A lot can happen over the course of six months in rugby and many a reputation has been forged or ruined over the course of a Six Nations campaign.
But as England go into their final Autumn international against New Zealand tomorrow some players thoughts might just be looking ahead to this summer’s Lions tour to South Africa.
Judging by the side’s performances so far during this international series, most of those players will know they have a long way to go if they are going to be in the touring party.
Andrew Sheridan is perhaps the only shoe-in, fitness permitting, among Martin Johnson’s men and even his stock has taken a bit of a battering after he suffered at the hands of an Australian front row bent on revenge for their World Cup embarrassment.
Sheridan’s bulk and power will be essential against the South Africans though, and a steady Six Nations should see him handed a red jersey.
Danny Cipriani would easily make the trip if selection was based on talent and confidence alone but he is facing a crucial period in his young career after struggling to adapt to the pace and pressures of playing against the top Southern Hemisphere sides.
There are also plenty of other options at fly-half, with the ever-consistent Stephen Jones and Ronan O’Gara as well as the dashing James Hook all presenting strong cases for selection.
You would also be a fool if you expected a man as determined as Jonny Wilkinson to give up on the race for selection and the chance to absolve his 2005 nightmare without a fight.
In the back three Paul Sackey had seemingly established him as a top-class test winger but he has looked short on confidence recently and while, Delon Armitage has looked as comfortable as possible amid the chaos, Ireland have several promising young outside backs coming through and Wales’ Lee Byrne and Shane Williams are likely Lions starters.
Danny Care has showed potential at scrum-half but it is another highly competitive position and he is far from the finished article.
Matt Stevens may make the squad due to his ability to prop up both sides of the scrum but he is becoming in danger of being pigeonholed as an ‘impact sub’.
Against South Africa last Saturday James Haskell showed appetite and aggression to match the Springboks but is a case of ‘curb your enthusiasm’ for the Wasps flanker as he must work on his discipline to make sure he keeps his place in the England side, let alone earn a Lions call-up.
In other positions the side appears full of players who currently look distinctly average (I hate to single anyone out but Lee Mears at hooker is an obvious example) and are hardly putting forward a convincing case to be selected for the heightened test arena of a Lions series.
Wales and Ireland seem to have plenty of players putting their names forward and I haven’t seen enough of Frank Hadden’s improving Scotland to asses which players have Lions potential but Mike Blair’s selection in the short list for the IRB’s World Player of the Year suggests they can at least match England’s claim of one as-good-as-automatic selection.
Things look pretty bleak for England’s players if the squad was to be picked tomorrow but they have six months to prove themselves and what better way to start than with a strong showing against the world’s best side at Twickenham tomorrow.
Friday 28 November 2008
Wednesday 26 November 2008
Sanchez misses the point
I'm not sure what Lawrie Sanchez has been doing since he was sacked as manager of Fulham last December but it would not surprise me to learn he has been spending time in the company of Sepp Blatter.
My first sighting in months of the former Northern Ireland boss and Wimbledon cup star was on Sky Sports news at the weekend putting forward a hair-brained scheme worthy of the blundering FIFA President himself.
Sanchez's bold new vision is to revolutionise the way points are awarded in the Premiership to give greater reward for teams picking up results away from home.
His view was that awarding four points for an away win and two points for an away draw, with still three points and one point on offer at home for wins and draws respectively, would encourage teams to play more attacking football on their travels.
First things first, like most Blatter proposals, it is a complete non-starter that is far too radical possibly to the extent that debating could be seen as a pointless exercise.
Allowing ourselves to entertain the thought of this actually becoming a reality, how many teams would look at the two points on offer when they travel to the likes of Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge and simply, to use a Jose Mourinho-ism, park the coach in front of the goal?
Such is the lack of ambition that has developed amongst clubs outside the top that four that few sides would ever look at the added bounty of points on offer for a win as enough incentive to try and attack the big boys.
I always thought that, despite his modest managerial record, Sanchez was quite a sensible and grounded bloke with a good grasp of the game – I wonder if that was how Mr Blatter started out?
My first sighting in months of the former Northern Ireland boss and Wimbledon cup star was on Sky Sports news at the weekend putting forward a hair-brained scheme worthy of the blundering FIFA President himself.
Sanchez's bold new vision is to revolutionise the way points are awarded in the Premiership to give greater reward for teams picking up results away from home.
His view was that awarding four points for an away win and two points for an away draw, with still three points and one point on offer at home for wins and draws respectively, would encourage teams to play more attacking football on their travels.
First things first, like most Blatter proposals, it is a complete non-starter that is far too radical possibly to the extent that debating could be seen as a pointless exercise.
Allowing ourselves to entertain the thought of this actually becoming a reality, how many teams would look at the two points on offer when they travel to the likes of Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge and simply, to use a Jose Mourinho-ism, park the coach in front of the goal?
