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Boeta Dippenaar, the former South Africa opener, has said South Africa needs a coach who can “challenge them”. Corrie van Zyl, the team’s current coach, will step down after the 2011 World Cup and Dippenaar is one of the five members of the panel appointed to select a new national coach.Dippenaar, who will represent the South African cricketer’s association on the panel, and van Zyl will be joined by Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola, Andrew Hudson, the convenor of selectors and Andy O’Connor, cricket committee chairman, to choose the national coach. van Zyl will return to the High Performance Centre in Pretoria in April, where he was the coach prior to his appointment with the national team.Applications for the position close on 7 January 2011, after which the panel will meet to form a short-list. “It’s important that the panel finds common ground and that we know what we are looking for in order to appoint the best coach for this particular group of players. We want to appoint someone who can take them forward and help them grow,” Dippenaar said.Dippenaar, who played 38 Tests and 107 ODIs for South Africa, said it will be vital to find a coach whose character will blend well with that of the players. “We will have to look at the different personalities in the national team and find someone who can work with them.”The issue of personality clashes has been closely associated with the South Africa coaching job. Former coach Mickey Arthur was rumoured to have resigned because of differences with the administrators. He was also labelled a puppet of the senior players in Herschelle Gibbs’ autobiography .Dippenaar played under four national coaches, the last of them being Arthur, and said he could not provide an objective view of the Arthur regime because he didn’t spend enough time under him. He was full of praise for current Dolphins coach Graham Ford, who coached South Africa from 1999 to 2002. “He was a great coach and unlucky because he had two bad series against Australia and then lost the job.” South Africa won eight out of 11 series under Ford, but lost back-to-back series against Australia in the 2001-02 season, which cost him his job.The other coach Dippenaar played under, whom he has kind words for, is India’s current bowling consultant, Eric Simons, who took South Africa to the 2003 World Cup. “I think Eric was before his time. I don’t think he had a mature team at the time, but now the team is more settled and more mature.”Simons is part of a three-man South African contingent that is currently charge of the Indian team. Gary Kirsten is the head coach while Paddy Upton is the mental conditioning coach of the team. Rumours are rife that Kirsten will be head-hunted for the South African job and Simons and Upton may be tempted to follow him. Dippenaar would not be drawn into whether Kirsten is being targeted by the panel, simply saying “everybody is in the running.”

West Ham United are eyeing a summer move for Brentford midfielder Christian Eriksen, according to club insiders Claret & Hugh.

The Lowdown: Previous interest

After being released by Inter Milan as he was not allowed to play in Italy with a cardioverter-defibrillator implant device, the former Tottenham man was available on a free transfer.

Irons manager David Moyes has admitted that he explored the idea of signing the 30-year-old before the Denmark international decided to join Thomas Frank’s side. Moyes even revealed that the Hammers were approached by the player’s representatives, but the east London club were cautious about his health at the time.

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The Latest: West Ham still interested in Eriksen

According to West Ham insiders Claret & Hugh, Moyes could now be tempted to reignite his interest in the Danish playmaker ahead of a potential summer move.

However, it is also reported that Eriksen’s former club Tottenham are expected to be the front-runners if the player does choose to leave Brentford, where his current contract expires at the end of the season.

The Verdict: Good move if it comes off

Spurs manager Antonio Conte was very complimentary of Eriksen after Tottenham’s 0-0 draw against Brentford on Saturday, claiming that “it’s amazing” to see the midfielder performing at the level that he is following his near-death experience less than a year ago.

Eriksen’s underlying statistics illustrate why a whole host of clubs, including West Ham and Tottenham, are eyeing summer moves for the player. According to FBRef, the 30-year-old ranks in the 99th percentile for non-penalty goals and the 98th percentile for shots and expected assists among positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues.

Therefore, with Moyes looking to add depth to his midfield, signing Eriksen on a free transfer would be a good bit of business by the club, although convincing him to join the Hammers over the Lilywhites may prove tricky given his previous ties to the north Londoners.

