Bleacher Report - Articles by Calum MacLeod

England Cricket Fiasco Makes for Uncertain Future

Calum MacLeod — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:03:41 -0500

So England head in to one of the biggest summers of all with in fighting and upheaval in the board room.

The ECB have sacked their head coach, but seemingly not quickly enough as their captain has also left his post after what was only described as an "unhealthy situation" between Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores.

The silence of English cricket's top dogs has done nothing but add to the confusion as to what really went on behind the scenes. It was evident from a very early stage that Pietersen and Moores were not getting on, but they always strived to do what was best for England.

This was not it.

Throughout the whole debacle, Pietersen has acted like a spoilt child, threatening his post unless he gets his way. This became apparent after he was overruled over the return of Michael Vaughan to the test fold.

Pietersen was desperate for his predecessor to return to the squad but Moores rightly believed that Vaughan wasn't ready. Nobody is indispensable and Vaughan's serious lack of runs throughout last season meant he certainly didn't deserve a place on the tour to the Caribbean.

Moores himself doesn't seem to have done a whole lot wrong. It's true to say that results have been poor but after plenty of positive starts in matches, I would be inclined to believe that that's more to do with lack of concentration on the field than lack of coaching off it.

He probably hasn't helped himself by keeping quiet in recent weeks. If he'd given the public some idea of where he stood, then he may have had more sympathy when the end eventually came. As it is, his lack of words only served the opinion that he was unclear on how to handle the situation.

His main problem however was Pietersen himself.

At first view, the appointment of Pietersen seemed a good one. But Moores soon realized that would have to work with a captain that didn't suffer fools gladly, had a very high opinion of himself and had probably spent a little bit too much time with Shane Warne!

Moores would have found it hard to cope with the ego of Pietersen as they battled to work together on taking the team forward. As it turned out, it was an impossible task.

So the new era begins.

With Andrew Strauss already fitting in to the captaincy with perfect precision and plenty of people pretending that they always knew Pietersen's appointment would be a failure, the attentions begin to turn to the coach.

Whoever gets the job can at least be assured that their captain will be a man of sensible integrity and not the exactly the public, egotistical type.

Of course, many names have been bandied about.

Andy Flower as Moores' right hand man, is the obvious choice but with his connections to the old regime so apparent, I think it would be much healthier to make a clean break and bring in someone with no baggage behind them.

Many believe that an English coach is needed, making the likes of Ashley Giles, Martyn Moxon and Mike Watkinson obvious candidates.

While I don't believe that Giles has the necessary experience yet, I also think that Moxon and Watkinson are more than happy with their respective counties and recent events may not make the job of England coach as attractive a proposition as it used to be.

My belief is that a foreign coach would be ideal. Someone who has seen the England events unfold from afar.

For me, there are only two main candidates. Dav Whatmore and Tom Moody.

Whatmore has substantial international experience and also knows the English game very well after a stint coaching Lancashire.

Moody spent many years playing and then coaching at Worcestershire before cutting his international coaching teeth in Sri Lanka.

Both men have the calming influence needed in times of crisis, along with the presence to gain immediate respect from any egos in the team.

Either Whatmore or Moody would be ideal to help with Pietersen's integration back in to the team.

KP will be hurting right now, but despite his faults he is undoubtedly the best player in the England team and will be an essential player if England are to regain the Ashes this summer.

Strauss will be a huge help to him but the longer the team go without a full time coach, the more the uncertainty will grow over the future, not just for Pietersen but for the entire England team.

Time For Ashley To Put Money Where Mouth Is

Calum MacLeod — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:07:06 -0500

So Mike Ashley has finally done what we all expected.

Due to the ever crippling credit crunch, he's taken Newcastle United off the market and says he's ready to start work on rebuilding the shambolic Magpies.

Ashley is obviously of the opinion that time is a great healer, and four months on from the resignation of Kevin Keegan, have the fans really forgiven and forgotten how their messiah was forced out of his beloved club?

In laymens terms, no.

Yes, the fans have started flocking back to support their team and yes, Joe Kinnear has brought a sense of stability to a club that desperately craved it, but the facts remain the same—Ashley has very little sense of how to run a football club and with Newcastle still embroiled in a desperate relegation battle he needs to start splashing the cash in order to appease the Geordie faithful but more importantly, to keep the club in the top flight.

