Captain Virat Kohli has clarified that the Indian team offers its suggestions to the BCCI only when asked for them, as the board continues to look for a new coach after Anil Kumble resigned 10 days ago
ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-20172:14
‘We respect the BCCI’s process and are focusing on the cricket’ – Kohli
Captain Virat Kohli has clarified that the Indian team offers its suggestions to the BCCI only when asked, as the board continues to look for a new coach after Anil Kumble’s resignation 10 days ago. Kumble had stated his partnership with Kohli had become “untenable”, even though Kohli had said at the beginning of the Champions Trophy that there were “no issues whatsoever” between the two.Kumble later said in his resignation that he was informed by the BCCI that Kohli “had reservations with my style and about my continuing as head coach”.”From a personal point of view I can’t pinpoint anything or give details,” Kohli said a day before the third ODI against West Indies in Antigua. “We as a team, contrary to a lot of perceptions, only voice our opinions when asked by the BCCI for suggestions. So that is something we have always gone through as a process and that’s something we respect as a team. It’s been asked together, it’s not like segregation of anything so we respect that process and that same procedure, if and when it takes place, we’ll give our suggestions to the BCCI.”The suggestions are given to the board who handle the procedure and there’s no point saying anything out in the open because that is for us as a team to convey to the board as and when we are asked, and it’s something I’ve mentioned before.”It became clear in Kumble’s resignation that there were “misunderstandings” between him and Kohli and ESPNcricinfo had reported a month ago that the captain, and possibly a few other senior players, had expressed a lack of confidence in their coach. Kohli has hardly opened up on the issue since then, mainly saying he has “total respect” for Kumble as a cricketer, and did not want to divulge details to “maintain the sanctity of the change room”.Kohli stated on Thursday that the team was a “very closely-knit unit” and the players got along with each “really well”. He also said their focus right now was on the ongoing ODI series against West Indies, which the visitors lead 1-0 after the first match was washed out.”Right now we have a series at hand and this is what we are focused on,” Kohli said. “The process [of selecting the coach] is taking place and that is something that is in control of the BCCI and the process has always been in place. We, as a team, are focusing on this series right now and we are not focused on anything else at the moment. Our priority is coming here and winning this series, and preparing for the games that lie ahead of us.”Once Kumble resigned, the BCCI decided to invite more applications for the position of the coach, extending the deadline to July 9. Among the newer applicants is Ravi Shastri, who had applied for the position last year too but lost out after the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, picked Kumble for one year.
An update has emerged on Tottenham Hotspur and their plans to improve Ange Postecoglou's squad in the summer transfer window…
What's the latest Tottenham transfer news?
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has revealed that the club are in discussions with Bayer Leverkusen over a deal to sign central defender Edmond Tapsoba ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.
Although, the Premier League side are also eyeing up VFL Wolfsburg enforcer Micky van de Ven as an alternative option if they fail to land the Burkina Faso star.
The reporter Tweeted: "Edmond Tapsoba remains in Tottenham list as talks are still ongoing. He's always been top target as new CB. #THFC Spurs are now working on both van de Ven & Tapsoba deals; up to the club to decide who they want to sign, also based on financial package."
It has been reported that a fee in the region of £61m would be required to sign the centre-back this summer and it remains to be seen whether or not Daniel Levy is willing to match that figure.
Is Edmond Tapsoba good?
The Leverkusen enforcer is an excellent defender who has caught the eye with his performances for his current club in the Bundesliga in recent seasons.
He is a dominant battler who also has the quality to build play out from the back and the 24-year-old titan would come in as a big upgrade on Davinson Sanchez for Postecoglou.
Edmond Tapsoba's 2022/23 statistics.
The above graphic, as provided by Opta, shows that the talented ace is one of the best players in his position when it comes to winning possession back for his team, whilst his duel success rate of 59% in the Bundesliga last term also shows that he is efficient at doing just that.
Tapsoba averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.88 over 33 league outings for Leverkusen last season, which would place him above the likes of Eric Dier, Ben Davies, Sanchez, and Clement Lenglet within the Spurs squad.
Tottenham defender Davinson Sanchez.
Meanwhile, Sanchez averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.76 across 18 Premier League outings, which suggests that the Burkina Faso titan would be an upgrade in terms of the general standard of his performances week-in-week-out.
The £61m-rated colossus would also offer more in possession. He has averaged 7.22 progressive carries and progressive passes combined per 90 over the last 365 days, which places him among the top 8% or higher of players in his position in the Men's Big Five Leagues and European competitions in that time.
