Finally a coach for Roger 'there's nothing a coach can teach me' Federer

Somebody seems to have knocked some sense into Roger Federer’s head. He is finally getting himself a coach. And not just any coach. He’s a getting a specialist clay-court coach – one Mr Jose Higueras – who has guided Michael Chang and Jim Courier to the French Open title in the past. Very smart choice!

We have been chiding Roger to get himself a coach for some time and now that he has gone ahead and got one, we have every reason to be happy about it. We want Fedex to beat Sampras’ grand slam record and also dethrone Nadal as the French Open Champion. Hiring Higueras will give him a great shot at both.

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Ronaldinho to AC Milan - Time for rest of Europe to get scared

Ronaldinho set for Milan move - Ronaldinho has agreed initial terms with AC Milan and the Serie A club will now speak to Barcelona about a deal, Milan and the player's agent have said.

The 28-year-old Brazilian has had a difficult few months at the Nou Camp because of injury and loss of form and a move has long been mooted.

Former Barcelona coach Johan Cruyff, who remains an influential figure at the club, said Ronaldinho should leave at the end of the season.

This is one heck of a coup on Milan's part - Scary for fans of all the other clubs in Europe. Milan have easily been the best club in Europe over the last two decades. And just when you thought that they were on the downside; with a team full of veterans finally feeling their age - as reflected in an early exit in the Champions League and struggles in the Serie, the Rossoneri strike back.

This club is not going to give their rivals any breather. They are not going to go through a long re-building phase. They are past masters at rebuilding a side on the fly and will do it again. Ronaldinho is the most critical piece of the puzzle and the other minor pieces will fall in place shortly. While Chelsea and Inter Milan with all their money have failed to build one Champions League -winning side, AC Milan have already done it four times ( winning 6 titles in the process). And I will put my mortgage on them doing it once again pretty soon.

Their success as exemplified by the Ronaldinho example has been built on mastery in the transfer market. They target the best attackers in the world and just go out and get them. From Van Basten to Kaka, they have always managed to beat their European rivals at getting the top talent. Ronaldinho from Barcelona will be an addition to the impressive list.

How scary would a combination of Kaka and Ronaldinho be?

Kaka almost single-handedly carried Milan to the Champions League title last year and Ronaldinho inspired Barca to victory the year before that. Need I say more?

They will give opposition defenders enough nightmares to have them queuing up for sleep disorder treatment. Usually, the presence of two players of this quality leads to ego clashes- look at Barca which will forever rue letting Ronaldinho go. But managing massive personalities is another of Milan's strengths. They are run like a small family club; have you ever heard of a big time player leaving Milan acrimoniously. Never.

Some people will be comforted by the sight of Milan's creaking defense and lack of a top striker. Just wait till the end of the season. Sheva has been itching for a return and Didier Drogba has also been dropping hints about a Milan move. Expect others to pine for a place in the Milan side. Who wouldn’t want to play alongside Kaka and Ronaldinho? They are great creators as well and any striker will benefit from the chances created by the Brazilian duo. As for the defenders, expect Milan to reinforce their defensive troops from within the Serie A with minimum of fuss. Everyone wants to win titles and your chances are infinitely better if you play in a Milan side with Kaka and Ronaldinho.

The Ronaldinho news just increased the pressure on Barcelona, United, Chelsea and Liverpool. This season could be their best shot at the Champions League crown in the near future. Milan will be back to torment them next year.

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Why I love the ICL and not the IPL

Dear Cricket fans

Iam sure all of you are really looking forward to the Indian Professional League starting on the 17th of April. You are probably in the process of making plans to catch all the exciting action – both live and televised. You will probably end up spending decent moolah on the twenty-20 extravaganza.

But before you get wallet –happy, remember that every penny that you spend on the IPL, every minute of IPL action that you catch on the TV, every cheer that you raise and every comment that you make on the internet will only go a long way towards making the BCCI an even more inefficient and corrupt creature than what it already is.

