Flying Kiwis – January 28
Elijah Just – Motherwell (Scottish Premiership)
Eli Just, just doing what he does...
EJ’s fourth goal of the Scottish Premiership season was the opener in what proved to be a 4-0 win over struggling Kilmarnock. No sign of George Stanger for the latter once again... seems increasingly likely that he’ll be loaned out to a second tier club to get his minutes up in hope of World Cup selection, having fallen entirely out of favour (for no obvious reason) since they changed managers at Killie. Which, by the way, hasn’t improved their situation at all, as this hiding at the hands of Motherwell attests.
This was yet another clean sheet for a Steelmen side that’s only conceded twice in their last 11 matches (and has eight straight home cleanies)... although capitalising on their smooth possession and stoic defence with goal up the other end hasn’t always been a trait. This was the first time they’ve scored four in a match this term. Good thing that Just was there to break the shackles with a lovely give-and-go into the area. Up until Just’s goal, it was Kilmarnock who were offering the greater threat, including a goal disallowed for a narrow offside, also later hitting the crossbar in search of an equaliser. But then a red card followed by a Tawanda Maswanhise goal just before half-time turned it into a cruise for Motherwell.
Just was subbed with twenty to play, his job already done. That’s three games in a row with a goal contribution for Just, having assisted goals in each of Motherwell’s previous fixtures. The Steelmen are five points behind Celtic (3rd) and five points ahead of Hibernian (5th). Their next three matches are all against teams in the bottom half. It’s all going very smoothly for the moment.
Elijah Just: “The manager instils confidence in us and shows a lot of belief. He is open to wanting us to make mistakes but the most important thing is hard work. When we’re out there making mistakes, as long as you’re working hard, then that’s what he wants – to see you trying to improve. The previous time I worked with him was a lot different. We didn’t play quite the same style. We weren’t as successful. We ended up getting relegated from the Danish Superliga. I was in and out of the team. It didn’t suit me so much.
When he called me to bring me here, I was pleased with the way he wanted to play and that he had me in mind, even though the first time around didn’t work out quite as well as we would have wanted. I think it was more the first time I had him, he hadn’t quite developed the principles that he has now. That first time we didn’t take a lot of risks. The squad we had was also very different. You guys can see it out on the field, it’s coming to life.”
Up Next: Livingston vs Motherwell, 4am on Sunday (NZT)
Liberato Cacace - Wrexham (English Championship)
Bit of midweek action made for a fine opportunity to get Liberato Cacace into his first Championship starting eleven for two months... and he stuck at it for the full ninety minutes. He’d only played 60mins in the FA Cup match against Nottm Forest that marked his proper return after a couple of short substitute stints. Nice wee milestone there. Fingers crossed this puts his muscle injuries in the past and he can get on with leading Wrexham up the Championship standings.
There was no rise up the standings from this game though. At home against Leicester City, they shaded most of the match but didn’t do enough in soggy conditions. Cacace was good getting forward on the left. He put in some stinker crosses but also some excellent ones, plus he caused some gasps early in the second half with a deflected shot that troubled the keeper with Kieffer Moore getting in the way. Cacace was also heavily involved when Wrexham took the lead in the 63rd minute, getting in behind his marker with an underlapping run and then driving a low cross into the middle – his ball took a deflection off a defender and the keeper bobbled it for Lewis O’Brien to pounce. Doesn’t happen without their kiwi wing-back.
It was a bright performance from Cacace, who has looked at home in the Championship every time he’s been fit enough to get onto the field. He’d be a fan favourite already if he’d only been able to stay fit. Alas, that goal should have been enough to win them this game except that they leaked an equaliser in the 90th minute. Jan Vestergaard with a good touch and finish in the box after a free kick was pumped deep and flicked on. They let that one slip for a 1-1 draw.
