Newcastle (14th) now 7 points clear of the drop zone (Burnley). 5W & 2D in EPL since Wood arrived. Though has been a favourable run of games against lower-mid table teams
Burnley were 0-0 against Chelsea at HT, but then got hammered 4-0.
Yeh, his partners in the front 3 haven’t been providing much for him. Though that worked last week for Fraser.
Assist from Shelvey in defensive mid. He also seems to be getting his head or a touch to goal kick after goal kick and I haven’t yet seen a team mate getting the second ball.
Newcastle looking strong at corners with that Nix tactic of hitting Burn or Schar at the back post to nod back across.
Have a look and see if Almiron and Wood can combine better.
Yeh Ryan played for 3 PL clubs but only scored league goals at Blackburn and QPR (got one in the Cup at Spurs). Chris has played in the Prem for 4 teams and scored for 3 of them (his West Brom goals were in the Championship).
By my count he has now scored Football League goals for 9 different clubs in England! I think that must be a record?
Weird scenes in the Newcastle vs Everton match as it's held up for several minutes as a protestor ties themselves to the post and they can't get him untied. Currently 0-0 at 54 mins, Wood hasn't been too involved so far.
14 minutes of added time, let's hope Wood doesn't miss his All Whites flight!
Edit - Newcastle go down 1-0 after 17 mins of stoppage time! 10 man Everton score deep in stoppage time to win. Bizzare game and not one Wood will remember fondly.
Weird scenes in the Newcastle vs Everton match as it's held up for several minutes as a protestor ties themselves to the post and they can't get him untied. Currently 0-0 at 54 mins, Wood hasn't been too involved so far.
What was that all about?
Toffies with a 1-0 win. Huge goal for them in quest to avoid the drop. They stay 17th (25 pts), 1 spot above Watford (18th, 22 pts) in the drop zone, but go 3 points clear of the Hornets. They had Brazilian Allan sent off in 2nd half after the interruption, but before the goal. https://highlightsfootball.net/video/everton-vs-newcastle-united-highlights-4/
Everton still with 2 games in hand on Watford & Norwich (20th) below them. Burnley (19th, 21 pts) also with 2 games in hand on those 2 teams. Newcastle stay 14th (31 pts), and still looking okay 9 points clear of Watford - but that is two 1-0 losses in a row now. https://us.soccerway.com/national/england/premier-league/20212022/regular-season/r63396/
Full game Wood, who is now off to Doha. I guess Hay will see how AWs go against PNG, and how Fiji look against New Caledonia - before making a decision whether to start the Woodsman verus Fiji.
It's a pretty congested tourney, so if Hay can keep Wood fresh by limiting his mins in the pool games, pre knockout games makes some sense. Of course if AWs suffered a shock shock loss to PNG, that plan would go out the window.
Watched the last 15 minutes and Dubravka was the only one to get a pass to him. He wins the header and no one picks up the second ball. I think he almost had a Willock iirc? shot cannon into him, but I don’t think that’s a pass.
Developing a dislike of this Toffees team. Alan took an age to go off and ranted at the ref. The other players too surrounded the ref. Should have been yellows.
what a dick, I can see why he's protesting but he should be tying himself to the parliament grounds somewhere not the goal post at a football game. Location and timing are key to getting your message across.
Now I love Woodsy and watched him play as a 15 yr old at St Pauls, but I swear he is doing a White Power celebration after both his goals against Vanuatu (the upside down ok signal).
I would love for someone to tell me I'm wrong, or that there is another meaning to the signal.
Posting the question as it doesn't sit right with me.
Now I love Woodsy and watched him play as a 15 yr old at St Pauls, but I swear he is doing a White Power celebration after both his goals against Vanuatu (the upside down ok signal).
I would love for someone to tell me I'm wrong, or that there is another meaning to the signal.
Posting the question as it doesn't sit right with me.
Now I love Woodsy and watched him play as a 15 yr old at St Pauls, but I swear he is doing a White Power celebration after both his goals against Vanuatu (the upside down ok signal).
I would love for someone to tell me I'm wrong, or that there is another meaning to the signal.
Posting the question as it doesn't sit right with me.
He's wearing the number 9 jersey, and I saw it as him making a #9 symbol, albeit crudely. These goals were scored back in 2016 - was that hand symbol even a thing back then?
He did it for a few years in the middle of his career - remember reading it had some symbolism to do with something, but don't think it was political/racial... someone else may have better memory than me?
And Howe - speaking to nufc.co.uk at the Magpies' warm weather training camp in Dubai - was delighted to see the 30-year-old make history as New Zealand won 4-0 in Doha to take them to the top of Group B of the Oceanic section of the qualifiers for Qatar 2022.
"I think it's an amazing achievement for him and his family - a hugely proud moment, I'm sure," said Howe.
"TO PLAY FOR YOUR COUNTRY IS ONE THING, AND A HUGE HONOUR, BUT TO ACTUALLY SCORE THE AMOUNT OF GOALS THAT HE HAS AND BECOME THE RECORD GOALSCORER, I THINK IS INCREDIBLE."EDDIE HOWE
"To play for your country is one thing, and a huge honour, but to actually score the amount of goals that he has and become the record goalscorer, I think is an incredible achievement.
"It's worth noting the effort in terms of the travel, and the professionalism needed to then return to your club and give your best, but also give your best to your country.
