Minnesota United’s winless streak reached nine matches.
There was another instance of significance early in the first half of that match. Minnesota had been on attack, corner kick swung into the six yard box. Boxall went tearing after it and crashed into the goalkeeper. Heavy collision. Keeper seemed to feel it a whole lot more. This was the outcome...
That, as it happens, was Boxall’s sixth yellow card of the season and thus he was suspended for their match against San Jose. Didn’t have to do three games in seven days before the Olympics after all. Not that he took an early flight or anything – Boxy was there in the stands watching as the Loons won 2-0... finally ending the rut. A 38th minute own goal and a 75th minute Bongi Hlongwane effort earned the points. First MNUFC victory since June 1. Also the first start that Boxy has missed in 2024, hence the first game in which he didn’t captain the side this year either.
Up Next: Racing to the airport to catch that flight to Paris
Bill Tuiloma – Charlotte FC (American Major League Soccer)
Hold up, who’s this guy!?
That’s right, we got a Billy T sighting. An injury to Andrew Privett midway through the second half of Charlotte FC’s game away against Columbus Crew provided a very rare opportunity for Tuiloma to stretch his legs. His first minutes for almost three months... after two appearances which ended a run of nine months without playing. Add ‘em up and he’s played 197 minutes in the space of a year. Tuiloma’s kept his head up throughout, proving to be a great teammate and a great professional, but the football has been sparse to say the least.
If we’re being honest, Tuiloma didn’t exactly take his opportunity with those two other starts. CFC had a win and a loss, conceding five times with Tuiloma making a few mistakes. He only got 17 minutes plus stoppages here but pleased to say he made a much brighter impression. Charlotte were 1-0 down when he arrived and trying to hang on. They’d conceded after half an hour and only had their keeper to thank for still being within range. Then Tuiloma won a couple headers, helped them nail things down at the back, and lumped a magical long ball over the top which led to the equaliser...
Patrick Agmeyang with the goal. If he’d finished it first time then Tuiloma would have had himself an assist. Instead it took him a couple of attempts but he scored all the same and Bill Tuiloma was still the orchestrator. 1-1 was the final score. Old mate swooping in to save his team a point.
CFC coach Dean Smith: “I’m always asking our substitutes to be finishers for us. To come on the pitch and make a difference. Players will get tired; it’s their second game of the week, their job is to come in and show the same energy levels, or more, but also do your job. Bill came on and he won his headers, and it was a really good ball in behind. We always felt we would get one of those chances because I feel they play a risky one versus one at the back. I was real pleased with the contributions of all the subs who came on today.”
Naturally, Privett was fine to play away to Austin FC a few days later so it was back to unused substitute duty for Tuiloma despite his happy cameo. Without him, Charlotte conceded an 80th minute leveller to draw 2-2. The Leagues Cup might give him more of an opportunity, who knows. Charlotte sit sixth in the Eastern Conference at the break.
Up Next: Sunday at midday, Philadelphia vs Charlotte in the Leagues Cup group stage (NZT)
Tyler Boyd - Nashville SC (American Major League Soccer)
Nashville SC: “Nashville Soccer Club announced today it has placed midfielder Tyler Boyd on the Season-Ending Injury List. Boyd will undergo Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery in the upcoming weeks.”
That’s some awful news. Boyd had just been finding his feet at his new team, starting a few more games and scoring a couple of goals, and now his season is over. He came off the bench for the last half hour of a 3-0 loss to Orlando City (NSC’s fifth defeat in a row – they’ve since lost a sixth heading into the Leagues Cup) but then hit the deck with a non-contact injury in stoppage time. Boyd had been closing down an opponent when his leg buckled under him and would to be stretchered off the pitch.
Horrid luck for a bloke who seemed to have found himself a steady spot in the MLS, perhaps even harbouring hope of getting back into the USA squad someday. The consolation is that he remains under contract with Nashville until 2026 (with a club option for an additional year) so if all goes to plan he should be back on the pitch early next season.
