Flying Kiwis – May 13
Callum McCowatt - Silkeborg IF (Danish Superliga)
Callum McCowatt might be in the form of his life right now. He’s had other spells in his career where he’s become unstoppable, quite a few of them actually, but surely none as significant as this current spell. Silkeborg won twice this week and McCowatt was absolutely influential in two crucial victories.
The first of those wins came on Thursday morning NZT when Silkeborg hosted Brøndby in the second leg of their Danish Cup semi-final. Remember that SIF had blown a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 in the away leg so this had the potential to go either way. Therefore Callum McCowatt made sure to put his stamp on proceedings nice and early with a 19th minute goal to put Silkeborg into the lead. Mileta Rajovic did level up for BIF shortly after half-time... but Jens Martin Gammelby’s 66th minute goal ended up giving Silkeborg the 2-1 win (5-4 on aggregate).
Despite the big occasion it was a game without much action but that worked out fine for Silkeborg who sprung the upset victory that sends them into a second consecutive Danish Cup final. There they’ll seek to defend their title against FC Copenhagen. No doubt that they deserved the win having started way better and then dealt with whatever Brøndby could wrangle in the second half. Wonderful team effort from SIF. Oh yeah and check who they voted man of the match...
Outstanding. But it went further when Silkeborg hosted Sønderjyske in the Superliga and beat them 1-0 thanks to to an Alexander Simmelhack goal in the 48th minute. Simple tap-in from that bloke thanks to a perfect assist from, yeah guess who: Callum McCowatt. A goal in a triumphant cup semi-final and then the winning assist in a league victory that keeps Silkeborg top of the relegation rounds with two rounds to go. They’re two points clear of Viborg seeking to claim the last remaining European playoff spot. That would give them Conference League qualifiers if they advance through those playoffs. Alternatively they can win the Danish Cup and get Europa League qualifiers instead. Two paths left that could take them into Europe and Callum McCowatt seems determined to get them there.
After this week’s efforts, McCowatt has four goals and four assists in his last nine appearances across both of these competitions – he’s only failed to contribute at least one or the other in two of those nine games. If you extend that out by another four games then you can squeeze in a couple extra goals too (as in: 6 goals & 4 assists in his last 13 games). He starts every single week now you don’t have to ask why. That sustained production has made him undroppable.
Up Next: Aalborg vs Silkeborg at 0:00 on Monday (NZT)
Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)
The wobbles have set in at Nottingham Forest. It’s been a long, gruelling season for a side with a pretty well defined starting eleven. Leading into their game against Leicester City, there were 10 different Forest players who’d logged at least 2100 minutes this season (out of only 144 players across the whole division). Heavy legs. Lots of mental pressure with Champions League footy on the line. Just gotta grind it out until the finish line.
Within five minutes of kickoff against Leicester City, two significant chances had already fallen for Chris Wood. The first was a deflected cross which he had to reach back for that he flipped over the top with his left foot. That was a tricky one. The second was a powering back post header that he sent fizzing over the top... and that was one he should have scored, or at least gotten on target. His frustrated reaction made that clear.
The frustrations got worse when LCFC took a 16th minute lead after Conor Coady reacted first to nod in the rebound following a good initial save from Mats Sels. The initial shot from Bilal El Khannouss had taken a sneaky deflection off Wood on the way through. Sels reacted well but none of his defenders backed him up. Fortunately, Morgan Gibbs-White was quick to equalise for Nottingham Forest with a sweet header after 25 mins. Then they could get back to the business of trying to take the lead... as they very nearly did on the brink of half-time when Chris Wood headed wide from a close-range rebound. That was the toughest of his three chances, although you’d usually expect him to score with at least one of those efforts. Not to worry because by the time the fourth chance came around he was primed...
Morgan Gibbs-White with a stunning early cross for the assist. Chris Wood with the diving header to do the rest. That’s 20 for the season and 89 across his Premier League career. It’s also the eighth header that Chris Wood has scored this term... nobody else has more than four. Now that’s using your noggin. With 31 header goals in his EPL career, he’s climbing closer and closer towards the record held by Harry Kane and Peter Crouch (40 each). Right now, Wood sits fifth with Christian Benteke (33) and Olivier Giroud (32) also ahead of him.