Following that... well, it was back to the bench for Libby as Wrexham pulled off an incredible late triumph away to QPR. They were 2-1 down when Amadou Mbengue was red carded in the 90th minute. They then scored twice in stoppages via Josh Windass (90+3’) and Oliver Rathbone (90+5’) to win it 3-2. Unfortunately, the comeback nature of the game meant that they weren’t looking for defensive reinforcements off the bench so Cacace was left unused as Wrexham climbed into the top six for the first time this season.
Said it before: midfielder George Thomason has done a fine job filling in at LWB in Cacace’s absence (so good that they’ve happily let James McClean return to Ireland to finish off his career, he’s signed with Derry City and will soon be playing against Max Mata and Norman Garbett). He’s earned his share of continued starts and that’s part of the rotation. Also a factor is that the Leicester game was only the third time that Cacace has played a full game for Wrexham and the other two were immediately before his third (and hopefully last) injury set-back. Giving him two starts in the space of four days at this stage of his recovery probably wouldn’t have impressed the club physios. They’re being cautious with him. It’s for the best.
Liberato Cacace, after the LCFC match: “I think I'm just being managed quite carefully this time around. I'm looking to the medical staff, trying to build me up 60, 75 and 90 minutes. I feel quite good and hopefully I can go again in the next game.”
Since there always seems to be at least one of the four Champo Kiwis absent, Tyler Bindon wasn’t able to play for Sheffield United in their 1-0 loss to Southampton. They were down several players including TB’s usual defensive partner Japhet Tanganga who was serving the first of his three-game suspension. Tough circumstances... but Bindon had been subbed at half-time of the previous game with illness so the short turnaround was never likely. Even the next game proved too soon for him...
Sheffield United managed to win 3-1 against Ipswich despite all the players they had missing. Good for them.
Marko Stamenic had a quiet week too. He’s been rotated a bit more than usual lately and it sounds as though that may be because he’s also had a dose of the winter bugs. Only did 55 minutes midweek in a 3-1 win against Blackburn Rovers (they were 2-1 up when he was subbed) and then played off the bench on the weekend as the Swans lost 2-1 away to Hull City. The goals had already been scored when he was introduced after 66 mins. Doesn’t hurt to spread the minutes around during the busy part of the season... although take note that they won the game he started and lost the game he didn’t.
Swansea City with Marko Stamenic on the pitch:
1574 mins | 20 GF (1.14 G/90) | 17 GA (0.97 GA/90) | +3 GD
Swansea City without Marko Stamenic on the pitch:
1036 mins | 12 GF (1.04 G/90) | 20 GA (1.74 GA/90) | -8 GD
Marko Stamenic on the influence of new coach Vitor Matos: “As a group we are enjoying working with him,” he said. We really like him. He is clear in the ideas he brings, and he has a real personality and it’s really been a big and important change for us. I think you can see that has translated into our performances in games with the energy we are showing, the fight we are showing and the aggression we are showing other teams. It’s an enjoyable way to play.”
Up Next: Sunday at 1.30am away against Sheffield Wednesday (NZT)
Max Crocombe - Millwall (English Championship)
Don’t need to worry too much about what happened midweek when Coventry, the leading team in the Championship, scored a 78th minute winner to beat Millwall 2-1. Crocs almost saved the first one, making a double stop at his near post from a pair of close range attempts except that the ball had crossed the line by the time he pushed away the second one. There was another that ended up in his net early second half after he spilled a low cross as a defender ran into him... but that was disallowed for an offside in the build-up (arguably unlucky from Coventry’s perspective). He got a big hand to the winner but it would have been a stunner had he been able to save it. Coventry deserved the win. They were on the front-foot the entire way. Millwall might have changed the outcome had they been more efficient with their counters.
It was the rebound performance on Saturday local time that got everyone humming. Up against London rivals Charlton, the Lions were outstanding in a 4-0 victory. An own goal gave them a seventh minute lead and then they withstood everything that their opponents could throw at them before scoring three more goals after 80th minute to really put an exclamation mark on the result. Only one save that Crocombe needed to make - just how he would have wanted it as he claimed a fourth clean sheet in his last seven appearances. An eighth clean sheet overall... there are only three goalies with more shutouts this season and they’re all on nine (Carl Rushworth of Coventry, Radek Vitek of Bristol City, and Christian Walton of Ipswich). Remember that Crocombe didn’t make his Championship debut until two months into the season. What’s more, only Viktor Johansson of Stoke City has a higher save percentage than Crocombe’s 75.3% mark.
