Essex have continued their strong coaching association with Yorkshire by naming Anthony McGrath as assistant head coach.McGrath becomes No. 2 to a former Yorkshire team-mate, Chris Silverwood, who was promoted up to the head coach role after the departure from the post of another Yorkshireman, Paul Grayson, late last season.McGrath, who has recently been fulfilling part-time coaching duties at Yorkshire, spent his entire first-class career with his home county, making 583 appearances across all three formats during a 17-year career. He also played four Tests for England.After his retirement, he was appointed by Yorkshire as a player mentor before his coaching duties expanded with the departure of Richard Dawson, the academy head, to Gloucestershire.Silverwood said: “I’ve known Anthony for a very long time, and he is a great addition to our staff. He has excellent cricket knowledge, and during his interview it was clear he had a real passion for this job.”He is a very good coach, and will help our batsmen improve their game. He has experience of working with some of the best batsmen in the country – names such as Bairstow, Root, Ballance, Lyth – so his experience will be invaluable to our players.”We have a strong batting line up, and I am confident Anthony will complement it perfectly.”For Yorkshire, who also lost Paul Farbrace to Sri Lanka – and then England – in recent times, it is another raid on their coaching staff to which they are now accustomed.Farbrace’s influence on Yorkshire’s academy was widely praised and his relaxed style as England’s assistant coach after returning to the international circuit has received widespread plaudits. Dawson, his replacement, has also had instant success at Gloucestershire, leading them to Royal London Cup success in his first season.”We are sorry to see Anthony leave the club,” Yorkshire’s director of cricket Martyn Moxon said. “He was a major part of our success over the past couple of years as a coach.”Mags has been at Headingley for nearly 20 years as a coach and a player. He has been an outstanding servant. It is a great opportunity for him and we wish him well.”
Sleepless nights are an integral part of a Ranji Trophy final, and Railways must have had one after their dismal batting performance on the first day at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. But if a lack of shut-eye truly does inspire Murali Kartik to the heights he achieved on Thursday, Railways skipper Abhay Sharma might consider forcibly keeping his star spinner awake for the remainder of the match.Resuming on 17 for no loss, Baroda had their task laid out before them like an immaculately maintained Japanese garden. All that their batsmen had to do was to notch up a big first-innings score and take the all-important lead. What transpired thereafter was bound to favour Baroda more than Railways.When Connor Williams and Satyajit Parab proceeded to add 63 more runs for the first wicket, therefore, everything seemed to be going according to plan. But Parab, soon after getting to his fifty, was caught by Shreyas Khanolkar, giving Kartik his first scalp. Parab departed for 53 (78b, 8×4) with the score on 80.Seven runs later, Williams, who had agonised 95 balls for 24 runs, was bowled by Kartik. The loss of the openers brought skipper Jacob Martin and Nayan Mongia to the crease, but Martin was just in transit. After making 12 off 36 balls, he fell to Harvinder Singh, leaving his side in choppy waters at 112/3.Mongia then stood mute spectator at the other end as Tushar Arothe and Atul Bedade came and left with startling immediacy. Arothe took 25 balls to score two runs, but Bedade was much swifter, using only five balls to make the same score. Both fell to Kartik, a left-arm spinner on a magnificent roll.Kartik ultimately consumed Mongia as well, having him caught by Khanolkar for 32 off 91 balls. At that juncture, the score was 138/6 off 58.3 overs. Within the next 15.3 overs, Railways took the remaining wickets for the addition of only 31 runs. Ajit Bhoite put up some spirited resistance, scoring 17 (60b, 2×4, 1×6), but the other lower-order bats succumbed tamely to Harvinder Singh or Jai P Yadav.Unexpectedly, Railways had garnered a vital 84-run first-innings lead, and the match had turned on its head. Baroda, sorely missing the services of left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan, managed to capture the wicket of Yadav before the close of play, dismissing him for four (17b) with the score on 13.But further breakthroughs were not so forthcoming. Amit Pagnis, as he had in the first innings, looked in excellent touch, striking the ball to the fence four times before the close of play, hitting up 24 off 58 balls. Tejinder Pal Singh, his companion for the second-wicket stand, was content to let Pagnis hit the runs, making three off 40 balls before stumps.Railways, at the end of the day, led by 121 runs, nine wickets remaining in their second innings. If one batsman from the home side is able to play a responsible, even sedate, knock on the third day, Baroda will have their backs to the wall, visions of retaining the Ranji Trophy fading fast before their eyes.
