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With just five games remaining and three points standing between themselves and the relegation zone, Portsmouth have been dealt another ill-timed injury blow as they look to confirm their Championship safety.

Portsmouth facing crucial run-in

Having achieved promotion back to the Championship last season, it would be an incredible success if Portsmouth managed to stay afloat at the first time of asking. On that front, John Mousinho’s side have still got a job to finish, however. As things stand, they sit 17th and a precarious three points above the dropzone ahead of a crucial few weeks.

Portsmouth vs Derby County

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Portsmouth vs Hull City

03/05/2025

Squaring off against two of the eight sides currently below them in the Championship standings ahead of their final five games, Portsmouth will hope to get back to winning ways as soon as possible after losing in the 94th minute against Coventry City last time out.

Mousinho had his say on the devastating last-gasp defeat, telling reporters: “It was a really difficult one. I was going to say what a really good point away from home at Coventry, a very, very solid performance, we caused them problems and nearly caught them at the very back end of the game.

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“The difference between that – the positivity – to where we are now. It’s obviously a solid display and then 10 seconds of madness.We have to be realistic about that. We can’t have those moments in games where we make really, really poor decisions because the ball ends up in the back of the net.”

What certainly didn’t help Pompey was the fresh injury news that they suffered in the build-up to the Coventry game, adding to their list of absentees alongside the likes of Connor Shaughnessy, Rob Atkinson and Ibane Bowat.

Milosevic adds to Portsmouth's injury woes

Now without four central defenders, Mousinho confirmed that Alexander Milosevic is set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering an injury in the build-up to Portsmouth’s defeat against Coventry. Left to call on Connor Ogilvie, who can play left-back or centre-back, and Regan Poole, Pompey are one more defensive blow away from a makeshift backline.

Mousinho confirmed Milosevic’s injury, telling reporters: “Alex picked up an injury in training so we are going to scan that on Thursday and see how he is.”

Having arrived in March on a free deal, the 33-year-old is yet to make his Portsmouth debut and will now have to wait even longer just when Mousinho may have needed his services most amid an injury crisis.

Those around Fratton Park will simply be hoping to avoid another lengthy absence at a crucial time for the club. With just five games left to play, Portsmouth are so close to Championship safety and confirming that before a nervous game against Hull City on the final day would certainly come as a major relief.

Fraser-McGurk has faced 104 balls in IPL 2024, and has attempted boundaries off a staggering 77 of them – it’s what this game demands, and it’s what he is supplying

Sidharth Monga27-Apr-20242:15

Did Mumbai miss a trick against Fraser-McGurk?

The first ball of the match swung in against the angle of a left-arm quick. It is one of the more difficult balls to negotiate for right-hand batters. Jake Fraser-McGurk, though, drove it wide of mid-on for four.Encouraged by the swing, Luke Wood would have fancied himself with the new ball, but Fraser-McGurk kept swinging through the line. When Wood went short of a length, Fraser-McGurk flat-batted him through the covers.Jasprit Bumrah, the one bowler who has held his own in IPL 2024, began with a slower ball, but Fraser-McGurk lofted him down the ground for a six. This was only the second time Bumrah has been hit for a six first ball in the history of the IPL.Related

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'Don't feel like I've earned that yet' – Fraser-McGurk fine with missing the T20 World Cup

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Fraser-McGurk and Smith left out of Australia's T20 World Cup squad, Marsh to captain