Whereas, Sanchez has averaged 4.09 per 90 for Spurs and does not rank higher than the top 37% of centre-backs in either statistic, which means that the Colombian international is not an outstanding progressor of the ball.
This suggests that Tapsoba, who journalist Raphael Honigstein once hailed as "outstanding", would offer far more than the former Ajax man in possession due to his exceptional ability to drive his team forward, with passes and carries to get his side into better positions on the pitch to cause damage to the opposition.
Couple this with his defensive strength alongside his average performance level and you have a player with the potential to be an extraordinary addition to Postecoglou's squad if he is able to translate his Bundesliga form over to the Premier League next season.
West Indies’ middle and lower order came to their rescue in a big way as they recovered from a precarious 71 for 5 to end the opening day at 244 for 7
The Report by Danyal Rasool21-Apr-2017 Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsWest Indies’ middle and lower order came to their rescue in a big way as they recovered from a precarious 71 for 5 to end the opening day in Jamaica on 244 for 7. Roston Chase and Shane Dowrich added 118 for the sixth wicket after Mohammad Amir had made three breakthroughs either side of lunch as Pakistan threatened to take a firm hold on the match.Play was called off nine overs early, as the clouds that hovered above for much of the day finally impacted the light enough to convince the umpires to lead the players off after just one over with the new ball, but the final session had not been short of action. Chase and Dowrich, whose partnership started in the first over after lunch, took their stand to three figures but just as it looked like Pakistan were running out of ideas the breakthrough came via a miraculous diving catch on the boundary to dismiss Chase, with Wahab Riaz taking a stunning grab running towards the long-on boundary.The next ball, Dowrich was bowled by Yasir Shah as the visitors wrestled the advantage again, but some gutsy late hitting by Jason Holder and Devendra Bishoo ensured West Indies finished the day with some momentum, and a total to defend.Pakistan were on top for much of the first day, but West Indies produced a heartening response after looking as though they could unravel when Amir and debutant Mohammad Abbas were operating with the new ball. Abbas claimed a wicket with his second delivery in Test cricket as Kraigg Brathwaite edged to second slip where Younis Khan snared another catch, reminding Pakistan it wasn’t just his runs they were going to miss when he hangs up his bat at the end of this Test series.Roston Chase’s reactions from the first day
On how the day went: “We were in bit of a hole early on, but Shane and I had a decent partnership, I thought it was a fighting effort, but disappointed neither of us went on to get that big score. Hopefully the skipper and the rest of the batsman can put us in a strong position, a fighting position and put Pakistan on the back foot” On what WI need to do on the second day: “I always believe 450-500 is a good first-innings total if we set the tone from early. But as I said, we were in a bit of a hole so if we get 350-plus from here that’ll be a decent comeback for us. If we go into lunch tomorrow losing no wickets or even one, or even if we do get bowled out, if we score quickly enough to get that 350 or 375, that will be a positive for us in that session.” On the Sabina Park pitch: “The pitch is a bit two-paced. Some balls, when they’re banging in the ball it doesn’t really come off that well. Once you stay patient and hit those areas hard, some things happening for you there.”
However, Abbas’ senior bowling partner was the man of the morning. Showing exquisite control, Amir produced one to dart back into the left-handed Shimron Hetmyer, one of two West Indians on debut. Hetmyer, who had for much of his short stay at the crease been chiefly concerned with Amir’s outswinger, was clearly unprepared for the change-up; Pakistan had almost begun celebrating by the time the his bat came down. Four overs later, Amir castled Shai Hope with his stock delivery, swinging into the right-hander and sending his off stump cartwheeling.When Wahab came on, the runs flowed a little more freely, the batsmen taking advantage of his slightly erratic length and relative lack of movement. Even so, he claimed the scalp of Vishaul Singh, also in his first outing, owing to a sharp catch at square leg from Azhar Ali, the batsman falling over to a ball drifting on to leg stump.When Kieran Powell fell two deliveries after lunch, chasing a wide swinging delivery from Amir he would have been better off leaving alone, Pakistan would have harboured realistic hopes of dismissing West Indies for under 150, but Chase and Dowrich took control of the innings with a sense of grit and determination that supposedly better batsmen had been devoid of. They were excellent in trying circumstances, taking advantage whenever Yasir – who was inconsistent – missed his length, and punished Wahab when his line wavered. They did not panic when the runs dried up, but didn’t go back into their shells so much they couldn’t pounce on the poor deliveries.Chase and Dowrich snapped back into a more aggressive mindset soon after tea, the latter rubber-stamping that fact by slashing Abbas for a pair of stylish square cuts and bringing up the 100-run stand moments later. It was then that the absence of a fifth bowling option began to hurt