Such is the lack of ambition that has developed amongst clubs outside the top that four that few sides would ever look at the added bounty of points on offer for a win as enough incentive to try and attack the big boys.
I always thought that, despite his modest managerial record, Sanchez was quite a sensible and grounded bloke with a good grasp of the game – I wonder if that was how Mr Blatter started out?
Thursday 20 November 2008
Understudies play leading role in Walcott's absence
England’s back-up players took the opportunity to shine last night against Germany but I can’t help think that, long term, the most significant action to take place on the pitch at the Olympic Stadium actually occurred 24 hours earlier.
Theo Walcott’s slip on the turf in training on Tuesday evening resulted in a dislocated shoulder and, while he may well be fit for England’s next competitive game against Ukraine in April, it must raise serious concerns over the durability of joint that has constantly troubled the young winger in his short career.
He has a history of operations to his shoulder and played through the pain it cause him during a disappointing first season at Arsenal.
Let’s hope when Walcott returns the injury is completely recovered, as a player of his breed being held back by the slightest niggle results in a completely different footballer.
We have all seen how cumulative injuries caused Michael Owen, another player to star on the international stage at a young age, to lose his sharpness and it would be a great shame if Walcott suffered the same fate.
The timing of the injury blow could not be worse as the former Southampton man had just established himself as a key component of both the Arsenal and England first teams and was fulfilling his long recognised potential.
In Walcott’s absence though, it was a chance for others to shine and an experimental England team produced plenty of positives for Fabio Capello.
The likes of Michael Carrick, Stewart Downing, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Matthew Upson all seized the chance created by the withdrawal of more established names.
During his last two title winning seasons with Manchester United, particularly during the 2006-7 campaign, Sir Alex Ferguson was always quick to stress that his squad players were just as crucial to his side’s success as the big stars.
In their own way, he said, the likes of John O’Shea, Darren Fletcher and Park Ji-Sung were just as vital to the United cause as the Wayne Rooneys, Cristiano Ronaldos and Rio Ferdinands.
What Ferguson was saying was that over the season you will have injuries and it is important that the players who come in are committed and adaptable so the team functions just as well in the absence of first choice players.
All Ferguson’s favourite squad players are also noticeably genuine team players whose work ethic rubs off on others when they play and keeps them looking over their shoulders for fear of losing their place.
This is now Capello’s chance to create a back up team of talented committed players are capable of slotting in the side in big games to cover for injuries or even - sending a warning to Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney et al – if a first team player suffers a loss of form.
The fact is England will have injuries and suspensions in big games and you simply cannot predict what positions will be effected, the safe answer is to make sure you have a reliable back up to cover for every position.
The performances of the understudies last night would have taught Capello a lot about his options and, while the cupboard may seem relatively well stocked, there may still be one or two positions - such as goalkeeper – that he will want to look at again in future friendlies.
Theo Walcott’s slip on the turf in training on Tuesday evening resulted in a dislocated shoulder and, while he may well be fit for England’s next competitive game against Ukraine in April, it must raise serious concerns over the durability of joint that has constantly troubled the young winger in his short career.
He has a history of operations to his shoulder and played through the pain it cause him during a disappointing first season at Arsenal.
Let’s hope when Walcott returns the injury is completely recovered, as a player of his breed being held back by the slightest niggle results in a completely different footballer.
We have all seen how cumulative injuries caused Michael Owen, another player to star on the international stage at a young age, to lose his sharpness and it would be a great shame if Walcott suffered the same fate.
The timing of the injury blow could not be worse as the former Southampton man had just established himself as a key component of both the Arsenal and England first teams and was fulfilling his long recognised potential.
In Walcott’s absence though, it was a chance for others to shine and an experimental England team produced plenty of positives for Fabio Capello.
The likes of Michael Carrick, Stewart Downing, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Matthew Upson all seized the chance created by the withdrawal of more established names.
During his last two title winning seasons with Manchester United, particularly during the 2006-7 campaign, Sir Alex Ferguson was always quick to stress that his squad players were just as crucial to his side’s success as the big stars.
In their own way, he said, the likes of John O’Shea, Darren Fletcher and Park Ji-Sung were just as vital to the United cause as the Wayne Rooneys, Cristiano Ronaldos and Rio Ferdinands.
What Ferguson was saying was that over the season you will have injuries and it is important that the players who come in are committed and adaptable so the team functions just as well in the absence of first choice players.
All Ferguson’s favourite squad players are also noticeably genuine team players whose work ethic rubs off on others when they play and keeps them looking over their shoulders for fear of losing their place.
This is now Capello’s chance to create a back up team of talented committed players are capable of slotting in the side in big games to cover for injuries or even - sending a warning to Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney et al – if a first team player suffers a loss of form.
The fact is England will have injuries and suspensions in big games and you simply cannot predict what positions will be effected, the safe answer is to make sure you have a reliable back up to cover for every position.