Pakistan marched into the final of the Under-19 Asia Cup with a clinical eight-wicket win over Bangladesh in the rain-hit semi-final in Dubai, after a dominant bowling performance led by Abdul Subhan set up a straightforward chase. The victory sets up a final clash against India, who won the first semi-final against Sri Lanka earlier in the day.Opting to field after winning the toss in the rain-reduced 27-overs-a-side contest, Pakistan made early inroads as Bangladesh slipped to 24 for 2 inside six overs. Captain Azizul Hakim offered brief resistance to steady the innings, but wickets continued to tumble at regular intervals.Fast bowler Subhan was the standout with the ball, picking up four wickets to dismantle the middle order. From 55 for 2 in the 13th over, Bangladesh lost five wickets for just 38 runs, collapsing to 93 for 7. The lower order struggled to rebuild, and Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for 121 in 26.3 overs, with no batter able to convert a start into a big score.In reply, Pakistan’s chase was smooth. After the early loss of opener Hamza Zahoor in the first over, Sameer Minhas anchored the innings with a composed, unbeaten 69, ensuring there were no further hiccups. He struck six fours and two sixes as Pakistan cruised to 122 for 2 with 63 balls to spare.With this knock, Minhas took his tournament’s tally to 299 to be the highest run-getter.
Robin Van Persie insists that an attacking quartet of himself, Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben is a viable option for Holland coach Bert Van Marwijk as the group stages of the World Cup finally arrives.
“I heard their opinions and it pleases me that we appreciate each other’s qualities,” Van Persie said, “It is a party to play with them. They all are good players who are creative and think offensive.”
Whilst this is only his own preference for the attacking positions a few ears have been pricked by his omission of Dirk Kuyt, none more so than the Liverpool man’s himself, responding with words to the effect that ‘Van Persie does not pick the team’. This is, ominously, a first small example of the famous Dutch squad dystopia that has publicly derailed more than one major tournament endeavour in the past. Edgar Davids was sent home by Guus Hiddink in Euro 96’ for an outspoken interview but the former Juventus man does not believe the furore made around Van Persie’s claims are to be too detrimental for the national team:
“People say the Dutch are too expressive but that is a problem in every dressing room. Every professional team has that in common.”
Expressive is certainly a word I associate with the Netherlands and their sustained history of producing brilliant players, none more captivating than Johan Cruyff. As an exemplar to the issue of the individual versus the collective, in Cruyff we see this dichotomy at its worst and its best; he was probably the first Dutch player to realise his worth as an individual marketable commodity and this tension with the collective reached an impasse when his sponsors, Puma, opposed him wearing the Adidas sponsored national kit. The solution: create a kit with only two stripes instead of Adidas’ three just for Cruyff. Yet Holland were also at their best when tempering the necessary individual brilliance of Cruyff in relation to the rest of the team (though Van Hanegem, Neeskens and Krol were not exactly talentless).
It is a difficult line to marshal because, if on the one hand, a coach stymies the expressive capacity of the team’s finest individuals he risks losing exactly what makes them so good. But on the other, allowing individuals to dictate team dealings mirrors the same climate that has seen the Dutch limp out unfulfilled on so many occasions. Van Marwijk has, until now, done very well to manage his players and keep the collective goal their overarching motivation.
So, can such an attacking quartet be accommodated in one starting XI? I’m an idealist and I certainly think so. Holland have set up as 4-2-3-1 in their friendlies with Van Persie up front alone. Behind him it is not ridiculous to think Van der Vaart, Sneijder and Robben can all start. Sneijder has shown his positional awareness at Inter and, when required, is more than capable of dropping deep to aid the team on the defensive. For this to be successful the double pivot of Van Bommel and De Jong becomes even more important (not just to counter the attacking proclivities of the ‘famous four’ but also to restrict exposing an evidently weak back line). Holland’s success will rely more on the effectiveness of their holding pair and Sneijder. I really don’t think it is the tactical conundrum that it’s been made out to be. With the maturity and success of Sneijder over the past season deploying the quartet still gives the team balance in their formation.
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Who’d have thought it? Radio 1Xtra DJ and now expert football analyst Tim Westwood gave his thoughts on England’s dire first two performances and his advice paid off yesterday as Fabio Capello’s men saw off Slovenia. It was a much improved performance by England and if Capello was as harsh about the Three Lions after the Algeria match as Westwood was, then the Italian’s words of criticism would have been ringing in their ears before they kicked off yesterday.