the visitors as they turned to Amir again, who they would ideally have wanted to rest until the new ball.However, when this Test match has long been forgotten, all people will probably remember is how the sixth-wicket stand was broken. In a moment of play that almost defied belief, Chase struck a lofted drive off Yasir, looking for all the world like it would fetch him a boundary, despite Wahab, hardly a world-beating fielder, scampering back from mid-off. Wahab threw himself at the ball – even the technique looked all wrong – and somehow emerged with it in hand. The umpires asked for TV confirmation – perhaps they were just as astonished as everyone else.The next ball, Dowrich was beaten for spin as he tried to drive Yasir along the ground, the ball thudding into his stumps: 189 for 5 had become 189 for 7 and, just like that, Pakistan again sensed a swift end to the innings.However, no one appeared to have told Holder and Bishoo, who set upon Yasir in a display of counter-attacking hitting, not afraid to loft him in the air, earning multiple boundaries in return. They raced to a fifty-partnership at almost a run-a-ball, and continued to frustrate Pakistan as the new ball was taken.Fortune came to their aid thereafter, as the new ball was only one Amir over old when the umpires decided this was no time of day to be facing fast bowling. Holder and Bishoo didn’t need to be told twice, sprinting off to the dressing room after living to fight another day.
Watch – Highlights of Karachi tripping up Islamabad
In a nutshell For a team that won the title last year by playing their best cricket when it really mattered, this was the meekest of surrenders in the biggest of games. Islamabad United whimpered out of the tournament, failing in a chase of 127 and handing the record for the lowest total successfully defended at the PSL to Karachi Kings.Misbah-ul-Haq’s men put in a lion-hearted bowling performance, but were rather timid with the bat. On a slow and low pitch where strokeplay wasn’t entirely easy, they lost two early wickets and slipped into their shell. The attempts to consolidate in the middle overs was unconvincing, the response to unerringly accurate bowling from spinners Imad Wasim and Usama Mir was ugly, and the chastening defeat to end the defending champions’ campaign was inevitable.To think they had begun the match with back-to-back maidens. Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Irfan bowled to their strengths early on, keeping the length short and beating the batsmen for pace and bounce. No Karachi player could muster any sort of meaningful contribution. Left-arm quick Rumman Raees took three wickets in a sensational 19th over as Karachi collapsed from 122 for 5 to 126 all out.Where the game was won Although he walked out to bat in the third over of the chase, Misbah, arguably, was in his comfort zone. He has restored calm in far more frenzied situations before. After all, the target in front of him wasn’t huge and the required-rate was barely even threatening. But, just as Islamabad began looking comfortable, Imad bowled Misbah with a special little slider and there was no looking back. Eight out of 10 Islamabad batsmen fell for single digits as the Karachi spinners Imad and Mir – with combined figures of 6 for 42 in eight overs – defied the dew in SharjahThe men that won it When he was dismissed for 14 in the first innings, Imad had a run-in with Raees, unhappy at what he thought was unnecessary provocation from the bowler. Clearly, he needed to vent and did so against the Islamabad batting line-up, his trademark wicket-to-wicket sliders besting the defences of Misbah, Shane Watson and Nicholas Pooran and fetching him the Man-of-the-Match award.Sweet revengeKarachi’s 126 was the lowest total defended in two seasons of the PSL. They will find that particularly gratifying considering the part they had played in setting up the previous record – failing to chase 133 against Islamabad in 2016.The margin of victory – 44 – was also the largest – in terms of runs – at his year’s tournament. Meanwhile, Islamabad’s unravelling put the seal on only the second time a team has been bowled out under 100 in the PSL. The other instance took place last month when Lahore Qalandars were bundled out for 59 by Peshawar Zalmi.Moment of the matchKumar Sangakkara already has a shot at being remembered for taking the catch of the PSL when he leapt high to his right to dismiss Cameron Delport in Karachi’s match against Lahore last week. On Wednesday, he may well have bettered that effort.With Mohammad Amir bowling over the wicket, and Smith getting a thick outside edge, the only chance of a wicket seemed to rested with Chris Gayle at first slip. But he was backing away from the ball. He was forced to because Sangakkara had launched himself to his right, showing off reflexes not seen often among 39-year olds – and pulled off a one-handed screamer.It was a catch that stuck – at the very end of his webbing too – but Sangakkara deserved extra credit for having the presence of mind to bring his left hand over to steady the ball that was in his right before he hit the ground. The fact that it didn’t pop out was testament to the Karachi captain’s quick thinking under high pressure. Smith, Islamabad’s most prolific batsman in 2017, was gone for 8. Not long after, his team, too, succumbed.Where they stand Islamabad find themselves out of the PSL. Karachi go through to the second eliminator, to face Peshawar for the right to compete in the final against Quetta Gladiators in Lahore on March 5.