The money spent on buying anything from a match ticket to a team jersey, a player card or a bottle of water in the stadium will directly or indirectly end up in the secret vaults of the cricket board. The greedy BCCI controls every revenue source in the IPL and has ensured a gazillion dollar profit for itself long before even a ball has been bowled. It owns the TV rights, the sponsorship rights, the media rights and whatever else that could be sold. And all this after the franchisees coughed up a hundred million dollars each to swell BCCI’s already over-flowing coffers.

Mr Modi has not yet announced how this massive loot will be spent. Although, when he decides to do so, he will predictably wax rhetoric about developing cricket infrastructure and promoting the game at the grass-roots level. So why has the BCCI waited for so long to start doing it. They were loaded with cash long before the IPL happened and haven’t done a lot about the cricket infrastructure and promotion of the game in this country. The money will simply go where it’s been going all this while – into the pockets of the BCCI functionaries and their cronies in the state cricket associations. So, all of you planning to make a huge success of the IPL; remember that you are letting the crooks of the BCCI put their dirty hands in your pockets while you are engrossed in the cricket action.

All over the world the professional leagues are run independently of the game’s governing body. There is a separate governing body to run basketball in the US and a different one (usually a set of appointed professionals) to manage the affairs of the NBA. For all the good things Mr Modi picked up from the NBA, the EPL and the MLB, he chose to conveniently ignore the need for a separate professional body to manage the IPL. There is no need for one when you have the eminently capable team of the BCCI. And anyways they have enough spare time on their hands to run ten leagues forget one measly IPL. After all, the job description of a BCCI official is just restricted to attending a hundred selection meetings and counting money. And that is in addition to their day job of being a politician or whatever that gives them enough scope for corruption and inefficiency. The IPL money is their bonus for the terrific job they have done in their multiple roles. So go splurge on the IPL to ensure that all the great men of the BCCI are rewarded sufficiently.

Now that the IPL is here, please do not waste your time following the ICL. After all it’s just a poor country cousin. All the big stars are in the IPL. What does the ICL have? Who cares if the biggest stars for the title-wining Hyderabad Heroes were a forgotten Pakistani and 3 unknown Indians? We want stars. We don’t have time for the likes of Stuart Binny, Ambati Rayudu and Indra Shekhar Reddy. We are not interested in knowing that these unknown fellas more than managed to hold their own against the best of the international talent in the ICL. Even though we are perplexed as to how come they were never in any kind of national reckoning; not even for A tours or challenger trophies, we will not blame the state cricket associations for nepotism. Everyone deserves an equal chance to play. We cannot discriminate on the basis of talent and performance. And anyways, bad selection policies are a small price to pay for the great job the associations have done in electing the members of the BCCI. That the ICL players were so frustrated with the shambolic policies of their state boards, that they didn’t think twice about joining the rebel league and face an international ban is a matter that has been blown out of proportion.

We are not bothered about the pathetic state of the domestic game and the good that the ICL has done for domestic players. There is no need to promote the domestic game by making first-class cricket a financially viable career option. A competitive and exciting domestic structure will take some of the attention away from our national stars and probably deprive them of some of their endorsement money. Additionally, it will bring too much media attention on the state selectors and hinder them from doing their jobs well. And having too many good players competing for just 11 places will add to the headache of our poor national selectors. We should not take unfair advantage of the large talent pool we have. After all we have a larger population and the game is far more popular here. The BCCI is right in banning the ICL and ensuring that we are stuck in mediocrity. All of you ignoring the ICL and supporting the IPL will surely help the BCCI achieve this mission.

Iam a fool and a dreamer. I don’t want the poor BCCI officials to make some extra money on the side. Iam biased against politicians running the game. I yearn for a great domestic structure. I prefer an Indian MNC over a state run PSU. I support the ICL and not the IPL.

If you are also a fool, then please pass this on to other fools you know.

Thanks

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No more test matches for 'killers' of test cricket

For connoisseurs of test cricket in India, the last one year has been one for the ages. The display of the Indian sides in England, South Africa and Australia was of the highest order and not for once did they resemble the poor travellers of the past. For most part the quality of the cricket was excellent and the drama so engrossing that cricket fans were forced to keep a ball-by-ball check of the matches in progress. In spite of all the interest generated in 20-20 cricket by India’s world cup triumph and One-day successes against Pakistan and Australia; the interest in test cricket had never been higher.