The Big Dawg said that England had to take risks, and that’s exactly what they did. Capello changed it up and brought in James Milner on the right who had a storming game, and replaced Emile Heskey with Jermain Defoe upfront who netted the all-important winner. There was less evidence that the England team were scared of failure yesterday afternoon and Westwood along with the rest of the nation will hope that they can build on this performance and step up another level against the old enemy and knock Germany out of the 2010 World Cup.
The World Cup certainly isn’t passing us by now as we’re well and truly in the tournament and anything can happen. The players stood up to be counted on the pitch and the fans off it were fantastic as ever. No Vuvuzelas were needed to hide the booing this time around as the England supporters celebrated long into the night and brought a feel-good factor back to the country. Westwood still believes in the dream and now a few more fans do too, and hopefully the players themselves believe as well.
Back in Italy in 1990 under Sir Bobby Robson we drew our first two games and still got through, and we’ve done exactly the same this time round. Maybe just maybe England’s individuals can play as a collective and get to the quarter finals at least. Whatever happens Tim Westwood will tell us exactly what he thinks and hopefully he’ll be able to praise the team rather than criticise it. Given the accuracy of his words of wisdom after England’s second match, maybe the Big Dawg should get in the dressing room on Sunday and give Capello’s men the motivation they need!
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To read Tim Westwood’s second World Cup article in full head to the News of the World website: http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/world_cup/852867/Tim-Westwoods-second-exclusive-World-Cup-blog.html
Tottenham Hotspur assistant manager Kevin Bond has tipped Ledley King to put his World Cup heartache behind him and perform admirably for the Londoners this term.
King forced his way into Fabio Capello's starting line-up in South Africa after Rio Ferdinand was hit with a knee injury in training, but he managed just 45 minutes of action against USA before succumbing to a groin strain.
That injury ruled him out for the rest of the competition, but Bond believes he will be firing on all cylinders for the Champions League qualifiers.
"It would have been very frustrating for Ledley because he worked so hard and did so well to first of all get in the squad and then to line-up alongside John Terry in the heart of the defence," he said.
"So, to get injured in the first game will have been a huge blow to him, but that is the risk when you have to live your footballing life like Ledley does.
"He can't train very much and that always makes you more susceptible to picking up injuries and that is exactly what happened.
"I feel for him because he put a lot of work in last year to get on that plane.
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"He did very well for us last season and played a great number of games and hopefully he can repeat that this year and possibly even play a bigger part.
"The injury that he picked up was in no relation to his long-term knee problem, so we expect him to come back strong and raring to go when the new season gets underway."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
As the dust has firmly settled on another poor World Cup performance from our national side, one particular bone of contention, and most certainly one of the most pressing issues at least, has been what direction the makeup of the squad takes from hereon in, with a favourite topic of conversation for pubs and papers all over the land being the average age of the squad.
The average age of England’s squad at this World Cup was 28.7 years of age, and it was for this reason, among others it has to be said, that we were championed as third favourites behind Spain and Brazil. Of course, our performances during the tournament made a mockery of this lofty assumption, but prior to the tournament, pundits, experts and players alike vaunted England’s experience.
Experience is a wonderful thing and if used properly it can be a huge influencing factor in pressurised situations such as the World Cup, but when you’re experience is of mainly buggering things up while massively underachieving at the same time, then ‘experience’ doesn’t really count for much.
Italy on the other hand were derided before the tournament as past their prime old codgers looking for one last hurrah. Italy’s average squad age though was 28.8. It all depends on how you spin it. I don’t credit any of the pundits on either BBC or ITV with having the hindsight to have done even the bare minimum of research before a game, and instead were a treated to a plethora of national stereotypes and tired old clichés, but it just proves that there is very little difference between experience and a team that is past the peak of their powers.
It is clear that the state of the national team is at a pivotal crossroads. Capello and Beckham have openly stated in the last week or so that they know certain players will not and are not up to the task of pulling on the England shirt again. But this presents a very real problem – do we cut our losses on the supposed ‘golden generation’, a tag that has done little for any team it has followed, and play the kids, or do we stick with experience once more going into the Euro’s and give them one more shot.
