Niko Kirwan (Calcio Padova | Italy)

I rarely go on FB these days, but I must the AC Mestre's page is exceptional. Timely updates, links to newspaper articles (sadly these are usually scanned photos which makes it hard to link on here, highlights...they do quite well in that regard.

So what RR is saying isn't surprising. Also, it's a meaningless game and many of the best players won't be available, so why not.

IIRC correctly Liam Graham was selected when he was basically playing for the Ascoli reserves (so less than Niko who plays for the first team), so in the end, why not? I for one really hope he does well. I dream of a Thomas-Kirwan central midfield to take us to the WC :)

I thougth Graham was only selected once he was already playing for Chesterfield?

Can't remember to be honest, anyway Chesterfield - Mestre, probably pretty close eh?

I guess. Hopefully Niko can overcome his injury and play the Canada game. Looks like a promising youngster

Back to the bench, but not required, in a 2-1 loss to Ravenna.

Hopefully his fitness is improving and he gets selected to play in the Canada match.

Not in the match day squad for a midweek game today away at Bassano.  Mestre currently 1-0 but the game has only been underway for a handful of minutes.

Interestingly, several articles in the Italian media tipped Niko to be a starter at RB, and I found no mention of him being involved with the AWs - this is probably more of a reflection of the level of Serie C reporters than anything else.

On a similar note, I often look through the Mestre FB page to get a feel for what the supporters think, and I came across a couple of people saying that Niko "deserves to play more".  That's encouraging IMHO as Italian supporters are very demanding (at all levels of the pyramid), and that's no small compliment.

Will also miss the 'derby' with Padova on Sunday.

well he's with the All White's in Spain so of course he won't be in the match day squad today

That was my point. He's away on AW duty, yet reporters are saying he's tipped to start.  You'd think someone would make a bit of a meal of having an international footballer in their midst and/or reporters would take notice.

Mestre won 2-0 against Bassano in the end (who were second on the ladder) and are now in 7th place with 40 points.  Big game on the weekend, hopefully they can continue their good run of form till the end of the season and battle it out at the play offs.

Serie C has some interesting rules this year, so basically if you make tenth you are still a chance of getting promoted.

Ah sorry mis-read that, although despite 2010 Italian press probably rate the All Whites the way we rate the Cook Islands hence not making a big thing of it (or just being unaware)

Yes, you are correct and that infuriates me.  Many Italians have no idea of NZ especially in terms of football, but they certainly underestimated us in South Africa.

I'm still glowing from that 1-1 draw at the WC.  Many point to that draw as a low point for Italy, along with being knocked out by North Korea in '66 (or South Korea in 2002, but that game was a farce to be honest).  Glad they now didn't even make it to the WC, so they have a new low point and something else to talk about.

Obviously back from AW duty to be on the bench in a 0-0 vs former Serie A club Padova.  Niko came on in the 83rd minute.

Came on in the 76th minute in a 1-1 draw away at Renate.

Unused substitute in a 0-0 home draw vs Vicenza.

Back in the starting line-up and playing 58 minutes in a 4-0 win away at Reggiana. It was 2-0 to Mestre when Niko came off and the last two goals both came in injury time.
Mestre are making a serious push for the play offs.
Bad news on the admin side of things with the club reportedly having been 'reported' from not paying some dues/taxes. Apparently it was a miscommunication error so hopefully nothing serious.

Unused sub on a 1-0 loss to Fano, with Mestre now sitting in fifth position (tied with two other teams) on 46 points. The fourth team is on 47 and the team below on 42.

Gonna be a ruthless end to the season.

Unused sub in a 0-4 demolition at the hands of Santarcangelo.

Mestre in a bit of a rout at the moment - can still make the playoffs.

Riding the pine for 90 minutes again in Mestre's third consecutive loss, 1-0 Vs Sudtirol. Mestre are already in the play offs but they certainly don't appear to be in great form at the moment.

Not required off the bench in Mestre''s first and last play off game, a 2-2 draw with Albinoleffe. In what I can only describe as a bizarre rule, Albinoleffe go through with a draw as they finished the regular season ahead of Mestre. Go figure.
Good first season for Niko however,  in Italy''s third tier.
Interesting news from FA management
who recently confirmed Serie A clubs will have second teams I'm Serie C from next seasons

Been doing some reading on the Italian media. It appears AC Mestre's owner might step down at the end of the season.

There have been significant issues with Mestre having to play away from their stadium which needs a significant refurbishment and he's weighing up his options (might be too expensive to do it up).

Apparently all but one of the players are contracted until the end of this month, so Niko may well be looking around.

His first season wasn't stellar, but for someone coming straight out of the NZ domestic league, picking up 22 caps in his first season as a pro in the Italian 3rd division is a very good return.

