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Promotions and relegations in England

Let’s start in England, where there was good and bad news for some fringe Socceroos in April.

At Ipswich Town, Aussie duo Massimo Luongo and Cameron Burgess played significant roles as the club secured their promotion to the EFL Championship with an emphatic 6-0 win over Exeter City.

Both started in the promotion-clinching performance, with Luongo scoring Ipswich’s second and Burgess playing the full ninety minutes.

Luongo’s goal was his second of the season, and the star of the Socceroos’ 2015 Asian Cup triumph had an incredible month. In April, he started eight consecutive games.

Beyond that, Luongo has had a stunning career revival lately after a dismal spell at Middlesborough throughout the first half of the 2022/23 season.

In March and April, he played 979 of the available 1080 minutes for Ipswich, and the club are on a current unbeaten run in the league of 18 games.

Teammate Burgess played every minute of Ipswich's eight league games in April, showing he was just as integral to their promotion push. Burgess and Luongo’s impact on the team is evidenced by their defensive record of late; Ipswich have kept 13 clean sheets in their last 15 league games. Luongo has done a fantastic job screening his defence in a defensive midfield role.

Burgess struggled for consistent minutes in the first half of the season, missing several games in October through injury. But now he and Luongo are in red-hot form at a club firing on all cylinders.

Meanwhile, the same can’t be said for Kenny Dougall’s Blackpool, who have had a shocking season in the Championship and will replace Ipswich in the third tier next season. Blackpool’s relegation was confirmed after a 3-2 home defeat to Millwall at the end of April.

Dougall was not in the squad for that game and had a rough time last month, only playing 60 minutes. All in all, he has played 39 games in all competitions this season. But since the turn of the year, he has only started eight times, and an exit could be on the cards.

It’s easy to forget that Dougall brought Blackpool back up to the Championship in the first place after his heroic brace in the League One play-off final two years ago helped them over the line against Lincoln City. Even during this period, he struggled to make a Socceroos squad. So, it’s unlikely he is factoring into Graham Arnold’s plans. A move elsewhere would surely put his career back on the right trajectory.

Skoko’s magical run comes to an end

As explained on our Aussies Abroad last month, Noa Skoko, the son of former Socceroo Josip, has had an incredible season with Hajduk Split’s U19 side in Croatia.

After Hajduk knocked out Borussia Dortmund from the UEFA Youth League quarterfinals in March, they went one better last month by cruising past AC Milan in the semi-finals 3-1.

But in the final three days later, against AZ Alkmaar, Skoko’s side was thrashed 5-0, ending a magical run. But it was one where he played an integral role.

Despite starting and playing 66 minutes against Milan (only one other starter on the pitch was younger), Skoko was reduced to a sub appearance in the final, entering the game in the second half.

But overall, Hajduk’s run has put Skoko on the map. He ended up playing 233 minutes across five matches in the campaign, also notching an assist in a landmark victory over Manchester City’s U19 side in the Round of 16.

The future is very bright for the talented midfielder. The question remains whether Skoko will represent the Socceroos or Croatia when the time comes.

Peupion’s on fire

Quite simply, it’s time Australian football fans knew more about the extraordinary form of Cameron Peupion, a youngster who has been tearing it up for Brighton’s U21 side in the Premier League 2 this season.

After starting regularly and playing almost every minute from August through to March, Peupion was yet to introduce the end product his performances warranted.

But in April, that all changed, as he notched a combined nine goals and assists in a scintillating purple patch. Peupion faced Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea’s U21s, teams with some of the best young talent in England. Phenomenal.

The run of form included a stunning hat-trick against Manchester City and, funnily enough, Socceroo Alex Robertson.

After that performance, local publication The Argus touted Peupion as one of the next youngsters to break through at Brighton, a club well-known for their player development.

Critics have cited Peupion’s vision and chance creation as crucial attributes whilst claiming he has traits of a poacher, with good instincts and anticipation in attacking areas. Peupion’s close control, dribbling, and one-on-one ability have also been praised, with room to improve. A picture is painted of an attacker who can play anywhere across the front three or as a number ten, creating opportunities and unlocking opposing defences.

It should also be noted that Peupion’s rise continued last week when he was named on Brighton’s first-team bench for their huge league clash against English giants Manchester United. Peupion did not see the pitch, but being called up to the senior team shows how highly the club rates the former Sydney FC Youth product. He trains regularly with the first-team squad and has already made one appearance, a ten-minute cameo off the bench in the EFL Cup in August.

Peupion told FTBL last month that a loan move could be on the cards for him next season. With the significant strides he is taking at the moment, one would hope that regular minutes at a senior level are pretty close.