If that had been how the match ended, it would have been perfect. A lovely winning goal for Chris Wood and a win to sent Nottingham Forest back up into the Champions League spots. Alas, that’s not how it ended... because with ten minutes remaining Facundo Buonanotte collected a ball into the area from Jamie Vardy and sliced through the Forest defence to level things up at 2-2. Forest promptly chucked on Taiwo Awoniyi as a second striker but that didn’t do anything (other than putting Awoniyi in hospital after he collided with the post). Frankly, NFFC were closer to losing the game on the counter than they were to winning it with their attacking pressure. 2-2 final score.
Points dropped at home against an already-relegated opponent. Forest have only taken two points from their last three Prem games and have only won one of their last six. Luckily there were some good results elsewhere with Manchester City only drawing against Southampton and Newcastle beating Chelsea. NFFC cannot finish lower than seventh where they current reside and therefore they’re guaranteed Europa Conference League at the very least. Fifth place, and thus Champions League footy, is still on the table though. Especially since they face Chelsea in the final round of games. Win that and also beat West Ham next week and they’d only need Aston Villa to slip up once to haul their way back. We’ll see how it goes.
European ramifications aside, this was a milestone goal for Chris Wood. He’d been hovering close for a few weeks but this one finally took him to 20 for the season – putting him into a select group of footballers to have hit that mark in a Premier League season. Fresh from winning the EPL Player of the Month award earlier in the campaign, Chris Wood was very direct about this being a target of his (at the time he had 8 goals from 10 games). Now he’s done it.
Chris Wood back in November: “I’ve got targets in mind. I want to be in the 20s and I believe that with a full season I can do that so that’s what I’m aiming for.”
There are one or two others who could join the club before the current season is done. Plus Wood’s former teammate Alexander Isak (Newcastle) pipped him to it as a first-timer a few weeks ago. But count ‘em all up and The Woodsman is just the 52nd man to achieve this mark in a Premier League season, this being the 95th instance overall. If you want to try a thought experiment around what an incredible achievement this has been, take a look at the full list and ask yourself who is the worst player on there. Because they’re all ballers. You don’t fluke your way to 20 goals in a Prem season.
Alan Shearer (7), Harry Kane (6), Sergio Aguero (6), Thierry Henry (5), Mo Salah (5), Ruud van Nistelrooy (4), Jamie Vardy (3), Les Ferdinand (3), Erling Haaland (3), Andy Cole (2), Robbie Fowler (2), Ian Wright (2), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (2), Didier Drogba (2), Carlos Tevez (2), Wayne Rooney (2), Robin van Persie (2), Luis Suarez (2), Diego Costa (2), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (2), Louis Saha, Mark Viduka, Stan Collymore, Chris Sutton, Andy Johnson, Romelu Lukaku, Ivan Toney, Darren Bent, Kevin Phillips, Danny Ings, James Beattie, Matt Le Tissier, Peter Beardsley, Cole Palmer, Frank Lampard, Teddy Sheringham, Gareth Bale, Heung-min Song, Jurgen Klinsmann, Dwight Yorke, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dimitar Berbatov, Fernando Torres, Daniel Sturridge, Sadio Mane, Raheem Sterling, Yaya Toure, Alexis Sanchez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Alexander Isak, and Chris Wood
Still got time to add another couple to the tally. If he does, it could be the difference between qualifying for Champions League or settling for Europas or Conferences.
Up Next: West Ham vs Nottingham Forest at 1.15am on Monday (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
Minnesota United versus Inter Miami. Respective captains: Michael Boxall and Lionel Messi. About time those to were finally recognised on the same pedestal... although that equality only lasted ninety minutes before Boxy claimed superiority as Minnesota United smoked ‘em 4-1.
It wasn’t only Messi for Inter Miami, they also had Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba from that old Barcelona crew, although Luis Suarez missed this game (saving him from getting pocketed by Boxall). It was a pretty simple plan from Minnesota United that involved defending deep but tackling aggressively and then playing with pace on the counter attack... and it worked a treat. Inter Miami had almost all the ball but it was Bongi Hlongwane who scored first after 32 minutes. Anthony Markanich then nodded one in for the Loons in first half stoppage time following a flick on from a Michael Boxall long throw. Old mate Lionel wasn’t to be denied, promptly making it 2-1 after the break... but a 68th min own goal and a 70th min Robin Lod effort sent Minnesota United onwards with an excellent victory.