Much like Beckham rather sensibly concedes, the truth of the matter, as often lies with cases such as these, is somewhere in between. Every debateable issue is not black and white and we are still well stocked in certain areas despite the overriding temptation to cut the majority of the squad completely. Obviously a balance has to be struck. So what would the makeup of our 2014 World Cup squad look like then?
In goal, Joe Hart should make a fine custodian of the number one jersey, and should he find his form again with regular football, Ben Foster is more than an able replacement and they’ll be 27 and 31 respectively by 2014, a prime age for any goalkeeper.
At left back, Kieran Gibbs looks an exciting young talent and personally I’d still have confidence in Ashley Cole starting at the ripe old age of 33. Cole’s an exceptional left back and for my money the best in the world, hence Real Madrid’s strong interest, and I don’t foresee any potential slump in quality on the horizon due to his age, and he may even get better still.
Right back is a somewhat murkier position to dissect, and as decent as Glen Johnson is at going forward, there are glaring weaknesses in his defensive capabilities, namely his positional play, or rather lack thereof. Micah Richards is another one mentioned but has seriously gone off the rails, Nedum Onouha is a decent option to have around but he clearly needs to move to seek first team football and then there are the likes of Kyle’s Walker and Naughton at Spurs, two bright young things capable of making the step up, but whether they’ll be able to break into the first team at White Hart Lane remains to be seen. Michael Mancienne is also worthy of a mention whether it be at holding man, right back or even centre half.
At centre half, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand are not completely shot with concerns to the upcoming Euros, but at 35 and 33 years of age, 2014 would surely represent a tournament too far, so new options need to be blooded in during the qualifying campaign. Just four years ago, England were blessed with an abundance of central defensive options, so to have such a dearth of talent now really is quite shocking.
Gary Cahill is the obvious candidate, as is Michael Dawson if he keeps up his excellent form towards the back end of last season and at the ages of 28 and 30 they could be at their peak. Chris Smalling, James Tomkins and especially Phil Jones could represent decent alternatives should they continue to develop and play regularly and Ryan Shawcross could also be worth a try.
Jack Rodwell is another player being mooted for a big England future, but he’ll have to secure a guaranteed starting birth in a lively Everton side first. Many pundits, and armchair pundits, my father included, have stated that he’ll turn into a top class centre half as he matures, which may well turn out to be true, but I just think he offers so much energy and drive from the middle of midfield that it’d be a waste to confine his talents to simply playing the ball out from the back when he could making much more telling contributions further forward.
As was the case with Rio earlier on in his career though, although obviously capable of playing in midfield and doing a very good job there, he was sorely missed at the back, and where Rodwell ends up in any England side in the future may have more to do with the strength of talent around him as opposed to his own.
Steven Gerrard would be 34 by the next World Cup and whilst probably too old for a starting position, he could be a peripheral figure in the squad could be a decent option off the bench. Tom Huddlestone and Lee Cattermole offer options for the now, whereas Fabian Delph and Dan Gosling have also been mentioned and remain works in progress for the future, but one in particular that has been pressed has been Jack Wilshere in central midfield.
For the life of me I can’t fathom why. He is a winger, his strengths lie in beating his man and being in and around the box. The argument made is that he’ll provide that elusive ‘spark’ that we need in the middle, but it all just reminds of when Joe Cole first burst onto the scene at West Ham and eventually found himself shifted wide to an area where his talents were given the platform to shine.
We’d all like England to produce a generation of Xavis and Iniestas, and it’s a depressing state of affairs that Barry and Michael Carrick are the closest that we can come to producing such talents, but trying to shoe horn an undoubtedly superb talent into a position just because he’s capable of passing with a degree of intricacy shows a display of unparalleled ignorance. Wilshere has a big future for England, but I’d like to see it be on the wing.
The wings seem well stocked with Lennon, Walcott, Adam Johnson, Ashley Young and James Milner, a player who is also capable of playing in the middle and may even do so for his country more, as well as the aforementioned Wilshere, which simply highlights that we seem to have little to worry about in terms of pace at least down the flanks.
Up top, Wayne Rooney will be 28 years old and wiser for his World Cup failures. The other options are Agbohnlahor at 27 years of age, Jermaine Defoe at 31, Darren Bent at 30, and at 33 years of age Peter Crouch could still offer a viable option from the bench, not to mention the likes of Andy Carroll and Daniel Sturridge.
These are of course the options evidently available at present and for the future, but four years is a long time in football and the emergence of a quality right back, centre forward or centre half could quite easily take place in that intervening period.
