Clayton Lewis (Macarthur FC | Australia)

Surely even just on loan

Gets 20 mins off the bench as Scun-thorpe draw 1-1 at Shrewsbury.

Iron were up 1-0 when he came on, but they concede late with an OG.

Plays 2nd half as the Iron lose 0-3 to Burton Albion. Down 0-1 at HT

Scun-thorpe now just one point above the drop zone.

Tense few weeks with 4 games remaining. 

Recent form terrible with 4 losses and a draw in last 5 games.

New manager bounce hasn’t happened.

5 min cameo in 0-0 draw with Blackpool.

Iron now 1 point above drop zone.

Finally starts a League game as the Iron lose 4-0 at Charlton.

Subbed after 74 mins when already 4-0 down. Charlton chasing a promotion playoff being 5th.

Meanwhile Scun-thorpe fall into the drop zone. Their form has been bad of late, and new manager hasn’t turned it around.

Two games to go, but ray of hope is have 3 teams above them within 1-2 points.

Other good news is teams to play are Bradford (already relegated) & Plymouth (only a point ahead) in last 2 games.

Plymouth game now looks a huge one.

Plays a full 90 in a 3-2 away loss against Bradford City.

That loss to bottom of the table, already-relegated Bradford pretty much resigns Scun-thorpe to relegation unless they win their final match and other results go their way. A win here would have likely saved them. Huge clash against Plymouth coming up, who are one point ahead of them (also in the relegation spots).

Hearing very good things about Lewis' contributions! One of the few sparks left in the team, hence the 90 mins.

Good news Lewis is starting, bad news he's likely to be at a League Two club next season.

Scun-thorpe now in big trouble (6 losses & 2 draws in last 8 games), lying 2nd last going into final round next weekend.

They now need to beat Plymouth away, and hope the best that both Walsall (away to Shrewsbury) & Southend (home verus Sunderland) achieve are draws. Betting man would say relegation is likely for the Iron.

Scodhorpe relegated to League Two today.

Lewis gets 81 minutes in a 3-2 loss to Plymouth Argyle, who were also relegated after Southend pulled off a shock late win again Sunderland to escape the drop on goal difference.

Yes even if the Iron had won they would have been relegated. 7 losses and 2 draws in their last 8 games. 

9 yellow cards in the Plymouth match so plenty of feeling.

So at this stage Lewis will be running around with Old in League Two next season. Last season Scodhorpe were in the League One promotion playoffs!

Form so bad it defies mathmatics!

Mathematics even.

7 losses and 2 draws in their last 9 games. 

Hahaha serves me right!

Absolute scenes during the match - injured Plymouth keeper tries to throw ball out for substitution, Scodthorpe player keeps it in and scores.

https://streamable.com/ppyd6

Yes shades of Villa verus Leeds.

Do love that end of season drama with the leagues (esp UK) where they have pro/rel.

Plymouth still won the game, and also went down based on their GD being -24 compared to AFC Wimbledon's -21. So with hindsight this controversial goal didn't cost them relegation. But when all the games are happening simultaneously at the same time, you don't know this of course.

Relegation is always a rough one to take but for Clayton Lewis a stint in League Two next season might be exactly what he needs. The kiwi midfielder had been a fringe player at best for Scunny since he arrived but the last couple months of last season, under interim manager Andy Dawson, finally saw him get an extended run in the starting eleven and even though he wasn’t able to inspire them to stay up, he did show that there’s a fair bit he’s got to offer this club.

Paul Hirst has come in as manager since then and Clayton Lewis is hitting up the final year of his contract. Put simply, this is do or die for his Scodhorpe career. He can either kick on from here and really establish himself or he can start looking elsewhere pretty soon. With preseason just around the corner, that’s an exciting prospect to be honest. And as always, luck and circumstance will play a part, here’s a local view of the whole tactical run down…

Grimsby LIVE: “According to transfermarket, Hurst's most used formations during his time as a manager are 4-1-4-1 and 4-2-3-1 - this works for Lewis. In both line-ups, he'd be able to play as an advanced central midfielder whilst finding pockets between the oppositions midfield and defence. The way Scodhorpe United played for the majority of last season was not conducive to Lewis' game, nor his progression as a player. In Stuart McCall's diamond, Lewis was seemingly third choice in the pecking order to play the number 10 (behind George Thomas and Jordan Hallam), whilst struggling to impress playing from the wing - a position which he just does not seem to suit in the EFL.