Clash of batting powerhouses as KKR and DC prepare for another run-fest

Fraser-McGurk’s gameplan was plain. Clear the front leg and swing hard if the ball is in your wheelhouse. Play the horizontal-bat shot if the length allows you to get enough power behind it. If the length is precise, try to chip over the infield because there are only two fielders in the circle. If nothing works, then and only then try to not hit a boundary.An afterthought for Delhi Capitals (DC), Fraser-McGurk has batted just 104 balls but has attempted boundaries off a staggering 77 of them. That’s nearly twice the aggressive shot percentage of 39 this IPL. No other batter has attacked even 60% of the balls he has faced.Fraser-McGurk is the ideal T20 batter. Bat at the top of the order, have the willingness to capitalise on the field without getting your eye in, and have the necessary skill to adjust to changes in length and pace and score at three runs per ball that he has attacked in his first IPL.The skill was apparent when Hardik Pandya cramped him with what looked like the perfect ball: short of a length, into the body, taking his arms away from him. And still Fraser-McGurk managed to go inside-out over mid-off from that height and with such little room.Jake Fraser-McGurk smashed 19 in the first over of the game and didn’t let up while he was there•AFP/Getty ImagesA lot of it is timing, Fraser-McGurk said in the spot interview between the innings, but then there are also the strong core, glutes and upper body that help him when timing can’t. That’s what you work in the gym for.Fraser-McGurk has got out five times in those 77 boundary attempts, which might bother conventional wisdom borrowed from longer formats of the game. But this mix of attitude and skill is what coaches would give anything to be able to instil in their more established multi-format batters.Hardik spoke interestingly of the fearlessness of youth when he praised Fraser-McGurk’s innings. Hardik himself was a massive hitter when he burst on to the scene, but now chooses to anchor innings. You see that in some non-Indian players too – such as David Warner, who went from the hitter who came straight from club cricket into internationals to becoming a batter who took upon himself to bat through the innings.There will come a time not too far in future when Fraser-McGurk will become big too. There will be a big price tag to justify, there will be big expectations. If he can maintain this intent even then, we will have had ourselves another Travis Head, who, by the way, has attacked 54% of the balls he has faced in IPL 2024. The two could be opening together for Australia at the T20 World Cup come June. Be warned.

With two weeks to go before Australia’s tournament begins, it’s hard to see how Smith fits in the best XI

Alex Malcolm07-Oct-2022Steven Smith knows he needs to show intent now that he’s been shed of the ‘Mr Fix it’ role.”Just having that more attacking mindset rather than when I was playing that kind of role,” Smith said on Thursday. “I was probably in a more defensive frame of mind and almost just trying to get through without taking the game on as much.”The problem is, he’s not showing it. And he’s running out of time ahead of the World Cup as Tim David once again showed why he simply cannot be left out of Australia’s best side with a brilliant 42 off 20 in Australia’s victory over West Indies at the Gabba that sealed the series 2-0.Friday was the perfect chance for Smith. Back in the team in the absence of the rested Mitchell Marsh, he walked out at No. 4 as Australia continued to tinker with their line-up.Related

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• David, Warner and Starc shine as Australia secure convincing win

But he started with four singles in nine balls. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t score. He scarcely played a shot in anger as he tried to find some feel on a tacky surface. In the meantime, David Warner fell for a scintillating 75 off 41 having watched four consecutive dot balls at the other end in the 11th over.Eight balls later Glenn Maxwell was run out trying to pinch a single that arguably wasn’t there to try and get back on strike as Smith continued to battle for timing.Smith wasn’t the only one to struggle. Aaron Finch made a torturous 15 off 19 with one boundary having shifted to No.3 after batting at No. 4 on Wednesday.But Finch is the captain and looks likely to open in the World Cup unless an injury sees Cameron Green come into the squad.For all of Finch’s struggles over the last 12 months, his strike-rate of 121.17 in that period looks electric compared to Smith’s 112.77. Finch has reached 20 in more than half his innings in that time. Smith has done it in just a third of his.Even in Smith’s best innings, he has struggled to make up for sluggish starts. In Pallekele, against Sri Lanka, he was 15 off 17 before he hit his first boundary and finished with 37 not out from 27. In Mohali last month against India, Smith was 9 off 8 while Green was striking at 200 at the other end. Smith finished with 35 off 24, striking at 145.83 when the combined strike-rate of the two teams was well above 170.Tim David smoked 42 off 20 balls•Getty ImagesUnlike David, Smith can’t make up the gap with raw power and he freely admits it.”I’m obviously not as strong and powerful as some of the other guys but some wickets entail just being smart and punching the ball and timing the ball really well as well,” Smith said the day before the Gabba match.But he hasn’t been able to do that. Warner’s innings was full of quality stroke play rather than raw power. He mixed crisp timing with superb running between the wickets. Smith at his best can do that. But he hasn’t been able to strike fear in the opposition’s bowlers in T20 cricket in the way he does in Test and 50-over cricket.David’s breathtaking hitting would have struck fear in Australia’s World Cup opponents as it has done in franchise cricket the world over. Yannic Cariah and Obed McCoy felt the full force as David swatted three sixes with a combination of easy swings and brute strength. Warner was in awe of David’s capabilities.”Now he’s in our team and our set-up, it’s a godsend,” Warner said post-match. “He’s an incredible player. Has some serious power so it boosts our middle order, and to come out and play like that and with his height as well and strength it suits us, that’s for sure.”Now where does he fit in the line-up as well and what’s his role? I think coming out and playing that role there perfectly, when it was a hard wicket to start on, really opens our eyes to okay, now how do we utilise that?”You don’t get these types of players every day. So it’s going to be good for us moving forward and hopefully there’s a spot there as well because the selectors have got a headache now I think.”While conventional thinking might see David’s emergence as a threat to Marcus Stoinis, given David has occupied the No.6 spot in the order and shown exceptional skill and adaptability in playing that role, the reality is David and Stoinis are not like for like given David does not bowl. Australia can’t carry four batters in their top six who don’t bowl when Marsh’s bowling fitness is still not guaranteed. Stoinis is set to return against England on Sunday in Perth and will be fit and needed to bowl.Smith has now become vulnerable to David the Goliath. Australia’s hierarchy had been confident Smith would come good in T20 cricket this year. Confident that the team’s best problem-solver would solve his strike-rate problem with more repetitions in the middle order.He now looks surplus to requirements in a team intent on defending their title.