The World Cup this year dealt a hammer blow to an ageing England side, their time as an outfit looks to have come to an undignified end, but it’s what we do in the future that matters most. It’s unequivocal that the squad needs an overhaul, with Heskey having confirmed his international retirement today and with others whether it be forced or by their own accord likely to follow suit, but whether an overhaul to the extent of the reactionary media is needed I’m not so sure.
We cannot compromise quality for youth if the quality of the youth coming through the ranks is not up to standard required. Promoting from within just for the sake of it is a recipe for disaster. But on the other hand, it’s clear that a blooding of new talent needs to take place soon whether it be in the qualification for the Euro’s or the next World Cup.
Gareth Barry was a peripheral figure at international level until 2007, yet made the step up quite comfortably, and despite an extremely poor World Cup, he now has 39 caps to his name and it just goes to show that players that we may discount right now are not out of the realms of possibility of a call-up should they develop and hit form.
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Germany’s current blend of experience and youthful verve is a difficult one to replicate, but they have laid down a blueprint for what England should do in the future. For pessimists of the national side like myself, this summer’s limp exit came as no great surprise as the writing had been on the wall for as long as those who cared to delve deeply enough into our weaknesses could see, but our humiliation at the hands of Germany may pave the way for a young talented England side to deliver on their promise. The burden of expectation is lessened with youth and our exit to Germany may well turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
Written By James McManus
Click on image to see a gallery of the BEST BABES at the World Cup this summer
Manager Ian Holloway has urged his Blackpool players to keep their feet on the ground despite a stunning 4-0 victory over Wigan Athletic on the opening day of the new season.
A first-half brace by new signing Marlon Harewood after Gary Taylor-Fletcher had broken the deadlock in the 16th minute put the Seasiders in charge at the DW Stadium.
Taylor-Fletcher turned home Harewood's cross while Alex Baptiste scored the fourth with 15 minutes left.
It was a remarkable start to life in the top-flight for Blackpool, but afterwards Holloway was keen to avoid the threat of complacency.
"I'm so proud of these boys," he said."Some of them only shipped up this week and I had to introduce everybody to each other.
"We have still have got to have our feet on the ground.
"We have got a long, long way to go to get to that target to stay in this wonderful Premier League.
"The win is fantastic for the boys to start believing in themselves and keep the momentum going."
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Meanwhile, Holloway has admitted he is still on the lookout for new players before the transfer window closes at the end of August.
He added: "Hopefully, we'll get it sorted and bring some more in because, if you look at the games we've got and the rules, we are miles behind everybody."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has dismissed rumours suggesting that Wolfsburg have made an offer for Dutch forward Ryan Babel.
The 23-year-old has struggled to make his mark at Anfield, but Hodgson is not about to sell the Netherlands international.
He told reporters:"I'm afraid we're in the realm of speculation. You know better than I how many stories you're getting every day and many of them are unfounded – many are attempts from people to get their players in the spotlight.
"We've had no written or formal offers for Ryan Babel and he's a player who I'm expecting to play for us."
Meanwhile, Serie A new boys Cesena are poised to complete the signing of Brazilian goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri from the Reds.
The 27-year-old has made just ten appearances in two seasons at Anfield and is desperate to move on to gain regular first-team action.
Hodgson confirmed:"Diego has done a marvellous job for the last two years.
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"He's a very good goalkeeper and a very good person, but he made it clear to me at the start of the season that, after two years of watching Pepe Reina play every week he might, if he's not careful, lose his goalkeeping ability or his status as a first-team goalkeeper.
"He made it clear he'd like to leave and find a club where he'll be able to play on a regular basis."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Stoke City manager Tony Pulis is delighted with the form of club record signing Kenwyne Jones so far this season.
The 25-year-old £8million signing from Sunderland has found the net in his last three games, having suffered an injury on his City debut against Wolves.
Pulis told reporters:“Kenwyne’s got all the tools to be an outstanding player for this club.
“Three goals in his last three games have helped his confidence, but I firmly believe there is a lot more to come from the lad.
“We still think he can get fitter, he can be a lot sharper and if he manages to do that, then he will be a real handful for defenders.
“Having said that, he’s worked really hard to overcome the injury setback and he has worked well with the other players too, so we’re delighted with the impact he has already made.
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“He is a fantastic signing for this club.”
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