The reaction to this win has been typically MLS-bloated because Lionel Messi was involved. There’s been bickering on social media involving David Beckham. There’s been excessive coverage that strangely doesn’t involve the winning team nearly as much as it ought to. Michael Boxall was asked afterwards where this win ranks in club history and his response was:
“Umm.... probably like, at least top hundred. Top fifty. I mean, it’s three points. I’m happy that the crowd got to enjoy that. Obviously a good performance. Some goals that sent most of the crowd home happy. Something to build on”.
It was, after all, only a regular season home game.
In amongst that interview is some frustration from Boxy about a “special” yellow card that he picked up just before Minny Utd’s second goal. Just like that second goal, the yellow card stemmed from a throw in. Officially he was booked for time-wasting after taking too long to get the ball back in play. But the reason he took too long is because the ball was kicked past him them thrown back over his shoulder by someone in the technical area. He turned to go look for it whereupon an Inter Miami dude (Telasco Segovia) shoved it into his chest and for that Boxall was immediately yellow-carded. Figure that one out, aye? But Boxy had the last laugh because his next throw in led to a goal.
As for Finn Surman, he was as good as he always is as Portland Timbers won 1-0 against Sporting KC. Good bounce back from them after the 4-1 turnup loss to San Jose last week. Surman continues to lead the MLS in defensive clearances and is now the leader in minutes played for the Timbers this year. Top stuff there.
Hold up and what’s this...
This was US Open Cup action during the midweek. Michael Boxall and Finn Surman were both rested as their teams won through to the fourth round. Charlotte FC also rested players which is what brought Bill Tuiloma into the fold from his regular spot on the bench where he never gets used. Sitting on the shelf gathering dust. But it’s a reflection of the contradictory place that Tuiloma holds in Charlotte that when he did play he was the captain. Unused substitute in all 12 MLS games so far but he captained them in the cup. They love him there, always speaking about his great attitude and leadership... they just also don’t seem to rate him. Anyway, Tuiloma played 105 minutes because the game against North Carolina FC went into extra time... but in the end Charlotte won 4-1 to advance. Fingers crossed that means Tuiloma will get to play at least one more game this year.
Up Next: Thursday at 12.30pm... Houston Dynamo vs Minnesota United (NZT)
Kate Taylor - Dijon FCO (French Première Ligue)
Kate Taylor didn’t start for Dijon in the 6-0 win against Paris FC that capped off their best ever Première Ligue finish of fourth place. She’s started most games this season but over the last few months they’ve shifted from 3CB formation to a 2CB formation and that’s meant a lot more alternating with the other defenders. However, she did still get subbed on early in the second half against Paris, getting to take it to the finish line as Dijon kept a sixth consecutive clean sheet and absolutely smashed a team that they’d lost 4-0 to earlier in the season. Admittedly, that team had won the French Cup final on penalties four days earlier so they didn’t exactly prioritise this one... but Dijon whupped them all the same.
That wasn’t the end of it either. Because in France, the top four then go into semi-finals and a final to determine the ultimate standings. Fourth-placed Dijon therefore had to go away to face first-placed Olympique Lyonnais in a one-legged semi... a fixture that was never going to go well for them. Dijon’s magnificent season has had a ceiling on it: all five of their defeats have come against the teams in the top three (and the only goal they scored across those five defeats was Kate Taylor’s goal against PSG back in November). An interesting thing happened in this game though. Kate Taylor started and played the full game... in midfield. Hadn’t seen that in a Dijon jersey previously. And although the result went as everybody expected, KT did do this...
Choice. That’s Taylor’s first assist for Dijon to go with the earlier mentioned goal against PSG. She saves her goal contributions for the big teams (remember she scored for the Football Ferns against France at the Olympics too).
That goal, scored by Viktoria Pinther, was only mere consolation at the end of a comfortable defeat. Lyon had already sorted out the result by the with goals from Eugenie Le Sommer (19’), Lindsey Horan (45+2’), Vanessa Gilles (62’), and Ada Hegerberg (86’). Bit of a who’s who of scorers there – French, American, Canadian, and Danish. For the most part, Dijon defended pretty well but a couple of those goals were silly ones to concede. 4-1 final score. So it goes.