The opener has been shunted up and down the order so many times that he feels like each of his innings is like a fight to prove he is worthy

Mohammad Isam in Dhaka09-Mar-2020Soumya Sarkar did the job at No 3 against Zimbabwe. He was asked to do a different one in Lahore couple of months ago. Bat at No. 6 and 7. He had two opportunities but he couldn’t adapt to an unfamiliar role where he had to slog from the word go. Thrusting Sarkar into a new role looked like a desperate attempt by the team management to keep him in the squad, but it certainly wasn’t the first time the decision-makers in the Bangladesh team insisted on having him around.Even for this first T20I against Zimbabwe, conventional wisdom was to keep Mohammad Naim in the line-up, having backed him against India and Pakistan in the previous two ODI series. But it was Sarkar who came out at No. 3 after Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das had plundered 92 for the first wicket.While it was clear that Sarkar wasn’t given the specific role of clearing the boundaries, he still went after the Zimbabwe bowling. He perhaps realised that with the likes of Naim and Najmul Hossain Shanto hot on his heels and Das having captured the opening slot in the ODIs and T20Is for now, he had to get a move on.After seeing out three overs with Das, Sarkar cracked three fours and two sixes in 15 balls, moving to 36, and then in the final over, he struck three sixes off Chris Mpofu, two off the final two balls to take Bangladesh to an even 200 in 20 overs. It has been a very long time since the Mirpur crowd has seen Sarkar dominate in this manner.”I saw in the ODIs that they didn’t bowl well in the death overs so I was planning to take it deep,” he said after making 62 off only 32 balls. “I targeted one of those big overs. I have always played in the top order, and when the team has required, I have played at number six and seven. I have always tried to prove myself, but it hasn’t happened lower down the order. So I wanted to cement my place when I got out to bat today.”While this was a role he was quite familiar with, coming to bat at one down or opening the batting, Sarkar said that he had to take guidance from others when he was asked to bat in the middle or lower order.”When I bat in the top order, it is a familiar role as I have been a top-order batsman since my childhood,” he said. “I know I have to use the Powerplay fielding restrictions or build an innings. But when I am batting down the order, I ask the seniors how to bat in that position. I sometimes ask the computer analyst what I should do – go for the shots or support the set batsman. Sometimes it depends on the match situation.”Sarkar cannot explicitly say what his preferred batting position should be, as it is against the team culture in Bangladesh. He has been tried almost everywhere. He started off as a top-order batsman in ODIs and naturally he carried out the same role to the T20s. In Test cricket, too he has mostly opened the batting but the last time he went out to bat against the red ball, against Afghanistan in Chattogram in September, Shakib Al Hasan sent him at No. 8.Sarkar is a management favourite because of his class as a batsman; class that he showed in plenty during his first six months as an international cricketer. That is why it is so hard to give up on him. In the Asia Cup two years ago, even though Bangladesh needed middle-order reinforcements, it was him they ended up calling up (alongside Imrul Kayes).Sarkar didn’t do well at the 2019 World Cup, and followed it up with a 60-odd against Sri Lanka last July. He kept playing T20Is without crossing the 39-run mark. He lost his place in the Test side and possibly has in the ODI side too, unless the team management decides to bring him back in Karachi next month.Sarkar knows he has to keep improving, even though stability has been something he has not had too much of lately. That is perhaps why he feels every time he goes out to bat he has to go out of his way to nail down his spot.”I still try to maintain a high strike-rate,” he said, “But now I try to fit myself to the situation, or choose a certain bowler. If I had made better runs in India [in November], I would have held my place in Pakistan. So I am trying to hold on to my place every time I go out to bat.”