The performances of the understudies last night would have taught Capello a lot about his options and, while the cupboard may seem relatively well stocked, there may still be one or two positions - such as goalkeeper – that he will want to look at again in future friendlies.
What is he Pleating on about?
For years I have cringed at the painstaking commentary contributions from David Pleat as he has inexplicably retained his place as first choice co-commentator for ITV.
His inability to pronounce a single foreign name correctly is bad enough but often his rambling analysis also produces drivel that I simply cannot believe came from a man who has held coaching positions at the top of the game.
Pleat’s foot-in-mouth exploits reached new heights last night when Clive Tydlesley was trying to explain a borderline offside decision against Gabriel Agbonlahor.
To paraphrase Tydlesley he said that if any part of your anatomy that can be used to play the ball is behind the last defender you are offside, such as your thigh, your head, your foot….
Then Pleat chips in with the classic comment, wait for it… ‘or your finger’.
Always struggled with that old hand ball rule at Spurs didn’t you David?
His inability to pronounce a single foreign name correctly is bad enough but often his rambling analysis also produces drivel that I simply cannot believe came from a man who has held coaching positions at the top of the game.
Pleat’s foot-in-mouth exploits reached new heights last night when Clive Tydlesley was trying to explain a borderline offside decision against Gabriel Agbonlahor.
To paraphrase Tydlesley he said that if any part of your anatomy that can be used to play the ball is behind the last defender you are offside, such as your thigh, your head, your foot….
Then Pleat chips in with the classic comment, wait for it… ‘or your finger’.
Always struggled with that old hand ball rule at Spurs didn’t you David?
Tuesday 18 November 2008
England sicknotes may live to regret midweek pull-outs
Fabio Capello has surprised many by with his placid response to England’s raft of pull-outs ahead of tomorrow’s friendly against Germany.
Perhaps he simply knew it was coming, you can dress up all you like the fact this game is against the ‘Old Enemy’ and there are ‘no friendlies between England and Germany’ (how long before ITV’s match coverage team pull that old cliché out?), this is still a non-competitive game coming at a hectic time in the season when clubs are already suffering from lengthy injury lists.
Martin O’Neill’s description of the game as ‘meaningless’ may have been going a bit far, but even before the sudden glut of mysterious niggles amongst leading players, the result was never going to be do-or-die for Capello and his men.
The one thing that rankles me and perhaps, under the surface Capello, is the suggestion that some of the top clubs may not be entirely honest when they claim players are unfit to even attend training with the national side.
That would explain why he wanted to see Steven Gerrard himself and have him assessed by England’s doctors before ruling the Liverpool midfielder out.
How many of the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard will suddenly be fit again for their clubs next weekend? How many would have played a crucial Champions League fixture tomorrow night? Or even, how many would have played in a key competitive qualifier?
I understand the clubs pay the players wages and now and again they do need a break from the weekend-midweek-weekend fixture cycle, but I wonder if choice is made by the players themselves or their club bosses.
I just get the feeling with Capello that, while he appears calm and accepting on the surface, he is making a mental note of all the players who have suddenly developed various strains or muscle tears and will not forget easily.
I know most of the players who have withdrawn are relatively sure of their places in the side at the moment and I’m not expecting Capello to jeopardise his team’s chances, but months down the line if the Italian has a borderline selection decision to make he might just take into account which player has regularly been available for selection when called upon.
I have a suspicion that John Terry, who seems to have developed a habit of missing England games with injury before making a miraculous recovery for Chelsea’s next fixture, may have lost out to Rio Ferdinand in the captaincy stakes if he had taken up the habit earlier.
At least for Capello the Germany game now offers a chance to test out some new faces and safely bracket the fixture in the ‘experimental’ category, meaning the result – baring total humiliation - will have little bearing on the feel-good factor created through recent victories in qualifying.
Following the game though, I think Capello will be looking out for those absentees who make a speedy comeback in next week’s Premier League fixtures and a small black mental mark may be going against their names.
Perhaps he simply knew it was coming, you can dress up all you like the fact this game is against the ‘Old Enemy’ and there are ‘no friendlies between England and Germany’ (how long before ITV’s match coverage team pull that old cliché out?), this is still a non-competitive game coming at a hectic time in the season when clubs are already suffering from lengthy injury lists.
Martin O’Neill’s description of the game as ‘meaningless’ may have been going a bit far, but even before the sudden glut of mysterious niggles amongst leading players, the result was never going to be do-or-die for Capello and his men.
The one thing that rankles me and perhaps, under the surface Capello, is the suggestion that some of the top clubs may not be entirely honest when they claim players are unfit to even attend training with the national side.
That would explain why he wanted to see Steven Gerrard himself and have him assessed by England’s doctors before ruling the Liverpool midfielder out.
How many of the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard will suddenly be fit again for their clubs next weekend? How many would have played a crucial Champions League fixture tomorrow night? Or even, how many would have played in a key competitive qualifier?
