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The schedule makes it difficult, but what have traditionally been the two most powerful voices in selection – the captain and the coach – are severely compromised when it comes to expressing opinions over new options or form players

George Dobell18-Jul-2016Trevor Bayliss could be forgiven for a somewhat resigned look as he answered questions from the media after England’s defeat in the first Test against Pakistan.How would he know which batsmen might be line to replace those who failed at Lord’s? How could he know if there are better spinners available to England than Moeen Ali or Adil Rashid? What’s the point in asking him about wicketkeeping options?Because Bayliss, through no fault of his own, knows little about county cricket. He has never played it, hardly watched it and admits to not having seen several of the contenders to England positions play a game.It does not mean his appointment was an error – England’s results in the last year or so suggest quite the opposite – but it is a major weakness. It is compounded by the England’s relentless schedule, which hardly allows him a chance to plug the holes in his knowledge with scouting trips (he quite reasonably – essentially, even – took a brief holiday after the World T20), and the fact that Alastair Cook, his Test captain, plays Division Two cricket with Essex and rarely comes up against most of those in contention. As a result, what have traditionally been the two most powerful voices in selection – the captain and the coach – are severely compromised when it comes to expressing opinions over new options or form players.So it is not surprising that this England team management is pursuing a ‘continuity of selection’ policy. Anything else would largely be guesswork.And while there are obvious benefits in that policy, there are also times when it unnecessarily limits the talent pool available to the national side. Was talk of recalling Jos Buttler (who has still not played a first-class game since he was dropped in October) ahead of the Pakistan Test series based on his ODI form? Or the possibility that he is one of the few players Bayliss knows?Bayliss on…

James Vince
“I think it would be an injustice if he doesn’t make it. I think he is a good player, he has a good temperament and he offers a fair bit around the team being captain of Hampshire as well. But, in the end, it will be the number of runs that determines his longevity in the team. I’m sure he is starting to feel the pressure.”
England’s slip catching
“We’ve all got work to do. I don’t think we move all that great from left to right, from side to side. We’ve got to make so we take our head to the ball not just throw out an arm with our head back two or three feet from the ball. We’ve got to get our head close to the ball. We seem just to throw out a hand at it without moving our feet.”
Gary Ballance
“He has a tough head on his shoulders. He might not look a million dollars but sometimes Cooky doesn’t look a million dollars and he’s got 10,000 runs.”

