about 2 months ago· edited about 2 months ago· History
Swans to sign Garbett and get the old Ole gang together proper.
Not quite the visual spectacle of The Square in his home town Palmy North, but there are worst views for your first team training. But then Eli already knows Austria
Just leaves Scottish Premiership side Motherwell after just one season in a club-record deal reportedly worth around £6 million ($13.7m).
“We're very excited to bring Elijah into the team. He can play in more than one position and his versatility will be a great fit in the side,” Swansea coach Vitor Matos said.
“Elijah joins us after performing well in all aspects of our recruitment process, and after a brilliant performance at the World Cup. We are very happy to have him with us.”
The Welsh club, part-owned by rapper Snoop Dogg, finished 11th in the Championship last season.
Just is the latest All Whites player to secure a move following the World Cup, with Sarpreet Singh joining Portuguese second-tier club SC Farense, Tim Payne moving to Paraguayan giants Club Olimpia and Lachlan Bayliss signing with Auckland FC. Goalkeeper Alex Paulsen has also joined Motherwell on loan from English Premier League club Bournemouth.
Looking forward to the Stamenic and Just combo this season. Has there ever been a kiwi pairing at this high a level? (Excluding the Nottingham Forest contingent, only one of which actually plays).
about 2 months ago· edited about 2 months ago· History
Niche Cache. Smart business by Horsens, considering Just left them like 2 seasons ago.
Just with a Motherwell team mate joining him in Wales. Read elsewhere that the Championship playoffs have been expanded to include teams 3rd to 8th. Swans should be in the mix this season.
Motherwell are getting a club record fee for Elijah Just of £6m plus addies to eclipse the previous record of £5m when Lennon Miller left for Udinese one year ago. Chris Wood is the only kiwi who has ever moved for a bigger fee than that (he’s almost tripled that number on three separate occasions). This for a bloke they picked up for a minimal fee one year ago... although some of that profit does go to his former club AC Horsens who have a 17% sell-on clause.
Swansea City finished 11th last season but were quite a lot better in the second half after Vitor Matos took over as coach. Their form from February onwards was worthy of a playoff spot... and they’ve done good business since then. Moussa Yeo has been signed for the other wing, a Mali international previously at Red Bull Salzburg. A similar fee to Just’s has been arranged for Joseph Opoku, a young Ghanaian winger from Zulte Waregem in Belgium.
Stephen Welsh was picked up from Celtic to play centre-back... he was on loan at Motherwell alongside Just last season so make that two mates already on board. They did lose Ethan Galbraith to Stoke but they got a huge fee for him which has helped bulk up those wing spots and also helpfully clears more room for Stamenić to be even more of a key figure in the midfield. Plenty of reason to think Stam is in for a much bigger season this time around too.
coochiee wrote: Would be a first at that sort of level Shirley.
Boxall & Brockie were together in the PSL, and in a Cupset won a Cup comp with SuperSport over I think favourites Sundowns.
Another Palmy lad Jake Gleeson & Tuiloma were together at Portland Timbers.
Colorado Rapids briefly had a little cluster (Smith, Colvey & Deklan Wynne) with with Huddo in charge and Baze his assistant.
Wasn't there a few at Barnsley? all together. Bertos, Mulligan etc
David Mulligan, Rory Fallon, Jeremy Christie, Allan Pearce from memory all in their youth ranks. I think from memory 3 were in the NZ under 16s teams when we hosted the tournament. Fallon was selected for England youth, or was close, I think hence he didn't make himself available. People know what Fallon went on to do. Allan Pearce scored a goal in the under 16's world cup held in NZ from memory and played some non league football in England. Christie joined the football Kingz and had some games for the AWs. Mulligan had a bit of a career in lower level English clubs before coming home.
about 1 month ago· edited about 1 month ago· History
2016 Netbank Cup final in South Africa. I think the premier Cup comp there?
Big crowd in 2010 WC stadium Polokwane
Brockie and Boxall (at right back) both start for SuperSport (in the blue) against favourites Orlando Pirates (in red).
Go to 3.40mins in the highlights. Boxy crosses onto the 'Snipers' head and it's 1-1.
"A goal made and finished in New Zealand"
The 2nd SuperSport goal Brockie's rocket left foot shot is saved and a team mate blasts in the GK rebound.
A youthful Boxall them himself with the 3rd goal for the winners, and they frantically hold onto that 3-2 lead late on.
Adding to the late drama SuperSport's GK Ronwen Williams (who 10 years later was at this years WC with Bafana Bafana as Captain), got strechtered off with an injury
Some of the Pirates defending early on comically bad.
But yeah maybe the best example to date of 2 Kiwis combining outside the A League to win a trophy at a reasonable level.