Lyon will face Paris Saint-Germain in the final - which will be coach Joe Montemurro’s last game in charge before he leaves to take up the Aussie national team job. Meanwhile, Dijon get a rematch with (a much more motivated) Paris FC for third place with the winner of that game earning Champions League qualifiers. Massive prize on the line for Kate and the girls. Therefore we can probably expect another Taylor goal contribution.
Up Next: Paris FC vs Dijon, TBD... but presumably very soon
Elijah Just - SKN St. Pölten (Austrian Erste Liga)
You heard that too, right? Where the commentator (or voice-over bloke, technically, as this clip was from the aftermatch roundup rather than the live broadcast) compared this goal from Elijah Just to Diego Maradona against England in 1986? Good, just checking.
Now, that may have been a wild exaggeration... but this was still an unreal goal. He picked up that ball in the centre circle and then went crazy with it, beating three defenders on his way (not including the ones who stepped aside and let him run) before whipping in a lovely finish. Just has made a speciality of scoring curlers from outside the area in recent months but this was a very different type of wonderment.
It was also the clincher in a 3-1 win for St. Pölten against Bregenz. Just had been subbed on about ten minutes earlier. Won’t say he needed this goal, he’s had a great season regardless, but it was a nice moment after what has been an injury-plagued last couple months. He was hurt leading up to the All Whites WCQs but recovered in time to partake. However, another set-back followed, meaning he hasn’t played more than 45 minutes in any of SKN’s last twelve fixtures (or in either of those two All Whites games).
St. Pölten are currently fourth in the standings with two matches remaining. They’ve won four games in a row, scoring at least three times in each of them (and keeping zero clean sheets). They could still climb up to third if results go their way... but only the champions get promotion from the 2.Liga so it doesn’t really matter if they’re third or fourth or fifth. But it does matter that Eli Just is scoring outrageous goals again.
Up Next: Home vs Rapid Wien II at 4am on Saturday (NZT)
Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)
Joe Bell hadn’t featured in the previous couple of cup games. Viking rolled with heavily rotated squads to face lower-league opponents for those games and didn’t have any troubles getting through. But for round three, away to Moss FK (a second tier club), they decided it was time to bring out a few more of the big guns. Not their star forward Zlatko Tripic though – he missed this game with a muscle injury sustained last week – thus in his absence Joe Bell captained the side. Certainly not the first time he’s done so but it’s always cool to lead the team out for a cup tie.
This was a midweeker against a motivated opponent and it proved to be a much tougher task than anticipated. Or, given the stronger-than-usual eleven that was picked, perhaps it was exactly as tough as they thought it would be. Viking huffed and puffed but a goal continued to elude them despite being the top scoring team in the Eliteserien. Joe Bell did a chat with the telly folks at half-time where he had this to say...
“It’s okay. It’s good that it’s nil-nil. Obviously they had a couple of big chances at the end but we’re dominating with the ball and we’re creating enough so I think it’s going to open up in the second half.”
He also had more to say but he switched to Norwegian after the first question so that’d need a translator. He wasn’t lying about the big chances either. Moss hit the underside of the crossbar late in the half and then probably should have scored from the rebound. So needless to say, the game did not open up as Bell predicted... but Viking still won. It took until the 90+3rd minute for a Joe Bell corner kick to be flicked on and then finished by Hilmir Mikaelsson at the back post. 1-0 final score. Viking did get a red card right at the very end but it didn’t halt them from stepping into the fourth round.
Following that, Viking were back in the Eliteserien against Haugesund and with Zlatko Tripic still missing we got Captain Bell once again. Viking actually played these guys two weeks ago and won 5-1. That was at home (in a match rescheduled from later in the season to make room for VFK’s Conference League excursions) whereas this was away. But it went in a very similar way... right down to Hausegund getting a red card in first half stoppages. Viking were already 2-0 up thanks to a brace from Peter Christiansen (35’ & 45+2’) when that send-off happened.
From there the Vikes calmly kept up the pressure without creating much (aside from one snapshot off the crossbar)... until a sloppy concession with eleven minutes remaining snapped them back into action. Hilmir Mikaelsson then scored an 89th min penalty (that he’d won himself) before a stoppage time own goal settled the account at a 4-1 win for Viking. No need for any goal contributions from Joe Bell as his team continue to score at will, even without Tripic, but he did still serve up another commanding midfield effort with 89 completed passes (at 88% accuracy), three tackles, an interception, a couple defensive clearances, and more touches than any other player on the pitch. Several other teams have games in hand that could send them upwards but right now, as it stands, Viking FK are top of the table with 17 points from 8 games.