While the England set-up is blessed by the knowledge and experience of Paul Farbrace, a man who tends to spend his days off nipping to a county ground to catch the latest action, he isn’t officially a selector. Which leaves Bayliss hugely reliant upon the opinions of the other selectors Mick Newell and Angus Fraser, who also directors of cricket at Nottinghamshire and Middlesex, and James Whitaker, the chairman of selectors and the one man with the freedom to watch players in both divisions. Andrew Strauss remains occupied more with strategic direction than specifics of selection.Whitaker is an assiduous fellow. Whatever you think of his opinions – and there can be few genuine gripes about selection in recent years – he cannot be faulted for the miles he travels, the amount of cricket he watches or the opinions he canvases. But Bayliss, Cook and co. have become hugely reliant upon him.That is not necessarily a bad thing. But it is a change. For several years (from Duncan Fletcher onwards, culminating in the days of the all-powerful Andy Flower) the England coach took overall responsibility for the side as they were also given overall power of picking and coaching it. Bayliss can’t have that power or that responsibility. He is overly reliant upon a committee to give him his teams. Even the media, who may have some influence at times, tend to focus only on England players, or former England players, because they rarely have the opportunity to watch up and coming county players.Bayliss is, at heart, a ‘hands off’ coach. He has won praise from the dressing room, on the whole, not so much for what he has done, but what he has not: no fuss; no interference; no meetings (or fewer, at least); no drama and no extraneous talk. He has encouraged the white-ball sides, in particular, to trust their talents and instincts (a change of approach that was actually instigated a little while before he started; it was Farbrace at the helm for the watershed ODI series against New Zealand) and the results have, on the whole, been encouraging.But if you are a hands off coach and limited in terms of your ability to offer selection opinions, you are in danger of becoming a luxury item. Sometimes coaches need to interfere. Sometimes they need to know all the selection options at their disposal.Besides, the same approach England have taken to their batting in ODIs has been their weakness in Tests. It has led to the “naive” batting criticised by Cook in the aftermath of Lord’s. Bayliss, who was appointed largely on the basis of his limited-overs success, has to take some of the responsibility for that.He gave a press conference in South Africa in which he said – quite clearly and unequivocally – that he preferred “attacking style batters.” It was, at the time, interpreted as a less than fulsome expression of support for the style of Nick Compton and a suggestion that he would prefer more aggressive batsmen in the top order.Trevor Bayliss has to largely rely on his selection panel to learn about county players•Getty ImagesIn the months since, those words have been reinterpreted. They have been twisted a little to suggest he meant players should be positive in defence as well as attack. That their footwork should be certain and their movements carry conviction. Fair enough; we can all understand that.But here’s what Bayliss actually said:”Ultimately, I’d like to see two of the top three guys as attacking-style batters. I just think if you have a couple of attacking guys up the top it puts pressure on the opposition a lot easier. If you’ve got three who don’t necessarily get on with it you can be half-an-hour before lunch at 0 for 30, you happen to lose two and it’s 2 for 30 two hours in. If you’ve got guys who can play their strokes and get on with the game, if you lose a couple before lunch you’re 80, 90 or 100.”That is – clearly and specifically – not asking his players to be positive in defence and attack. It is asking them to score more quickly. It is asking them to attack.So he cannot look aghast at James Vince chasing a wide one, Joe Root slog-sweeping one outside off stump or Moeen charging down the pitch. That is the style he has encouraged England to play. And it is a style that is beginning, in Test cricket at least, to hold them back. Like Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle, England’s style will entertain and win friends. It won’t make them the No. 1 team.It also sells them a little short. The likes of Root, Buttler and Ben Stokes are richly talented. They have it within them to be top players in all formats. They just need to learn to complement their flair with some discipline. No-one wants them to change and become blockers, but even Viv and Sachin built their games around a solid defence. England too often seem to attack because they don’t trust their defence.At present, they rarely win games on pitches that might be considered good for batting – the South Africa tour is a bit of an exception to that – but look dangerous in conditions where they can exploit movement with the ball and plunder quick runs with the bat. Again, that will take them so far. It won’t take them to No. 1.If England are to win consistently, if they are to progress further up the Test rankings, they need to play more sophisticated cricket. And perhaps Bayliss need to spend some time – during international games, if necessary – touring the counties to learn more about the players at his disposal. If he’s going to be judged on the sides he coaches, he really needs more input in selecting them.

ESPNcricinfo has learnt that some of the India players are unhappy with the revised pay structure, despite their annual retainer having been doubled