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane propelled Liverpool to Premier League and Champions League success under Jurgen Klopp, though where do the star duo rank as Football FanCast goes through the Reds’ greatest goalscorers?
15 Ian St John Appearances: 425 Goals: 118
Ian St John netted 118 times for the Reds
The late Ian St John, who passed away in 2021, stands as Liverpool’s 15th-highest goalscorer, having netted 118 times across 425 appearances for the club between 1961 and 1971.
The club’s record signing, he formed a formidable partnership with the great Roger Hunt, spearheading Liverpool’s return to the pinnacle of English football in the 1960s. Indeed, in Liverpool’s title-winning 1963/64 campaign, St John scored 21 goals.
ANFIELD HIGHLIGHT: St John’s most significant moment for Liverpool came in the 1965 FA Cup final, with a diving header securing an extra-time victory over Leeds United, marking the Reds’ first success in the competition.
14 Sadio Mane Appearances: 269 Goals: 120
Mane outperformed his xG in all but one of his seasons at Liverpool between 2017 and 2022, when FBref tracked such data, proving just what a clinical finisher the Reds had on their hands.
Mane’s absence has been felt since he left for Bayern Munich, with the Senegal forward having established himself as one of the Premier League’s best all-round forwards after joining Liverpool from Southampton in 2016. Along with Salah and Roberto Firmino, he formed one of the most formidable attacks in European football.
ANFIELD HIGHLIGHT: Mane’s double in a win over Wolves on the final day of the 2018/19 campaign saw him share the Premier League’s Golden Boot award with Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
13 Dick Forshaw Appearances: 288 Goals: 123
Dixie Dean has been in the headlines due to Erling Haaland’s sensational form this season, though the Everton icon was not the only striker thriving on Merseyside in the 1920s.
Dick Forshaw, who also played for Everton (he is the only player to win league titles with both of the biggest Merseyside teams), netted 123 times for the Reds between 1921 and 1927.
ANFIELD HIGHLIGHT: Forshaw scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Manchester United during the 1926/27 season, when he netted 29 times in 35 league games.
12 Jack Parkinson Appearances: 219 Goals: 128
Five goals ahead of Forshaw is Jack Parkinson, who played for the Reds from 1903 up until 1914.
Parkinson, a two-cap England international, netted 128 times in 219 games before leaving for Bury, where he spent one season before retiring to become a newsagent.
ANFIELD HIGHLIGHT: Parkinson finished as the league’s top goalscorer, with 31 strikes in 30 matches, in the 1909/10 season.
11 Sam Raybould Appearances: 226 Goals: 130
Next on the list is Sam Raybould, who clocked up 20,340 minutes (according to LFCHistory.net) for Liverpool between 1900 and 1907.
A prolific forward, Raybould courted controversy when he was suspended for seven months for agreeing to sign for Portsmouth, who were adjudged to have made an illegal approach. However, his tally of 67 goals in 100 games was a club record until it was broken by Salah in 2020.
ANFIELD HIGHLIGHT: Raybould scored 32 goals in 34 games in 1902/03, a league record that stood until 1931.
10 Harry Chambers Appearances: 339 Goals: 151
Nicknamed ‘Smiler’, Harry Chambers was one of the most proficient strikers of the post-First World War era of the 1920s. He helped Liverpool to back-to-back league titles in 1922 and 1923.
Due to the war, in which he served, Chambers had to wait four years for his Liverpool debut, yet went on to etch his name into the club’s history books nevertheless.
ANFIELD HIGHLIGHT: In a 5-1 demolition of rivals Everton in 1922, Chambers scored a hat-trick. Across the 1921/22 and 1922/23 seasons, he scored 41 times in 72 games.
9 Michael Owen Appearances: 297 Goals: 158
Michael Owen burst onto the scene in sensational style in the late 1990s. By 2001, he had a Ballon d’Or to his name.