In other news: West Ham are in the race to sign this Championship gem

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Juan é desfalque do Flamengo para a decisão da Taça Guanabara, neste domingo, diante do Boavista, em Cariacica (ES). O defensor reclamou de dores nas costas e foi cortado da delegação que parte nesta tarde para o Espírito Santo. Rhodolfo é o substituto do veterano defensor e vai fazer dupla na defesa com Réver.

Juan já vinha tratando de dores no tornozelo, em uma pancada que sofreu na semifinal da competição, diante do Botafogo. Agora, o defensor vai iniciar a recuperação total para a estreia na Copa Libertadores, no dia 28 de fevereiro, diante do River Plate (ARG), no Nilton Santos. Na quarta, contra o Madureira e domingo, contra o Flu, ele deve ser poupado.

Sem Juan, o Flamengo vai levar os jovens Thuler e Léo Duarte como opção no banco de reservas para Rhodolfo e Réver. O primeiro marcou o gol da vitória do Flamengo, em Brasília, diante do Nova Iguaçu. Foi o primeiro do camisa 44.

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Everton owner Farhad Moshiri has had a reputation for overspending on certain players in recent seasons, but no player emphasises his transfer failings more than Alex Iwobi.

The Nigerian joined the Merseyside outfit from boyhood club Arsenal in summer 2019 for a fee believed to be worth up to £34m having scored just 15 goals in 149 games for the Gunners.

Then 23, there was still plenty of potential and excitement around the forward which has since petered out following a largely unsuccessful spell at Goodison Park thus far.

26 in May, Iwobi has made 13 appearances in the Premier League this season, starting seven games whilst scoring once and assisting once.

However, across his whole Toffees career the Nigerian has just six goals and six assists in 81 appearances, a goal contribution of one every 6.75 games which has therefore seen a decline in his market value.

To put that figure into perspective, Andros Townsend (seven), Demarai Gray (six) and Richarlison (five) have near, the same or more goals this campaign than Iwobi has managed to net in his entire Toffees tenure.

When Everton signed the forward, Iwobi’s value was at its peak, with the winger worth £28.8m according to Transfermarkt, a very similar figure to what the Blues eventually paid for his signature.

However, after December 2019, it all went downhill for the 25-year-old.

The pandemic saw his value decline to £22.95m where it stayed until October 2020 before dipping again in March 2021 to £19.8m.

At the end of 2021, Iwobi was valued at £16.2m, less than half what Everton paid to acquire his services just over two years prior.

Back in 2020, the Liverpool Echo’s head of sport David Prentice had some strong words to say about Iwobi after a 2-0 defeat to Southampton, stating: “There was one moment where he actually found some space in the penalty area and Digne made a great run to actually overlap and he just needed to be played in and then he had a cross across the six-yard box, hopefully, for somebody to knock in.

“And he didn’t [cross], he ignored the pass and he checked back.

“It’s only a subtle thing, but if he just made that pass which, probably, Richarlison would have done, it would have been that much more dangerous.

“From that point, it just progressively got worse until there was that embarrassing one where he just missed the ball on the byline entirely. It was an opportunity for him and he didn’t take it.”

Based on how his two-and-a-half-year spell at Goodison Park has gone so far, there is little evidence to suggest that Iwobi will be able to still live up to the transfer fee paid for him.

With a new manager at the helm in Frank Lampard, the Nigerian forward has the opportunity to make an impression and attempt to salvage some of his career back. However, it doesn’t seem likely that the 25-year-old will be able to play his best football for Everton.

