Aussies Abroad - November 2011

Club Level:

England:

Premier League

Chris Herd’s Aston Villa has had an inconsistent month but is now in the top half of the table with Chris making another few starts in the midfield. Everton has won the last two games to climb back to ninth, but is still missing the goals of Tim Cahill, who is yet to break his duck for the season. Mark Schwarzer is having yet another outstanding season as Fulham stays just clear of the relegation zone. The same can’t be said for Blackburn Rovers. It sits bottom of the table as Vince Grella remains on the sidelines.

Championship

Despite dropping a few points over the past few games, Middlesbrough is third, but eight points shy of the automatic promotion places. Rhys Williams is possibly in career best from, while Scott McDonald scored three times during the month. A return to the starting eleven by Patrick Kisnorbo has coincided with a good run of form that sees Leeds into the playoff positions. Good form has also seen Adam Federici’s Reading climb into play off contention with several valuable wins. The opposite can be said for Crystal Palace, as Mile Jedinak’s team has dropped to mid table, however, an extra time win over Manchester United in the League Cup may provide a psychological boost. The form of Neil Kilkenny has been a bright spot as Bristol City has gone undefeated in its last six games.

League One

The Aussie presence is strong at Oldham Athletic. Starters Alex Cisak and James Wesolowski have now been joined by short-term signing, Dean Bouzanis. A frustrating month as the string of wins required to move into the top half of the table still alludes it. Continuing poor form has seen Chesterfield move to last on the table with Aaron Downes in and out of the team.

League Two 

Shane Cansdell-Sheriff starts every week for a Shrewsbury team that is a point shy of the automatic promotion places after a great month.

Italy:

Serie B

Carl Valeri’s Sassuolo has been patchy this month but still sits a point adrift of the automatic promotion places. Carl has missed a fair chunk of game time with international commitments.

Serie C2

Francesco Stella continues to play great minutes for Borgo a Buggiano and managed to open his scoring account during November. The same can be said for Christian Esposito at FC Catanzaro, which is third on the table.

Spain:

Segunda division

Alcorcon is mid table with Dave Carney making his debut during the month.

Germany:

Bundesliga

Nikita Rukavytsya finished the month back in the starting eleven at Hertha Berlin. Its results have been inconsistent and it sits mid table. Matthew Leckie has returned from injury for Borussia Moenchengladbach, but can’t get back into the senior side which has moved to second in the Bundesliga. Mitch Langerak’s Dortmund has returned to the summit on goal difference.

2. Bundesliga

Fortuna Dusseldorf continues its run at top of the league. Robbie Kruse has been a squad player of late, particularly with national team duties taking him away, meaning he only saw 15 minutes of action during the month.

Eredivsie

AZ also remains top of the league in Holland. Brett Holman is back from injury and can’t stop scoring at both club and national level. On the world stage, he has possibly been the most prominent so far this season. FC Utrecht continues to slide down the table with Michael Zullo appearing to be making the most progress in terms of game time. Both Adam Sarota and Tommy Oar are in the match day squad most games but are getting limited minutes.

Scotland

Scottish Premier League

Matt McKay is making a few appearances for league leader Rangers. A few dropped points of late has seen its lead stripped back to four points. Ryan McGowan has started the past few games for Hearts, which is mid-table.

Scottish Second Division

Ex-Fury defender Beau Busch (Arbroath) is a regular starter as his side are behind leader Cowdenbeath only on goal difference. Matthew Park (East Fife) is justifying his loan move given he has started 13 of 14 fixtures so far and is getting much needed game time.

Greece

Super League

A quiet month for both Nathan Burns (AEK) and Apostolis Giannou (PAOK). AEK has climbed to second after three straight wins while PAOK remains fifth.

Football League

Having recently commenced the season, Billy Konstantinidis’ Pierkos has started reasonably with Billy coming off the bench most weeks.

Turkey

Super Lig

James Troisi (Kayserispor) had an interrupted month with Socceroos duties, but managed to get of the scoring charts against Trabzonspor earlier in the month. His side continues its inconsistent form and hovers perilously close to the relegation places.

Croatia

1. HNL

Hajduk Split is struggling to catch leader Dinamo Zagreb, however Steve Lustica has now made eight starts for the season along with scoring his first goal for his new club. The strong form of Tomi Juric has seen him earn a starting eleven place at Lokomotiva during the month.

Portugal

Liga de Honra

Atletico CP (Caleb Patterson-Sewell) remains top of the league with its lead reduced to two points. Caleb has played every minute of the season.

Russia

Russian Premier League

As the league goes into the long winter recess, Dinamo is third on the table. Luke Wilkshire is a mainstay with rumours several clubs are looking to poach him in the January transfer window.

Switzerland

Super League

Basel is also top of its league. Veteran Scott Chipperfield has started to get some more game time across league, Cup and Champions League fixtures.

Hungary

NB II

Sasa Macura (MTK) has started the Cup games played in November.

Denmark

Superliga

Nathan Coe has played every minute for Sonderjyske which remains near the bottom of the table but well clear of relegation. Brondby is in a similar place in the league with Brent McGrath having made thirteen appearances (from 17 games).

China

Super League

The season has come to an end with Beijing Guoan (Joel Griffiths) and Liaoning Hongyun (Dean Heffernan) gaining places in the Asian club competitions for next season. Chengdu Blades (Jonas Salley and Brendan Santalab) was relegated.

Japan

J League

With one round to go, one point separates leader Kashiwa Reysol and Nagoya Grampus (Josh Kennedy). A further point back sits Gamba Osaka, with all three teams playing away in the last fixture and Nagoya having clearly the better goal difference, will go down to the wire. To make matters more interesting, Josh leads the Golden Boot by two goals, will be an interesting last day. During November, Nagoya went on a run of five consecutive victories with Kennedy scoring in his last three starts. Shimizu S-Pulse dropped off the pace but the contributions of Eddy Bosnar were huge with the big defender scoring twice during the month. Alex Brosque continues to start for the same team. Matthew Spiranovic has dropped out of the starting eleven since going away on national duty earlier in the month.

J2 League

Jade North started several games for FC Tokyo as it secured the title and promotion back to the J League. Mark Milligan had an interrupted month courtesy of his second red card in a month.

U.A.E.

UFL

Al Jazira leads the league with Lucas Neill playing every minute and scoring the winner away to Ajman. Richard Porta has made a few appearances for Al Wasl, which is third. Mark Bresciano’s Al Wasr has won its last two with the Australian scoring two goals in his three appearances.

India

I-League

Most of the Aussies are seeing good game time and are well placed on the league table. Daniell Zeleny’s Mohun Bagan is second, closely followed by Antun Kovacic (Churchill Brothers) and Tolgey Ozbey (East Bengal). Interestingly Ozbey recently hit a hat-trick but still trails by four in the race for the Golden Boot.

New Zealand

Premiership

Leading the Golden Boot is Aussie George Slefendorfas (Canterbury United), with his side third on the table. Tyson Holmes (Team Wellington) has played every minute of the season so far.

Injuries: Richard Garcia (knee), Dylan Tombides (cancer treatment), Ersan Gulum (knee), Vince Grella (hip) and Ljubo Milicevic (back) all still missing from their club teams. Aaron Mooy, Adrian Ucchino and Theo Markelis are back in match day squads after long injury breaks.

Youth: During the month, at the “NextGen Series”, numerous Aussies saw game time; Massimo Luongo (Tottenham), Jackson Irvine (Celtic) and Reece Caira (Aston Villa). Costa Andricopoulos