The 32yo who had never played above League One before, who started the season as back-up behind a loanee, has sneakily been one of the most effective goalkeepers in the division. The brother’s kept his own receipts too, don’t deny him...
And yet there remains the high possibility of him ending this month back on the bench as manager Alex Neil, according to reports, remains keen on a reunion with Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson – who helped carry Sunderland to promotion last season but was replaced by new signings as soon as they got there. We’re not here to talk about hypotheticals but it’ll be something to keep an eye on over the last few days of the window.
Up Next: Millwall vs Sheffield United at 4am on Sunday (NZT)
Katie Bowen - Inter Milan (Italian Serie A)
Inter Milan found themselves 2-1 down, an hour in their their match away at Como. They’d just conceded a goal from about 35 metres out after Bowen’s pass infield was then turned over by a teammate trying an ill-advised turn and the keeper was chipped for a brilliant goal. For a minute there, things were looking very frisky. But only for a minute because they equalised immediately and then went on to win it thanks to an acrobatic finish from Elisa Polli in the fourth minute of added time. 3-2 final score. Another good win. Bowen was substituted for extra attacking weaponry directly before they scored so she might not have even made it back to her seat before the ball hit the net.
After some rotation earlier in the season when they were competing in a few different competitions at once (to the detriment of their Serie A form), the last five league games have all come with the Ivana Andres, Marija Milinkovic, Katie Bowen back three combination that was so good for them last season. Those five games have all been victories. Internazionale are second in the standings.
Up Next: Inter vs Ternana in the Coppa Italia on Thursday at 6am, then Ternana vs Inter in Serie A on Monday at 4am (NZT)
Abby Erceg - Deportivo Toluca (Mexican Liga MX)
For a while there it was getting a bit concerning. Toluca returned to action four weeks ago and yet for the longest time there was no sign of Abby Erceg, not on the pitch and not in their travelling matchday squads. It wasn’t until she popped up in a training photo recently that we could even say for sure that she was still with the club, since apparently offering injury updates is too much work. The same thing happened at the start of the Apertura phase when she missed the first few games without any explanation but then soon returned to help carry the side into the playoffs. Now history has been repeated in the Clausura.
Almost certainly just an injury wobble... because she’s back now. Matchday five was Go Time. Erceg was named on the bench as Toluca travelled to face Queretaro and, with the score locked at 1-1, she then got subbed on at half-time to try and make the difference. Which she sort of did...
Less than ten minutes to go, Toluca on the charge, numbers in the box for a corner kick. It’s flicked on at the near post and the keeper deflects it away. Erceg jumps on the second effort and maybe hacks it over the line or maybe doesn’t before Eugenie Le Sommer makes sure of it at the third attempt. Toluca take the lead and then romp to the final whistle scoring twice more for a 4-1 victory, their fourth win from five games.
The question is... who scored the second goal? Because it was credited to Le Sommer but it sure looks like Erceg’s earlier shot was over the line. Just look at the keeper’s positioning before she blocks it with her right leg...
We know the truth and justice will be served. But even if it isn’t, it’s good to see New Zealand’s best ever female footballer on the park again and doing what she still does so well.
Up Next: Toluca vs Juarez at 1pm on Saturday (NZT)
Ben Old - AS Saint-Étienne (French Ligue 2)
There’s a good chance we may be nearing the end of the Ben Old at Left-Back experiment. Not because he’s been dropped nor because the previous incumbent has returned. The previous incumbent, Ebenezer Annan, actually returned two games ago and has been stuck on the bench watching Oldy do an increasingly assured job there. The coach has already explained his reasoning there...