Arun Venugopal30-Mar-2017A week after the BCCI announced new annual contracts, it has emerged that some players are unhappy with the revised pay structure. Despite the annual retainer having been doubled, it is understood that the players’ response has stemmed from the revised contracts not meeting their demands. ESPNcricinfo has learnt that the issue had been a concern for a while and that the players have made a concerted effort to address it in the last few months.”Things have gathered momentum over the last three months or so, through the New Zealand and England series,” an insider aware of the developments said. “Almost every player has been involved in the discussions.” The coach, Anil Kumble, who was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the central contracts system in 2003, is learnt to have pushed for a complete overhaul of the existing structure to ensure contracted players get a bigger slice of the whole revenue pie, and not just a percentage of a whittled-down portion.Earlier this month, Kumble had made a presentation on a revamped compensation structure on behalf of the players and support staff to the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) in Bengaluru. Although one source said the players are likely to meet the CoA in the forthcoming days to revisit the new contracts, a CoA official said no such meeting was on the cards.The CoA, though, believes Kumble’s proposals require an entirely new framework, which will require time to formulate. “Kumble is also aware that it cannot happen overnight,” the CoA official said. “That will be thought through and we will see what we can do on that. That is not something that can be done in 24 hours or 48 hours. It will take a lot of deliberation because it is a complete re-think of how the compensation model is thought through.”Last week, a few days after Kumble’s presentation, 32 players were handed new retainers, in which seven Grade A-contract holders – including Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin – will be paid INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx) each per year. According to the new arrangement, those in Grade B and C will now earn INR 1 crore (USD 150,000 approx) and INR 50 lakh (USD 75,000) respectively. The match fees were also increased from INR 7 lakh to 15 lakh in Tests, 4 lakh to 6 lakh in ODIs and 2 lakh to 3 lakh in T20Is. This revision in the pay structure was the first since 2010.The assistant coaches – Sanjay Bangar (batting) and R Sridhar (fielding) – were also given a 50% hike in retainership fees; they will now earn 15 lakh each per month, barring the two-month IPL window, for which they are not paid.There were other financial rewards, too, with the BCCI announcing payments – INR 50 lakh per player, 25 lakh for Kumble and 15 lakh for each member of the support staff – for India becoming the No. 1-ranked Test side. The ICC also awarded the team USD 1 million for finishing the year as the top-ranked Test nation.Despite the windfall, some players believe the pay rise isn’t commensurate with the growth in BCCI profits. The BCCI’s total income in 2015-16 stood at INR 1365.35 crore. Out of this, the board paid a total of 56.35 crore to players. An amount of 46.31 crore was paid as “additional payment to players”, as per the board’s annual statement last year.The sticking point, though, is the income from the television rights, which is the board’s biggest revenue stream. The norm has been distribution of about 70% of the income – generated from rights – to the state associations. For perspective, when the contracts were introduced in 2003 by the BCCI, the board paid players – both international and domestic, including the junior categories – 26% of the overall revenues. Of this, half (13%) was assigned to the men’s international players, while 10.3% was distributed among the domestic players. The remaining 2.7% was allotted to a bracket featuring the junior players, although women were added to this category subsequently.What has further irked the players is that their annual retainer is comparatively lower than that of their English and Australian counterparts. Different sources have estimated Joe Root and Steven Smith’s annual retainers at between INR 8 crore and 12 crore. “When the ECB and CA compensate their players handsomely, why does the BCCI, the world’s richest board, not do enough?” the source asked. “In addition, the BCCI’s coffers have seen a huge increase since the introduction of the IPL, but the players don’t get a fair share of such revenues. It is ultimately the state associations that walk away with the lion’s share of the money.”Another source said the BCCI could not use the players’ IPL earnings as a pretext for not substantially increasing the annual retainers. “One player might get a contract worth 12 crore, another may be bought for 30 lakh, and there are players who don’t get any IPL contracts,” the source said. “Why should the board be concerned with the amount of money players make from the IPL? The values of both these properties are different, so why do they connect the two? The BCCI is the richest board and the money is meant to be spent on cricket and cricketers, not stadia.”The other cause of consternation has been the gulf in the pay structures between domestic and international cricketers. A veteran domestic player said there was very little financial incentive for someone to play only first-class cricket. “A player in the Test squad makes 7.5 lakh per game, even if he is not included in the playing XI,” he said. “If I play a whole season of first-class cricket – I get paid 40,000 per four-day game, along with a percentage of the board’s gross revenue – I will probably make a little more in a season than what a player on the bench makes per Test match.”He said that a contract system had to be put in place for domestic cricketers as well. “The absence of any concrete financial benefit is why people in first-class cricket are constantly looking to play only the IPL,” he said. “After all, not everyone can play for India. But, with a system like this, you are not producing people who would want to play Test cricket. The disparity is huge.”

Why did India delay taking the new ball? And why did Shami bowl only one over in the middle session? Here’s Sidharth Monga’s take on those questions and others

