If Wood gets relegated I wonder whether he’ll have a crack at moving abroad to win trophies and/or play European football again. Would he rather score 20 goals at championship level and try to get promoted, or go somewhere like the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium or even Scotland? A winners medal or two in the cabinet while still earning good wages might be a nice way to end his career. Pure speculation of course.
Forest with a hugely important 3-1 win over Brighton (8th). Forest up to 17th, 1 point above the drop zone (Leicester in 18th). Trip to Brentford next.
That’s the women’s top division in England, the blokes top division - the esteemed Premier League – is not such a common destination for New Zealanders but thanks to a couple of brave soldiers we’ve enjoyed an incredible 19 consecutive seasons with at least one NZer getting Prem (EPL) minutes. Ryan Nelsen’s career overlapping with Winston Reid’s career overlapping with Chris Wood’s career. But it’s with great fear and anxiety that it has to be said that streak is under serious threat.
Forest (18th) host Southampton (20th/last) in a huge relegation 6 pointer. Feel is must win for Forest who have Chelsea (A), Arsenal (H) & Palace (A) to finish the season.
A win over the Saints will take them up to 16th, jumping over Leeds & Leicester.
With that win and Forest's survival, assuming he makes an appearance next season, Wood will overtake Nelsen for the record number of seasons played in the premier league at 10. In three of those early on he only made a handful of appearances, but nevertheless that's a hell of an achievement.
With that win and Forest's survival, assuming he makes an appearance next season, Wood will overtake Nelsen for the record number of seasons played in the premier league at 10. In three of those early on he only made a handful of appearances, but nevertheless that's a hell of an achievement.
Forest could still go down if Leeds win their final 2 games (Hammers & Spurs)? But yes highly likely now 20 continuous seasons of a Kiwi playing in the EPL.
With that win and Forest's survival, assuming he makes an appearance next season, Wood will overtake Nelsen for the record number of seasons played in the premier league at 10. In three of those early on he only made a handful of appearances, but nevertheless that's a hell of an achievement.
Forest could still go down if Leeds win their final 2 games (Hammers & Spurs)? But yes highly likely now 20 continuous seasons of a Kiwi playing in the EPL.
That clears up plenty for the club and for Wood... though this will still be a pivotal offseason. Forest have cash available and used that to make an obscene thirty incoming transfers over the past two windows. Which, funnily enough, led to some very disjointed play. Hopefully they rein that in next time but even still it’s a bloated squad and if Wood is injured for a large portion of preseason then it could be hard to earn minutes. Fellow striker Taiwo Awoniyi (also a fellow signing, albeit with a six month headstart on Woodsy) has scored five goals in the last three games. Morgan Gibbs-White and Brennan Johnson are crucial attacking players. Not simple to see where Wood fits in there. But that’s all for Steve Cooper to figure out. Important thing is that Nottingham Forest remain a Premier League outfit.
Confirmed that Nottingham Forest have signed Chris Wood on a permanent transfer from Newcastle United. Transfer completed on 1st July. Source BBC Sport.
Do you know if that was triggered by something in the original loan deal? Or Forest’s own decision at season’s end.UK_ALLWHITE
Confirmed that Nottingham Forest have signed Chris Wood on a permanent transfer from Newcastle United. Transfer completed on 1st July. Source BBC Sport.
Do you know if that was triggered by something in the original loan deal? Or Forest’s own decision at season’s end.UK_ALLWHITE
Confirmed that Nottingham Forest have signed Chris Wood on a permanent transfer from Newcastle United. Transfer completed on 1st July. Source BBC Sport.
He’s back. Chris Wood has returned to the footy field after being stuck on the sidelines since going off hurt in a game against Tottenham Hotspur in March. That injury was only a bad case of bruising and it didn’t keep him out of the subsequent All Whites squad to face China... but perhaps it should have because he travelled all the way to Aotearoa only to pick up a worse injury which required surgery and ended his season. Nearly five months later now here we are.
Nottm Forest had indicated that he was close to a return when he was selected as part of the preseason training camp squad that went to Spain. He didn’t partake in any friendlies during that time but he’s since marked his comeback with half an hour off the bench against his old club Leeds. Forest went on to lose 2-0 thanks to a defensive mistake and a shot that should’ve been saved. It’s only preseason though, who cares.
More important was the Woodsman’s comeback – particularly after rumours a few weeks back that he was already on the transfer block at Forest amd would need to prove his fitness in order to gather up a move. That’s a debatable perspective considering how many forwards Forest have sold or released lately. Still feels like there’s a good chance he serves as Taiwo Awoniyi’s backup and the fact that he was running around with the number 11 on his back certainly doesn’t suggest that the coach is ready to dump him. Wood wore 39 last season while 11 belonged to the now-free agent Jesse Lingard. Wood initially wore 11 for Burnley before the 9 jersey became available (which he wears for the All Whites). Awoniyi wears 9 for NFFC.
