Niko Kirwan (Calcio Potenza | Italy)

His own thread

whelp

Niko has started four games and came on as a sub in another in Mestre's five league games so far this season.

http://us.soccerway.com/players/niko-kirwin/465789...

Doing pretty well: two wins, two draws, one loss.

Serie C but probably not a bad level for him to start at in Italy with guaranteed game time for him it seems...

Currently in a playoff sport for promotion to Serie B. Nice to get some news from Italy as opposed to the youth team of Blinkersfieldtown or occasionally on the bench in Scotland or something. 

Can't be much worse than the Scandinavian leagues that James was in surely or the German division that Marinovic was in. 

Play off spot all right, but they've only played 6 games so far so it's still very early in the season.

Mestre were awarded a 3-0 victory against Modena who were unable to let the game go ahead.
From what I've read so far I think Modena are being sold to a new owner but in Italy those things take time as new owners don't want to take on liabilities if they can help it (no one does really..).

Mid-week football for Serie C overnight.

Sadly AC Mestre fell 1-2 at home vs Sambenedettese who now jump to third on the ladder (on goal difference).

Second loss out of three games for Mestre (the third game having been awarded to them without the need to play it) so their form has definitely slumped of late.

Niko was an unused substitute in the game.

Niko came on in the 71' in AC Mestre's 0-0 draw away at Ferapli Salo.

Mestre currently sitting in 7th position with 12 points out of 8 games.

AC Mestre return to their winning ways with a 1-0 home win against Reggiana.

Niko came on in the 88' and therefore only played 7' all up (+5' injury time).

He hasn't been in the starting line up since he gave away a last minute penalty a few weeks ago, but he is still being utilized off the bench.

9' for Niko in a 2-2 draw

EDIT:

Highlights here. Cracking game by the looks of it with Mestre (in white) getting the equalizer two minutes after Niko came on. You can see him at the edge of the penalty box wearing the no.4 shirt. Pordenone appeared to have been the better team, but Mestre could have won the game at the death - as things stand Pordenone are first with 20 points (and a game in hand), while Mestre sit in 6th place on 16 points.

Another sub appearance for Niko, only 4' + injury time in a 0-0 against Ravenna.

Third draw out of four games for Mestre who are 6th on the ladder, four points off Renate and Pordenone who lead the standings.

Niko returned to the starting line up and played a full game in a 1-0 win vs Bassano. Mestre are now -4 points from the top of the league.

EDIT: Highlights here - You can see Niko wearing no.4 and playing on the right hand side - he has a good shot blocked around the 2:10' mark.

Bad week for Niko and his team last week with two losses against the top two teams in the league.

First a 2-1 loss at Padova which lifted the home team to the top of the ladder.  Niko managed 11' in that game.

Then another 1-2 loss, this time at home against rivals Renate where Niko was an unused sub. Interestingly enough, with this win it is Renate who are now top of the table.

Another tough game coming up on the weekend, with Mestre playing former Serie A Vicenza (FA cup winners in 97) who sit just one point behind them.

Niko managed 11’? Is that eleven minutes? Yikes

Correct. He has mainly been utilized off the bench in the last 6-7 games. He was starting regularly before that. Let's not forget it's his first season as a professional and the Italian third tier is very competitive.

I’m not having a go, I want him to do well. It’s a little concerning if he is getting subbed after 11 minutes tho

roger!

Sorry guys!

Yes, Patrick is correct, I didn't explain myself well there - he came on in the 79th minute...my bad!

I'll make sure I'll use this format from now on to avoid confusion...I just got used to him coming off the bench in recent weeks that I thought 11' was clear enough. Hopefully he is back to the starting XI!

Mestre return to winning ways with a 2-0 win away at Vicenza. Niko came on in the 86th minute, so just a cameo appearance for him, but at least he's still being utilized (he didn't take the field only once, maybe twice so far) - to be fair Serie C does allow up to 5 subs this year, so that's probably a good thing for him right now.

Niko was an unused substitute in AC Mestre's 1-1 draw vs Fano.

No games for Niko's AC Mestre on the weekend as they enjoyed a bye.