Sidharth Monga in Centurion16-Jan-20183:59

Chopra: Not looking good for India

Why did Mohammed Shami – who took three wickets in the morning session – bowl just one over in the second session?
Shami had bowled seven overs for 26 runs and three wickets in the first session, keeping India alive in the contest. South Africa’s lead at lunch was 201 with five wickets in hand. To stay in the contest, India needed to roll South Africa over. You would have wanted to see the bowlers likeliest to take wickets bowl more, but India went for control instead, bowling Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya for long spells. India managed to keep the runs down, but took just the two wickets in that session. One of the reasons could be the fear of letting South Africa run away with a big lead. Also, Shami is not known for his control; his spell in the morning had been an aberration to his series form and high economy rate.Shami said that perhaps the captain wanted to give him a break, wait for a breakthrough and then unleash him once a wicket was taken. However, Shami bowled just the one over in the session.Why was the fifth bowler, Hardik Pandya, given an extended spell in the second session?
It was a slow pitch, and looked flat for long spells of play. Pandya bowled from the Pavilion End, which didn’t offer much help for the fast bowler. R Ashwin wasn’t taking wickets from that end either, and there was a possible risk of a batsman opening up against spin. Pandya bowled offcutters with control from that end as Ishant took two wickets from the Hennops River End. Pandya’s spell of 7-1-9-0 looks good on paper, but whether it did the job – the one required in that hour – is still up for debate.Why was R Ashwin bowled from just one end, the Pavilion End, through the innings?
Even Keshav Maharaj has bowled only from the Pavilion End so far. There was a patch of rough to work with from that end, but equally important was the uneven bounce on offer for a fast bowler’s hard length from the other end. Bumrah benefited from it with the wickets of Aiden Markram and Hashim Amla, and Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi made full use of it too. When you are playing four fast bowlers in your side, it is expected you will give them the choice of ends on what has largely been an unhelpful pitch for them.Having said that, Ashwin did bowl one over from the other end, but that is only because tailender and left-hand batsman Kagiso Rabada was on strike at the start of that over. That strategy did not help India.Why was the second new ball not taken?
The most contentious of all moves. South Africa were 225 for 7, a lead of 253, when the new ball became available. The new batsman, a No. 9, had not even opened his account yet. This was the time India could have looked to close the innings rapidly, but Faf du Plessis was still at the wicket and the new ball has the potential to fly around for runs. India obviously felt they were keeping South Africa under pressure by not giving them quick runs, but as it turned out South Africa were slowly batting them out of the game. It was perhaps lack of experience that India didn’t recognise how desperate the situation was in the afternoon. It was a move reminiscent of India not taking the new ball in the Durban Test of the last trip, hoping to delay South Africa’s declaration instead of cutting down the runs by taking wickets.Why was the first slip so wide?
First things first. When Parthiv Patel failed to go for the Dean Elgar catch, the first slip was not too wide. It was almost a regulation first slip, and the wicketkeeper should have gone for the catch with his big gloves on. Later when you saw the staggered slip cordon, it was a reaction to a slow pitch.On such a track, one needs catchers in front of the wicket too, but one also tries to cover as much space possible behind it. The result? Get two men to take on the area that three slips would normally cover.

Beth Mooney hits 97 not out on Hundred debut but London Spirit slip to defeat

Cameron Ponsonby12-Aug-2022Danni Wyatt’s brutal 65 off 34 balls led Southern Brave to a six-wicket victory against London Spirit and spoiled Beth Mooney’s party after the Australian opener had earlier scored a women’s competition-best of 97 not out off 55 balls.In the absence of the injured Heather Knight, 21-year-old Charlie Dean took the reins of Spirit and after winning her first toss elected to bat. Her decision looked to be a good one as Mooney played with the confidence of a player fresh off a match-winning innings in the Commonwealth Games final and led Spirit to 155, the second-highest score in the history of the Hundred, men’s or women’s.However, Spirit’s total still carried a touch of frustration with it. With 22 balls to go, Spirit were 123 for 1 and looking at at least 160, only for Amanda Jade-Wellington to strike three times in the closing stage of the innings.In reply, Wyatt and Smriti Mandhana wrestled the momentum back for the home side with Wyatt in particular taking a liking to Freya Davies, striking five boundaries off her two sets of five in the powerplay.Brave had a small wobble as they lost two wickets in three balls with 60 still required, but Sophia Dunkley would ice the chase with a composed 34 not out off 25 balls to see Brave complete the highest successful chase in the women’s competition with six balls still to spare.Mooney masterclass
Mooney loves the big occasion. In 2020, she struck 78 off 54 balls in the T20 World Cup final. In 2021, she was named as Wisden’s leading female cricketer in the world. And in 2022, she scored 61 off 41 in the Commonwealth Games gold-medal match.Five days on from her match-winning antics in one final, she was setting more records in her first appearance in the Hundred, striking the highest score in the history of the women’s competition as she made 97 not out off of just 55 balls. An altogether record-breaking achievement – or, as Mooney calls it, Friday.Brave tried their best to bowl neither too wide nor too straight at Mooney, with all of Lauren Bell, Anya Shrubsole and Molly Strano starting by bowling over the wicket to the left-hander, with each of their natural actions pushing the ball across her.The plans, however, didn’t work. When Brave got too straight, Mooney bludgeoned them through the leg side. And when they weren’t erring one way, Mooney was forcing them to err to the other, giving herself space to drive through cover or walking across and pulling or sweeping over to the leg side.Mooney was forcing Brave to bowl on a tightrope. A thin line of safety, which if missed, led to a fast and ugly demise.ESPNcricinfo LtdWyatt wins out
Such was the quality of Mooney’s innings that Wyatt was never likely to steal her thunder, but she did at least ruin her party. The two innings were off contrasting styles but equal in their effectiveness. Where Mooney looked to target the extra-cover boundary, Wyatt hammered and swept the ball over long-on and cow corner.Wyatt’s 34-ball innings contained 14 boundaries, finding the fence in consecutive deliveries on four occasions. Had she not been run out by her batting partner Dunkley with 45 balls of the innings still remaining, Wyatt may well now be boasting the record of having scored the first-ever century in the women’s Hundred.Spirit’s fielding needing a prayer
For all the quality of Brave’s batting line-up, Spirit had much of themselves to blame for the flow of runs with a poor showing in the field.Related