He was ruled out midway through IPL 2025 for the runners-up while his replacement Owen is likely to be retained

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Nov-2025

Glenn Maxwell is among the players Punjab Kings are set to release•BCCI

Punjab Kings (PBKS) are set to release at least seven players ahead of the auction for IPL 2026 with Glenn Maxwell being the prominent name. Maxwell played seven games in IPL 2025 before sustaining a fractured finger midway through the season. He scored only 48 runs in six innings, including single-digit scores in each of his last four games, with a best of 30 for the runners-up, and picked up four wickets.He was replaced by fellow Australian Mitchell Owen, who rose to prominence through his exploits for BBL champions Hobart Hurricanes last year. He topped the run-scoring charts in BBL 13 – his 452 runs coming at a strike rate of 203.60 and featuring two hundreds. However, he had a forgettable IPL debut, scoring a two-ball duck in his only appearance. PBKS, though, are set to retain Owen, who was procured at his base price of INR 3 crore.Related

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Maxwell, who retired from ODIs in June, was bought by PBKS at the 2025 auction for INR 4.2 crore. It was his third stint with PBKS, his fourth IPL team, having played for them from 2014 to 2017 and then in 2021. So far in T20Is this year, Maxwell has 171 runs at a strike rate of 169.30 with a best of 62 not out against South Africa in Cairns.The other players PBKS are set to release include Aaron Hardie, Kyle Jamieson, Kuldeep Sen, Praveen Dubey and Vishnu Vinod. Jamieson had come in as a replacement for the injured Lockie Ferguson and picked up five wickets in the four matches he played. Dubey played just the one game while none of Hardie, Sen and Vinod made any appearance for PBKS in IPL 2025.

Whether this is his final season at Manchester United or not, there will come a time sooner rather than later when the Red Devils will line up without Bruno Fernandes in tow, with the Portuguese’s future likely to again be a talking point next summer.

As the 31-year-old revealed in a tell-all interview ahead of making his 300th United appearance last month, he had held talks with Saudi side Al Hilal over the summer regarding a potential move, only to eventually opt to stay put in Manchester with his business still seemingly unfinished.

Also the subject of interest from Paris Saint-Germain in 2024, the club’s long-serving talisman has rightly courted admiring glances amid his stunning form over the past five years or so, racking up 100 goals and 89 assists in his 302 outings to date.

While five of those goal involvements have come in this season’s Premier League already, it does appear that the baton is finally being passed, however, with Ruben Amorim’s influential skipper no longer the sole star attraction.

Indeed, all eyes are on INEOS’ £71m signing Bryan Mbeumo following his return of six goals in his first 12 games for the club, with Fernandes quietly pulling the strings in a deeper role.

With Amorim also outlining the prospect of his captain needing to adjust to potential “rotation” next season, should United return to European competition, the gradual phasing out of the playmaker might well have started…

The candidates to replace Fernandes as captain

Fernandes himself was awarded the honour back in the summer of 2023, with then-boss Erik ten Hag taking the decision to strip Harry Maguire of the captaincy, with reports subsequently stating that the Englishman was heading to West Ham United.

To his credit, the latter man stayed to fight for his place, since securing cult hero status with a string of vital goals, be it his last-gasp clincher against Lyon, or the late winner against Liverpool this season.