Owen became Liverpool’s goalscorer on his Premier League debut in May 1997. The following season, he shared the competition’s Golden Boot, and was the Reds’ top goalscorer in every campaign between 1997/98 and 2003/04, when he left for Real Madrid.
A hamstring injury blighted his time at Anfield, and he would go on to suffer more issues across his career, but he truly had it all in his youth, with explosive pace, quick feet and finishing prowess.
ANFIELD HIGHLIGHT: Owen’s quickfire double secured Liverpool a superb comeback victory against Arsenal in the 2001 FA Cup final as the Reds took home the second of three cups in a memorable campaign.
8 Sir Kenny Dalglish Appearances: 515 Goals: 172
Kenny Dalglish had magnificent success as a player and manager
Sir Kenny Dalglish might be eighth on this list, but not many players are more synonymous with Liverpool than the Scotsman.
Signed to replace another club great – Kevin Keegan – in 1977, Dalglish scored on his league debut and went on to win six First Division titles and three European Cups as a player and then manager, leading Liverpool’s attack during their dominant period decade in the 1980s.
ANFIELD HIGHLIGHT: As player-manager, Dalglish only selected himself for 21 league games in the 1985-86 season. The Reds won the double that campaign, with Dalglish fittingly scoring the winner against Chelsea to secure the title on the final day of the season.
7 Robbie Fowler Appearances: 369 Goals: 183
Robbie Fowler in action for Liverpool
Robbie Fowler had two spells at Liverpool, though his best form came in his first stint between 1993 and 2001.
Fowler holds a record for being the only player to score 30-plus goals in each of his first three Premier League seasons, while he played in every single match of the 1994/95 campaign.
ANFIELD HIGHLIGHT: Fowler scored the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history when he netted three times in four minutes and 33 seconds against Arsenal in 1994, before it was broken by future Reds forward Sadio Mane while he was at Southampton.
6 Steven Gerrard Appearances: 710 Goals: 186
One of the Premier League’s greatest midfielders, Steven Gerrard features high on this list despite not playing as a striker – showing just how good he was.
Gerrard spent the vast majority of his playing career at Anfield and won two FA Cups, three League Cups and, of course, the Champions League in 2005.
ANFIELD HIGHLIGHT: Gerrard scored one of Liverpool’s goals as they came from behind to force Milan to penalties in that famous Champions League final in Istanbul. He was named Man of the Match and the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.
A century from Siddhesh Lad and his fifth-wicket stand of 105 with Aditya Tare rescued Mumbai after Chama Milind had rocked them with three early wickets. Having chosen to bat first at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Mumbai were 34 for 4, with both Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav back in the dressing room, when Lad joined Tare.The pair batted for the next 40.3 overs, before Tare, Mumbai’s wicketkeeper-captain, fell for 73 (148b, 14×4) to the medium-pacer Mohammed Siraj, who picked up his second wicket. That would be Hyderabad’s last wicket of the day, as Lad batted through to go to stumps on 101 (196b, 15×4, 1×6), having added an unbroken 111 with Abhishek Nayar (46*, 79b, 7×4) for the sixth wicket. ScorecardFile photo – Lunch was taken early due to concerns over the pitch that arose when Parthiv Patel was struck on the arm by an awkwardly rising ball•AFP
Unbeaten half-centuries from Chirag Gandhi and Rush Kalaria rescued Gujarat after Odisha sent them in and reduced them to 71 for 6. The two added an unbroken 126 for the seventh wicket in 48 overs as Gujarat went to stumps 197 for 6, with Gandhi on 62 (161b, 6×4) and Kalaria on 59 (136b, 6×4, 1×6).Lunch was taken 47 minutes early at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, with Gujarat 39 for 2, due to concerns over the pitch that reportedly arose when Parthiv Patel was struck on the arm by an awkwardly rising ball. Play resumed after ground-staff re-rolled the pitch, and Gujarat slumped further against the medium-pace of Deepak Behera, Basant Mohanty and Biplab Samantray, before Kalaria joined Gandhi at the end of the 31st over of their innings. ScorecardFile photo – Shahbaz Nadeem picked up his 12th first-class five-wicket haul•KCA/Ranjith Peralam
Shahbaz Nadeem’s 12th first-class five-wicket haul ensured Haryana did not extend the advantage of winning the toss on a day of unconverted starts at the Moti Baug Stadium. In 30 overs of left-arm spin, Nadeem took 5 for 75 as Haryana went to stumps 251 for 7, with all their batsmen getting into double figures but none of them managing a half-century.Chaitanya Bishnoi (41) and Rajat Paliwal (42) were the day’s highest scorers, the two of them adding 83 for the fourth wicket to take Haryana to 154 for 3, before Nadeem dismissed both off successive overs. Haryana slipped further, to 195 for 7, before Sanjay Pahal (38*) and Harshal Patel (22*) saw them through to stumps with an unbroken stand of 56 for the eighth wicket.