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Naomi Dattani dropped a simple chance to get rid of Mandhana off the bowling of Dean, before the following ball went through the legs of cover for four. A series of unfortunate events that at least gave the new skipper the chance to debut her poker face, however unconvincing.Another simple misfield on the boundary gifted Brave four more not long after, before it looked as if Spirit had managed to save the day for themselves when Amelia Kerr executed a fantastic, diving direct-hit run-out to remove Wyatt and tip the game in their favour.However, it didn’t prove to be the catalyst that Spirit had hoped, as the otherwise-perfect Mooney wavered. She missed a simple run-out chance that would’ve seen the back of Georgia Adams and seen Brave four down with 49 still required off 35 balls.Runs galore
Last season’s women’s Hundred featured just six scores north of 140. Just two games into this year and we have already had four, with the hot summer contributing to fast outfields and general misery for those standing in the field. Expect more of the same.

Steven Smith says he and Usman Khawaja have moved on following their mix-up in the first Test in Sri Lanka, with the pair chilled over Smith’s on-field reaction.

AAP06-Jul-2022Steven Smith insists there is no lingering fallout from his mid-wicket mix-up with Usman Khawaja after his fiery first Test dismissal against Sri Lanka.Smith created headlines last week when he gestured back at Khawaja and stormed off the field after being run out for six in Galle. The incident drew criticism back home in Australia, including from former captains Mark Taylor and Ian Chappell.Chappell in particular was harsh on the right-hander, claiming he should have been in better check of his emotions as a vice-captain on the field. But Smith insisted he and Khawaja had immediately moved on, and he was more frustrated at his own dismissal.”I hate getting run out. I think anyone does,” Smith said on Wednesday when asked if he had reflected on the situation. “Particularly given the [tough] conditions and gifting them a wicket. As one of the most experienced players I was pretty upset.”That happens in the game. I got over it pretty quickly. I had to keep moving forward and that is part of the game.”I spoke to Uz straight after and he was pretty chilled. Mix-ups happen, we keep moving on.”What Smith is desperate for is more time in the middle. He missed the final three one-day internationals in Sri Lanka with a quad injury and only faced 11 balls in his one innings in Galle before his run out.The former captain batted through another lengthy net session on Wednesday, working hard on facing left-arm spin with throwdowns from former New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori.Smith employs a different approach to most Australians against the spinners, only using the sweep when the ball spins back into him. He was Australia’s leading run-scorer on the last tour of Sri Lanka, relying on a fast-feet method to try and unsettle the bowlers.”I’m not a huge sweeper so I prefer to run down the wicket and get them off their lengths that way or come back into my crease,” Smith said. “Really it’s about not getting stuck on the crease with the ball spinning into me.”If I’m doing that well and fast on my feet, I usually feel pretty good.”Australia expect the wicket to spin just as much in the second Test in Galle starting Friday, with Sri Lanka adding more spinners to their squad.Smith had attempted to lead a more positive team with the bat when he captained Australia’s 3-0 loss in 2016, only for the side to be tentative in defeat. But that approach has been put into far better effect on this tour, as Australia scored at a rapid rate in the first Test.”It’s about having courage in the way guys are playing,” Smith said. “It’s good we all play a little bit differently.”There’s not the same continuity, so bowlers have to change their lengths a bit and when they’re doing that in a partnership you can cruise along quite freely.”

Fair to say, it’s been an eventful week at Everton.

On Thursday, mere hours before their FA Cup tie at home to Peterborough United, it was announced that Sean Dyche had been sacked, leaving Leighton Baines and club captain Séamus Coleman in caretaker charge, overseeing an unspectacular 2-0 victory.

Remarkably, this is the first time any Premier League club have sacked their manager on the day of a game, prior to kick off, for 30 years.

Then, on Saturday morning, it was confirmed that David Moyes had returned, 13 years after leaving Merseyside for Manchester United, having overseen a whopping 518 matches during his first spell in charge.