I understand the clubs pay the players wages and now and again they do need a break from the weekend-midweek-weekend fixture cycle, but I wonder if choice is made by the players themselves or their club bosses.
I just get the feeling with Capello that, while he appears calm and accepting on the surface, he is making a mental note of all the players who have suddenly developed various strains or muscle tears and will not forget easily.
I know most of the players who have withdrawn are relatively sure of their places in the side at the moment and I’m not expecting Capello to jeopardise his team’s chances, but months down the line if the Italian has a borderline selection decision to make he might just take into account which player has regularly been available for selection when called upon.
I have a suspicion that John Terry, who seems to have developed a habit of missing England games with injury before making a miraculous recovery for Chelsea’s next fixture, may have lost out to Rio Ferdinand in the captaincy stakes if he had taken up the habit earlier.
At least for Capello the Germany game now offers a chance to test out some new faces and safely bracket the fixture in the ‘experimental’ category, meaning the result – baring total humiliation - will have little bearing on the feel-good factor created through recent victories in qualifying.
Following the game though, I think Capello will be looking out for those absentees who make a speedy comeback in next week’s Premier League fixtures and a small black mental mark may be going against their names.
Cherries Chat: Quinn needs more than forward thinking
Midway through November Bournemouth’s points tally still resembles an Alan Davies score from an episode of QI and last weekend our miserable season plunged new depths.
With the team still on minus three points, they travelled up to Accrington Stanley and suffered a demoralising three-nil defeat, leaving us still 12 points from safety.
Fortunately I was not one of those Cherries fans who made the 550-mile round trip only to find the side three-nil down after less than half an hour.
After the game a few fans understandably vented their frustration at the players as they left the pitch and our midfielder Danny Hollands had to be restrained as he took exception to the abuse they were subjected to.
It was uncharacteristic of Hollands, who is a model professional who has captained the side in the past, and he has since apologised.
He recognised the huge commitment the supporters had made to follow the team and that they had every right to be angry when the players produce a performance that is not up to standard.
As the crisis spirals at Dean Court and relegation begins to look more of a certainty than a possibility, boss Jimmy Quinn seems to be obsessed with his search for a new striker to turn the club’s season around.
He has just brought in Michael Symes, a former Everton trainee who played alongside Wayne Rooney at youth team level, on loan from Shrewsbury and says he is still hoping to bring in another front man.
By my reckoning Symes was the eighth forward to play up front for Bournemouth this season, not counting Sammy Igoe who has played as a withdrawn striker and new signing Alan Connell who has only made the bench to date due to injury.
None of these strikers has exactly impressed but surely Quinn has to start questioning whether it is the forwards themselves who are the problem or simply that we are not a side that creates many chances.
Brett Pitman is our top scorer so far this season with just four goals and, while his inconsistency and apparent lethargy may draw abuse from a number of Cherries fans, I still maintain if he plays the whole campaign, Quinn manages to keep him motivated and he is given decent service, he will score 15 to 20 goals at this level.
I think the greatest area of concern is the wing-backs in Quinn’s 3-5-2 system, with ageing Lee Bradbury and a low-on-confidence Warren Cummings starting the majority of games.
The pair simply don’t provide the energy up and down the flanks that the system badly needs and the majority of crosses come from so deep they are bread and butter for the big lumps of defenders that are commonplace in League Two.
I know goals make all the difference in football, but I think it’s time Quinn stopped focusing on new forwards to bring into the club and starting working out ways to create chances that our current crop of strikers can feed off.
With the team still on minus three points, they travelled up to Accrington Stanley and suffered a demoralising three-nil defeat, leaving us still 12 points from safety.
Fortunately I was not one of those Cherries fans who made the 550-mile round trip only to find the side three-nil down after less than half an hour.
After the game a few fans understandably vented their frustration at the players as they left the pitch and our midfielder Danny Hollands had to be restrained as he took exception to the abuse they were subjected to.
It was uncharacteristic of Hollands, who is a model professional who has captained the side in the past, and he has since apologised.
He recognised the huge commitment the supporters had made to follow the team and that they had every right to be angry when the players produce a performance that is not up to standard.
As the crisis spirals at Dean Court and relegation begins to look more of a certainty than a possibility, boss Jimmy Quinn seems to be obsessed with his search for a new striker to turn the club’s season around.
He has just brought in Michael Symes, a former Everton trainee who played alongside Wayne Rooney at youth team level, on loan from Shrewsbury and says he is still hoping to bring in another front man.
By my reckoning Symes was the eighth forward to play up front for Bournemouth this season, not counting Sammy Igoe who has played as a withdrawn striker and new signing Alan Connell who has only made the bench to date due to injury.
None of these strikers has exactly impressed but surely Quinn has to start questioning whether it is the forwards themselves who are the problem or simply that we are not a side that creates many chances.