In other news: Lampard drops worrying injury update that’ll have Everton fans sweating

Glenn McGrath has been able to achieve something with fast bowlers that Shane Warne couldn’t with legspinners

Peter English29-Jun-2010

Glenn McGrath has been able to achieve something with fast bowlers that Shane Warne couldn’t with legspinners, by inspiring a production line of next-generation quicks. Steven Smith, who is currently showing promise, is the closest to a successful Warne clone despite every young cricketer wanting to bowl like him when he was playing. But there are fast men dotted around the world who carry McGrath’s characteristics.Stuart Clark was the first “next McGrath” and has been followed at New South Wales by Josh Hazlewood, who made his ODI debut last week. In England it’s almost impossible for something to be written about Steven Finn, the 201cm 21-year-old, without mentioning the man who took 563 Test wickets. They join Pakistan’s Mohammad Asif, South Africa’s Morne Morkel and the Ashes-winning Stuart Broad in modelling themselves on McGrath – or wanting to be like him.Over the past two weeks Australia A have benefited from the McGrath-like work of Peter George, a South Australian fast bowler, who took 11 wickets in two first-class games against Sri Lanka A. Apart from his height and ability to operate at a pace in the mid-130s, George has also picked up some McGrath mannerisms and comparisons.”It’s a pretty high compliment for me, if I could be half of what he was then I’d be pretty happy with that,” George told Cricinfo. “Glenn was always a hero of mine growing up. It’s something that does come out in a lot of young kids, you can usually tell who they idolised when growing up.”At 23, George is surprised to be still growing and was 203cm at his last measure, 8cm taller than his role model. Extra bounce caused by his high release point is his major weapon, but he has also been working at the Academy over the past two winters on developing a consistent outswinger. Craig McDermott, a man who mastered high pace and swerve, has been advising him along with Troy Cooley, the bowling coach, at the Centre of Excellence.”The main thing I try to do is stay tall and use my height, and get as much bounce as I can,” he said. “Any movement is a bonus on top of that.”The extra lift caused the trouble for Sri Lanka A’s batsmen in Queensland. George collected 4 for 13 in the first innings of the second game in Townsville, which followed his 5 for 84 at Allan Border Field. Each performance helped set up a convincing win while increasing his first-class tally to 18 games.”It’s been a really good couple of weeks, spending some time around some senior cricketers,” he said. “It’s been a really good experience.” In both matches he bowled in partnership with Ben Hilfenhaus, who leaves on Friday to join the Test team in England, and was impressed with the amount of swing the Tasmanian achieved.George is not part of Australia A’s limited-overs fixtures, which start with a Twenty20 in Townsville on Friday, and was back at the Academy on Tuesday to prepare for their upcoming series. Once those engagements conclude he will return to South Australia hoping to build on his encouraging first two seasons.After taking 36 Sheffield Shield wickets last summer, George was awarded a brief introduction to life as an international when he was flown to New Zealand as Test cover for Ryan Harris. The visit lasted only three nights, but he got to bowl at training on Test eve before leaving after the match began.”It would have been nice to have hung around for a bit longer,” he said. “But the time that I was there was really valuable. It was a bit of a taste, I’m keen to get back there if I can.”

Leeds United have made a bid for a second player after their offer for RB Salzburg’s Brenden Aaronson, David Anderson reported late Tuesday evening.

The Lowdown: Aaronson bid

News emerged on Tuesday evening regarding Leeds’ move for Aaronson.

The Whites were linked with a move for the American before the January transfer window opened, however, it was believed then that Victor Orta wouldn’t be able to sign the 21-year-old this month due to Salzburg’s qualification into the last 16 of the Champions League.

Leeds have recently had an offer in the region of £15m rejected for Aaronson but remain intent on signing him before the end of the month.

The Latest: Anderson’s post

Anderson took to Twitter shortly after the news emerged of Leeds’ failed bid for Aaronson on Tuesday night.

The Daily Mirror man claimed that Orta is ‘busy’ and has made an official offer for a second unnamed player.

“Victor Orta is being busy and Leeds have also tabled a bid for a second as of yet unidentified player.”

The Verdict: Who could it be?

Orta was thought to be after a defensive and attacking midfielder this month, and with Aaronson the latter, you’d expect this unnamed second target could be a holding midfielder.

Bringing one in could be just as important as signing Aaronson, especially with Kalvin Phillips out until March and Adam Forshaw recently suffering a fresh injury against West Ham.