With the Toffees currently 16th in the Premier League table, a mere one point clear of the relegation zone, reinforcements are needed, but could the first arrival of the second Moyes-era be imminent?

Everton want to bolster their forward line

According to a report by TEAMtalk, Everton are ‘in talks’ with Olympique Lyonnais over the signing of Ernest Nuamah.

Meanwhile, reports from France on social media claim the deal is only ‘one step away’ with an ‘agreement almost reached between the different parties.’

Numah joined Lyon from Danish Superligaen side Nordsjælland for a reported €30m in 2023, suggesting the Blues are unlikely to get him on the cheap.

However, as noted by Colin Millar, Matt Slater and Matt Woosnam of the Athletic, les Gones have been provisionally relegated from Ligue 1 “following an audit of their finances”, informed they must “satisfactorily improve their financial situation before the end of this season”.

As a result, Nuamah appears set to be sacrificed, although no Everton supporter should consider this a done deal until he has officially put pen to paper.

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That’s because, in the summer, Nuamah was reportedly on the verge of joining Fulham, only to “vanish” part-way through his medical, after breaking down in tears, declaring his love for OL and refusing to move to West London, with American owner John Texter subsequently forced to send an apology letter to the Cottagers.

Fair to say, the Toffees will be hoping to avoid similar complications.

How Ernest Nuamah compares to Dwight McNeil

Ghanian commentator George Addo Jnr on Twitter describes his compatriot as “some talent”, with journalist Owuraku Ampofo adding that he is “a fantastic dribbler”.

Wesley Mak of Opta’s The Analyst labels him as “a multi-functional forward” capable of playing anywhere across the front three, comparing him to West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus, another Ghanian attacker who began his career at the world-renowned Right to Dream Academy.

Well, considering Everton are the Premier League’s second-lowest scorers this season, ranked rock-bottom for xG, the Blues need all the attacking reinforcement they can get, but how does Nuamah compare to their joint-top scorer Dwight McNeil?

Appearances

56

56

Minutes

3,205

4,732

Goal

8

7

Expected goals

6

4.3

Assists

4

10

Expected assists

5.1

12.2

Shots on target %

39.7%

27.4%

Shot-creating actions

109

190

Crosses

122

365

Attempted take-ons

160

103

Progressive carries

146

111

The table outlines that these two wingers are stylistically very different.

McNeil is much more a creator, hence why he’s accumulated significantly more assists and expected assists while, last season, only eight players across Europe’s “top five” leagues put in more crosses than his 229; Dyche-ball at its finest.

Meanwhile, Nuamah is much more of a dribbler, registering more take-ons and progressive carries, with the Ghanian significantly more of a goal threat, bagging 15 goals during his final campaign at Nordsjælland, on target against such illustrious opponents as Paris Saint-Germain and Eintracht Frankfurt since making to move to Lyon.

Well, considering Everton have scored nil during eight of their last ten Premier League outings, failing to find the net in a whopping 39% of the league games Dyche took charge of, Nuamah will certainly be a welcome addition for all Evertonians.

Could be an awful Lookman repeat: £100k-p/w Everton star in talks to leave

Everton could be set to sell one of their highest earners this month

ByRoss Kilvington Jan 13, 2025

Arne Slot hit back at Michael Owen’s remarks that lifting the Premier League trophy alone wouldn’t be enough to call Liverpool's season a success.

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Liverpool on course to win their 20th PL crownCrashed out of cup competitions in quick successionOwen expected more from the Reds after a fiery start to the seasonFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Owen made headlines after suggesting that although winning the league would be “special,” the sting of exiting the Champions League and falling short in the Carabao Cup final could overshadow the triumph. This opinion did not sit well with Slot – or with team captain Virgil van Dijk, who previously clashed with Owen after the Merseyside derby.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Slot made it clear that securing domestic league glory remains the highest priority, particularly for a club that has struggled to consistently win the English title in recent decades. Moreover, it would be Liverpool's 20th Premier League crown, an incredible feat that would see them match Manchester United's tally.

WHAT SLOT SAID

“Let me understand it right, Virgil was a bit frustrated because it came across as it’s not enough to only win the Premier League?” asked the Liverpool head coach.

“Michael did play for us, didn’t he? So he is aware of the fact that in 35 years we won the league once? There is your answer. If you can win the league with this club then, phew, nothing else matters I would say. If you do it 10 times in a row then I could understand that people say: ‘Oh but you only win the Premier League.’