With the 32-year-old facing his own Old Trafford uncertainty amid his expiring contract, however, it would be unlikely to see him outlast Fernandes at the club, with other candidates in the running to take the armband.

Indeed, at present, Matthijs de Ligt – the hero against Tottenham Hotspur last time out – is showcasing captaincy material, albeit while not actually having been included in Amorim’s self-appointed leadership group in pre-season.

Instead, that experienced bunch includes Fernandes, Maguire, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot, with the ex-Sporting CP boss singling them out as the leaders in his first-team ranks.

Like Maguire, however, Casemiro’s current deal expires in 2026, while Martinez may be more concerned with getting back fit and firing again, having been absent since sustaining an ACL injury back in February.

Mazraoui, too, has also endured an injury-hit start to 2025/26, with the Moroccan defender also no longer a guaranteed starter, following Amad’s emergence in that right wing-back berth.

The form of the Ivorian – which includes his stunning equaliser against Nottingham Forest – has also plunged Dalot’s long-term future into doubt, with the Portuguese full-back potentially in line for the axe before too long.

Why Man Utd's 'future captain' needs to be sold

The merits of Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system have long been debated, although amid United’s five-game unbeaten run, it looks like a corner may have been turned, with the squad beginning to find its feet at both ends of the pitch.

Bruno Fernandes

52

Noussair Mazraoui

45

Diogo Dalot

45

Manuel Ugarte

44

Leny Yoro

44

Rasmus Hojlund

40

Alejandro Garnacho

40

Harry Maguire

40

Matthijs de Ligt

39

One area which remains something of a headache is at wing-back, however, with the 40-year-old coach having flitted between Patrick Dorgu and Dalot on that left-hand side in recent weeks.

While the latter man did assist Mbeumo from that role against Burnley, he has largely looked rather uncomfortable in an unorthodox role, having notably failed to prevent Nicolo Savona from converting at the City Ground two weeks ago.

In a system that demands an attacking intent from those on the flanks, even on his favoured flank, the one-time Porto man has hardly flourished in that sense in recent times, racking up just nine goals and 18 assists in 220 games for the club to date.

While once something of a “standout” under Ten Hag – having claimed the Players’ Player of the Year award at United in 2024 – Dalot no longer appears to have a defined role under the new regime, putting his future into doubt heading into 2026.

With a contract that expires in 2028, it could prove the perfect time to try and cash in on the £24m-rated defender – as valued by Transfermarkt – with the INEOS regime no doubt needing to do what they can to reshape the squad in Amorim’s image.

Of course, Dalot appears to be an influential figure under his compatriot, as his place in the leadership group showcases, having reportedly produced something of a rallying cry in the dressing room following the 3-3 draw with Porto last season.

It is for acts like that that the £90k-per-week star had emerged as one of the club’s “future captains” – as relayed by Samuel Luckhurst – although with his own form now under scrutiny, his Old Trafford stay should be coming to an end.

Forget Sesko: Man Utd's "anxious" dud is now becoming INEOS' worst signing

Manchester United have one player who has massively struggled to meet expectations at Old Trafford.

ByEthan Lamb Nov 11, 2025

MatériaMais Notícias

Os torcedores do Botafogo não ficaram nada satisfeitos com a arbitragem após o empate em 1 a 1 diante do Fortaleza neste domingo (12), no Castelão. Na web, alvinegros criticaram a atuação de Wilton Pereira Sampaio e sua equipe durante a partida pelo Brasileirão.

➡️ Siga o Lance! no WhatsApp e acompanhe em tempo real as principais notícias do esporte

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O principal lance que irritou os botafoguenses ocorreu no segundo tempo da partida. Savarino disputou a bola com o goleiro João Ricardo perto da linha de fundo e rolou para Júnior Santos. O atacante teria a chance de chutar sem goleiro, mas o árbitro apitou a saída de bola após alguns segundos de vantagem, não deixando a jogada seguir.

Pouco depois, a transmissão da partida mostrou o replay do lance, e a impressão é de que a bola não cruzou totalmente a linha de fundo. Como o jogo foi paralizado por Wilton Pereira Sampaio antes do gol ser marcado, o VAR não pode intervir para consertar o suposto erro. Vale dizer que não foram divulgados, até o momento, ângulos definitivos para afirmar se realmente houve a saída de bola ou não.