The signs don't look good. With just about a third of the current transfer window gone, it's pretty clear that little or no money will come Kinnears way unless he manages to reduce an already dangerously small squad.

Ashley is happy to scout for young players who are likely to make a big impact four or five tears from now, but seems oblivious to the fact that Newcastle need things to happen now. A quick fix would be to give Kinnear the money that his patience deserves. He's had very little to work with since he arrived and with the departures of key players like Shay Given, Michael Owen and Charles N'Zogbia still very much on the cards, Kinnear will need substantial funds just to keep the Newcastle heads above water.

I'm of the opinion that Ashley is really not too bothered if Newcastle goes down, as he thinks his youth policy is going to stand them in good stead for the future. He may be right, but if Newcastle were to get relegated then all the best players would leave, nobody would want to come to the club and the whole situation may be set the Magpies back years.

It's a worrying scenario and with the purse strings unlikely to be loosened, it's become a very real one with another few months of struggle on the cards that could lead to a disastrous end come May.

It seems that under the current regime, the circus that is Newcastle United will just keep rolling on.

Newcastle Circus Reaches All Time Low

Calum MacLeod — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:24:21 -0400

So here we are. Three weeks in to the new Premiership season and the train wreck that is Newcastle United, has hit the buffers already.

Of course, we should have come to expect this from the Magpies by now but as a fan who has seen it all before, this kind of bad publicity doesn't get any easier.

Three days after it was announced that Kevin Keegan may or may not have left the club, we are still none the wiser as to what the outcome of this latest farce may be. And a much of a saviour as Mike Ashley may be, the buck must stop with him.

It seems that he has two choices. Either he lets Keegan get on with the job of managing the football club and gets rid of Dennis Wise and Tony Jimenez who, lets face it, don't appear to be doing their job as many would like. This would give Keegan back the power that he craves, including a bigger say in recruitment, which is what he wanted from day one.

Either that or Keegan leaves, Wise stays and nothing really gets resolved. Ashley would create an uproar and more than likely have a revolt on his hands from the toon faithful so desperate for Keegan to stay.

Whatever happens, it's just been another ugly episode in the recent history of the club. It's hard to remember a time when Newcastle were in the headlines for the right reasons and the managerial merry-go-round is a big reason for that.

It's been said so many times before but when you look at the stability in leadership that we see in Man Utd and Arsenal, it's easy to see why they have had so much success in the last fifteen years.

Newcastle have never been afraid to spend money and at times have spent more than the big teams above them. But when we see chopping and changing of managers every five minutes, then all we get is money being spent by one manager, followed by a sacking of that manager, and then another man coming in and not using the players previously bought. Then all we've got is another £10 million waste of money who is shipped out for a paltry amount in order to save on wages.

Of course, the expectation of the Newcastle fans doesn't help. The chairmen and managers have certainly felt the heat when things aren't going right and too often in the past, have tried to go for the quick fix.

It really begun when Keegan left the first time round. Bringing in Kenny Dalglish was a good move but he was never going to be able to emulate the ever popular Keegan. The next man to try and fail was Ruud Gullit and from the moment he fell out with Alan Shearer, he was always going to be doomed.

It was only when Bobby Robson returned that we saw a real upturn in fortunes and it was no surprise given Robson's affinity with his home town club. He knew what the fans wanted and knew what to do to get it. For a brief period, Newcastle were among the front runners in British football again, not just domestically, but in Europe and it was a great time to be a fan.

The biggest mistake of Freddy Shepherd's tenure was the sacking of Robson.

And he knows it.

Robson was close to retirement but still had plenty to give the club. If he'd been allowed to see out his contract, we could have seen a smooth transition from manager to manager rather than the farcical events we were about to witness.

Once Bobby had gone Shepherd knew he had to act quickly. One thing he didn't bank on was being rebuffed by manager after manager, eventually having to settle on Graeme Souness, a man who at the time was residing over a Blackburn team languishing near the bottom of the division.

The writing was on the wall from the moment Souness arrived and once he left, Glenn Roeder never had much of a chance.