"If [Manchester] City only won the Premier League then I could understand people saying: ‘It’s not a good season for City.’ But if, at this club, you can compete for it and let alone win it, then it is a strange question to ask in my opinion. If Virgil has this opinion as well then I agree with him.”

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DID YOU KNOW?

The Liverpool boss also addressed a growing narrative suggesting this season’s league might be less competitive due to Manchester City’s inconsistency and Arsenal’s inability to stay in contention. Slot argued the opposite, stating the Premier League has become more balanced than ever.

“I think the league is better than it ever was,” Slot said. “That’s what I hear a lot because the strength overall is getting better. I think even Pep [Guardiola] said there will not be a team again as long as he lives that gets more than 100 points and wins the league four times in a row because so many more teams are having so many more good players.

“I think he even said what I have said the whole year, that all clubs, even some who are fighting against relegation, have some players who can play for City, for Arsenal, for us, for Chelsea and for these type of teams. The reason why teams you might expect to have more points don’t have them is because the league has become stronger. That is probably why it is such a compliment for us that we do have those points at the moment.”

Celtic are “highly likely” to complete the signing of a “special” player during the January transfer window, according to a claim from former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

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The Hoops continue to be linked with potential new signings in January, as Brendan Rodgers looks to give his side the best possible chance of glory across all competitions in the second half of the season.

Manchester City youngster James McAtee has been mentioned as an option for Celtic, with the 22-year-old not managing to force his way into Pep Guardiola’s plans in recent months, despite their huge struggles in the Premier League. The attacking midfielder could be a great signing for the Scottish Premiership champions, adding real quality in the final third and making them an even more fearsome attacking proposition.

There are two other Premier League players who the Hoops are eyeing up, too, with Chelsea pair Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Carney Chukwuemeka seen as options next month. Both midfielders have found it hard to enjoy regular playing time for the Blues this season, with the likes of Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Romeo Lavia all preferred in the middle of the park.

Meanwhile, Brondby forward Mathias Kvistgaarden has also been backed to seal a move to Celtic, potentially coming in and providing more competition in the attacking third.

Celtic "highly likely" to sign "special" ace

Speaking to Football Insider, Sky Sports pundit Robinson claimed that Celtic are “highly likely” to seal a reunion with Kieran Tierney in January:

“It’s achievable. That’s probably what both parties would want, even Arsenal wouldn’t stand in his way. Like you say, injuries, not playing, he’s not been part of Mikel Arteta’s squad going forward. [Him leaving] frees that space up in Arsenal’s squad, [and] for Tierney, it’s a great fit. For Celtic, it seems a great fit. That one looks like it’s got highly likely potential of happening in January.”

Bringing Tierney back to Celtic should be seen as a no-brainer, considering the quality he possesses, and what a popular player he was at Parkhead during his first stint there.

Things haven’t quite panned out the way the left-back would have hoped for, in terms of being first-choice, but Mikel Arteta has still heaped praise on him during his time at the Emirates, saying:

“I am really looking forward to working with him and giving him the opportunity to play. His attitude, his commitment, his willingness it’s incredible. I think he’s going to bring something special to us.”

Still only 27, Tierney could remain a key man for Celtic for another five or six years, and he could cement further legendary status if he returns and helps inspire the Hoops to many more trophy wins, after claims he would accept a pay cut to move back to Parkhead.

Celtic make enquiry over signing "outstanding" £20m Premier League player

Brendan Rodgers is eyeing a midfielder this January.

ByDominic Lund Dec 28, 2024

The idea of getting more regular football will surely appeal to the Scotland international, too, as he looks to reignite his career and enjoy his peak years, rather than growing stagant at Arsenal.

He struck at only 103.38, but coach believes his struggles were down to just one bowler – Bhuvneshwar

Firdose Moonda21-Jun-20225:24

Dale Steyn: ‘Four games don’t make Temba Bavuma a bad player’