He's been lucky Serie C trialed the use of 5 subs per game this year and I'm not sure this will continue.

Also, Serie A teams will have their B-teams in Serie C from the following season. Not sure Niko has a passport and there will be age restrictions on B-teams (most players will need to be quite young), so that might not work out for him.

I'll keep informed and let you know what's happening. Be great if he was called to the Cup in India though.

Pretty sure he has a Italian and NZ passport

He was born in Italy I understand and his mother is definitely Italian

No he was born in Auckland - his dad was playing at the Warriors when he was born, his mums definately Italian though

Yeah fair call. I spoke to his mum at TW games and she's definitely Italian, so yeah that makes sense.

I just always see him listed as having NZ nationality.

Anyway, I doubt he'll get picked up for a B-team as those are basically going to be development sides like they have in other countries, but instead of playing each other in the youth league (Primavera) they'll be playing hardened amateurs in the third tier. Very happy with the decision as it's long overdue personally.

Hopefully Niko gets another Serie C contract soon.

Perhaps Mestre need to take 3 games a year to South West Sydney to stay afloat? Or Carlton in Melbourne - plenty of Italians there.

Tongue firmly in cheek.

They sort of have been doing that I understand - just all around north-east Italy!

I can understand the boss's frustrations though. Having a good stadium (preferably owned by the club) is a source of much needed revenue and if you can't do that, then you'll struggle.

Rome (not exactly Mestre) have been trying to acquire building consent to build their own stadium for close to 5 years, and we're still not that close - it's hugely frustrating having to navigate your way through the red tape and a heavy, slow bureaucratic system. No wonder people feel like chucking in the towel sometimes.

He does have an Italian Passport. 

Off-fields concerns continue at Mestre, with the owner allegedly looking for investors. The crux of the issue seems to be their stadium, which needs upgrades to be declared up to Serie C standard and the old owner (who took Mestre from the depths of Italian football all the way to the third division) does not want foot the bill.

In the meantime, their captain has jumped ship and their much respected coach (Zironelli) is being sought by number of decent clubs.

Apparently a lot of Mestre players have received offers too but they're waiting to see what happens with the club.
If my memory doesn't fail me, all but one of the squad are coming off contract shortly.

Not sure what this means for Niko. He's certainly played a lot for a brand new, young professional. Hopefully the owner of the club sorts out the off-field issues and re-signs him or else he gets a similar gig elsewhere.

I should also look into the rules for the upcoming season as Niko certainly benefited from the 5 subs per game allowed rule last year and I'd say he would have played a lot less if subs had been restricted to 3.

Interesting times for Serie C, with Serie A clubs starting to introduce their reserve teams in the league from next season.

Wish Kirwan all the best, but think he is one of those guys that is lucky to have a Euro passport re getting a pro gig.

Interesting that Schmid had a look for Canada game, then discarded him for India - preferring a host of amateur Handy players.

Fair call - to be fair he had been injured and I believe he wasn't 100% during the Spain trip.

I was heartened to see he was on the stand-by list for the India tour - so not called back but at least still in the frame.

His next move will be very important for his development.

Yep, because in reality he is not very good. At all. Still question how he even managed to get a gig outside of the national league

because in the season he was at Team Wellington he improved a hell of a lot and the form he was in by the end of that season it was no real surprise that he managed to pick up the Mestre gig, whether or not he was able to keep up that level of intensity is another question

Yeah I thought he was decent. Obviously there were much better players in his own team that for various reasons couldn't make the jump to pro ranks. 

Hang on, 22 caps in his first season (including several starts) does qualify at making the jump in my opinion.

Still early days, sure, but he's actually done a lot better than many other Kiwis who moved to Europe in their first season.

I meant his Team Wellington team mates

He's doing good

Compartively, what is the Italian Third tier like compared to the UK?

Hard to say. Since there are three separate regional leagues in the third tier, there are 57 teams, so you have some teams that could be higher League One quality (Vicenza, Livorno, Lecce, Catania) and some which would be similar to 6th tier sides (some teams getting less than 15 points a season isn't uncommon). Mestre would probably be in the National League if they were in England

I'd say that's quite a fair assessment, Mestre are a Serie C-D team, but this being said they did well last season.

Not everyone needs to play in the EPL to qualify as a professional. Good on him for being able to play professionally. He's obviously good enough or he wouldn't have a gig.

Good news in that the owner of Mestre applied for a license on the last day.  This means Mestre should play in Serie C again.  The owner has said if he doesn't get support from local government or another investor jumps on board, Mestre will not be playing in a professiona league next year. 
Apparently, he is in talks with an investor - so let's wait and see.

I hope Niko gets a gig elsewhere as the situation doesn't sound too rosey tbh.