I have a lot of respect for Roeder as he did the best he could throughout a turbulent time at United. He still managed a European spot during his caretaker time in charge and then throughout his first full season, Newcastle had the worst injury list in decades.

The final victim of the circus was Sam Allardyce. He did little wrong but never seemed likely to produce the kind of attacking football that toon fans crave. He was also unfortunate that he came in just before Ashley's takeover. Allardyce was never the man that Ashley wanted and it was almost inevitable that he too would be on his way.

However, his replacement was a big surprise.

Nobody expected Keegan and his appointment made Ashley the most popular person on Tyneside for a while.

Now here we are eight months on. Ashley has a big decision to make. He needs to give Keegan what he wants and let him manage the football club his way.

He knows it's the only choice. For himself. For the fans. For the future of Newcastle United Football Club.

Kevin Keegan's Departure Leaves Newcastle Reeling

Calum MacLeod — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:07:49 -0400

It's the day all Newcastle fans feared since the day he came back. According to all sources Kevin Keegan has left United for the second time. Did he jump or was he pushed?

At this moment in time, who cares?

Keegan is Newcastle. He understands the club, the fans and exactly what they want. The mood has changed so dramatically since January, when "The Messiah" made his return.

The Toon had the man they wanted, along with the money they wanted. Mike Ashley was the billionaire owner that promised so much.

Finally, Newcastle United would step out of the shadow of the "Big Four" and make great waves in the transfer market.

And now here we are, a mere eight months down the line, and where do Newcastle see themselves?

Well, Keegan seems to have done a good job. He avoided a relegation battle at the end of last season and has had some positive results at the start of this, but has he done this with the support of his owner?

Not really.

Okay, he—or was it Dennis Wise?—has made a few signings, and decent ones at that in the form of Gutierrez and Coloccini, but where's the big money that was promised?

What was Ashley doing when he promised a "wow" signing a couple of weeks ago, and then not delivering. It's fair to say that Newcastle fans have had enough!

I'm certainly not saying that I want to go back to the days of Freddy Shepherd. Although Shepherd gave us some big money deals, he put the club into enormous debt—debt that Ashley has helped to wipe out.

But that was a year ago. And now is the worry (especially with what we've seen at Man City over the past 24 hours) that Newcastle are just going to slip further and further behind the big clubs. European football will be a distant memory and the Toon will just have to settle for mid-table mediocrity.

After thinking Ashley was a man with ambition, I'm now not so sure. Does he really want the club to go places, or is he just waiting for the right time to sell and make a tidy little profit?

Whatever his plans, he needs to act quickly. If Keegan has left, there will be nothing short of uproar, and with the selling of James Milner and the signing of two unknowns on the last day of the transfer window, Ashley has to decide what he really wants.

If the money side has become too much like hard work for him, then maybe it's time to find a rich buyer who can take Newcastle on the next level.

As for Keegan, he's done all he can. He's got on with his job through gritted teeth, seemingly not involved in any kind of transfer deals. How many other clubs do we see where the manager doesn't have a say on who stays and who goes at the football club?

And that, I feel, is why Keegan is on his way. He has no power left at the club he calls home, and while that continues to be the case Newcastle will only stagnate or, worryingly, go backwards.

It's an upsetting day to be a Magpies fan. We've had many days like this in the last fifteen years, and I am sure will have more to come. I'd love to give an answer to the question "where do we go from here?" but I honestly can't.

Unless we get ourselves an Arab owner in the near future, it could be another season of struggle.

The only thing I would say with certainty is that Dennis Wise (the bookies favourite to replace Keegan) should not become Newcastle manager. He is not wanted by the fans and does not have the experience necessary to manage a club like Newcastle.

The only man I can think of who knows the club well enough to take it on, is Alan Shearer.

But with the current climate and transfer policy, why would he want to?

Twenty 20 Putting Strain On County Cricket

Calum MacLeod — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:36:43 -0400

Exciting times lie ahead if you're a professional cricketer. Only a couple of months from now, we'll be watching the first multi-million pound game of cricket in the winner-takes-all Stanford Super Series. And for the 22 men involved, it could be the most lucrative three hours of their entire lives.