One player who has also been linked in recent days is Standard Liege’s Nicolas Raskin, but it seems as if the Whites are keeping quiet on this second offer – perhaps a return to Nahitan Nandez?

In other news: Positive Leeds injury claim regarding two players emerges. 

Leeds United will be patient but are expected to be active this month…

What’s the word?

That’s according to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth, who delivered a fresh claim live on the Transfer Show (6th January).

“Leeds United still looking to strengthen but they are prepared to be patient in this window,” he revealed.

Chief executive Angus Kinnear has already fired a warning to the Elland Road faithful that it is always hard to complete business during the January transfer window, whilst under manager Marcelo Bielsa and director of football Victor Orta, United have very rarely been busy.

Changing times?

The Yorkshire giants have endured a tricky season so far – after challenging the Premier League’s top ten last term, they find themselves on the cusp of a relegation dogfight and staring down the barrel at the infamous ‘second-season syndrome’.

Last weekend’s victory over Burnley handed the Whites some breathing room as they moved eight points clear of the drop, but several teams below them in the standings hold games in hand, so they remain in a perilous situation.

Some of their struggles can be attributed to the ongoing injury crisis at the club. Bielsa regularly has been without several key stars since the start of the season. The likes of captain Liam Cooper, vice-skipper Luke Ayling and leading talisman Patrick Bamford have all faced serious time on the treatment table.

As many as nine first-team players were missing for Leeds’ defeat to Arsenal over the festive period, so it’s no wonder they have struggled to replicate the heights of last season.

That is exactly why they need to be proactive in the transfer market this month.

For example, Bamford does not have sufficient cover, so Leeds have struggled to score goals this campaign. Only Raphinha (eight) has found the net more than twice in the league, so a new forward would be one of many areas that Orta and co need to target.

Therefore, Sheth’s claim that they will be looking to strengthen is certainly an encouraging one, and it should leave many supporters excited heading into the rest of the month.

AND in other news, Leeds United could be set for “huge blow” amid emerging transfer report…

Reliable Aston Villa reporter Ashley Preece shared a story regarding a possible exit for striker Wesley Moraes in January.

And, as to be expected, a number of Villa supporters have been giving their thoughts to the update on social media.

The 25-year-old made the move to the Midlands back in 2019 from Club Brugge in a deal worth £22.5m. However, the Brazilian struggled in England and was just beginning to show what he was capable of before he picked up a serious knee injury against Burnley back in 2020 – he has played just 120 minutes of senior football since.

Wesley was then sent on loan to Brugge over the summer but is yet to score and has started just one game, and it seems as if a return to his native country could be on the cards.

Birmingham Live cited reports from Brazil in a story on Monday evening, where Wesley’s agent claimed that Internacional and Sao Paulo were keen on a January move. He’s reportedly cut short his loan spell with Brugge, with Sao Paulo making a direct proposal to Villa.

Villa fans react

Preece shared the news on Twitter on Tuesday morning. This is what these Villa fans had to say, with a number still not over Ben Mee’s challenge and one describing the severity of the impact the injury had on Wesley’s career as ‘crazy’.

“Blokes was awful before his horror injury, and as a result of that he’s even worse now”

Credit: @CarlReevesAVFC

“This is what happens when you have teams who play the way Burnley do. It continues to be an absolute disgrace that he wasn’t punished for that “tackle”.”

Credit: @BillBones84

“Such a shame what happened to Wesley. Crazy how an injury can completely derail everything. Mind you surely worth keeping around as a 3rd choice striker for the season?”

Credit: @Benjmeister85

“Best thing for all concerned I think. Ben Mee ruined this guys career and didn’t even get a yellow card”

Credit: @coleman83avfc

“I’m surprised anybody is prepared to take that gamble. Since he came back from that injury he looks like he can barely run”

Credit: @DavidSmithAVFC

“It was an awful injury – and one that was recklessly inflicted – it will take a long time to recover from it – if he ever recovers. My loathing of Burnley and their thuggish ways is incapable of increasing.”