Up Next: Saturday at 4am at home against Sandefjord (NZT)
Milly Clegg - Halifax Tides (Canadian Northern Super League)
That’s what we’ve been waiting to see. Milly Clegg wasn’t involved in Halifax’s first two fixtures but she was fit enough for the bench in game three and they chucked her on at half-time away against Montreal Roses with the game still scoreless. As for why she missed the other two games, they never confirmed that but there was a pretty large clue in the extensive strapping on Clegg’s right leg above the knee.
If she was still lingering with that injury then she didn’t show it. Clegg quickly threw herself around, challenging defenders and looking to get involved when her team was in possession and looking to shoot at the first opportunity. She was used as a lone number nine so that first opportunity took ages to arrive, Clegg getting left kinda isolated as her midfielders tried to thread wishful passes through or over the top, and when it did she snapped wide from a tight angle. A few minutes later she showed a clever drop of the shoulder to get into a similar spot but this time crossed with nobody on the end of it. Overall her touch was a bit rusty, not helped by the artificial surface, but there was enough encouragement to think she should have a good time of it in the NSL. Halifax were the ascendant team during Clegg’s half of action... but it ended 0-0. That’s a first ever point for the Halifax Tides (undefeated with Clegg in the team!).
As for Meikayla Moore/Ally Green and Calgary Wild... they also drew 0-0. Moore played ninety minutes and Green was subbed after eighty. This was Calgary’s first home game but they spent most of it trying to hold on against a more potent Ottawa Rapid side. Calgary didn’t have a single shot on target yet they escaped with a clean sheet and a point so that’ll do. Down below the border, Macey Fraser missed Utah Royals’ latest match with a knee injury. She’s only played sparingly the last few weeks. It’s been annoying.
Up Next: Halifax vs Toronto at 5am on Sunday (NZT)
Ben Old - AS Saint-Étienne (French Ligue 1)
Ben Old to Ligue1.com: “It was a very tough period, especially because I had started the season really well and was beginning to show what I could do. The injury came at the worst possible time, and it was frustrating to have to wait so long to get my rhythm back. It took a few weeks, but for the past 15 days or so, I’ve felt like I’m back to the level I was at before the injury (MCL and meniscus). I might even be in better shape now! It feels great, and now I need to do everything I can to get more minutes and help the team as much as possible.
Given everything that happened, I’m pretty satisfied. I came here with big ambitions, and I’d made such a strong start that I’d love to know how things could’ve gone if I hadn’t been injured. But even with that setback, I managed to return relatively quickly and get back into the same rhythm. That’s what I’ll take away from this season.”
The rest of that interview is stacked with gems too. Oldie talks about the adjustment to French football, the welcoming community he’s found himself in, Bill Tuiloma’s Ligue 1 advice, the reputation of the All Blacks, the growth of the All Whites, how he’s the best golfer on the team, et cetera. He doesn’t talk about the likelihood of relegation... but you know what? ASSE won 2-0 away against Stade Reims on the weekend which keeps them within shouting distance of safety heading into the final round of games.
Ben Old got the last twenty minutes off the bench to help close out the win. His main contribution was winning a pressure-easing free kick (he was always one of the most fouled players in the A-League and that knack hasn’t been lost). Results elsewhere could have been slightly kinder because Nantes did get a point away against Auxerre which basically takes them out of reach of ASSE due to an unachievable goal difference swing. So automatic safety is asking too much... but if Le Havre fail to beat sixth-placed Strasbourg, who themselves need the points for European qualification, then ASSE can earn a relegation playoff if they beat Toulouse (12th place, nothing on the line). Toulouse have only won once in their past nine matches. There’s still a chance!
Up Next: ASSE vs Toulouse at 7am on Sunday (NZT)
Liberato Cacace – Empoli FC (Italian Serie A)
Also keeping the flame burning was this lot. Empoli finally, finally, finally broke their 20-game winless streak in Serie A, dating back to early December, by beating 10-man Parma 2-1. Libby Cacace was in his attacking role and he lasted 77 minutes before they took him off in desperate search for a goal. See, they’d gone ahead after 11 minutes when Jacopo Fazzini scored and then a red card after only half an hour for Parma’s Lautaro Valenti should have had the Azzurri in the box seat. But this is Empoli we’re talking about so of course they conceded after 73 minutes to seemingly spoil yet another opportunity for three points. Only for Faustino Anjorin to save the day (/season) with an 86th minute winner.