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Além da jogada de Savarino, os torcedores do Botafogo também citaram as muitas faltas de ataque marcadas, afirmando que o árbitro não deixou o jogo correr. Veja abaixo algumas postagens de alvinegros na web sobre a arbitragem de Wilton Pereira Sampaio.

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Botafogo

أعلن النادي الأهلي عدم نفاد تذاكر مباراة الفريق الأول لكرة القدم أمام شبيبة القبائل، والتي ستجمع الفريقين ضمن منافسات دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

ويلتقى الأهلي مع شبيبة القبائل الجزائري، مساء غد السبت، في إطار الجولة الأولى من مواجهات دور المجموعات للبطولة الإفريقية.

طالع.. محمد الشناوي: مجموعة الأهلي متوازنة.. وهدفنا الفوز على شبيبة القبائل

ووجه الأهلي رسالة إلى جماهيره لحضور اللقاء، وذلك في بيان رسمي جاء نصه: “ينتظر النادي الحضور المكثف لجماهيره في مباراة الغد أمام شبيبة القبائل الجزائري، في أولى جولات دور المجموعات لدوري الأبطال”. 

وتابع: “وحصل الأهلي على موافقة الجهات الأمنية للحضور الجماهيري بالسعة الكاملة؛ لإتاحة الفرصة لأكبر عدد من الجماهير؛ لمساندة الفريق في هذه المباراة التي تحظى باهتمام كبير، لاسيما أن تذاكر المباراة لم تنفد بعد”.

وينافس الأهلي في المجموعة الثالثة من بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا، مع أندية شبيبة القبائل والجيش الملكي المغربي ويانج أفريكانز التنزاني.

A new Southampton manager update has been shared from St Mary’s regarding a full-time move for interim boss Tonda Eckert.

Eckert responds to permanent Southampton job rumours

The Saints made the perfect start to life without Will Still in the week, defeating Queens Park Rangers 2-1 at Loftus Road.

Eckert was the man in charge of Southampton following Still’s exit, with second half goals from Jay Robinson and Leo Scienza lifting them above rivals Portsmouth.

The 3-4-2-1 caretaker is once again set to be on the touchline this weekend prior to the international break as St Mary’s play host to bottom side Sheffield Wednesday. Talking ahead of the game, Eckert was asked if he fancied the Southampton job on a permanent basis, to which he said:

“Look, the answer is very easy on this one. My job is to prepare the game today in the best way possible. My job is to prepare the game on Saturday (8th November) in the best way possible. That’s what all my focus is on. It’s going to be three very important days until Saturday. Then we can all take a breath.

“I think the only thing I can do is give energy and give a structure, and prepare them in the best way possible. We’re going to do the same thing for Saturday and hopefully confirm [the improvement] and then we’ll go into a break and go again.”

Now, a new update has emerged regarding Southampton’s position over Eckert.

How Southampton feel about full-time Tonda Eckert move

According to Sky Sports reporter Lyall Thomas, Southampton now “consider Eckert a potential candidate for the full-time job” following his winning start in temporary charge.

The 32-year-old’s coaching career has mainly been as an assistant, helping some iconic names such as Patrick Vieira at Genoa and Miroslav Klose at Bayern Munich’s U17 side.

His experience in England came during 18 months as an assistant at Barnsley, with Eckert taking charge of Southampton’s U21s in the summer.

1.FC Koln U17

Assistant manager

2013-2016

RB Salzburg YL

Assistant manager

2016-2017

RB Leipzig YL

Assistant manager

2017-2019

FC Bayern U17

Assistant manager

2019-2020

Barnsley

Assistant manager

2020-2022

Genoa

Assistant manager

2022-2025

Saints gem Moses Sesay has been impressed under Eckert, saying he is an “experienced” coach who “demands a lot” in training and is “big on detail”.

“I’ve enjoyed working with him. I took some time to get a good connection with him, because he was new, but I really like him. He’s a good coach. He’s very experienced. He demands a lot from us in training, but I like that as a player. He knows what he wants, which is good.

