Been a consistent starter in pre-season friendlies, including this morning in a 1-1 draw vs. Österlen. Great to see, I hope this is his level and he excels
Thought this might be the level he needed to get consistent minutes under his belt.
Seems as though he could be in for another stop start season chasing regular game time... Not really any fault of his own as Falkenberg no doubt try and push for promotion.
Matty G had played seven combined minutes through FFF’s first four games of the season when he was promoted to start against Örgryte in a mental little game where Falkenbergs took the lead three times, twice being pegged back before winning it in the 90th minute. 3-2 was the score there.
Garbett didn’t get a goal or assist but he did get voted the man of the match by the club’s fans so he must’ve done something right. He was one of four changes to the line-up but all the good highlights of the Superettan have gone behind a paywall this season so kinda hard to offer much more.
Early days (only 7 games in), but not looking promising for Falkenbergs (13th) re a return to the top flight. Nice to see Garbett getting some good minutes though.
UK press run a story this morning that Watford, Crystal Palace and Brentford are all scouting Garbett, with Watford in pole position to secure a move based on his performances at the Olympics.
Wish it was true but Can’t see it based upon his time on the park in his first season and a half on the work in Sweden and his performance the other night for the Olympic team.
This guy however has a dam good agent, Man City apparently we’re interested in him a year ago
Falkenbergs (dead last) with a 1-1 draw against Norrby (2nd), in Swedish 2nd tier.
Read somewhere last year (when in the top tier) that Falkenbergs played virtual route one football. Watching Garbett at the Olympics, doesn't sound the type of football that would really suit him.
Whaaaaat is going on there? Okay then. Also, yes while it may be from The S*n it was still more coherent than what the Express had to offer along the same lines...
“Lastly, Brentford and Watford are amongst a list of clubs to have watched New Zealand's 19-year-old left-back Matthew Garbett at the Games, as the All Blacks reached the quarter-finals before losing on penalties to Japan. He currently plays for Falkenbergs in the second tier of Swedish football having been picked up atthe Under-17s World Cup in 2019.”
Not a left-back. And the team ain’t called the All Blacks.
Anyway, remember that point about agents getting a player’s name mentioned in the papers? Matt Garbett has been repped by New Era Global Sports for a couple years now, an English based agency that seems to have a number of clients from clubs like Everton and Newcastle as well as an abundance of players in the divisions below. Only one Watford played and nobody from Brentford or Crystal Palace according to their website (and assuming that’s up to date) so the origin of their interest is unknown other than those three clubs being ones whose recruitment is most likely to overlap with a player like Garbs. But yeah these rumours popping up in the papers at a time when Garbett’s in focus at the Olympics is not a coincidence. As for the bombastic rumour approach... let’s just say this isn’t the first time they’ve slapped that card on the table.
There are three candidates for where any transfer rumour stems from (and they always stem from somewhere, there’s always a motive): a player/their agent, a club, or the media. The club could be the one trying to sign or the one trying to sell. If it originates from the media then it’s made up, pure and simple. However these things do get spoken into manifestation sometimes. Starts as a made up thing but ends up very real. In this case though it’s very obviously the agent trying to hype a man up.
“I say nothing. These are rumours. I can't say anything. Nothing has come to our attention. I do not know if there has been a whole lot of interest. I have not heard anything more than the rumours.”
Garbett’s contract with FFF lasts until the end of 2022. Will he still be there by then, Mr Nilsson?
“Lol! I have no idea. Should any of these rumours you refer to be true and any of those clubs come to Falkenberg and want to buy Matthew Garbett then we won’t still have him.”
It’s the use of the word ‘lol’ that’s most evocative there.
That doesn’t mean Brentford won’t make that approach though, they can get a pretty solid character witness from their recent loanee Winston Reid if they need one. Brentford has strong Danish links (part of why they loaned Reid). Scandi solidarity could do us a solid there. Meanwhile Crystal Palace are at the start of a youth revolution under Patrick Vieira which could be a disaster or it could be a triumph and it could also be an open window for someone like Matt Garbett to sneak through.
As for Watford, they’re owned by the Pozzo family of Italy – who also own Granada and Udinese. That gets a tad shady with players sold between those three clubs but they do usually have an interesting transfer approach. Most likely there’s not much in all this... but the more Garbett is randomly linked with English clubs (note that Garbett was born in England so the passport side of things is no dramas) the more likely it is that someone will bite.
Trying to make any sense of the above comments re EPL teams showing interest in him yet no longer getting into match day squads at current club.
Looking at his stats no goals and no assist’s over the last 18 months at Falkenberg as an attacking player suggests he’s not having much of an impact. What am I missing here….?
He looked pretty good at the Olympics, playing virtually in that 10 role, when I had thought he was more a 9. Not that I know much about him. Maybe he is trialling somewhere?
Remember reading a comment last year, when Falkenbergs were in the top tier, that they played pretty route one, and coming out of Ole he was struggling a bit to adapt to that. So maybe he just needs the right loan deal somewhere, being in the 2nd year of a 3 year deal.
You'd think with Declan having been up in Sweden a few years now, he would know the club scene pretty good in Europe now, and offer some sage advice on what clubs/coaches would best suit his Porrirua boys.
Imagine it would be more a Torino U23/19 signing, if he goes there?? Quick google tells me their U19/youth side is historically one of the best in Italy. Garbett is only 19.
Gianluca Di Marzio is quite a reliable source... Big move for the lad if it happens! Sounds like it would be a permanent move, 2 year contract with an option for a third -bwith Falkenberg pocketing 15% of the future re-sale of the player.
Torino have a very good youth set up. I don't know how much you know about the (now) less successful Turin Club, but in the 40s they were absolutely unbeatable. They won 5 league titles and their players made up most of the Italy squad. Had most of them not passed away in a 1949 plane crash, they would likely be a powerhouse of Italian football today.
Another young kiwi to add to the list! Very excited!
This kid must have one hell of an agent lol Wouldnt have picked him going to the Serie A before libby
big difference in signing a young player for a youth team vs. senior team. less player expectation of gametime being the main factor. Cam Peupion made the EPL before someone like McGree, for example
Also he's not playing in Serie A. He's signed for their Primavera team, so will be playing in the top youth league in the country. Not bad, but not quite there yet. I've seen loads of names float around that division, all very promising, a few make it, many end up as career journeymen in the lower leagues. Still, if he's after development, that was not a bad decision.
If he goes to Torino youth, I’m sure it will be a pretty well thought through move. Probably got some advice at least from Uncle Declan.
Falkenbergs from what I read about being fairly route 1, maybe not such a good fit, but I guess with your first Euro move you are not so fussy. Then when you get there, have some time to survey the landscape and hopefully find a better fit 2nd attempt.
Putting this into context however remember Musa played for a premier league under 23 team and I think Jack Pelter when Sunderland were in the premiership did so as well. You would assume that under 19 in Italy would be well beneath that level. Until he makes the next step let’s not get to excited
Was very pleasantly surprised with how well he did given his chance in Tokyo and glad he’s likely to be playing regular competitive footy. Remember also our Alejandro Gorrin or A Rod. was captain of the Sunderland reserves iirc!