Up Next: The long road to recovery
Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)
Also squeezing in as many games as possible before leaving for the Olympics was this bloke. Joe Bell did ninety minutes for Viking on Monday morning prior to potentially playing for the OlyWhites on Thursday morning in their first match. At least he’s only got to fly from Norway to France so it’s not so bad. That first game is against Guinea and is by far the most winnable fixture in the group so the lads will need to be sharp from the get-go even with two of their overage dudes arriving late.
Sharp was not what VFK were against Haugesund. In a disappointing performance, they fell to a 1-0 defeat against a club that began the round only goal difference clear of the relegation zone. They conceded a deflected goal two minutes into the second half and never managed to overcome it... Gianni Stensness was the bloke who diverted the ball off his standing heel. Whoops. It was so bad that Bell chose to revert to caerfully-worded English for his post-match interview...
In there he confirms that he was flying out for the Olympics the next day and would miss at least one game, possibly more depending on how NZ performs. He also backed his squad to get it done without him. By the way, this was the last game at the club for Aussie midfielder Patrick Yazbek who is expected to be announced by Nashville SC anytime soon so it’s a double ANZAC absence in that midfield.
The one positive here is that Molde, who are VFK’s next opponents, also lost. They were beaten 3-2 by KFUM. Molde also have to play Europa League qualifiers on either side of that Viking match so they won’t exactly be fresh... what’s more is that those UEL matches are against Callum McCowatt’s Silkeborg (first match on Friday at 5am in Norway). Molde are third in the Eliteserien while Viking remain in fourth. Frederikstad did close the gap in fifth but second-placed Brann only drew so Viking can still climb as high as second just by winning their game in hand. Not a good result for them this week but they avoided doing any damage to their European qualification hopes.
Up Next: Viking vs Molde on Monday at 5.15am with Joe Bell probably watching from a Paris hotel room (NZT)
Elijah Just - AC Horsens (Danish Division 1)
The Danish Superliga got going this weekend. Yes, in July. They don’t wait around in Denmark, getting started early to clear room in the calendar for their long winter break later on. Fair enough. And one of the opening round fixtures saw Silkeborg take on recently-promoted Sønderjyske... aka Callum McCowatt versus Dalton Wilkins. Could have been a great battle between a pair of old mates going way back to their early Ole Academy days except that they were both out injured. Silkeborg won 1-0 thanks to a 77th minute Pelle Mattsson goal. Doesn’t sound like either injury was anything drastic, though Wilkins did miss the end of preseason as well. McCowatt’s got a couple of big Europa League qualifiers to be ready for so maybe they were just targeting those instead.
But we did get some Elijah Just stuff in the division below. It wasn’t clear if Just would even still be with AC Horsens when this season got underway, given how he’d been heavily linked with a move to Sweden back in March. There’s still another five to six weeks of transfer window for something to unfold so we won’t make any assumptions... but Just was there in the squad as ACH got their season underway at home against Fredericia. Aaaaand they lost 3-1. They were 1-0 up at half-time thanks to Marinus Larsen’s goal but then they conceded twice in eight minutes after the second spell began. Then again right at the end. Just was introduced after 68 minutes.
Up Next: Saturday at 5am, Horsens vs Hillerød (NZT)
Abby Erceg – Racing Louisville (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Continuing to rise up that board... although she’ll have to stick around a bit longer to get any higher because both Lauren Barnes and Jess Fishlock are still playing (as teammates for Seattle Reign) so she’s not gaining on them very quickly. Still, third most minutes of any NWSL player. Incredible achievement. Erceg is up to 195 NWSL appearances, including playoff games, so she’s on track to bring up the double-ton before the year is through.
In the meantime, there’s a break in the NWSL to make room for the Olympics. For those who aren’t going to the Olympics that break has been filled by the Leagues Cup. Racing Louisville played their first game over the weekend and if having played every minute of all sixteen league games to this point gave her licence to take a day off then Erceg wasn’t having it. She gave it a full ninety once again as Racing Lou won 3-1 against Monterrey (of Liga MX). Goals for Emma Sears (36’), Kayla Fischer (47’), and Ary Borges (71’) after Monterrey’s Fatima Servin had given the visitors an 11th minute lead. It was still a pretty strong line-up for RL despite being a lesser competition so not sure we’d have seen Milly Clegg even if she was available.