Liam Plunkett has paid a personal tribute to Jason Gillespie who announced on Monday that he would be leaving his position as Yorkshire’s head coach at the end of the season
Andrew McGlashan29-Aug-2016Liam Plunkett has paid a personal tribute to Jason Gillespie who announced on Monday that he would be leaving his position as Yorkshire’s head coach at the end of the season.Plunkett’s career was revived under Gillespie’s watch after he signed from Durham in late 2012 after a difficult period following the loss of his England place. He became a key part of Yorkshire’s impressive pace attack and earned a recall to England’s Test side in 2014 before finding a place in the one-day set-up in the post-World Cup rebuilding under Eoin Morgan, Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace.Initially it was a bit-part role last season and he then endured a frustrating winter where he did not feature in the one-day series against Pakistan and South Africa before belatedly being called into the World T20 squad when Steven Finn was injured. Once he made the XI he impressed with his hostility and that has continued with this summer’s one-dayers against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in which he has taken 13 wickets in seven matches.The confidence he is now feeling in an England shirt stems from the rebuilding process he underwent with Gillespie. He remembered an early stint in the Yorkshire nets during the winter that he signed for the club – following the 2012 season where he had played just one Championship match for Durham – where he could barely get the ball down straight and wondered whether he would have a future.”One of reasons I moved to Yorkshire is that he was a bowler himself and went through his ups and downs,” he said. “One of the first net sessions I had with him was in the winter and I hit the side netting. I thought that was the end of my career at Yorkshire right then but he said don’t worry about it, it is November and he pretty much said he just wanted me to run up and bowl fast.”Plunkett singled out the belief Gillespie had helped give him rather than focussing too much on the technical aspect of his bowling. It has been Plunkett’s pace – which can top 90mph – that has made him an asset to England’s one-day side even though he is no longer in the immediate Test match plans.”At that time, he was what I needed. I was a bit raw, and struggling with my action,” Plunkett said. “I thought it was all about technical. But it wasn’t – it was just about backing myself.”When I went there, that was what he picked up straightaway. He does other stuff with different people, but he knew what I wanted. He just said to me ‘bowl fast’, and he backed me. With that came confidence and performance.”Whenever you have a bad spell he is always there patting you on the back and saying, ‘no worries, mate, you can change the game next spell’. I take my hat off to him, I owe him quite a bit.”I’m obviously gutted – because he was good for me, and good for the team. It’s a tough decision that he’s made. But I want to thank him – he’s been great for me. He’s brought me back to playing for England. So I wish him the best, and look forward to catching up when I get back to Yorkshire.”Yorkshire have gone out of both limited-overs competitions – the T20 Blast and Royal London Cup – at the semi-final stage over the last two weekends but a hat-trick of County Championship titles remains in view as they sit second in the table, five points behind leaders Middlesex.”I hope we can make it three this year in the Championship,” Plunkett said. “That would be a nice note to leave on. I’m sure there will be quite a few people trying to get that job.”
With Manchester United's slim title hopes having been well and truly extinguished in recent months, the Red Devils are set to see their decade-long wait for Premier League glory extended by another year, with the club's post-Sir Alex Ferguson woes having continued.
While hope has been somewhat renewed following Erik ten Hag's arrival in the dugout, the former Ajax boss will have to go a long way to getting anywhere close to emulating the success of the legendary Scotsman, with the serial-winning coach having won 13 league titles in a trophy-laden spell at Old Trafford.
A truly seismic figure in the history of United, Ferguson will forever be a name etched in club folklore due to his glittering 26-year stint in charge, with subsequent managers having unsurprisingly found it difficult to live up to such a gargantuan figure of the past.
For all the success that the 81-year-old endured during his lengthy reign at the Theatre of Dreams, however, that's not to say that the one-time Aberdeen boss didn't drop the odd clanger or two on occasion, with the man himself admitting his mistake in notably allowing Jaap Stam to depart in 2001, calling it a "bad decision."
The Dutch colossus wasn't the only centre-back whom Ferguson perhaps moved on prematurely, though, with the Govan-born icon having also endured something of a howler with the sale of Gerard Pique in 2008.