This is just the start of a new, financially attractive era in world cricket, and twenty 20 is at the heart of it. Along with the IPL, there's no better time to be a cricketer and for a sport that in the past has wavered in the Conference of the money league, it could soon be in the upper reaches of the Premier league.

Now we have the plans for our very own EPL twenty 20 competition, incorporating all 18 county sides and two yet-to-be-confirmed overseas teams. But despite this new league being said to take over the entire June schedule in the English summer from 2010, the powers that be have decided on a separate twenty 20 league spread over the last couple of months of the season.

I, for one, find this worrying. Not only does this smack of overkill for a form of the game that is still exciting but could ultimately become boring and predictable, but the other supposedly more important competitions could soon become obsolete.

For a start, the county championship should still be regarded as the No. 1 competition in English cricket. It's the format that develops our biggest talent in to Test cricketers and after all, Test cricket is surely still the major goal for any aspiring cricketer.

And I would find it very hard to believe anyone who thinks that beating Australia in the Ashes isn't the pinnacle in an England cricketer's career. It would upset me to think that some are becoming so obsessed with the money side of the game, that twenty 20 was all that they were interested in playing.

I also believe that the 50 over game should be given bigger priority. After all, is that not the format of the World Cup and Champions trophy?

Our own domestic 50 over competition will now have to be squeezed in at the very start of the year to allow for all the twenty 20 action. This, to me, just degrades a competition that seems to have lost its romantic tag as the FA Cup of cricket.

Don't get me wrong—I enjoy twenty 20. It's a game that sees big crowds, something that has been oh so rare in the county game of late. It's also bringing more interest in from generations of people who don't know much about the game, and that can only be a good thing.

For that purpose, twenty 20 has been excellent for the world game, but maybe now it's time to sit back and take stock of where our beloved game is heading. Things are changing too quickly, and I for one am apprehensive about the future.

James Milner's Departure Leaves Toon Fans Sweating

Calum MacLeod — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:23:16 -0400

The inevitable has happened. James Milner's departure for £10 million to Aston Villa was confirmed on Thursday. And now, after the turbulent and often ridiculous events of the past 48 hours, Newcastle United go in to the final weekend of the transfer window having lost one of their most influential players with no obvious replacement on the horizon.

Kevin Keegan's squad was already threadbare without this latest departure, but now the importance of adding at least three quality players before Monday has become ever more pressing. It's impossible to see where those signings are going to come from and how involved Keegan will be in recruiting the players he wants.

The bizarre nature of United's power balance is in danger of wrecking what has been an ultimately positive start to the season.

It seems crazy to think that the manager has nothing to do with player recruitment, but that is definitely the case at Newcastle these days, with Dennis Wise and Tony Jimenez, the men with the task of adding numbers to a team missing an entire front line due to injury.

Wise and Jimenez themselves have come in for plenty of criticism in recent weeks after the lack of transfer activity over the summer, as well as Michael Owen's contract negotiations taking a back burner.

To be fair to them both, the few signings that they have brought in have fared well in the opening games of the season. Guittierez is an exciting prospect, with his attacking flair and willingness to help out in defence, Danny Guthrie has looked steady in the centre of midfield and is still young and learning at this level, while Collocinni oozes the sort of class that the toon army have been crying out for in the centre of defence.

But now, with three days of frantic transfer activity left, the recruitment specialists will really need to earn their vastly over-inflated wages to save Newcastle's season. That may sound a bit dramatic, but if no more players come in before Sept. 1, then, with such a small squad and a mounting injury list, it'll be hard to see anything but another season of struggle in the offing.

As for Keegan, it's impossible to know what is going through his mind at this difficult time, but one thing he must do is stay and see it through, not for the sake of the hierarchy but for the sanity of the fans. They have seen their messiah leave once before, and that was at a time when Newcastle were the second best team in the country.

It's feasible that now, in a time where he seems to have less and less control of his beloved Magpies, he may turn his back once more.

If that were to happen, Newcastle's renewed optimism, after Mike Ashley's takeover and Keegan's return, could be quickly removed with the club seemingly back to square one.