Up Next: Racing Louisville vs North Carolina Courage at midday on Saturday (NZT)
James McGarry - Aberdeen (Scottish Premiership)
A 4-0 win for Aberdeen away to East Kilbride in their second League Cup group stage fixture. They were a little slow to get the wheels turning but once they did it was all about The Dons. James McGarry was subbed on after 73 minutes with the goals already on the board but even still it’s good to see him getting minutes in consecutive games. Aberdeen previously won 3-0 against Queen of the South. They’ve got their last two group matches coming up this week so you’d have to think McGarry’s a decent shout of starting at least one of those.
In the other groups, George Stanger got ninety at the back for Ayr United but they weren’t able to take anything from newly-promoted Dundee United in a 2-1 defeat; also Will Gillingham sat out Cove Rangers’ penalty shootout loss to Forfar Athletic (it was 1-1 after ninety). He played a full match in a 5-0 loss to Spartans four days earlier so maybe he came out of that with an injury, dunno. The three kiwis in Scotland are all in different divisions: Aberdeen are a Prem club, Ayr United in League One, and Cove Rangers in League Two.
Up Next: Aberdeen vs Airdrieonians at 6.45am on Weds; Aberdeen vs Dumbarton at 2am on Sun (NZT)
Alex Greive - Bohemian FC (League of Ireland Premier Division)
It was an FAI Cup week and that led to Alex Greive making his first start for Bohemians, lasting 72 minutes and getting a yellow card in a 1-0 win against Shamrock Rovers. Puts them into the third round. Dayle Rooney scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot in the 69th minute... and it was in the aftermath of the goal when Greive got his booking. One of the defenders tried to get the ball back to rush the kickoff and Greive kicked it away from him so the bloke gave AG a shove over and then some minor kerfuffling ensued. That’s a very solid win for Bohs, who are on a six-game winless streak in the league. Good for the confidence.
Elsewhere, Sligo Rovers had zero worries in skipping past Cohb Ramblers with a 3-0 victory. Wilson Waweru scored all three goals while Nando Pijnaker helped himself to a clean sheet with the lads. Easy progression. Cobh Ramblers was the club that Dan McKay (former Welly Nix Academy and NZ U20s) was playing for at the start of the campaign but he hasn’t been sighted for a week while now so it looks like that gig’s been cut short. He wasn’t getting the minutes he’d have hoped for in the second tier. Anyway, they’re out of the cup while Sligo Rovers progress.
Then we also had Norman Garbett playing 23 minutes off the bench for Dundalk in a 2-1 defeat away against Drogheda. It was 1-0 when he joined the fun. Back from a week off with an injury niggle and immediately running with pace up the right wing but he couldn’t spark a comeback. Dundalk’s cup run is over in the second round.
Up Next: Saturday at 6.45am, Bohemians vs Dundalk (NZT)
Jamie Searle – Forest Green Rovers (English National League)
After last season’s madness – when Searle was continually overlooked for a terrible team on their way to relegation, with multiple short-term loan keepers given starts instead of him – it’s been a relief to see him actually getting some games in preseason as they prepare for the National League (fifth tier). We’ll see if this lasts or not. They only have two goalies on the books right now, the other being 20yo Irishman Fiachra Pagel (who did sub on for Searle late in their most recent friendly), so Norwich goalie Dan Barden (23yo from Wales) is arriving on trial ahead of a possible loan. Hopefully he does crap and Searle gets to keep on playing. They owe him after how he was messed around in their relegation campaign. This is the same level as Matthew Gould has been playing, he’s now with Yeovil Town as a player/gk coach.
Up Next: The National League gets going on 11 August with Aldershot vs Forest Green (NZT)
Anna Leat – Aston Villa (English Super League)
90min: “Aston Villa goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar is closing in on a move to WSL rivals Arsenal, according to reports in the Netherlands. The 24-year-old shot-stopper joined Villa on a three-year contract only 12 months ago, although she missed the final few months of the 2023/24 season after undergoing hip surgery. Now, she could be set to depart the club permanently as rivals circle. According to Dutch outlet De Telegraaf, the Gunners are close to securing a deal for the goalkeeper, although the fee involved is unknown at this stage.”
