Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)

He may have gone off injured in West Ham’s last game but the diagnosis wasn’t too bad for Winnie. Good enough to start the next game, no worries.

WHU Head of Medical and Sports Science Stijn Vandenbroucke: “We picked up the normal bumps and bruises during the game on Monday, with Winston Reid coming off with a leg injury in the second half. Winston has joined a recovery training today and we will work hard to prepare him for Saturday.”

That’s nice. One outlet called it a severe dose of cramp so get a bit of salt in ya, son, and get back on the wagon. Judging by his instagrams he’s got a hook up when it comes to salt as well, so should be good.

What an insane game that Bournemouth one turned out to be as well. Reid and Fonte at the back, Kouyate again at right back (please stop that, Slaven). Up against a team which against Man United previously had gotten their first point in ages, surviving a missed Zlatan Ibrahimovic penalty. Funny story, within ten minutes they had a penalty of their own here… and they missed it. Football giveth and football taketh away.

It was Sofiane Feghouli that buggered it up bringing down Charlie Daniels for the spottie yet Joshua King’s low finish went wide of the post despite sending Darren Randolph the wrong way. Start the stopwatch because there were 48 seconds between that miss and Michail Antonio opening the scoring at the other end. Super finish, Feghouli slipped him the ball and the turn and shot was perfectly in the bottom right corner… exactly where King had aimed.

But don’t start giggling at Josh King. As Winston was held off by Benik Afobe on half an hour, the flick on from Afobe found King who chipped it over Jose Fonte’s head and he held off Fonte again to fire in the equaliser. Not at all pretty on Fonte’s part and it meant the Reid/Fonte partnership still hasn’t kept a clean sheet. Six minutes later Fonte’s day got worse as he was (harshly) called up for a foul on Marc Pugh in the area. A second penalty. Afobe took it this time… and he also missed! Randolph saved it low to the striker’s left. Not much of a kick, to be fair.

But after the break Josh King made it 2-1. Like, within three minutes of the half. Reid gave away a free kick and then was beaten to the ball by Afobe for the header back across. West Ham appealed for a hand but the ref waved it off (after a quick chat with his lino). King was free on the other side and he buried it.

The Hammers didn’t go away though, a gorgeous pass from Pedro Obiang split the defence and Sam Byram pulled it back to the run of Andre Ayew. Goal, leveller, 2-2, 83 minutes gone. After missing two spot kicks this was always gonna be one that got away if Bournemouth couldn’t do it but this West Ham defence is scrappier than that. In the last minute of the game the Cherries found some room on attack through Jack Wilshere and Marc Pugh and the WHU defenders could only run back passively as Wilshere’s shot was saved but King completed his hatty on the follow up, taking the three points with him.

No defender in a game like that comes out feeling satisfied, Reid included. That partnership with Fonte has plenty of work to do, it’s not easy mid-season like that to gel but it’s been bad so far. 13 clearances though, that’s a solid effort from Winston. Five interceptions, a key pass, a tackle. The numbers were okay but the result was not.

Slaven Bilic: “We are disappointed. When you play away and score twice you expect to go home with something.”

ESPN FC Player Ratings: “Winston Reid, 5 -- Conceded the free kick that led to Bournemouth's second goal, Reid seems strangely unsure playing alongside Fonte.”

It was a much needed win for Bournemouth who move a step further from relegation than where they were before the game. They’ve now scored two Premier League hat-tricks and both were against West Ham after Callum Wilson’s three-for last season. For the Hammers, they slip to 11th level on points with Southampton but with two more games played. It’s also now mathematically impossible for West Ham to win the league, for what that’s worth.

In other news, a report in the Daily Mirror (not the most dependable source but also not the least, tbf) suggest that Winston’s in for a big pay-rise. He’s been a crucial player for a few years and following on from a slightly dodgy start he’s now having one of his best ever seasons. Good enough that the ‘hierarchy’ as West Ham are ready to offer him something in the vicinity of £70,000 per week.