"It can't be underestimated, the miles that he's covered, and he's always done it in a very diligent, professional way so full credit to him and his family."
Most of Wood's club colleagues are currently making the most of a significant gap between fixtures to train at the world-renowned Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex, while the trip has also been a useful team-bonding exercise for recent arrivals like Dan Burn and Matt Targett.
But as much as Howe would ideally have had Wood with his group, he acknowledged that representing his national team and breaking the goal record could prove to be even more beneficial for the big number 20 - and therefore his club.
"I always want a player to achieve their dreams, goals and aims," insisted Howe. "If that is with their country, I want them to achieve that so yes, of course we'd love Chris with us but he has this dream, he loves doing well for his country and we embrace that.
"We want him to go and we want for him to do well - but we also want him back in one piece for us!"
Back then my mates and I had a game with that symbol. If you made it below your waist and caught your mate looking at it you got to punch him in the arm, from memory it was reasonably widespread so could be a reference to that.
Back then my mates and I had a game with that symbol. If you made it below your waist and caught your mate looking at it you got to punch him in the arm, from memory it was reasonably widespread so could be a reference to that.
definitely not white power/racist
Agree - it was a relatively innocuous thing to do when I was a kid, everyone did it at one point. I didn't know it is now a white power symbol..
Back then my mates and I had a game with that symbol. If you made it below your waist and caught your mate looking at it you got to punch him in the arm, from memory it was reasonably widespread so could be a reference to that.
definitely not white power/racist
Yeah, did this a few years back to a mate on a work site thinking this was is what everyone knew it for (as we did it all the time in high school) - turns out it was around the same time as Donald Trumps rise to fame and it becoming a white power symbol (unbeknown to be). A real curb you enthusiasm moment trying to explain that to a disgruntled middle aged women who did not believe it had anything to do with a childish punching game.
Here you go (I'm also not a Herald subscriber but have my ways...)
Another chapter has been added to Chris Wood's remarkable legacy to football in this country.
Wood recently became the top scorer for the All Whites and will be spearheading the World Cup qualification hopes in June – now his prowess in English football could be transformational for two of his former domestic clubs.
Cambridge Football club and Hamilton Wanderers FC are set to receive a massive windfall, in the wake of Wood's move to Newcastle United in January.
The Herald understands that the Waikato clubs are in line for payments in the "hundreds of thousands" from the Premier League outfit, under Fifa's solidarity payments system, set up to compensate junior clubs for the training and education put into players from the age of 12 and up, if they eventually become professional.
The All Whites striker transferred from Burnley to Newcastle three months ago, with the Magpies looking to strengthen their squad to avoid a relegation battle.
The fee wasn't officially disclosed, but was in the region of $47 million, which was estimated as the buyout clause in Wood's Burnley contract and has a considerable trickle-down impact.
It's believed that Cambridge and Hamilton will both receive significant six-figure sums.
After first kicking a ball with Onehunga Sports in Auckland, Wood joined Cambridge as an 11-year-old when his family moved to the rural town.
He came through the grades, before making his first team debut as a lanky 14-year-old in the 2006 Northern League season.
Wood later moved to Hamilton Wanderers, scoring 16 senior goals for the club, before getting his move to England, joining the West Bromwich Albion academy as a 17-year-old after impressing on trial in 2008.
Since then Wood has amassed a remarkable record in English professional football, with more than 150 senior goals.
He was a consistent scorer for Millwall, Birmingham City, Brighton and Leicester City, with 20 goals in 62 games for the Foxes. Wood then had two amazing seasons for Leeds in the Championship (44 goals in 88 games), before getting his Premier League opportunity with Burnley in 2017.
The All Whites marksman came to national attention at Turf Moor, with four consecutive double-digit scoring seasons.
That resume attracted Newcastle's interest and has resulted in a special dividend for two of his former clubs.
"For us it is club-changing," Wanderers chairman David Douglas told the Weekend Herald. "We don't have a lot of money floating around, it is bloody tough out there. We have great relationships with funders and sponsors but it is tough enough, without Covid being around, so this is a huge boost."
Douglas said the funds would be put towards a project to renovate the existing clubrooms, as well as a new facility to allow more of the junior football to be played at their Porritt Stadium home ground, rather than at a satellite field a few kilometres away.
"Hopefully we can have all of our junior academy sessions right outside the front of the club, which is a great experience for junior players and parents," said Douglas.
"If we can make that experience really cool, we can lock them in for a long time and strengthen the pull to our club."
Douglas said the club's gratitude towards Wood is immeasurable.
"We are hoping we can get on a call with him, to thank him and his parents and work through how it is going to be used, because it is certainly not going to be frittered away on day-to-day stuff," said Douglas.
"We want something that we can look back in years to come - it is legacy for us. We need to make sure we do the right things with it and we do the right things by Chris as well, because this doesn't arrive without all of his efforts."
The payout will also be monumental for Cambridge, one of the biggest junior clubs in the Waikato.
"It's absolutely massive for us," said a club official, who admitted it would dwarf any money raised throughout sponsorship and funding in a typical year.
Like Wanderers, Cambridge are determined that the financial injection will have a significant long term impact. Plans are in place for new lighting to be erected across several junior fields, as well as long awaited redevelopment and new drainage across the main complex.