More to the point, this is what we were anticipating when Anna Leat signed a new deal with Aston Villa. The incumbent number one leaves after only a year, bringing in a useful transfer fee in the process, and Leaty hopefully steps up to take her place. They will still need to sign another keeper and they’ll want someone who at the very least will challenge Leat. But after two years impressing as the backup you’d imagine she got some assurances since she’s chosen to return. Regardless, the first step is allowing Van Domselaar to depart and that seems to be happening. The rest will become clear in due course.
The new season begins on the weekend on 21-22 September which explains why things are happening slowly. Still got no word on Ria Percival’s next destination, even though it’s seemed obvious from the start that she’ll probably just sign permanently with Crystal Palace like she said she wanted to. If she does then her first game of the season will be away to her old club Tottenham, funnily enough. Also, YouTube is now the major broadcaster for both the WSL and the Championship (although select games will still be shown on Sky Sports UK/BBC). They were already on FA Player for free but maybe this’ll be a little more accessible.
Up Next: Waiting on that weekend of 21-22 September
Matthew Garbett - NAC Breda (Dutch Eredivisie)
Matt Garbett: “That is something that suits me and sounds good to my ears. Attacking, applying pressure, and being on the ball a lot, these are things that suit my game. I think that is also what the coach wants and what we train a lot on. I fully agree with that strategy and I hope to play a major role in it. I am really looking forward to the new season and I hope to gain the confidence of the coach. We are going to play against very good teams, but I am excited for that. For me personally it is already very cool to play against teams like Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV.”
NAC Breda are back in the Eredivisie and are looking to bring a bright, attacking style of footy to the top league – which just so happens to suit Matthew Garbett nicely. Whether we actually see that approach or not, only time will tell. Garbs is currently away at the Olympics but he reckons he should be back in town for the first match of the new season, away to Groningen on August 10. That could change if NZ gets out of their group. Plus, if you didn’t already hear, NAC Breda have signed Max Balard from Central Coast Mariners to join Garbs in that midfield.
As for Ryan Thomas across the way at PEC Zwolle... nothing new to report. Thommo hasn’t been considered match-fit for any of their preseason games yet as he recovers from season-ending knee surgery last time out. He’s also without a contract as it stands so let’s hope he’s not far off because he’s running out of room to prove himself.
Up Next: Groningen vs NAC Breda, 10 August at 6am (NZT)
Henry Gray - Ipswich Town (English Premier League)
Bit of preseason training camp in Austria with a Premier League club, can’t complain. Henry Gray’s situation with Ipswich Town this season will depend on how a few more dominoes fall. He was recalled from an excellent non-league loan spell with Chelmsford City last season in order to fill in as the third-choice keeper over the final few weeks of the club’s promotion quest, thanks to an injury to the previous number toru (Cieran Slicker), but obviously that’s no guarantee moving forwards. Ipswich Town like to have three goalies available on any given matchday. They also have more than three goalies at the club right now.
This whole situation is pretty funky. It was Christian Walton between the sticks when they got promoted from League One, but then he got injured and lost his place to Vaclav Hladky who played every game as Town were immediately promoted from the Championship. Yet Hladky failed to agree terms on a new deal so they’ve recently signed Burnley goalie Arijanet Muric to replace him – a Kosovo international who came from the Man City system. Third-choice GK Cieran Slicker is on record saying he wants first-team footy and the talk is that he could go on loan to Scotland. If he doesn’t go out on loan then Gray surely will (and surely to an EFL club this time)... but we’re not quite at solutionsville yet.
What we do know is that Ipswich Town have been working hard in Austria with all four of those keepers on board. They played a friendly recently, a 1-0 win over Shaktar Donesk, in which Walton did the first half and Slicker did the second half. Too early for Muric and Gray didn’t feature. Gray is also an alternate on the NZ Olympic roster... although it sounds like he’ll only travel in case of emergency.
Up Next: If he truly doesn’t join the OlyWhites in person then perhaps he can get some minutes in Ipswich’s August 3 friendly against Mönchengladbach... which just so happens to be the city in which he was born (NZT)
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