Brett Pitman is our top scorer so far this season with just four goals and, while his inconsistency and apparent lethargy may draw abuse from a number of Cherries fans, I still maintain if he plays the whole campaign, Quinn manages to keep him motivated and he is given decent service, he will score 15 to 20 goals at this level.
I think the greatest area of concern is the wing-backs in Quinn’s 3-5-2 system, with ageing Lee Bradbury and a low-on-confidence Warren Cummings starting the majority of games.
The pair simply don’t provide the energy up and down the flanks that the system badly needs and the majority of crosses come from so deep they are bread and butter for the big lumps of defenders that are commonplace in League Two.
I know goals make all the difference in football, but I think it’s time Quinn stopped focusing on new forwards to bring into the club and starting working out ways to create chances that our current crop of strikers can feed off.
Sunday 16 November 2008
Johnson needs to bring back the T-Cup
The most depressing thing about England’s performance at Twickenham yesterday was just how familiar it seemed. I just felt we’d been there before.
Once again the team had hung in there with a top tier side, momentarily matched them and even suggested they could take the game by the scruff of the neck, only to then run out of steam and let the opposition ease to victory.
For the past five years this has been an all-too-typical experience for the England team and its followers.
I’m not sure exactly what I expected under Martin Johnson and his new regime.
I was aware that, great player and captain though he was, he wouldn’t automatically be able to revolutionise the England 15 overnight and, although there were a couple of exciting youngsters coming through, he hadn’t suddenly been blessed with a higher calibre of player.
I guess it was the mentality where I expected Johnson’s influence to come to the fore, and I don’t mean the all-out attacking flair exhibited against the Pacific Islands, which was never going to be replicated against the top sides.
What I was looking was for players to be something that Stuart Barnes referred to in his match commentary as ‘match smart’.
The way I read this was the simple decision making that can win or lose, or - at least - certainly turn, test matches.
Many of the top test sides line-up with a similar standard of players in terms of athleticism and basic rugby ability.
But what separates the very best from the rest is that in the furious atmosphere of a rugby international, where you have only split seconds to make a choice, they regularly make the same decision they would have made if they were given minutes to weigh up the situation.
Yesterday England made a host of stupid decisions, rashly diving into a ruck or playing the ball on the floor, and were made to pay by the number of kickable penalties they conceded.
At times in attack too, the break was made or the off-load successful only for the move to break down, not so much because the next move was the wrong move, but because the decision took too long.
Since the 2003 World Cup England seem to have lost that impeccable habit for making the right decision that marked them out as true champions.
It could purely be put down to experience but I feel it is a more innate decision-making ability.
How else do you explain players such as the Aussie scrum half Luke Burgess (or, if you remember his French counterpart Morgan Parra who shone against England in the Six Nations) who seem born to test rugby and seem immediately comfortable making decisions at that level?
For me, two players of the World Cup generation summed up what England referred to as ‘T-Cup’, short for total control under pressure, as their razor-sharp thinking games were never put off stride even in the most intense situations.
The first - it pains me a little to admit as I’m not a fan of his post-career quiz-panellist/ballroom dancer/chef/anything-to-get-on-TV reincarnation - was Matt Dawson, who was not the most physically or technically gifted scrum-half but played the game a phase or two ahead of everyone else and was rarely ruffled in any circumstances.
The other was Will Greenwood, who just seemed to get better as the stakes increased and was a hugely underrated midfield creator.
Of course these guys were playing behind a dominant pack, Johnson desperately needs to work out how to get the England eight’s bite back, but even when they were on the back foot their thought process remained clear and calculated.
Against Australia England’s young side was shown up simply for its inability to make decisions and lack of direction when they were up against it, particularly with ball in hand.
Danny Cipriani showed in brief flashes what a brilliant creative force he can be and two searing breaks demonstrated it is worth enduring his slightly wayward goalkicking.
But he plays more off instinct than intelligence and I really feel this England side will struggle to move forward until at least two leader figures who keep their heads at all times emerge and act as rallying posts for others in hours of need.
Johnson was one of those figures as a player but the question is, can he transmit this mentality to his players, or is it something they are just born with?
Once again the team had hung in there with a top tier side, momentarily matched them and even suggested they could take the game by the scruff of the neck, only to then run out of steam and let the opposition ease to victory.
For the past five years this has been an all-too-typical experience for the England team and its followers.
I’m not sure exactly what I expected under Martin Johnson and his new regime.
I was aware that, great player and captain though he was, he wouldn’t automatically be able to revolutionise the England 15 overnight and, although there were a couple of exciting youngsters coming through, he hadn’t suddenly been blessed with a higher calibre of player.
I guess it was the mentality where I expected Johnson’s influence to come to the fore, and I don’t mean the all-out attacking flair exhibited against the Pacific Islands, which was never going to be replicated against the top sides.
What I was looking was for players to be something that Stuart Barnes referred to in his match commentary as ‘match smart’.