Why did Man United sell Pique?
The Red Devils had initially snapped up Pique from La Liga giants Barcelona back in 2004, with the towering centre-back going on to feature sporadically over the next few years, racking up just 23 appearances across all competitions, scoring twice.
Despite showings signs of promise, one game, in particular, appeared to serve as a real setback in the Spaniard's hopes of securing a regular first-team berth, with the player himself admitting that the defeat to Bolton Wanderers in November 2007 seemingly proved fatal for his United career.
That was also the assessment of teammate Wayne Rooney, with the former England skipper stating that the loss away to Bolton 'more or less finished' the defender's career at the club, as he was simply 'bullied' by the opposition forward line.
That seemingly sparked doubts among Ferguson and co as to the 6 foot 4 man's suitability to life in the Premier League, while Pique also outlined his own concern about dislodging the starting duo of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, stating in 2015:
"The centre-backs, Rio Ferdinand, Vidic. I was really unlucky. They never got injured. Then I left and then they started to get injuries! This is football but I’m not really worried.
"It’s true that I was happy in Manchester even though I didn’t play as much as I wanted to."
Pique for Manchester United
As it happened, Pique's old friends at Camp Nou came calling as he ultimately sealed a return to Catalonia after four years in England, with La Blaugrana managing to secure a deal for what proved to be a bargain price of just £5m.
United were almost immediately left to rue that sale as the exciting talent went on thwart them in the Champions League final at the end of the 2008/09 season, before again coming out on top when the two sides met in the European showpiece in 2011.
That was merely just the start of what proved to be a truly remarkable spell at Barca for Pique, with the 102-cap titan having simply "won everything" in the game prior to recently calling it quits, according to former boss Pep Guardiola, having claimed three Champions League triumphs in total with the La Liga outfit, as well as eight Spanish league titles.
On the international scene, the now-retired ace was also part of La Roja's World Cup and European Championship success in 2010 and 2012, respectively, having been hailed as the "best central defender in the world" in the recent past by compatriot, Carles Puyol.
While perhaps Pique simply needed to return home in order to truly flourish, to have allowed such a stellar individual to slip through their fingers will still sting as far as both Ferguson and United are concerned, with such talents rather unique, indeed.
Amid the sort of bitterly cold weather in which even Captain Oates wouldn’t venture out, Yorkshire’s lower order demonstrated the type of grit that can make the difference between winners and losers in a Championship season
George Dobell at Edgbaston25-Apr-2016 ScorecardWarwickshire’s slip cordon feels the chill•Getty Images
Amid the sort of bitterly cold weather in which even Captain Oates wouldn’t venture out, Yorkshire’s lower order demonstrated the type of grit that can make the difference between winners and losers in a Championship season.Most cricketers can flourish in conditions when the sun is, figuratively or literally, on their backs. But it takes a certain sort of determination to succeed in discomfort, under pressure and despite interruptions and distractions.Yorkshire displayed such grit here. From a position of 209 for 6, their lower middle order has earned not just a chance of gaining full batting bonus points but, if the weather relents, the possibility of pushing for a win. And they did it on a day when the wind blew viciously cold, when play was split in what appeared to be dozens of short sessions and when anyone sensible would only have ventured out in thermals and supported by a team of huskies.While the contribution of Adil Rashid can be of little surprise – he has the class to have made it as a specialist batsman – the contribution of Steve Patterson was more unusual. Until today, he had scored only one first-class half-century – an innings of 53 against Sussex – in a first-class career that started in 2005 but now resumes in the morning requiring only six more runs to be the highest scorer of the innings.But it was the manner of Patterson’s runs that was most surprising. He is an admirable, reliable cricketer but both his career strike-rate – he had scored his runs at a rate of 35.93 runs per 100 balls before today – and his nickname, “Dead”, hint at a character that is usually solid and dependable more often than it is exhilarating and flamboyant.Here, though, he thrashed 11 fours as he feasted on Warwickshire’s frustration – there were a fair few long-hops bowled at him – and weariness. And while he looked less comfortable against the pace of Chris Woakes – described as “one of England’s quickest bowlers” by his coach, Dougie Brown – he still managed to time the ball sufficiently well that what appeared a decent yorker was speared to the point boundary before the man positioned barely 15 yards away could move.It might have been easy to presume this match – likely to be interrupted by more poor weather over the next couple of days – was heading nowhere. But who knows whether the Championship may, in five months