Eirik Horneland: “Annan is available for the group. Since his return, he has trained for several weeks, he has also sometimes been rested. On Tuesday, for example, he missed training for administrative reasons, but he has been training normally since. Ebenezer is in good shape but since then Ben Old has settled on the left side. There is competition on this left side, it is an advantage to be able to choose between these two players.”
Nah, the problem is that ASSE lost 1-0 to Reims this week, conceding after their opponents had been reduced to ten men, thereby dropping down to fifth on the ladder and with that coach Eirik Horneland’s job security is barely hanging by a thread.
The Norwegian coach was hired last December (while Old was out with his knee injury) and wasn’t able to prevent them from relegation. They stuck with him largely because they were expected to bounce straight back up again – they have a reputation among their rivals as the Paris Saint-Germain of Ligue 2 – but after a sharp start they’ve stuttered badly and now promotion doesn’t seem like such a given. His tactical inflexibility, his high demands on players, and his loss of dressing room trust have all been cited as further issues.
And this is the bloke who masterminded, and then wholeheartedly embraced, Ben Old’s positional switch. Without him the equation would change. Then again, a new coach might go back to picking Ben Old as a winger whereas this one doesn’t - in that case, sure, bring on the changing of the guards. Never really know with these things. Horneland will have at least one more game to try and save his job... but it’s been reported that they almost replaced him during the winter break, having come to an agreement with a current unnamed MLS coach who later withdrew his application. So they were actively trying to replace him before they lost to ten-man Reims. Good luck, mate, you’re going to need it.
It has been cool to see Old settle into a different role, getting a little more comfortable with every subsequent match at LB. But we also can’t ignore that ASSE have only won one of the five games that he’s played there. Against Reims, Old had a shot blocked inside the six yard box while it was still scoreless and was nutmegged prior to the cross that led to the goal. On the whole he was pretty good... but those two moments won’t reflect well upon him in light of the outcome.
Up Next: ASSE vs Boulogne at 8am on Sunday (NZT)
Sarpreet Singh - TSC Backa Topola (Serbian SuperLiga)
It was going fine for Sarpreet Singh up until Darije Kalezic got fired. He’d scored in consecutive games when that coaching change happened... then suddenly he only got 38 minutes combined across the next six fixtures. From that perspective, the winter break came at a good time for him. TSC have still got the same coach, Nemanja Miljanović, who was promoted up from the youth ranks as interim when Kalezic got the flick and it looks likely he’ll be staying in charge for the rest of the season... but at least the extended training break has given Singh a chance to impress a gaffer who didn’t initially seem to value him very much.
None of their winter friendlies appear to have been televised... but we can report that Sarpreet Singh started – and scored – in the most recent of them against Polish club Wieczysta Kraków. Singh played the first half of that match and found the net after 16 mins. Polish media described the goal as: “an exemplary counter-attack with three quick passes, ending with Sarpreet Singh passing the goalkeeper and firing into an empty net”. It was 1-1 at the break when TSC changed almost their entire team before going on to lose 4-2.
Not sure if that start was a reflection of Singh’s status or not since he only came off the bench in a 1-1 draw vs NS Mura (Slovenia) in their first friendly. They also lost 2-1 to GKS Katowice (Poland) in between, though that line-up wasn’t made public. All of those fixtures happened within the space of a week so there’s bound to have been heaps of rotation going on. Either way, Singh’s fared better from the coaching change than Australia’s Miloš Degenek – he was captaining this team through the early weeks of the season but then fell out of favour while Kalezic was still there and despite some good performances right before the break he’s gapped it in the transfer window, signing with APOEL in Cyprus where he debuted over the weekend. Okey doke.
Up Next: TSC vs Vojvodina at 3am on Monday (NZT)
Katie Kitching - Sunderland (English Super League 2)
More good footy from Katie Kitching as Sunderland grabbed a very useful 1-0 win against Southampton. All that was missing was the final product with KK creating several good chances from attacking midfield. That included whipping in corner kicks with her off-foot. The glory of Eleanor Dale’s winning goal (after 56 mins) almost fell to Kitching instead when the ball bobbled around in the six yard box after a free kick header was cleared off the line. One of about three goal-line clearances in the space of five seconds including one from Kitch who’d faked the initial free kick and then carried her dummy run-up all the way into the area but her toe-poked shot hit the face of a defender lying prone from a previous block. No room to work with there, crazy stuff. Fortunately Dale hacked it into the net with the next strike. Full game with a yellow card for Kitching. Sunderland are now five points clear of the relegation zone.