Now, Winston only signed his current deal, a monster six year contract, back in 2015. He’s only a third through it. Footy players don’t tend to get into their final years unless they’re planning on leaving but not every contract offer is transfer related. In this case it’s down to his new CB partner Jose Fonte. The Portuguese wasn’t at his best on the weekend but he’s an improvement to this team and when he came in from Southampton they gave him a salary something similar to that 70k and now the club feel it fair to bring a couple other players into that same tax bracket.

Presumably they’re not doing it out of the goodness of their heart either. Would imagine a few agents have made a few phone calls. Michael Antonio is apparently another anticipating a new deal. If they do go offering new numbers then Reid is definitely in the conversation.

Up Next: Hammers vs Leicester City, 4.00am Sunday (NZT)

Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)

It’s a good thing Wood’s already scored against Fulham because he didn’t even play against them in the midweek. There had been rumours for a couple weeks about Wood nursing injuries, once or twice there’d been doubt about him playing but the trip down to Craven Cottage in London was enough to give him a rest, apparently. He didn’t travel. A calf injury is the talk, though he’d be okay to play on the weekend so presumably it was at least partly out of preservation.

Without him, Leeds were notably without much of an attacking threat and yet they took an early lead thanks to a kinda hilarious own goal from Tim Ream in the fifth minute. Honestly, just watch it. One of those mis-kicks that find their way into the one area you were trying not to hit it. Whoopsadaisie.

But yeah, Leeds didn’t have a lot too them up top and Fulham should have been level later in the first half when Sone Aluko smashed one in off the underside of the crossbar but the refs didn’t give it, to the fury of the Fulham players. Replays proved it should have counted. A few spare chances to Alfonzo Pedraza could have sealed the result, particularly when he hit the post with 15 minutes to play, but no biscuits there and with the regular ninety almost over, Kalvin Phillips got himself a second yellow card and an early bath. And then deep, deep into injury time Fulham finally got the goal they deserved and it was a stunner. Big shame for Leeds to lose a couple points so late but they can’t really complain on the face of it.

As for QPR, they were one of the six teams that Wood hadn’t scored against… and it is with a heavy heart and much grief that it is now to be reported that he still hasn’t scored against them. Oh, he played. He played the whole 90 minutes in fact… but in a scrappy 0-0 draw the chances were few and the chances of scoring against every team in the division are now gone. A shame, but 22 out of 23 wouldn’t be bad. (Was that how the song went?).

QPR probably had the better of things too. They were almost ahead inside ten mins when Conor Washington narrowly missed a loose ball at the far post and before twenty had been played Matt Smith had headed over the bar and Rob Green had made a crucial save rushing out with his legs. Woody did hardly anything and Leeds’ best hopes came from set pieces and shots from distance. Improvements came in the second half but this was still a game in which Leeds had four yellow cards and zero shots on target.

YEP: “Leeds were offering very little though Chris Wood put a header wide in the 68th minute from a Pablo Hernandez cross. Souleymane Doukara was then brought on for Pedraza with 17 minutes left. From a right flank Hadi Sacko cross soon after, Wood went tumbling down in the area but referee Tim Robinson ignored the striker’s claims for a penalty.”

That header was his only attempt at goal and in 90 minutes he touched the ball a total of 12 times. Not even joking there, he completed five passes. But he did concede two fouls and got called offside three times, for what that’s worth. Just not a game where it was much fun to be a striker.

YEP Player Ratings: “Chris Wood - Leeds did not have a shot on target, which rather sums up the levels of creativity. Wood’s effort, against a very good defence, was thankless. 6/10”

Hey and did you hear what Ian Holloway, boss of QPR, had to say before this game? He said: “Chris Wood is the best striker in the division, and we have to try to take care of him”. And then they did take care of him. But a nice sentiment all the same.

A couple draws mean they lose some ground on Huddersfield in third and makes that outside hope of catching Newcastle or Brighton in the automatic promotion spots even more of an outsider. 11 points behind each of them with an equal amount of games played and only nine of them remaining: that’s a long way to travel. Still, not losing to Fulham keeps them six points and three places ahead of those fellas, although the Cottagers do have a game in hand. It seems unlikely that Preston in eighth (10 points back on Leeds) have it in them to catch up, while Norwich behind them just sacked Alex Neill.