In this fickle world of football, it would only take a couple of days and two or three more top-class signings for the positivity levels to increase on Tyneside, but with time quickly running out, the Newcastle faithful will have a worrying wait to see who, if anyone, they manage to get.

Consistency the Key for Kevin Pietersen's England Side

Calum MacLeod — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:02:35 -0400

So all is well in the England camp once again. We have a new captain with a first Test win under his belt and a one-day series win over the second rated side in the world. Couldn't be much better!

But why the sudden turnaround in our one-day fortunes? This is a team, after all, that not so long ago whimpered to a demoralising defeat to New Zealand in this form of the game.

Well, Pietersen himself is obviously a big factor. His enthusiasm and passion have, without doubt, stirred on a team lacking in any sort of self belief. He brings with him the kind of fresh optimism often associated with a new national football manager (although he's also brought results).

Along side him, we have his trusty steed in the shape of one Andrew Flintoff, a man who's injury worries seem behind him for the moment and whose bowling is better than ever.

There is certainly no more reliable death bowler in world cricket right now. Flintoff's batting is also showing signs of improvement, perhaps due to the added responsibility of filling the No. 5 spot in the order. Add to that his sheer presence on the pitch and it's bound to give anybody a lift.

The nucleus of the side is completed with one Steve Harmison who is one man that until a month ago, I thought I would never see pulling on an England jersey again. But, to Harmison's credit, he seems so rejuvenated and hungry for the success that had eluded him since 2005, and he fully deserved his chance and so far seems to be grabbing it with both hands.

You can never underestimate the importance of these three talismen, but a team cannot just rely on experience because experience doesn't always aid development. There must always be the youthful rough diamonds within any squad, and England seem to finally be getting their mix just about right.

First and foremost, it must be said that in the current one-day series, South Africa have been poor (or shocking at Nottingham). This does not take away anything from England's performances because the improvement has been there for all to see.

On top of that, the consistency in selection has been a massive plus. In three matches so far, Paul Collingwood for Ravi Bopara at Nottingham has been the only change in the England lineup. The likes of Samit Patel and Luke Wright have been given time to bed in and are starting to feel comfortable in their surroundings.

So often in the past, England have brought a youngster in from nowhere, given him the odd game, and then thrown him back in to county cricket without even a second glance.

Added consistency at the top of the order is also a must. The debate has raged on for far too long about who is England's best opening pair and who can make the most of those power play overs.

Finally, I believe they have it right.

Matt Prior is a natural attack minded cricketer and is never one to die wondering. His consistency in getting 30 or 40 at the top of the order to get England off to a flier is invaluable.

Ian Bell is the one that some have wondered about. Yes, he's a classy player but has he flattered to decieve once too often. It's true to say that his conversion rate is shocking, but when he's driving and cutting his way to a classy run a ball 70...who cares! There are very few players in the world who can boast a healthy amount of one day international hundreds. Michael Vaughan didn't get one!

As long as you have the backup of Shah, Pietersen, Flintoff, and Collingwood with some very clean hitters of a cricket ball to come in later in the innings (Broad at No. 9), the openers should certainly be given time to learn about each others game and they will only get better and better.

On top of a healthy batting lineup, the bowling looks strong. With Harmison back, giving that extra firepower, we suddenly have a bowling attack in Harmison, Anderson, Broad, and Flintoff, that could spearhead us to Ashes glory next year, and to have Flintoff and Harmison there to bowl the middle overs of a one-dayer is added benefit.

The steady backups of Collingwood, Patel, and Wright makes for an excellent array of choice.

Special praise must be afforded to Anderson. He has spearheaded the England limited over attack for a good while now and the consistency is starting to shine through.

Anderson has been my player of the summer. Here's a man who seems to be constantly fighting for his England place, yet was leading wicket taker in both Test series and just as deadly in the one-day format. He can swing the ball both ways, which will cause anybody in world cricket problems—even if your name is Ricky Ponting!

All in all, the future looks bright for the one-day form of the game in England. Not since the heady days of the Gooch, Hick, Fairbrother era have we had much to crow about. OK, it's only one series. Things will be much more difficult on the slow wickets of India in the winter, but come on, we're England fans. We're always optimistic...aren't we?