“Comparing Calum McFarlane (former under-21s boss) with Tonda, I think Cal was maybe a little bit more technical, but there hasn’t been much of a difference.

“Tonda is big on detail. He’s a very good coach. We’ve had good results since he came in and went a few games unbeaten. It’s been good under him.”

Positive words indeed, and if Eckert makes it two from two on Saturday, his stock could continue to rise.

Their own Lampard: "Very intelligent" coach now wants the Southampton job

“You can’t win a Test match without taking 20 wickets, no matter how many runs you have scored, so that has been one of our key discussion points”

Sidharth Monga19-Jun-20253:18

Gill: ‘Can’t win a Test without taking 20 wickets’

Expect India to stop hedging bets as they did in Australia. India’s new captain Shubman Gill said on the eve of the start of the series at Headingley that he was prepared to play even four tailenders in pursuit of 20 wickets as quickly as possible.”Yes, definitely.” Gill said in response to the question. “You can’t win a Test match without taking 20 wickets, no matter how many runs you have scored. So, that has been one of our key discussion points, you know, how we’re gonna take 20 wickets. And there might be a case, you know, where we could only be going with some pure batters and you could see a bowling allrounder and three to four premier fast bowlers or proper bowlers.”The series in Australia was a departure from India’s philosophy of playing Test cricket in recent times. They played with only three full-time quicks through the series. The pitches negated the spinner, and the fifth bowler was either Nitish Kumar Reddy or his combination with Washington Sundar. In the absence of Shardul Thakur, who might be the bowling allrounder Gill spoke of, India seemed worried about the depth in their batting.Related

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The Border-Gavaskar Trophy was also a series with two different captains, and consequently perhaps no clear direction. Now Gill takes over as full-time captain, and at least in the press conference, he has spelled out a philosophy consistent with the Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri and Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid teams.There are two stages that this philosophy can get tested in. The first one will arrive as early as the toss when India name the XI. They are going to take a final call on the morning of the match to decide the final one or two places. The main fast bowlers didn’t bowl in the nets on the eve of the Test. Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav were the only bowlers that turned up while most of the batters got one final hit in.The second stage that the philosophy will get tested is if they lose a Test. That is when it will be important to keep backing the method that has tended to put them in the most competitive space in the last seven years or so in England, Australia and South Africa. If, say, India play Shardul as the fourth quick and it doesn’t work either because England take him down or because India add few runs down the order, the response will be telling.Gill, of course, will be gunning to make it work. It will mean extra responsibility on the batters, but it also indirectly means that they have put up or chase fewer runs. Runs is the other thing that Gill will want as soon as possible in his captaincy stint. He has got the selectors’ backing, he has had time to have chats about Test captaincy with both Kohli and Rohit during the IPL, but there might be a little pressure on him given he hasn’t replicated overseas the kind of efficiency he displayed in his debut series in Australia in 2020-21.Shubman Gill, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur are all smiles during a training session•PA Images via Getty ImagesThat is something Gill wants to set right in this series. And his goals are not modest. “Honestly, when I want to go out there and bat, I just want to play as a batsman, not really want to think that I’m the captain of the team because I think that sometimes puts too much pressure on you,” Gill said. “Whenever I’m going out there, I want to play as a batsman and want to want to dominate the opposition and be the best batsman in the series, and that’s what I’m trying to look at.”Being a captain does bring more attention on you from the opposition. You become the No. 1 target. Gill is not fazed by that. “I mean, whenever I’m playing, I always think the opposition is trying to challenge me,” Gill said. “I mean all the players, you know, that they think are key. So I don’t think it’s going to be any different.”Gill has captained India in Under-19 cricket and his IPL side, but Test cricket is the “biggest honour”. The answer is no surprise but Gill summed up the importance of doing well in Test cricket when asked if winning the IPL, which he has actually done once, is bigger or wining a five-Test series in England is.”Definitely the Test series, in my opinion,” Gill said. “You don’t get many opportunities as a captain to be able to come to England, maybe two; if you are the best of your generation, maybe three. And IPL comes every year, and you get to have a crack at it every year. So in my opinion, winning a Test series in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa is bigger.”