Cacace got a yellow card. He had a few low percentage shots, two of them blocked and one sent off target. Did some good defensive work. That’s all well and good but we’re way beyond performance quality now for Empoli. Only results matter, regardless of how they arrive. This win temporarily raised them out of the relegation zone but Lecce’s draw with Hellas Verona dropped them back in with two games left. One team out of Lecce, Empoli, and Venezia will survive. All of a sudden, there’s reason to think that Empoli could be that team.
Up Next: Monza vs Empoli at 1am on Monday (NZT)
Kiara Bercelli - Sampdoria (Italian Serie A)
Finally got another Kiara Bercelli sighting in Italy. The 20yo kiwi winger had a run of games around the turn of the year but since then she’s dropped back to the bench with recurring unused substitute efforts. When she was chucked on after 76 minutes of a relegation round match against Sassuolo, it was the first time in three months that she’s taken the pitch (for her seventh Serie A appearance overall).
Sadly, it was a shambles of a game for Sampdoria. After taking the lead in the sixth minute thanks to a well-finished goal from Giada Pellegrino Cimo, they were soon reduced to ten women when Alice Barbieri got a straight red card (21 mins). Sassuolo quickly levelled up to have it at 1-1 when half-time rolled around... but Sampdoria reclaimed the lead on 66’ when Sara Baldi slipped one under the keeper. It was ten minutes later that Bercellli was summoned to bring some energy and help protect that lead. Instead what happened was that they immediately conceded and therefore had to get risky to find another goal with their top flight status at risk. Bercelli then got mobbed on halfway with limited support and Sassuolo ran away to score a third. Sampdoria hit the post in stoppage time and then conceded a fourth on the break to lose 4-2.
With that the season is complete. Sampdoria have finished last with 13 points from 26 matches. Only one win all season. They thought they were going to get a default win last week after claiming Como had picked an ineligible player but the sports judge denied that appeal so the original 2-1 defeat stands. They didn’t know the result of that appeal when they kicked off against Sassuolo so there was still a chance, in their minds, that they could avoid relegation with a win. As it turns out, they were doomed either way. Not sure what Bercelli will do but she did already spend a season on loan in Serie B and perhaps if she sticks around there’ll be more consistent minutes for her.
In other news, Katie Bowen didn’t play as Inter Milan polished off their magnificent season with a 1-0 win against Juventus... but she was on the bench. That’s her first matchday squad since going off injured the previous time they faced Juventus about six weeks ago. She didn’t play in any of Internazionale’s final four fixtures after being a regular up until then. Luckily they won 3/4 without her to wrap things up in second place. Good enough for Champions League qualifiers next season. Bowen’s gotta sign a new contract if she wants to stick around for that as her original 1+1 deal just came to an end. Hopefully she does because Inter Milan would be a good bet to get through those qualifiers and end the drought of kiwi players in the UWCL. It’s been four years since Indi Riley (Fortuna Hjørring) and CJ Bott (Vålerenga) became the sixth and seventh kiwi wahine to play Champions League. We’re about due another couple (refer also to: Taylor, Kate).
Up Next: Contract chat
George Stanger – Ayr United (Scottish Championship)
You know what sucks? When you battle away all season seeking promotion, put together your best season of professional football to date, earn transfer interest from foreign clubs, stick around with your current team to chase a title, then that team fades down the stretch to drop into the playoffs and you get injured and can’t play either leg of what turns out to be a 2-1 aggregate loss against Partick Thistle in the playoff semis. That’s how it went for George Stanger. No promotion for Ayr United... who were briefly sitting first in the Scottish Championship a couple months ago only to end up in third, ten points adrift of champs Falkirk. George Stanger is now a free agent so chances are we’ve seen the last of him with Ayr United now that the Premiership dream has fizzed out.
Up Next: Yeah dunno
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
What a blessing to have Ryan Thomas out there starting consistent games again. He only played the first half of the 1-1 draw with Go Ahead Eagles this week but that was a tactical switch, no injury issues involved. Thomas has been assuring everyone that he feels physically better than he has in years and after eight consecutive starts, during which PEC Zwolle have only lost twice (both against teams at the top of the ladder) thus earning enough points to confirm their place in the Eredivisie for another season, there’s no reason to argue with him. Expect to see a new contract drafted up pronto now that he’s proven his worth once more.