Not Durham though... they’re only goal difference above second-to-last Portsmouth and that goal difference just took a huge hit after they were smoked 4-0 by Crystal Palace. Once again, Indi Riley was an unused sub for Palace. It’s not getting any less annoying. Mickey Foster played the full thing for Durham but after going from 0-0 after 59 minutes to 0-4 at full-time that’s maybe not something to brag about. She did make a brilliant sliding tackle in the area during the first half though, preventing a goal from being scored, and probably emerging as the least tarnished of the Durham backline after that onslaught in the last half hour. Did look like there may have been a handball for the first goal that was missed. Hannah Blake wasn’t subbed on until the last ten minutes when they were already 3-0 down, this following a run of starts at the end of 2025. Durham have failed to win any of their last nine games across all competitions and have only won 2/12 this season in WSL2. Hence the predicament that they find themselves in.
And Ipswich Town are dead last with only 6 points from 12 matches. They did get a 1-1 draw with Bristol City this week but, for some reason, Grace Neville only played the last couple minutes. Seems like she’s been one of their best players but s’pose when you’re losing every week nobody’s starting position is safe.
Up Next: Bristol City vs Sunderland at 6.15am on Sunday (NZT)
Maya Hahn - Viktoria Berlin (German Bundesliga 2)
Returning to action after the winter break, Maya Hahn was surprisingly named on the bench as VB faced Borussia Mönchengladbach... but it was only after they subbed her on for the last half hour that they got it clicking, culminating in Hahn setting up the winning goal for Kim Urbanek (very tidy finish too, credit where it’s due) as Viktoria came away with a 1-0 result.
Another clean sheet, another victory. Suddenly, VB are up to fifth on the ladder, eight points behind the joint leaders of Stuttgart and SC Sand. This despite starting winless across their first six matches – since then they’ve won 6/8. This was only the third instance of Hahn coming off the bench - she’s started their other 11 games so it was probably a case of rotation or maybe she wasn’t 100% after the holiday. Doesn’t matter, she still made the difference.
Up Next: Viktoria Berlin vs Ingolstadt on Monday at 2am (NZT)
Matthew Garbett - Peterborough United (English League One)
Congrats to whichever of George Nevitt and Ben Woods it was who gave it the “stick to footy, mate” at the end of that clip... quite possibly the worst kiwi accent impersonation ever recorded. Almost as bad as Garby’s golf game.
Coincidentally, he followed that up with his worst performance of the season when Peterborough played away against Wycombe Wanderers – bad enough that they subbed him off ten minutes into the second half, with a 1-0 lead looking very delicate at the time. The sub worked because they were able to settle into a more structured, defensive set-up and then pounce on the counter to reinforce some control on the way to a 2-0 victory. Lifts them up to ninth (remember when they were all the way down at the bottom not so long ago?).
Luke Williams, PUFC coach: “We looked like we had lost the rhythm at that point but it’s pretty scary taking off Jimmy-Jay Morgan and Matty Garbett because they are fantastic footballers but they spent so much energy in the first half and in general with the minutes they have played. I felt we were probably going to concede more territory but that we would have an opportunity to break.”
A rare off-day from Garbett. Worked hard but the things he tried didn’t seem to stick and the coach decided to try something else. Fair enough. Having said that, he wasn’t a whole lot better when they faced Stevenage away a few days later. Operating in his usual right wing spot (with full licence to roam), Garbs was all over the place trying to get involved but kept trying to do too much which led to a lot of turnovers and a lot of fouls as he hustled to make up for his mistakes. Couldn’t get into the areas he likes. Eventually he was substituted as part of a triple change with 15 minutes remaining... Posh leaking a goal shortly afterwards to lose 1-0 and miss out on the chance to close the gap to the playoff positions.