It's difficult to find a spot for Lewis in the 4-4-2. He'll be behind Adam Hammill, Ryan Colclough and Yasin Ben El-Mhanni in the pecking order to play from the wings, and he doesn't really have the ideal size nor strength to play in a two-man midfield whilst likely being behind Matty Lund, Funso Ojo and James Perch. However, towards the end of the campaign under Andy Dawson, Lewis was brought into the team and performed well as a central midfielder alongside Matty Lund. The two were able to work the ball around nicely, with Lewis looking to always make himself available for the pass and drove forward initiating Iron attacks.”

Paul Hurst is a decent appointment with something to prove after a shocker time with Ipswich last season where he lasted just five months and the Tractor Boys went on to be relegated. Clayton Lewis has something to prove as well, which goes good. Andy Butler, a veteran defender, has been the only addition to the squad so far but there’ll probably be a couple more over the next week before the squad leave for camp in La Manga.

Grimsby LIVE: “Lewis has the raw ability and talent to thrive in League Two, not many Iron fans will question that. But can he show, on a regular basis, that he can be a player who stays involved in the game and adds the goals and assists he'll need to to keep his place? If he does, he could become the player who Scodhorpe United fans had hoped he would when Graham Alexander brought him to the club two years ago. If he doesn't, it could be the last we see of him playing in England.”

Can you at least credit the Niche Cache?

http://theniche-cache.com/football/2019/6/25/flying-kiwis-june-25

They do great work.

Of course they do, and I often have lead the praise, if you read my other posts. Must take him hours to write up.

Yep, but websites survive on clicks mate; if you just copy and paste, they get no sort of view of the metrics.

Yep, someone did this in another thread too. Funny how people will link to fox sports etc but take stuff from hardworking, unpaid Kiwis and don't even credit it.

You guys are being a bit abrasive don’t you think? Coochiee does half the work on Kiwi Players Overseas and always credits TNC, just forgot this time is all

Thanks MM. Basically I got tired & lazy twice, and didn't bother crediting TNC. 

I'd never try and claim Nick Robinson's sterling work. What he does is awesome, and must literally take hours. All comes with a nice dollop of humour. He may also borrow the very very odd tidbit that I post up here. But yeah please keep up the great writeups Nick on the overseas brigade.

I like to copy in some of his comments, as often you'll see someone post something about a player that is either a plain untruth, or they haven't read the Flying Kiwis to be aware of the facts.

Find that a little frustrating personally, so why not spread the intel to a wider audience. I'll just make sure I always try credit Flying Kiwis from now on.

Anyway back to Lewis. 

From Nick's indepth digging around, seems there is opening to become a regular starter at the Iron, with new coach and all. If he can't crack starting eleven this season in lowly League Two, his UK career maybe over early.

Unfortunately Clayton has picked up an injury and will miss the next couple of weeks of pre season. Hopefully he can get fit before the start of the season 

According to Flying Kiwis injured (quad) and likely to miss first few weeks of League Two season.

Scun-thorpe lost 3-2 at Cambridge this morning.

Not helped by having a player sent off at 21 mins.

Lewis still on the injured list.

Early days but Scun-thorpe are bottom of League Two after 4 games. After being relegated from League One, they could be in another scrap this season.

I'm surprised they are releasing Lewis for NZ U23 games verus Olyroos, when League Two plays through the Sept FIFA window. Is he not in the current manager's plans? Was getting good minutes in pre season.

Thought he would have been keen to stay back in England and focus on forcing his was back into the Scun-thorpe first team setup after an injury disrupted start to the season. Maybe things are not all bright and rosy at the club after relegation from League One last season and a poor start to this season. Might also just be that he's looking to come and spend some time in a more positive environment. Of course this is just me speculating. Could also just be a good way for him to get some minutes under his belt after said injury troubles.

Pretty sure he's run into the last year of his contract over there (I stand to be corrected though) and not getting into match-day squads definitely doesn't lend itself to getting a contract extension.

Yeah seems a bit of an odd one to me, and yes I think also is last year of his Scun-thorpe contract. 

You have missed the start of the season with injury, your team is struggling in last spot, you are possibly playing for your club career, you are finally ready to play, and you choose to bypass 1-2 League Two matches, to fly 20 hours for a pair of effectively meaningless U23s friendlies.