Not looking like he's going to force any game time?

To be fair he was a regular started in the first 6-7 matches, then dropped to the bench and has not been used nearly as much.

So far he has played in 512' across 12 matches (at least half off the bench I would say).

His versatility seems to be his strong suit as he has been employed all over the pitch. Mestre also had a pretty average run the last few weeks so the coach might have been relying on more experienced players to get them out of this funk.

Only time will tell - I do want to stress out however that Serie C is fully professional and a very competitive league.  Training everyday and being involved in those games can only be good for his development - and I'd say Serie C compares with a lot of the Scandinavian leagues (other then the usual top 3-4 teams obviously) in terms of skills and difficulty...so things are looking good for him.

Is he a big unit like his Dad?

Here he is scoring for Waitak youth a couple of years ago.

Nah, not a unit. Runs like his Dad, mind.

Not at all, he's quite slender - tall but also slight.

From what I've seen of him he's a workhorse though, he just doesn't stop running and he's quite tidy on the ball, but can disrupt play also.

I was quite surprised he was starting for Mestre several weeks in a row at the start of the season, as he came straight from the Handy and I just didn't expect that. 

It does help that Serie C teams are allowed up to 5 subs this season (in 3 blocks max to reduce time wasting) - but to me that's only a good thing and it is the way of the future.  Lots of talk in Italy about the number of serious injuries sustained by the players and how increasing subs can help reduce that.  So Serie C are experimenting with it - I for one am curious to see if it will be implemented in higher leagues.

Niko came on in the 70th minute on the weekend in a 2-1 loss away at Santarcangelo. Highlights here - not a great game, but Mestre were unlucky not to score a couple (they hit the post and had a couple of shots going just wide) and paid for losing the ball on the first goal and some shocking defending on the second.  Their first goal was nice though.

Another sub appearance for Niko who came off the bench in the 77th minute with his team already one goal down.

Sadly, it ended that way: Mestre 0 - 1 Sudtirol. One more game to go before Christmas.

Came on in th 67th minute in a 2-0 loss at Teramo on Saturday. Mestre started the season well but their form took a dip of late and they now find themselves mid table

8 minutes for Niko in the last game of the year, a 2-1 home win against Albinoleffe. Mestre now back within reach of the play-off zone.

Hope Niko can reclaim a spot in the starting XI in the new year.

Niko returns to the starting XI for the first game of the new year and lasts 71' in Mestre's 3-1 victory over Gubbio.

Second start in a row for Niko, who was subbed off in the 46th minute in a 0-1 loss to Fermana (the score was 0-0 when he left the pitch).

Mestre now 13th on the table.

Niko not even on the bench as Mestre grind out a 0-0 in a middle of the table clash against Triestena. I wonder if he's injured as he started the last two games and even when he wasn't starting he'd usually be on the bench.

EDIT: just staked Mestre's FB page and found an article which said two players (including Niko) had muscular injuries and would be unavailable for the upcoming game.  Real shame for Niko, but hopefully back into the starting line-up soon!

No game for AC Mestre this weekend as Modena have dissolved a while back, so they get a bye. Good news for Niko as he was injured last week, so he gets an extra few days to get over his muscular complaint.

Niko was an unused sub in Mestre's 2-0 win away at Sanbenedettese. Likely he still wasn't 100% after his injury.

Niko back in the team albeit for a 5 minute cameo only. Mestre were tied at 2-2 when he came on and won 3-2 after grabbing a last minute goal.

Injured in AC Mestre's 4-3 win over Pordenone, with the Venetians now in 5th place and looking hopeful for a play-off spot. Unfortunately for Niko, he's still not 100% (a newspaper article said he hasn't has been injured for two weeks, so this must be a new injury).

He'll be hoping to recover soon if rumors are true that an AW call-up might be headed his way.

EDIT: Spelling

If the story about NZF being in touch with Tyler Boyd is true then it makes sense that they would also have been in touch with Niko and others. Especially since Niko is probably required to declare for NZ given he is also eligible to play for Italy. Niko telling someone about getting such a call is the only way I can see that story having come about, unless a journalist in Venice somehow has a contact at NZF.