A bittersweet season for Reagan Ogle 

Staying in England, defender Reagan Ogle has had a strange season with Scunthorpe United. He and the club suffered relegation, but Ogle was voted their Player of the Season for 2022/23 at the end of April.

Supporters vote on the award, and the 24-year-old defender also picked up the Players’ Player of the Year and a few other accolades.

He made 38 total appearances this season, making an excellent start in his first year at the club.

Unfortunately for Ogle, his contributions weren’t enough as Scunthorpe suffered an unprecedented back-to-back relegation. They will now play in the sixth tier of English football next season.

Ogle could stay and continue to contribute effectively at a semi-professional level or look elsewhere for a professional opportunity. At a couple of his previous clubs, Hartlepool United and Accrington Stanley, Ogle did make a handful of appearances in the EFL League Two, England’s fourth tier.

He could be capable of returning to that level and is one Aussie to keep an eye on during the upcoming transfer window.

Ryan’s rollercoaster ride in Europe 

Remember when Socceroos captain Mat Ryan struggled for game time at Copenhagen and was at odds with Polish goalkeeper Kamil Grabara?

Those days are seemingly long gone, with the 31-year-old taking huge strides back to his best with AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands last month.

In April, Ryan produced his best form for AZ thus far, playing every minute and a massive role in their progression to the UEFA Conference League semi-finals.

In their quarter-final tie against Belgian giants Anderlecht, AZ went into the second leg 2-0 down. After the Dutch side erased the deficit with two early strikes, neither team could grab a winner, with the tie heading to extra time in Alkmaar.

But again, there was no goal, leading to penalties and with the pressure on Ryan to be decisive when it mattered. That he was, saving two spot-kicks to ensure AZ triumphed 4-1 in the shootout.

European heroics were also complimented by solid league form, as Ryan kept two clean sheets from four Eredivisie games across the month. AZ picked up seven points from a possible twelve.

Ryan’s January move has proven to be a masterstroke.

He and AZ now face English Premier League side West Ham in the Conference League semi-finals, with the winner facing Italians Fiorentina or Swiss giants Basel in the final. In the league, important games remain as the club aims to ensure European football returns to Alkmaar next season.

But for Ryan, after a tumultuous first half of season 2022/23, the highlight would be taking out major European honours. Regardless of whether he does, it’s been a superb comeback from Australia’s number one.

Former Glory defender finding form in South Korea

April was a solid month for former Perth Glory defender Alex Grant, who continues to go from strength to strength in the K-League with the Pohang Steelers.

Good form isn’t breaking news for Grant, who has performed well since leaving the Glory for South Korea in February 2021. So much so that in 2022 he was nominated for the K-League team of the season.

As a result, you might remember him publicly expressing his disappointment at not being included in Graham Arnold’s final 26-man World Cup squad in Qatar.

But that omission has not affected Grant, who played every minute for the Steelers last month, keeping two clean sheets. After Pohang's 1-0 win over Suwon Bluewings in round 9, Grant was also named in the league’s ‘Best 11’ that week.

With Pohang currently fourth on the table, the defender will continue to focus on his club performances. But he should still be further in the frame for a Socceroos call-up. It might have been a perfect opportunity to bring him in for the two-game series against Ecuador in March.

As that opportunity passed, you would imagine Grant must keep his form up to convince Arnold to change his tune when the Socceroos next feature on the international stage.

Ibini’s Singapore move

Remember Bernie Ibini? You’d have to go back a long way to remember when he broke out in the A-League under the guidance of Graham Arnold at the Central Coast Mariners.

The forward, who also played at Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers, and Newcastle Jets, is now in the Singapore Premier League after signing for Lion City Sailors.

Despite the talent he’s shown previously, Ibini was a free agent for almost a year before Lion City snapped him up. The Wanderers released him back in May last year.

Lion City provisionally registered Ibini with the SPL before the league’s transfer deadline on March 19. But he only debuted and made his first appearances for his new club in April.

He is seen as a replacement for Japanese striker Kodai Tanaka, who will miss the rest of the season with an ACL tear in his left knee.

His new coach Risto Vidakovic told The Straits Times that Ibini was signed for his physical presence, power, and speed, and he expects him to make a difference. Ibini did not set any specific targets but is eyeing the league title in Singapore.

Last month, he made his first two appearances as a second-half substitute. Lion City is third on the table, five points off first.

Most importantly, in that same piece by The Straits Times, Ibini confirmed he was fully fit. He’ll hope it stays that way as he eyes consistent minutes and a pathway back to the form that made him such a tantalising prospect in his youth.

The basis of the information throughout this article would not have been possible without the work of Damian Davies.

You can follow Christian Marchetti on Twitter @ChristianM29, or on Instagram @christianmarchetti29.