Up Next: Leeds vs Brighton, 6.30am Sunday (NZT)

Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)

Mick McCarthy: “I’m more than happy if Tommy wants to go and play, which he does. I know he stopped for a point but now he’s gone back to playing international football. It was the making of me, I loved it, I would never stop anybody going and it’ll do him good if he has a couple of games. He still needs games, he’s not totally ready to be playing at this level yet.”

What a happy chappy, Smithy’s manager has no worries with the fella making the trip to NZ and Fiji for All Whites duty. Which is happening coz Anthony Hudson recalled him, true to his prior word with Smith fit now for the first time since he recommitted to the national team.

And he could use the game time too because he’s slowly easing back into the Champo stuff. Midweek while Wood was resting injured, Smith was making his first start of the year against Wolves. Not that it was much of a game, ending 0-0 with only a couple of decent scoring chances to recall and those went to Wolves. Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Ben Marshall both rattled the frame of the goal near the end but with only three shots on target all game anything other than a 0-0 would’ve been unbecoming.

Smithy started in defence alongside Luke Chambers and Christophe Berra, which is probably their strongest trio supposing that everyone were at full match fitness. Well, everyone except Adam Webster but he’s gone for the season now. A first start since September for Smith, Jonas Knudsen moved to left back with Myles Kenlock dropping out of the XI to accommodate him.

Not the worst comeback either, won a fair few headers and stepped up with a couple of interceptions. However he got notably worse after the break and a mistake conceding possession to Andreas Weimann could have cost them a goal if Ben Marshall’s finishing had been better (he had a couple chances, that lad). So it was no surprise in the 61st minute when Smithy was replaced by Kenlock, Knudsen moving back in at CB.

A result that Ipswich would have been disappointed with before kick-off but probably settled for afterwards. Wolves snapped a six-game losing streak, and would beat Rotherham 1-0 on the weekend to gain a little traction in the relegation battle. Ipswich? Still thoroughly and comprehensively mid-table.

More Mick: “He did OK, for 60 minutes he was fine. There were just a couple of things which went against him. Half-time comes and you feel OK, I’ve had it myself as a player and I said to Tom I remember coming back at Celtic after 12 weeks out and I was fine in the first half and I went back out feeling pretty chipper about myself but I was hopeless in the second half, I just couldn’t get myself going. It can had an effect that and I just thought Tom found it difficult in the second half, but it’s great to have him back, he’s fit, his back’s OK and the main thing is that he’s injury free and he’ll only get better through training and playing. So if he plays a couple of games for New Zealand that’ll do him good.”

Then on the weekend they drew again. Incredibly, that’s now six draws in a row in Championship footy. That’s as mid-table as it comes. Granted this time they were away to Barnsley so a much better effort based on the table at least (although Barnsley are also in the midst of a few weeks without a win). Marley Watkins scored in the 58th minute but Tom Lawrence, who’s having a great campaign, went and equalised in injury time, the champ. Arguably a point they didn’t deserve but whatever.

Smith didn’t play. He was ever likely to unless there were, you know, circumstances. Sixty minutes was enough for him the other night so to play again a few days later was gonna be a stretch. The backline therefore was the same that finished the Wolves game and Smith watched from the bench, nice and comfortable.

Up Next: Cardiff vs Ipswich, 4.00am Sunday (NZT)

Jeremy Brockie & Michael Boxall – SuperSport United (South African Premier Soccer League)

90 mins for the both of them wasn’t enough to get SSU a win over Orlando Pirates the other day. A first half of few chances gave way to a second that was a little more exciting, especially when Brockie was able to cross one in to Thabo Mnyamane, with TM taking it down and firing it into that helpless net. A nice goal but Thembinkosi Lorch levelled things up with 15 minutes left and try as they might neither side found a winner. 1-1 it ended, another draw in a season where SSU have already had too many of those.

Coulda been different while it was still 1-0, in the space of a couple minutes Brockie was only narrowly flagged for offside after thinking he’d scored and then a minute later he was chopped down in the box for no call. Either might’ve meant a decisive second goal but it wasn’t to be. Try telling that to SSU manager Stuart Baxter though, he was certain that both were harsh.