Elsewhere, Port Vale lost 3-1 to Exeter City and Ben Waine was only subbed on for the last few minutes of added-time. The Vale are seven points adrift in last place after Rotherham added a point to their count with a draw vs Wimbledon.
Down a division, Harrogate Town lost 3-0 at home against Gillingham, another scoreless defeat for Henry Gray although he did make six more saves including five from shots inside the box. They also had a midweek game to follow, at home against Fleetwood Town, and Gray was going alright there until he called for some medical attention late in the half. It seemed like a tactical move at the time, seeing as how Fleetwood were beginning to take control. But he then conceded a goal in stoppage time and didn’t return from the sheds afterwards so it seems the injury was legit...
Hopefully nothing that’ll keep him out for very long. No further details yet. Harrogate did end up equalising with ten minutes remaining, that goal snapping a streak of seven scoreless home games in League Two that stretched all the way back to October... but then they conceded even later to lose 2-1.
Up Next: Double week of matches, with Stevenage vs Posh at 8.45am on Weds and then Posh vs Huddersfield at 4am on Sun (NZT)
Michael Fitzgerald – Albirex Niigata (Japanese J2-League)
Bit of news from a few weeks ago... one of the great undercover Flying Kiwis of the last decade is carrying on for another year. Michael Fitzgerald, also known as Fittsujerarudo Maikeru, has signed a one year contract extension with Albirex Niigata for whom he’s made 82 J1-League appearances over the past three seasons. He’ll be 38 years old when the 2026 campaign wraps up, ageing like fine wine as the saying goes. Fitz has been playing in Japan since 2008 and the only reason he’s never added to his three caps for the All Whites is that he swapped citizenships in order to qualify as a local in Japan. Hence his undercover status. He’s played 179 J1 games across his whole career and 117 in J2.
It’ll be the latter that he’s adding to this year. Last season was a stinker for the club as they won just four of their 38 matches to finish a distant last place on their way to relegation. That was a bummer... but Maikeru has done this before. He first joined Niigata when they were a second tier club and helped them get promoted in 2022 (at the fourth attempt). Throughout his time in Japan, he’s won two league titles (2017 and 2018 with Kawasake Frontale, granted he was injured for a lot of that time), won the second tier championship (2022 with Niigata) and has also experienced relegation (2025 with Niigata). That’s a bloke with a full set of experiences to call upon.
Michael Fitzgerald: “I am grateful to be able to play for Albirex Niigata again next season. We have had a disappointing result last season, which was very regrettable, and as an older player I feel I should help put the team together again. I believe that if we compete with the Niigata badge on our chest, we must demonstrate through our actions that we can lead the team in a good direction, as well as achieve results on the pitch. I will be using my experience to try strengthen Albirex Niigata as they take that new step forward.”
Up Next: New season begins on 8 February with Ehime FC vs Niigata (NZT)
Milly Clegg – Racing Louisville (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Racing Louisville: “Racing Louisville FC kicks off its 2026 preseason Thursday with a 28-player roster. Of the roster, 25 players reported earlier this week and will train for the first time Thursday... Forward Milly Clegg has not yet reported as she and the club work to finalize the details of her future.”
As she and the club work to finalize the details of her future. Interesting turn of phrase. Clegg is entering the final year of her three-year contract, having barely played in year one and then been loaned out in year two (where she got stuck at the worst team in Canada’s NSL and only scored once... though did get lots of playing time and was able to refine a few other aspects of her game). Pivotal year for her wherever she happens to be but given that Racing Louisville are “finalizing the details of her future” when she’s already under contract, and that this is somehow preventing her from joining preseason, it sounds like that won’t be in Louisville. Which, frankly, if they were going to leave on the bench like they did for all of 2024 again then that’s not such a bad thing. We’re in some very deep ‘Watch This Space’ areas with this one.
Up Next: We shall see
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