Up Next: It’s the last week of the season, with PEC Zwolle away to Willem II on Thursday at 6am and then home vs Groningen at 12.30zm on Monday (NZT)
CJ Bott - Leicester City (English Super League)
Nice to see CJB return for a fifteen minute cameo in the last game of the season. Better than ending the campaign on the physio table. She replaced Julie Thibaud who went off after a head knock... and helped close the book on 2024-25 as Leicester City won 4-2 against West Ham United. No Indi Riley for Crystal Palace as they were beaten 5-2 by Manchester City so she did have to finish the term injured. Here’s hoping both of them are fit (and selected) for the Football Ferns games against Venezuela in three weeks.
Leicester City finished a respectable enough tenth out of 12 teams. Respectable mostly because they were 10 points clear of relegation, a fate that befell Crystal Palace instead. Bott finished the term with 17 appearances totalling 1207 minutes. No goals or assists but four yellow cards and she still managed to win the eighth most tackles in the division despite playing way less than everyone else around her. Indi Riley finished with 15 appearances totalling 823 minutes. She scored two goals and had two bookings. Anna Leat was also with Aston Villa for the first half of the season but she was injured and never played.
Up Next: The offseason
Marko Stamenic – Olympiacos (Greek Super League)
Five minutes at the end of a 1-0 win against Panathanaikos doesn’t sound like much but it’s good value for Marko Stamenic with the cup final next week. He’d started a couple of games since Olympiacos wrapped up the Greek league title but this team was closer to what we’ll see against OFI Crete next week so for Stamenic to still get a bit of time off the bench is a positive sign that he’ll at least be in the squad for the cup decider. He might even get on the pitch, who knows.
Remember that Stamenic is chasing the legendary feat of winning league and cup doubles in three consecutive seasons with three different clubs in three different countries. This season he’s made 14 appearances in the Super League (669 mins), five in the cup (238 mins), and four in the Europa League (36 mins). Whatever happens, the cup final will be his last match with Olympiacos as his loan deal comes to a conclusion with no interest on either side of extending it into next season.
There was also a decent 75 minutes for James McGarry for Athens Kallithea this week. Decent for him because that’s two extended starts in a row for the fella having recently come back from two months out injured. Could have been more than decent if he’d scored instead of hitting the woodwork with a first-half header. But it wasn’t decent for his team as they lost 4-1 (two of those goals scored after McGarry was replaced) away to Levadiakos. Kallithea have three games left and are seven points away from safety. They’ll probably be relegated next week. McGarry’s only on loan there, with one more season on his Aberdeen deal... though there’s little chance of the Dons bringing him back.
Up Next: Greek Cup final, OFI vs Olympiacos at 5am on Sunday (NZT)
Olivia Page - Sheffield United (English Championship)
Olivia Page had a great run of starts for Sheffield United around January/February. She got five of them in the league and another in the FA Cup (against WSL side Crystal Palace), knuckling down in that Blades back three. She only turned 20 towards the end of that stretch so these were awesome signs of progress but then the injury list shortened again and she was back to the bench for the rest of the term as Sheffield United failed to avoid relegation. So it goes. Jacqui Hand did what she could but Page had to watch from the sidelines. However, she wasn’t sitting idle. All the while, Olivia Page was getting regular minutes for Sheffield Utd’s U21s side, culminating in a trophy to end the season...
That there is the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA County Cup which the Blades lifted after winning 5-0 against Huddersfield Town’s first team in the final. Page played the full thing... same as she did a year ago when this Blades U21s team beat Chelsea 2-0 in the final of the Professional Game Academy Cup. Page is one of several players from that squad who’ve graduated to first team stuff, though was still young enough to go around again for another piece of silverware. With the first team getting relegated, it’s likely this U21s system will have even more of a presence in that squad moving forward. We’ll see if Liv Page is part of that or not. Since the season ended, she’s already popped over to Bulgaria to run a half-marathon.