Buckingham will pick his 2020 Olympic squad (should the U23s qualify) not based on these two Olyroos games, but based on each individual's club form over the next 12 months.

It's almost like Lewis is trying to put himself in the shop window of some A League clubs. Who doesn't love some speculation. Just seems an odd choice.

think he realises like many if he was going to make it at the Scodhorpe, he would have made it by now

i don't think it's cause for concern at all imo, he's definitely able to play a good part for Scodhorpe later this season going by his League One form and the manager they have liking him

Scun-thorpe lost again on the weekend, and are now dead last in League Two. A woeful 1 point after 6 games.

Lewis not in match day squad.

Yet he is flying out to Australia for Olywhites verus Olyroos.

https://twitter.com/Clayton_Lewis10

Then he's pretty much the only European based player (Oli Whyte is a youth player at Rio Ave), who's been made available for the Olywhites Olympic qualifying tourney in Fiji. 

Tournament in Fiji runs from 21 September to 5 October. Looking at match schedule, that would see him miss a min four League Two games, if NZ made the final.

Doesn't seem like his future at Scun-thorpe is that secure, esp when they are doing so badly. You think they would be playing him now (at least on the bench) if he was fit.

Sounds like Lewis playing for both U23's squads, is part of some plan to get back up to full fitness. Still surprised Scun-thorpe have let him go, given how they are struggling.

From this week's Flying Kiwis.

"It was a terrible time to get injured, leading into contract season, but sure enough Clayton Lewis is rounding the bend back to full fitness again. In the last couple weeks he’s been named in two separate NZ U23s squads as well returning to training with the top side and even featuring a couple times with the reserves. Lewis played a quality ninety minutes this weekend for that academy team, another milestone in his recovery. 

Even set up a goal in a 2-0 win over Shrewsbury Town in the Premier League Cup and he created plenty more than that too, both from open play and with his set piece delivery. Good signs.

Charlie Wilson@charliewilsonST

#SUFC | Scodhorpe make it 2-0 as Clayton Lewis’ ridiculously good cross field ball finds Colclough who comes inside onto his left and fires past Agius."

A 2-0 loss for Iron at Mansfield Town.

Bottom of League Two. With 1 point after 7 games.

Meanwhile Lewis who is released for Oly Whites scores with a cracking free kick against Olyroos. Still seems odd to me.

yeah, great free kick, and he looked great in general play during the highlights too

Jacob Spoonley talked to Clayton Lewis on his latest podcast

Guest number 2 for Pod 2, the kid @Clayton_Lewis10

We chatted about big bad Baz, tropical Scodhorpe, freekicks and the wind in Wollongong.

Also, not a big fan of Aussies ??#TF90 pic.twitter.com/dYUFEB7fpe

— TF90 (@thefullninetyNZ) September 18, 2019

[Edit: doesn't seem to be have been uploaded just yet]

Happy to see a yellow card for time wasting. Really annoying when a player does something like that and escapes without a booking. Well done that ref.

https://www.scodhorpe-united.co.uk/news/2019/october/grimsby-u23s-preview/

This regarding Iron U23s who play midweek

"Clayton Lewis is now back from international duty with New Zealand Under-23s too, so comes into contention."

To me it's looked from the outside like a player keen to return to NZ, and a club prepared to let him go.

He's missed about 8 League Two games whilst away with the NZ U23s in Australia & Fiji. Strange when his club have been struggling at the bottom of the Football Leagues.

They had a look at him in preseason in Oz, but maybe Nix just not interested?

Expecting to see mutual termination and a move back to NZ in January, whether that's for the Nix or ACFC remains to be seen.

Having seen Lewis in action recently, I'd quite fancy seeing him in a stripey.

We have plenty of AMs so he might be surplus to requirements, but let's cross that bridge when we get there. We could end up like As Roma - only one fit MF out of like 6...

Scored for Scodhorpe U23s this morning in what I think was a friendly against a non-league side. 

yeah, was a great free kick by the sounds of it. Also got 2 assists in a 5-2 win.

Never understood why people assumed he was coming back here - yeah his girlfriend works here now, but he’s rated highly by the club and fans and will be in the first team very soon. Can’t see why he’d give his European career up in such a promising position to make an impact, and come to Kiwitea or something.

Rated highly by the club??

Most players rated highly by their clubs actually play for the first team.

I hope he gets a chance as I think he is more than capable at that level, but needs a decent chance first.