Wood was then given a start against PSV, a game that was lost 1-0 but again it was only a friendly. This time Woodsy got a full hour before the changes were rung, with Hwang Ui-jo taking his place – a Korean forward who joined the club last year but spent the season out on loan. Don’t worry about that. It’s all about minutes in the legs at this stage.
Up Next: Premier League starts in two weeks, still a couple more friendlies to go
Played 60 minutes the next game and they got done over 5-0 by Rennes. On the bench currently against Frankfurt. Edit: on with Neco Williams with 20 minutes to go. Good signs as Niche Cache said.
Energetic cameo from Wood. Put himself about. Got a good ball from Aurier. He returned the favour a few minutes later. However neither of them could get the half chance on target. He was involved in 3-4 nice moves. Think Elanga needs to get his head up a bit more. Also picked up a yellow after a disagreement with Hasebe about the disallowed goal late on. Would have been interesting to see the VAR on it. While he might not start every game this season he should see plenty of match time. Hopefully Gibbs-White and Johnson have found a bit of respect for his skills and we might see some one touch around the penalty area.
Edit - Gunners up 2-0 at HT. Edit 2 - Forest have pulled it back to 2-1. Awoniyi (with the goal at 82 mins) & Elanga have been subbed on in preference to Wood. Edit 3 - Forest remove one of their 3 CBs and throw Wood on in the 90th min. Finishes 2-1 Arsenal win.
2 more appearances for the Woodsman to go past Nellie. Pretty cool record that, 20 consecutive years of a Kiwi in the EPL.
With this moment, Chris Wood ensured that there has now been a New Zealander take the pitch in 20 consecutive English Premier League seasons #FlyingKiwispic.twitter.com/jR6l4hLI0f
Chris Wood scores his 56th Premier League goal with the winner for Forest, tied with Tim Cahill on third-most for players from Oceania (the actual continent, not the football one), and one fewer than Harry Kewell. Mark Viduka has 92.
Chris Wood scores his 56th Premier League goal with the winner for Forest, tied with Tim Cahill on third-most for players from Oceania (the actual continent, not the football one), and one fewer than Harry Kewell. Mark Viduka has 92.
Great header and the kit ain't too shabby either. Not really a Premier League fan..but NF are a storied club and I really dig the top. Maybe Santa will bring me a red Jersey with Wood on the back...
That Aurier connection from preseason and if I’ve spotted it you can be sure the boss has. And probably defenders and managers at better clubs too, sadly.
But give him service and he’ll score. Looking the best he’s been in a long time and that will put some credit in the bank with fans in management. This was a game Forest should have won from the chances they created, so Wood will be keeping the starters on their toes. And they did create plenty of chances, quite a few of which he would have been licking his lips about. Have to wait and see how things go.
But a good preseason and a cracking start to the season here.
Hang on a minute, I thought he was washed up, finished, not likely to recapture his form and destined to bounce around a few promoted teams or the Championship or the MLS? Surely one goal doesn't eradicate the doom and gloom of the comments being posted 5 months ago??
Records shmecords - was a nice header, but he's not starting and scoring a hat trick of bicycle kicks, so it's all down hill from here...
Flying Kiwis. Man is a tough draw to start the season Forest have.
This was a very helpful early season win for a team that was deep in a relegation battle last year. You don’t want to be playing catchup in this league and after losing to Arsenal in week one, they also have to play Man United, Chelsea, and Man City within the first six games of the term. They needed these three points... and Chris Wood provided them.
Steve Cooper: “I’m really pleased for him. Woody is a strong character. He’s a senior player who is part of the leadership group and is one of the guys who is driving standards for us, which is particularly important for the younger players. He’s scored goals in the Premier League before. That one was a typical Chris Wood goal, there’s no doubt about that. Everybody wants to start, of course, but we are also going to need guys to come off the bench and make an impact. They are 100-minute games now - minimum. I’m not saying any of the guys who came off the bench are just subs for us. But whoever is on the bench in a particular game, hopefully they can add value to a particular performance. That was the case this time.”
Hang on a minute, I thought he was washed up, finished, not likely to recapture his form and destined to bounce around a few promoted teams or the Championship or the MLS? Surely one goal doesn't eradicate the doom and gloom of the comments being posted 5 months ago??
Records shmecords - was a nice header, but he's not starting and scoring a hat trick of bicycle kicks, so it's all down hill from here...
Looks in good condition, the coach hasn’t chucked him despite going off to internationals and damaging himself worse while the team had a great run of form, there’s a RB who’s put the ball on his head twice, it was a late winner at home, his body language is very good and his team so far are on the up and up…