The way I read this was the simple decision making that can win or lose, or - at least - certainly turn, test matches.
Many of the top test sides line-up with a similar standard of players in terms of athleticism and basic rugby ability.
But what separates the very best from the rest is that in the furious atmosphere of a rugby international, where you have only split seconds to make a choice, they regularly make the same decision they would have made if they were given minutes to weigh up the situation.
Yesterday England made a host of stupid decisions, rashly diving into a ruck or playing the ball on the floor, and were made to pay by the number of kickable penalties they conceded.
At times in attack too, the break was made or the off-load successful only for the move to break down, not so much because the next move was the wrong move, but because the decision took too long.
Since the 2003 World Cup England seem to have lost that impeccable habit for making the right decision that marked them out as true champions.
It could purely be put down to experience but I feel it is a more innate decision-making ability.
How else do you explain players such as the Aussie scrum half Luke Burgess (or, if you remember his French counterpart Morgan Parra who shone against England in the Six Nations) who seem born to test rugby and seem immediately comfortable making decisions at that level?
For me, two players of the World Cup generation summed up what England referred to as ‘T-Cup’, short for total control under pressure, as their razor-sharp thinking games were never put off stride even in the most intense situations.
The first - it pains me a little to admit as I’m not a fan of his post-career quiz-panellist/ballroom dancer/chef/anything-to-get-on-TV reincarnation - was Matt Dawson, who was not the most physically or technically gifted scrum-half but played the game a phase or two ahead of everyone else and was rarely ruffled in any circumstances.
The other was Will Greenwood, who just seemed to get better as the stakes increased and was a hugely underrated midfield creator.
Of course these guys were playing behind a dominant pack, Johnson desperately needs to work out how to get the England eight’s bite back, but even when they were on the back foot their thought process remained clear and calculated.
Against Australia England’s young side was shown up simply for its inability to make decisions and lack of direction when they were up against it, particularly with ball in hand.
Danny Cipriani showed in brief flashes what a brilliant creative force he can be and two searing breaks demonstrated it is worth enduring his slightly wayward goalkicking.
But he plays more off instinct than intelligence and I really feel this England side will struggle to move forward until at least two leader figures who keep their heads at all times emerge and act as rallying posts for others in hours of need.
Johnson was one of those figures as a player but the question is, can he transmit this mentality to his players, or is it something they are just born with?
Wednesday 12 November 2008
Aussies point finger at Punter
It can take years to build up a reputation as a great sporting captain, but it doesn't take long for that reputation to be trampled on.
In the space of around an hour on the penultimate day of the final test between India and Australia Ricky Ponting found out just how quick the tables can turn.
Ponting called on the wiles of part-time bowlers to speed up the overate in a crucial stage of the match, with India teetering at 166 for six in the second innings, in a bid to speed up a slow overate that could potentially lead the skipper to be banned for the next test match.
The result was almost inevitable, India's Mahendra Singh Donhi and Harbhajan Singh piled on the runs and the hosts gained the upper hand in Nagpur before skittling the Aussies to claim the game and a 2-0 series win.
Suddenly Ponting was vilified as the clueless instigator of his team's demise, a man who cracks when put under pressure and his very future as the captain of the world's number one ranked team was called into question.
The blood-thirsty post mortems went straight for the Aussie skipper, pinning the blame well and truly on a Ponting-shaped pinata and completely glossing over the fact that India had been by far the better bowling and batting side over 20 days of engrossing test cricket.
Ignored also was the track record of the man who had taken on the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of Steve Waugh, been faced with retirements of the likes of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer yet still coming into this series he had lost four of 44 tests – and, of course, there is the small matter of two world cup wins.
Now I'm not saying Ponting didn't make mistakes, or that his past success makes him immune from criticism, but surely to call for his head is beyond the ridiculous.
Australians simply have to take a very un-Australian dose of realism and accept the fact that their team is just not as good as it used to be.
More importantly they should realise Ponting is still the man to lead this transitional side and has not become a cricketing dunderhead overnight.
Just look at the way the side bounced back under his leadership after the 2005 Ashes defeat.
One man who should take careful note of Ponting's treatment is new England skipper Kevin Pietersen.
A couple of months ago KP was the flavour of the moment as he lead England to a 4-0 win over South Africa in his first one day series.
But after the debacle of the Stanford Series and England's humiliation against a Mumbai in a tour match, he seems to have lost his midas touch somewhat.
There is a lot of cricket to be played between now and next summer's Ashes series and while Pietersen must be delighted with the way Ponting and his men struggled in India, the experience should serve as a warning as to how quickly things can change.
In the space of around an hour on the penultimate day of the final test between India and Australia Ricky Ponting found out just how quick the tables can turn.
Ponting called on the wiles of part-time bowlers to speed up the overate in a crucial stage of the match, with India teetering at 166 for six in the second innings, in a bid to speed up a slow overate that could potentially lead the skipper to be banned for the next test match.