South Africa are not concerned about Temba Bavuma’s T20I strike rate, which over the last year has dropped to being the lowest among opening batters in the top-six ranked teams, and believe his difficulties in India were largely due to one bowler.”Temba struggled during the tour. There’s no doubt,” Mark Boucher, South Africa’s coach said. But he only really struggled against one bowler and that was [Bhuvneshwar] Kumar. Most of the guys struggled against him. Let’s give him credit where it’s due. Kumar is a fantastic bowler in those conditions.”Bhuvneshwar, who opened the bowling and moved the ball both ways, was the second-highest wicket-taker in the series with six strikes from five matches at 14.16. He also had the lowest economy rate among bowlers who had played all five games in this series – 6.07 runs per over – keeping South Africa to three of their five-lowest powerplay scores against India.”There were times when the ball was swinging a lot which makes him very, very dangerous. Also the ball was up and down a lot, especially with the new ball,” Boucher said. We look at it as coaches and say how do we have a look at that particular bowler and how do we give him [Bavuma] more options? It’s quite difficult for him to change up during a series where you basically travel-play, travel-play. To come into a series, T20, as an opening batter, you’ve got to go from the get-go, that was always going to be quite tough for him, especially against Kumar. With other bowlers his strike rates are fine. There’s no issue there.”Related

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Bavuma scored 61 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 103.38. Of South Africa’s specialist batters, only Quinton de Kock scored fewer runs and Bavuma’s strike rate was the lowest. He scored just 13 runs off 25 balls he faced from Kumar in the series, with one dismissal, at a strike rate of 52.00 and 48 runs off 34 balls he faced from the rest of India’s attack, at a strike rate of 141.18, proving Boucher’s point. The challenge facing Bavuma now is how he can ensure he is still able to score off bowlers like Bhuvneshwar and Boucher has a plan, which is not just for Bavuma.Temba Bavuma injured his elbow in the fourth T20I against India•BCCI”We’ve had conversations about the first 10 balls that you face. What’s your goal? Is it [to score] 10 off 10 or 14 off 10?” Boucher said. “It’s one boundary extra that you’re looking at and 14 off 10 is going at 140. The margins are not as big as what people actually think. It’s maybe just another scoring option. We did it last year with regards to scoring all around the wickets. You would have seen reverse-sweeps come in, guys who have never lapped before, they’ve got the lap option. If you give batters one or two more options to try and take the strike rate a little bit higher than what they’ve got at the moment, it’s challenging players and it’s pushing them to become the best in the world. If you look at it in its entirety you might think it’s near impossible for a guy to get to a strike rate 140 if he is at 120 but it could just be merely just adding another shot to his whole repertoire that could change that.”But to do that, Boucher would like to see a slight shift in mindset among his batters. “You need to have the technical know-how on how to play a shot,” he said. “Once you get the confidence of adding that extra shot to your batting, or ball to your bowling, it’s having the mindset to go out there and really trust it.”And once the players have the belief that they can bat big and bat quickly, Boucher believes the South African line-up can become as explosive as teams like India or England. “Ultimately, you’re not going to win World Cups with a mindset where you are tentative,” he said. “You’ve got to go out there and play. There’s been other teams in the world – India have showed us the way they play, England and the way they play- that’s really the way forward, especially in the shorter version of the game.”The next question is whether Bavuma is going to be on track for the World Cup after suffering an elbow injury during the India series, when he fell while completing a single in the fourth match on Friday. He will undergo scans on Tuesday after sitting out Sunday’s decider. “We were really worried after the actual injury because he couldn’t bend his arm at all,” Boucher said. “But the next morning, he was able to bend it, so that was some good news.”South Africa’s next assignment is an all-format tour in England, with the white-ball sides due to depart on July 8. They are expected to name the squad next week.

Nico O'Reilly has revealed exactly what Pep Guardiola told him before his incredible impact against Bournemouth in the FA Cup.

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O'Reilly registered two assistsOnly came on at half-timePep gave youngster clear instructionsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

O'Reilly came off the bench at half-time in City's win over Bournemouth on Sunday. The Cherries were 1-0 up at the time, but O'Reilly laid on two assists as City turned the game around. First, he found Erling Haaland at the back post with a low cross, before a clever flick found Omar Marmoush before his fine winner.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The 20-year-old has been shining in the FA Cup this season, scoring a brace against Plymouth Argyle in the fifth round and netting once versus Salford City in the third. In total, he has made 10 first-team appearances for the Blues, registering five goal involvements.

WHAT O'REILLY SAID

He told : "My instructions were to get involved as much as I can. It was good to get the contributions with the two assists – I was buzzing. I'm grateful for the opportunities I get from the manager and playing with the best players that are out there."

AFPWHAT NEXT?

City will play Nottingham Forest at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final. Pep Guardiola has already confirmed that O'Reilly will "for sure" play in the game.