Up Next: Patience
Tyler Bindon - Reading (English League One)
And with that the Tyler Bindon x Reading FC connection comes to a conclusion allowing the Nottingham Forest connection to soon begin. With Nottingham Forest having qualified for Europe there’s even more chance of Bindon (and perhaps even Marko Stamenic) sticking around with the first team as they’ll need an extended squad and financial fair play restrictions won’t allow them to do much expensive outside recruitment. There was a profile on Bindon published on The Athletic this week in which it’s stated that: “No decision has been taken about where he will be next season. He’ll report to Forest for pre-season training, and they will take a view on whether he stays with the first team, or goes out on loan”. Marko Stamenic has previously said the same thing about his situation. They’ll all be reporting to preseason training and from there we shall see how the cards fall.
Speaking of which, the kiwi contingent in the Premier League may be growing but the League One crew is shrinking drastically. We’re still waiting for the released/retained list from Burton Albion but it’s understood that Max Crocombe is coming off contract having joined the club on a two-year deal two years ago. You’d imagine there’s keen interest from both sides in re-signing but you never know in this game. By the way, Crocs was pipped to the Player of the Year award by Ryan Sweeney. Fair enough.
Other clubs have been quicker with the after-season housekeeping. Like Northampton Town, who have announced that Nik Tzanev won’t be getting offered a new deal. That’ll be a mutually happy divorce after Tzanev’s great mid-season form showed again that he’s more than capable of holding it down at this level... but he started and ended the term as the back-up keeper so clearly that wasn’t going to happen with the Cobblers. Matt Dibley-Dias also spent some time with Northampton Town at the start of the season but they barely used him so he went back to Fulham where he’s settled back into the U21s and is now playing regularly again. And Ben Waine’s contract option with Plymouth Argyle has been declined, making him a free agent as well. It was always a long shot that he’d be brought back after they left him out in the rain at Mansfield Town but relegation could have altered that situation. Turns out it didn’t.
Looking elsewhere in the English pyramid, Alex Paulsen is expected to report to Bournemouth for at least the start of preseason and then probably go out on loan, possibly to Scotland. Henry Gray’s just wrapped up an excellent loan spell with Braintree Town where he was awarded Young Player of the Season. With Ipswich Town getting relegated from the Premier League, that could be the impetus to lift him into the first team squad more permanently... though more likely would be another developmental loan, hopefully in League Two if the pattern continues of him stepping up a division with each loan move.
Technically, Max Mata remains contracted to Shrewsbury Town (recently relegated to League Two) for one more year though it feels doubtful that he’d go back there. Auckland FC will surely want to keep him around. Not bothered about Jamie Searle (Forest Green) or Matt Gould (Yeovil Town) in the fifth tier National League. Gould is a player/goalkeeper coach so he’s in a different phase of his career. Forest Green Rovers are in the playoffs so promotion back to the EFL is a possibility but Searle’s only made two league appearances for them across two seasons with seven different goalies having been picked ahead of him (many of them only there on loan). It’s a weird situation and they clearly don’t rate him highly enough. He did get a rare start (his only league start) for FGR a couple of weeks ago in a 1-0 win over Oldham following an injury to Ted Cann. After that clean sheet performance (against a fellow playoff team), his manager Steve Cotterill had this to say:
“I thought he did very well today, he has not played all season, I thought that was a big boost for him. He knows what we are about so he pretty much knew what he had to do and he did it very well”.
Rightio. Then there’s also Josh Redfearn who scored seven goals with one assist in 28 appearances for Welling United in the sixth tier, as well as a few more in cup competition (including the winner in the Kent Senior Cup final), but that wasn’t enough to keep his club from relegation. We could wrangle up a few more below that level but let’s not get carried away.
Plus of course there are a several dudes involved with academy systems, some of the bigger names being Marley Leuluai (Burnley), Noah Dupont (West Brom), Joe Wallis (West Brom), and Adam Watson (Stoke City). Wallis and Dupont have both played U21s this season (Wallis is 19yo, Dupont is 17yo) and Dupont recently signed his first pro deal. Watson spent the bulk of this season on loan with Witton Albion in non-league stuff. Leuluai mostly plays U18s for Burnley, whose first team just got promoted back to the Premier League. He missed four months with injury at the start of the campaign but played regularly for them in the second half as they won the U18 Professional Development League northern conference (before losing in the PDL playoff semi-finals against Watford this week – although Marley didn’t play that match). Leuluai and Watson are coming to the end of their current contracts so they could seek other pastures if they wish.
Up Next: Tyler Bindon, meet Nuno Espirito Santo
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