The result was almost inevitable, India's Mahendra Singh Donhi and Harbhajan Singh piled on the runs and the hosts gained the upper hand in Nagpur before skittling the Aussies to claim the game and a 2-0 series win.
Suddenly Ponting was vilified as the clueless instigator of his team's demise, a man who cracks when put under pressure and his very future as the captain of the world's number one ranked team was called into question.
The blood-thirsty post mortems went straight for the Aussie skipper, pinning the blame well and truly on a Ponting-shaped pinata and completely glossing over the fact that India had been by far the better bowling and batting side over 20 days of engrossing test cricket.
Ignored also was the track record of the man who had taken on the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of Steve Waugh, been faced with retirements of the likes of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer yet still coming into this series he had lost four of 44 tests – and, of course, there is the small matter of two world cup wins.
Now I'm not saying Ponting didn't make mistakes, or that his past success makes him immune from criticism, but surely to call for his head is beyond the ridiculous.
Australians simply have to take a very un-Australian dose of realism and accept the fact that their team is just not as good as it used to be.
More importantly they should realise Ponting is still the man to lead this transitional side and has not become a cricketing dunderhead overnight.
Just look at the way the side bounced back under his leadership after the 2005 Ashes defeat.
One man who should take careful note of Ponting's treatment is new England skipper Kevin Pietersen.
A couple of months ago KP was the flavour of the moment as he lead England to a 4-0 win over South Africa in his first one day series.
But after the debacle of the Stanford Series and England's humiliation against a Mumbai in a tour match, he seems to have lost his midas touch somewhat.
There is a lot of cricket to be played between now and next summer's Ashes series and while Pietersen must be delighted with the way Ponting and his men struggled in India, the experience should serve as a warning as to how quickly things can change.
Monday 10 November 2008
Top flight rising above discontent of winter
We are at that stage of the season where normally people start complaining about the state of football's top tier in this country.
Perhaps its a general misery brought on by the dark evenings and foul weather, but I seem to recall a general sense of disillusionment at about this point during the past couple of seasons.
I tend to start echoing the same old radio phone-in complaints about the dominance of the 'big four' and the predictability of the Premier League.
This season though, I get this general feeling of malaise has still to hit, or at least personally I am full of positive thoughts about what the Premiership has to offer.
I know the elite clubs have once again risen inevitably to occupy the top four places in the table but both between the quartet and down the rest of the league there is a competitive unpredictability that has been so painstakingly absent in previous campaigns.
Almost all the teams outside the top six or seven are a matter of a couple of bad results away from relegation and a run of good results can propel a side up the table faster than Timo Glock on dry tyres.
It seems anyone outside Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool can beat each other as even the new boys are giving it a real go.
And who cares about the fact that four clubs are head and shoulders above the rest when they produce matches of the intensity and quality of the Arsenal-Man United game on Saturday.
Arsenal's against-the-odds win arguably deseves them to regain the moniker of 'title contenders' that was stripped from them when the lost to Stoke.
Once again all four look like having a genuine tilt at the top prize and few could confidently predict exactly which of the big four will be at the summit come May.
Even more encouragingly, none of the elite clubs are playing with a mundane or functional style that is purely results-driven - with Chelsea in particular revolutionised into an entertaining attacking force.
I don’t know if this strange sense of optimism will last, or the disillusionment will simply kick in at a later stage, but at the moment I am enjoying every minute of the current campaign.
Perhaps its a general misery brought on by the dark evenings and foul weather, but I seem to recall a general sense of disillusionment at about this point during the past couple of seasons.
I tend to start echoing the same old radio phone-in complaints about the dominance of the 'big four' and the predictability of the Premier League.
This season though, I get this general feeling of malaise has still to hit, or at least personally I am full of positive thoughts about what the Premiership has to offer.
I know the elite clubs have once again risen inevitably to occupy the top four places in the table but both between the quartet and down the rest of the league there is a competitive unpredictability that has been so painstakingly absent in previous campaigns.
Almost all the teams outside the top six or seven are a matter of a couple of bad results away from relegation and a run of good results can propel a side up the table faster than Timo Glock on dry tyres.
It seems anyone outside Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool can beat each other as even the new boys are giving it a real go.
And who cares about the fact that four clubs are head and shoulders above the rest when they produce matches of the intensity and quality of the Arsenal-Man United game on Saturday.
Arsenal's against-the-odds win arguably deseves them to regain the moniker of 'title contenders' that was stripped from them when the lost to Stoke.
Once again all four look like having a genuine tilt at the top prize and few could confidently predict exactly which of the big four will be at the summit come May.
Even more encouragingly, none of the elite clubs are playing with a mundane or functional style that is purely results-driven - with Chelsea in particular revolutionised into an entertaining attacking force.
I don’t know if this strange sense of optimism will last, or the disillusionment will simply kick in at a later stage, but at the moment I am enjoying every minute of the current campaign.