Stuart Baxter to Kickoff: “I've looked at it – for me it's onside. I think he's on, if you're really, really freeze-framing it, you can see a part of his chest sneaking in an off-side position, but a normal human eye doesn't see that. Giving the linesman a little bit of an excuse is that we work where Kingston makes the first run and moves the defender and someone else makes the second run, and I think the linesman sees Kingston and flags for Kingston. I think he goes so quickly that the referee just blows and that's it. The linesman probably didn't make a call on Jeremy Brockie, he just saw Kingston – there was blue and the ball was played – and I think he just got it wrong in terms of that.”

Actually if a part of his chest is offside then he’s offside, it’s kinda black and white there bro. Eh, whatever that wasn’t even the big game this week. The big game this week was away in Sudan though. CAF Confederation Cup, first leg. El Ahly Shendi v SuperSport.

Aaand they lost. But it wasn’t that bad, they were dominated in the first half with a largely second string team out there – including zero kiwis – but at the break Baxter introduced Brockie for a bit of firepower. That might’ve worked better if they didn’t give away a penalty to go 1-0 down but so it goes. They were down 2-0 after a while and that meant another aggressive sub with Kingston Nkhata was chucked in there. Good thing too because he pulled one back for 2-1. Soon enough Al Ahly Shendi made it 3-1 but in injury time Brocks did his thing and scored for a 3-2 deficit. Two away goals with the return leg in Pretoria next week, that’s very do-able.

Up Next: Away to Royal Eagles in the Cup, 6.30am Thursday (NZT)

Bill Tuiloma – Olympique de Marseille (French Ligue 1)

Full game there at the base of a midfield diamond. Picked up a yellow card in the second half too. Most importantly the OM2ers were able to grab a 2-1 win over Montpellier’s reserves, ending a barren stretch of results. Leya Iseka scored first but Killian Sanson equalised quickly – odd coincidence there is that Morgan Sanson, Killian’s brother, is one of the midfielders keeping Tui out of the OM top team. Anyway Brice Samba scored before half-time to restore the lead and despite a few chances in the second, 2-1 was the final score. Tui had one of those as he picked up the ball in stoppage time within his own half and carried it all the way down the field and one-on-one with the keeper… but his finished was kicked wide.

Fair enough, here are some highlights.

Up Next: Marignane Gignac vs OM2, 6.00am Sunday (NZT)

Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)

Nah, not a lot to report here. Thommo played a full game away to Willem II but the PECers lost 2-0 thanks to goals from Erik Falkenburg and Thom Haye. Recent results have eased the relegation threat for Zwolle enough that this one can be shrugged off but they will need a few more wins before they can safely wipe the sweat off the brow. Falky probably shoulda had a second in the first half too but with no goal-line tech in Holland the ref let go a chance that he reckoned he’d scored, meanwhile Ron Jans the Zwolle boss went and made two tactical subs before half-time which is a decent sign as to where his feelings were on the performance. Zwolle play the bottom team next up so fingers crossed that time (it’s five days before the first NZ vs Fiji game so presumably Thomas will fly out after that one).

Two shots, both off target, and two key passes for Thomas as he played in that CAM slot again, in behind the striker. He did lose the ball a few times but he also completed a ridiculous 93.9% of his 33 passes (so, 31/33) despite playing that far forward. Interesting to see if he gets a run there for the All Whites now.

Speaking of which…

Up Next: Go Ahead Eagles vs PEC Zwolle, 2.30am Monday (NZT)

Jake Gleeson – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)

Good news, mate. We’re only two games into it but the Timbers are top of the Western Conference right now after a fantastic result getting a 1-0 win away at Los Angeles Galaxy. It ain’t the star-filled Galaxy of old but they do still have a few names. Giovani dos Santos, for example.

The Timbers on the other hand, they have Jake Gleeson and in the 94th minute of a tough away game against a strong opposition with a 1-0 lead… he does things like this:

Yeah that’ll do right there, son. Galaxy only had two shots on target but Gleeson was good for it and after making those kinds of saves all last season in front of a rubbish defence, it looks like the Timbers might be back towards something strong this time around. New CB Lawrence Olum was great here, this was a quality result coming after that 5-1 thrashing of Minnesota. Two contrasting victories. Diego Chara got the goal in the eighth minute while LAG had Jelle Van Damme sent off after 34 mins – it was also the first away win since 2015 for Portland after going all last season without one.