Credit: @Son_Lyme

In other news: Gerrard desperate to bring 19 y/o sensation to Villa; his last goal was watched 350k times. 

Flocking to Twitter, many Liverpool fans were left less than impressed with the performance of midfielder Thiago Alcantara against Newcastle United at Anfield this evening.

Jurgen Klopp’s side, looking to keep pace at the top of the Premier League with bitter rivals Man City and Chelsea, took on the Magpies who were, by contrast, aiming to gain a vital point in the fight for survival.

All odds suggested a comfortable evening for Liverpool but they were handed a scare very early on when Thiago’s botched clearance found former Reds man Jonjo Shelvey – who went on to bury a neat finish past the helpless Alisson.

The 30-year-old was also nearly at fault for a second Newcastle goal with another misplaced pass before being let off (@ClickLFC), with star duo Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota then scoring in quick succession to turn the game on it’s head.

After a brief scare, Klopp’s men went on to clinch all three points in a crucial title race victory.

Reds fans slam Thiago…

Given his off-day, as evident by his contribution to the Newcastle goal and nearly a second, it’s little wonder many fans thought this wasn’t his best evening.

Members of the media also picked out Thiago as somewhat of a weak link, especially for his first half outing and penchant for giving away possession during a nervy 2-1 lead.

Find all of their verdicts on his display down below:

“Thiago should be nowhere near this Liverpool team! Honking!”

Credit: @marty_phillips21

“Get Thiago off, he’s having an absolute nightmare. He’s no good in the Prem”

Credit: @tweetJumpy

“Is Thiago missing Fabinho already or what’s happening to him, lots of misplaced passes and poor clearance of the ball this half.”

Credit: @firstclassjerry

“Thiago is Newcastle’s best player.”

Credit: @angeisthebest

“Get Henderson in front of the defence and moves thiago forward he’s a liability in the deep role”

Credit: @mlpmoz92

“It’s a bit of a trend but Thiago is often a liability for giving possession away”

Credit: @Widerife81

“Sell Thiago. I’ve had enough.”

Credit: @ViroshenNaidoo1

“Thiago has been terrible honestly”

Credit: @Akin_Official

In other news: ‘Ahhhh’, ‘Oh my days’, ‘Don’t gas me’…Liverpool fans erupt as FSG take step for ‘perfect signing’, find out more here.

New Zealand and Sri Lanka will cross a new frontier when they meet each other in three Twenty20 internationals in the USA in May

Cricinfo staff12-Feb-2010

New Zealand and Sri Lanka will cross a new frontier when they meet each other in three Twenty20 internationals in the USA in May.The games will take place at Central Broward Regional Park Cricket Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida, which has been approved by the ICC. It is the first time two Full Members will have met in an official match on US soil and it follows the signing of a strategic partnership between the USA Cricket Association (USACA) and New Zealand Cricket (NZC) last year.”Given the door to cricket has been opened to investment through the sale of Indian Premier League franchises, this model is a logical step to raising the capital required to take cricket in the US to another level,” said Justin Vaughan, NZC’s chief executive. “The structure proposed is a wonderful opportunity for someone to get in on the ground floor, particularly given the growing level of interest in the US cricket market.”A delighted Don Lockerbie, CEO of USACA, said the move was the first of what he hoped would be many such initiatives, adding the US national side would participate in some warm-up matches as well.”We are experiencing increasing demand for ‘Destination USA’ cricket events from many Full Member ICC countries and the Sri Lanka v New Zealand series will bring – as forecasted – world-class cricket to the USA,” he said. “Through the strategic collaboration with NZC we now have the additional administrative support and knowledge base to be able to commercialise these opportunities and ultimately grow the revenue streams from one of the world’s largest advertising markets.”Looking ahead, Lockerbie added the matches were “a small indication of the amount of cricket content under consideration with our partners at NZC. We will be meeting with potential investors and event developers over the next few weeks and months to keep building our momentum. The interest is already high from potential investors in India and the US, and this is very encouraging.”