Just for fun, i looked up the top goal scorers (more than 3) in the World Cup, and added their club, league and transfer value. It's crazy to see:
1) How many goals were scored in this world cup even considering 48 teams, and 2) What an outlier Eli is - the only player with a lower transfer value is Raul Jiminez who is 35. And despite the transfer to Swansea, Eli is still playing in one of the lowest leagues - almost all the other players are in a top 5 league, or cashing in saudi / MLS money. Screenshot 2026-08-05 at 8.27.51 PM.png507.4 KB
“Another of Swansea's new faces, Eli Just, found time and space in the area only to shoot a yard wide of the far post, then missed a second opportunity after his smart run was not matched by a wayward finish.”
“Another of Swansea's new faces, Eli Just, found time and space in the area only to shoot a yard wide of the far post, then missed a second opportunity after his smart run was not matched by a wayward finish.”
I watched the game on BeiN nz. He looked very good and was one of the better players for Swansea, he got the two chances one because he played himself into that position and thr other for always being in the right place and short passing ability. Of course scoring would have been ideal but he still made a strong performance and I think it was a solid start.
Elijah Just & Marko Stamenic - Swansea City (English Championship)
The EJ x MS era of Swansea City football has begun with a 1-0 defeat against Birmingham City in the EFL Cup. Could have gone better, to be fair. Nevertheless there were plenty of signs of encouragement as the Swans lined up with both kiwis in their midfield three, Just playing centrally albeit with the freedom to switch around with his wingers, as one of three new signings in the starting team (alongside wingers Moussa Yeo and Joseph Opuko). Definitely looks to be the plan from coach Vitor Matos to put speedy wingers around a fluid midfield, giving his team comfort on the ball but with runners in behind to stretch things out. Just is coming from a Motherwell team that was joyful to watch last season... early indicators are this Swansea City team could be plenty of fun as well (respect the common denominator between the two).
Bit worried for Eli tbh. He’s been an essential part of a couple of tight knit groups.
Here there’s not a lot of that one touch. A strong game from the Korean number 10. Players seem to be a bit more individualistic and more reluctant to pass the ball. He could have been played in twice and both times the player on possession used him being open as a distraction to fashion a shooting opportunity for themselves.
It’ll be interesting to see how he goes, but so far it must be something of a rude awakening after being in the Austrian seconds a couple of seasons ago to bagging World Cup goals it must have seemed easy. He’ll really need to work hard on his fitness and physicality you’d think, as well as getting the trust of the team around him, so he starts to get those passes.
But apparently the Swans have made some more signings since Just, so yes he’s gonna have to work hard every training and game. 46 game season. He’ll get plenty of mins. Very early days
For me there was always a question mark over Just in the Championship. Its a grinding powerhouse league with lots of running lots of contact and a relentless playing program. In an ideal world he would have followed his last coach to France. Ligue 1 loves creative players like Just. They flourish there and also the playing program is less intense
austin111 wrote: For me there was always a question mark over Just in the Championship. Its a grinding powerhouse league with lots of running lots of contact and a relentless playing program. In an ideal world he would have followed his last coach to France. Ligue 1 loves creative players like Just. They flourish there and also the playing program is less intense
Obviously it's still physical, but the profile of the league is changing. There's been a huge influx of players coming from more technical leagues to the championship over the past few years, who are similar in profile to Eli. Fair point about the schedule, it's gotta be one of the most gruelling in the world. The Jacks have made a lot of signings though, so I'm too worried for him yet.
He scored 3 goals at the World Cup. Why isn't he getting more a surge of fame, 5.3 million Instagram followers, children jumping around for signings, and a framed shirt auctioned for $4,500 now? Should have been Eli Just and Tim Payne, both of them. Maybe a goal against Hollywood Wrexham will do it.
His Motherwell captain said when he first met small Just last pre season he thought he wouldn’t cope with the SPL’s physicality.
But he was soo wrong, as Eli was tough and also he quickly showed a massive relentless work ethic, making him fast a squad favourite. Once he adjusts to The Championship he’ll do well
I don’t think the physicality is the problem. He’s a buzzing player and he needs to get off the mark and get going imo.
But it’s a cut throat league. Players are looking up at possible EPL riches and glory. Or they’re looking over their shoulders. I think Vipotnik is a fantastic forward. But he missed a glaring one v one after coming off the bench and he’ll be feeling pressure on his position.
It feels just a bit more selfish. You need to see your name on goals or goal contributions.
From the little bit I’ve watched there’s more dribbling and less one touch hive mind he played at Motherwell and with the All Whites. You’re expected to hit the corners from outside the box.
If he can adapt to play in this system and find his range from distance or in creating goals, he’ll have become an amazingly attacking versatile player.
Hopefully the way he played off Wood in the WC and a couple of players at Motherwell will be repeated here.
I think he smacks the pinata right and he’s away again with the stats!
about 20 hours ago· edited about 20 hours ago· History
Consecutive weeks with midweek games, ie 5 matches in 14 days. Swansea look like having a largest squad this sesaon that will help them navigate/rotate the 46 game Championship and hopeful promotion.
Wrexham, Southampton & Burnley a tough 3 game stretch this week.