Here’s another more routine Gleeson save:

And another look at the first/last one:

Oregon Live: “Even though the Galaxy were playing down a man after Van Damme was sent off, The Timbers couldn't put the game away and LA actually managed to take control of the match in the second half, holding 58.6 percent of possession, taking nine shots and earning seven corner kicks in the final 45 minutes. Still, Portland's defense held on to earn the clean sheet and the win. Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson came up big in stoppage time to deny a close-range header from Jose Villarreal.”

Caleb Porter, POR head coach: “It's not always about being pretty. It’s about winning, and on the road, especially, you have to dig deep to win games. I thought our guys did that… You need to grind, you need to stick together and you need guys to come up with big plays like Jake (Gleeson) did at the end of the game, making that save.”

Up Next: Porty vs Houston Dynamo, 3.30pm Sunday (NZT)

Kip Colvey – San Jose Earthquakes (American Major League Soccer)

Kipper’s in the All Whites squad and the Quakes made mention of it on their website. He’s one of three recent international call-ups for the buggers along with Panama’s Harold Cummins and Anibal Godoy. Here’s what they had to say on Colvey in their little bio bit, which kinda does our job of updating his exploits for us:

SJEarthquakes.com: “Colvey, 22, was the Earthquakes’ third-round SuperDraft selection in 2016 (No. 49 overall) and made three starts in four total appearances for the club in the 2016 season, tallying one assist. The defender most recently joined Earthquakes’ USL affiliate Reno 1868 FC on loan for a pair of preseason matches in which Reno earned a 5-0 win against the East Bay Stompers and a 4-0 victory against the Fresno Fuego.”

Meanwhile Francis de Vries and Deklan Wynne both started for the Vancouver Whitecaps II side in their latest USL preseason match, a 4-2 win over Simon Fraser University (SFU). Wynne was subbed off at HT, de Vries played the whole game. There’s one more friendly for them before the full stuff starts… while Deklan’s on NZ duty. As for Wynne’s goal last week, here ya go:

The Earthquakes actually played the Whitecaps in MLS action this week… but none of NZ’s finest were involved.

Up Next: Sporting Kansas City vs San Jose Earthquakes, 1.30pm on Sunday (NZT)

Young Rogues & Mercenaries

The goalkeeping stocks in kiwi football seem to be kinda disproportionate and they might get even larger soon with teenager Zac Jones getting a second trial with Premier League club West Bromwich Albion. At only 16, Jones would be looking firmly at the academy for now but that’s how you make it to the top. He also visited last year, along with a look-see at KV Mechelen in Belgium. Jones was a prominent face in the NZ U-17 team that qualified for the World Cup last month, winning the Golden Gloves in the Oceania tournament. Plus he has an inside man at WBA…

Birmingham Mail: “West Bromwich Albion will hand a second trial to 16-year-old goalkeeper Zac Jones with a view to him joining the academy. The promising New Zealander has been invited by goalkeeping coach Jonathan Gould to spend a week with the club. Gould has strong links to New Zealand having started his career with Napier City Rovers and finished off with Wellington Phoenix where he moved up to the role of assistant manager.”

Ha, Gouldy! Apparently he’s coached Jones before as well, which is a good sign. Best of luck there.

And he’s not the only one either because the Junior All Whites stopper from the 2015 U-20 World Cup, Nik Tzanev, has been trialling with Hartlepool United lately. Tzanev was released by Brentford at the end of last season and has also tried his luck with Wycombe Wanderers since then.

Had a decent showing in that game too, by the sounds. They won 2-1 btw.

Hartlepool Mail: “Former Pools striker Scott Fenwick captained the home team and he almost put Daniel Nti with a ball over the top, only for Tzanev to come quickly out of his area to bravely head clear, taking a blow to his head in the process.”

“The Minstermen applied some late pressure with Sam Fielding driving an effort just wide before Tzanev did well to deny Bruton an injury-time equaliser.”

Hey and to close proceedings here’s an interview with Sam Brotherton: