NEW GULL PROFILE

Matty Hayward – @MattyHayward96

Matty discusses the new Gulls signing

Who would like to play on the right wing for Paul Wotton’s table-topping, free-flowing, fan-owned Yellows? Jack Wood.

That’s right. It’s coming up to Christmas, we’ve started to hit our stride, we’re producing more clean sheets than a Hanif Kureishi film, and now we’ve got Wood.

CAREER SUMMARY

Jack’s amateur career began at Berkhamsted FC before being signed as a teenager by seventh tier Kings Langley. It was with the Hertfordshire club that he was spotted by Southend United scout and trusted judge of talent, John Still. He joined the Shrimpers in January 2022, presumably for a fee, aged 19, and was entrusted with a two-and-a-half year deal. No mean feat in non-league football.

First-team opportunities were limited in 2022, and Wood found himself loaned out to National League South side Tonbridge Angels for the start of the 22/23 season. There, he scored eight goals in 22 appearances, as the Kent side fell just short of the playoff places. This spell away earned the young attacker an opportunity in the league above: he played 30 games (only seven starts) for Southend last term, scoring three times and assisting another three. This campaign he’s made the pitch ten times, all from the bench, and it is this absence from the first-team that has made him available for the Yellows.

HIGHLIGHTS

Our first YouTube video comes from a Tonbridge Angels vlogger. It has become the default position of TorquayTalk to respect people like this, so I will leave my response to the fact that such a person exists to your imagination. I’ve not watched the whole video, but after about two and a half minutes Jack Wood bends a delicious shot into the corner. Then, after four and a half, he scores again: nutmegging his defender and sliding the ball into the same corner.

The video is called “JACK WOOD MASTERCLASS”, possibly because we’ve signed a football genius, or possibly because Tonbridge Angels vloggers are used to watching Ryan Hanson run around in midfield, and any improvement on that is hard not to hyperbolise about.

And here’s Southend 4 Aldershot 1. A game in which the Shots take the lead, then have a man sent off – harshly in my opinion – followed swiftly by their ‘keeper making a howler from the subsequent free kick and gifting Southend a route back into the game. Wood comes on at 2-1, with 24 minutes left, and bags himself a goal and an assist (if you can ‘bag’ an assist?). The goal concludes a mazy run, again from the right, and a canny finish. Then he feeds his teammate to drive emphatically home and send Aldershot packing.

MOST LIKELY/LEAST LIKELY TO

Most Likely To

– Cut in onto his left foot. Far be it for me to criticise the work of Transfermarkt – a website to which I and the New Gulls Profile team owe a great debt of gratitude – but it appears to suggest that Wood has played most of his football as a centre forward. While it’s believable that he could fulfil that role, all the footage I’ve seen seems to suggest that he plays off the right-hand side.

– Add quality and competition for places. Since our switch to 4-3-3, Wotton has been limited as to who he can pick in the wide areas. Mussa and Young seem the only natural options and, while both have been playing around a 7/10, it’ll be great for them to be pushed by another option, especially one with pedigree at this level and above, like they both have.

– (Probably just by me) be subject to Max Branning jokes. It’s Christmastime, Eastenders will play a significant role in the next 28-days of my life, and the serial womanizer is played by an actor called Jake Wood. Which is nearly Jack Wood.

Least Likely To

– Be content with a spot on the bench. Most of Jack’s appearances have come as a substitute over the last two seasons. It’s probably fair to say that his career hasn’t quite taken off as he’d have liked since his big leap up to professional football, and he’ll be dropping back down to the NLS with first-team football at the forefront of his mind.

– Use his right foot. Much like Young, Wood seems quite left-foot dominant. It was good enough for Arjen Robben!

CONCLUSION

This signing seems like a no-brainer. A 28-day loan comes with few risks, and potentially high reward. If he hits the ground running, as a player of his obvious skill and experience should, then Wotton will be looking to extend that loan spell. If he doesn’t, nothing is lost.

By the looks of the Farnborough highlights and judging by the ever-reliable words of Paul Mulhern, his debut was spritely and encouraging this weekend. If we’re going to maintain our title charge, we are going to need a deep squad with plenty of creative quality. It may be too early to say, but it looks like our new wide man offers just that.