Monday 3 November 2008
Last-gasp Lewis shows drive of a true champion
As two fathers simultaneously celebrated their son’s coronation as Formula One world champion, for a brief moment it seemed we had the result perhaps both men deserved.
When Luiz Antonio Massa and Anthony Hamilton saw their boys take the checked flag at Interlagos yesterday, each man thought he was witnessing his son claim the most prestigious prize in motor sport.
Of course, it soon emerged that Massa sr and the Ferrari team had jumped the gun as Hamilton stole back the title on the final bend of a quite thrilling race.
This last gasp drama was the climax to a race that ebbed and flowed as in a reflection of the season itself and it is moments like that which remind us just how enthralling sport can be.
While Hamilton walked away as deserved world champion, it was hard not to feel sorry for Felipe Massa.
The likeable Brazilian had driven an almost perfect race at his home circuit and had done everything in his power to claim the overall championship when under the most intense pressure.
But somehow Hamilton did just enough as Timo Glock's Toyota crawled round the last lap and the 23-year-old from Stevenage chased him down in the nick of time.
Hamilton's race was far from a flawless display but, in the mark of a true champion, his will forced him home as he was faced with the unthinkable prospect of losing the championship in the final race for the second year in succession.
In an ideal, school playground-style, world both men would have emerged victorious and both fathers would have had genuine cause for celebration but the cut-throat world of top level modern sport has no room for these sentimental notions.
Over the course of this year, neither of the championship contenders has reached the flawless standards set by Michael Schumacher in his prime but we cannot measure all champions by the greatest of them all and the lack of dominance has meant a season that was never lacking in drama.
But it was Hamilton who came through, the mental damage may well have been long-lasting if he had failed at the last again, and his success was largely down to a very un-British attitude of a champion.
Sometimes it seems British sports stars seem to worry too much about their own image, preferring to play the role of gallant hero rather than ruthless winner.
But Hamilton, and to an extent Andy Murray who too has developed a the demeanour of a champion of late, has adopted an almost blinkered tunnel vision purely focused on winning that has lead to accusations of being aloof and a reputation for pushing the competitive boundaries on the track to the bounds of the dangerous.
It means he may not be popular with other drivers and even the world audience (not just the narrow-minded racist Spanish fans but the wider fanbase of Formula One), even though that may be hard to gage in face of the fervour of the partisan support in this country.
But something tells me that won’t bother Hamilton in the slightest as he basks in the glory that comes with the title of world champion, besides, when did Schumacher ever seem bothered about his reputation with fans and other drivers?
When Luiz Antonio Massa and Anthony Hamilton saw their boys take the checked flag at Interlagos yesterday, each man thought he was witnessing his son claim the most prestigious prize in motor sport.
Of course, it soon emerged that Massa sr and the Ferrari team had jumped the gun as Hamilton stole back the title on the final bend of a quite thrilling race.
This last gasp drama was the climax to a race that ebbed and flowed as in a reflection of the season itself and it is moments like that which remind us just how enthralling sport can be.
While Hamilton walked away as deserved world champion, it was hard not to feel sorry for Felipe Massa.
The likeable Brazilian had driven an almost perfect race at his home circuit and had done everything in his power to claim the overall championship when under the most intense pressure.
But somehow Hamilton did just enough as Timo Glock's Toyota crawled round the last lap and the 23-year-old from Stevenage chased him down in the nick of time.
Hamilton's race was far from a flawless display but, in the mark of a true champion, his will forced him home as he was faced with the unthinkable prospect of losing the championship in the final race for the second year in succession.
In an ideal, school playground-style, world both men would have emerged victorious and both fathers would have had genuine cause for celebration but the cut-throat world of top level modern sport has no room for these sentimental notions.
Over the course of this year, neither of the championship contenders has reached the flawless standards set by Michael Schumacher in his prime but we cannot measure all champions by the greatest of them all and the lack of dominance has meant a season that was never lacking in drama.
But it was Hamilton who came through, the mental damage may well have been long-lasting if he had failed at the last again, and his success was largely down to a very un-British attitude of a champion.
Sometimes it seems British sports stars seem to worry too much about their own image, preferring to play the role of gallant hero rather than ruthless winner.
But Hamilton, and to an extent Andy Murray who too has developed a the demeanour of a champion of late, has adopted an almost blinkered tunnel vision purely focused on winning that has lead to accusations of being aloof and a reputation for pushing the competitive boundaries on the track to the bounds of the dangerous.
It means he may not be popular with other drivers and even the world audience (not just the narrow-minded racist Spanish fans but the wider fanbase of Formula One), even though that may be hard to gage in face of the fervour of the partisan support in this country.
But something tells me that won’t bother Hamilton in the slightest as he basks in the glory that comes with the title of world champion, besides, when did Schumacher ever seem bothered about his reputation with fans and other drivers?
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