time, be decided by a bonus point gained on a grim, April day in Birmingham? Patterson and Rashid, in particular, earned their side at least three more points that seemed likely at one stage.It would be easy to point out Warwickshire’s faults in the field. Really very easy. The innings contained overthrows, drops (Liam Plunkett was reprieved from the first delivery he faced – Tim Ambrose putting down the chance off Keith Barker – while Ryan Sidebottom was reprieved at slip by Varun Chopra off Chris Woakes on 2) and really quite a lot of wayward bowling. For much of Patterson’s innings, he was more at risk of frostbite or polar bear attack than a yorker.But this has been an awful stop-start game played in brief patches of uncomfortably cold and horribly windy conditions. It cannot have been easy to gain any rhythm on the pitch – it was miserable to watch from the stands – and it really wouldn’t be appropriate to put down a mug of hot coffee in the press box and criticise too harshly. It was not easy out there.”It was disgusting,” Brown, the Warwickshire director of cricket, agreed. “But you still have to have professional standards. We shelled a couple of catches, which is disappointing, but Yorkshire deserve a bit of credit for the way they batted. It’s quite a good wicket and the margin of error for bowlers is very small.”When play finally started – 49.3 more overs were lost on the day, making it 87.3 in total so far – Warwickshire appeared to have seized the initiative. Jack Leaning’s footless drive was punished with an outside edge, before Gary Ballance’s increasingly fluent innings was ended by a good one that left him from Barker. Had Plunkett been taken next ball, as he should have been, Yorkshire would have been 209 for 7.Instead Plunkett counter-attacked in a partnership of 43 with Rashid before Patterson helped add 91 for the eighth-wicket in 20 overs. With Rashid, getting well forward and driving neatly, forcing the bowlers to pitch shorter, the ball tended to sit up obligingly on what remains a decent pitch.Clarke and Woakes were the pick of the bowlers. Gaining in rhythm by the spell, Woakes had worked up a considerable pace by the end of the day and finally defeated Rashid with one that may have tailed in a little. With Mark Wood injured and Chris Jordan departing to the IPL, it seems Woakes may be competing with Jake Ball for the final spot in England’s Test squad. All three England selectors were at Edgbaston on the second day to see Woakes demonstrate his pace and his improved inswinger. They will know he is a better bowler than he showed during the Test in Centurion.Still, in a match containing 13 Test cricketers, it was arguably Patterson’s performance that caught the eye. On a day when nearly everyone else looked as if they would rather be somewhere else, he took advantage.
Southampton “hope to keep” hold of midfielder Romeo Lavia beyond the summer, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
What’s the latest on Romeo Lavia’s future?
The Belgian only made the move to the St. Mary’s Stadium from Premier League rivals Manchester City back in July 2022 but has taken to life like a duck to water becoming one of his side’s most promising players. Ruben Selles’ star won’t be out of contract until 2027, but following his impressive level of performances on the south coast, has already been generating interest ahead of the upcoming window.
The Mail Online report that Chelsea, Manchester United and his former club the Sky Blues are all keeping tabs on the 19-year-old, who recently received his first senior international call-up for his nation’s Euro 2024 qualifier vs Sweden and a friendly against Germany which is set to take place on Tuesday.
Taking to Twitter, Romano revealed that Southampton would like to retain the services of Lavia but understand that it will be a difficult task considering the calibre of his potential suitors. He wrote:
“Romeo Lavia will be one to watch in the summer. Man City £40m buy back clause, valid in 2024. Chelsea [wanted him last summer] and Arsenal [still keen on Caicedo too] among clubs interested – Southampton hope to keep him.”
Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia.
Should Southampton keep or sell Lavia?
Southampton’s manager Selles recently admitted that Lavia is “not impressing” him and that he “needs to step up” moving forward, but regardless of this criticism, the club should definitely keep him.
The Saints ace is naturally a defensive midfielder but offers versatility having operated slightly higher up in central midfield this season, which is a useful attribute to have should he ever be asked to play out of position in the future. The Brussels native currently ranks in the 90th percentile for most blocks by midfielders whilst averaging 1.9 tackles per top-flight game, highlighting his desire to get stuck in and win back possession for his team.
The £25k-p/w starlet can also pose a threat in the final third having scored one goal and provided one assist in his 24 appearances since joining, which makes it clear that he’s got so much potential to offer despite still being a teenager who is finding his feet at the highest level.
Should Southampton be relegated at the end of the season, Lavia will more than likely end up looking for a move elsewhere, so it’s vital that they maintain their top-flight status should they not want to lose one of their most prized assets.