Mesmerized by the five-day format, there was a lot to look forward to in the India – South Africa test series. Revenge for the defeat last year and a chance to set the record straight for the humiliation suffered in the last home series- a defeat which brought to an end our long unbeaten streak at home. And what did we get to see - a pitch as dead as can be – one which would have broken the resolve of any bowler in the world. A game only for the stats obsessed- 1500 odd runs for 25 wickets, Dravid’s 10000 runs, Sehwag’s triple. After the highs of Australia came the depths of despair in Chepauk. One couldn’t have asked for a better anti-test cricket advertisement. The India- Australia series was the best time to shop with the malls half empty even on weekends. The last Sunday was just the opposite. With the ICL currently on and the IPL on the anvil, 20-20 cricket is primed for a frenzied following in this country. What better way to make sure that test cricket can’t even put up a token resistance to the monster that threatens to make the longer version extinct.

So, who’s to blame? Unless Lalit Modi’s ambitions for the IPL have taken test-cricket killing proportions, the local cricket association (the TNCA) should be severely penalized for the shoddy pitch preparation. Unless the mandarins of the TNCA gave the India- Australia series a Rip Van Winklesque miss, they would have noticed that the superb quality of cricket stemmed from the sporting pitches prepared for the series. Either they cannot appreciate high-quality test cricket (can only appreciate a boring run –fest) or simply don’t like test cricket. So, the best way to save them the misery of watching good test cricket and also hide their ineptitude at preparing quality pitches is to keep them away from test cricket for a while. Don’t give the TNCA the unpleasant task of hosting a test match for the next 5 years at least. By then they will probably develop an appreciation for the longer version. At least they will not be ‘killing’ test cricket.

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Hey Roger, go get a coach man!

There’s a fine line between arrogance and self-confidence. The truly great ones generally manage to walk the tight-rope without falling to the perils of over-estimating their own prowess. But sometimes, even they are blinded by their own brilliance. Roger Federer needs to do something quick before his incandescence hastens his own burn-out. He needs to go get a coach, pronto.

History has been witness to sportsmen making some really tall self-proclamations. None bigger than Mohammed Ali’s, “I am the greatest; I said that even before I knew I was”. Roger has been nowhere as pompous with his best being,” I've really proved that on all surfaces, everywhere in the world, I can win the title. It's been incredible for me from beginning to end”. What was a bigger statement though was his decision to dispense with his coach, and decide not to hire another one.

This was a bold step – something unheard of in the modern era, where top players travel with an assortment of trainers, coaches and instructors. Roger then walked the talk by winning almost everything (the French Open excluded) in sight and dominating the ATP tour like no one before him had done. But lost amongst the hosannas have been the signs of fallibility. I had made one humble attempt to predict an end to the greatness and then another one. Not that too many people noticed.

In 2008, however, the people have really started noticing. Roger’s poor start to the year has brought Nadal and Djokovic within touching distance of his no 1 ranking. As expected, the questions of getting a coach have been raised. And promptly shot down by the Swiss maestro. I have been tempted to write the third and final part of my Roger Federer obituary, even though I should ideally wait to see if he can hold onto the Wimbledon crown. This, because Federer’s supreme confidence is slowly becoming his biggest undoing and threatening to immolate him.

I will wait however, for the simple reason that I as a sports fan love to see records being made and a dominant Roger Federer is on the verge of re-writing the entire book. But for that to happen, the great man needs to hire a coach right away. And if he needs convincing, he should go check with buddy Tiger Woods – his only rival as the most dominant sportsperson in the world. In fact, that debate is close to being settled in Tiger’s favour as Roger’s decline has coincided with Woods’ ascent to the closest thing in terms of sporting perfection. He has won 8 of his last nine tournaments and finished second in another, sparking talk of a grand slam ; something not done in the history of the golf. Also for the information of the uninformed, golf is far more tougher than tennis when it comes to winning tournaments regularly. You play only yourself and have no control over the performance of the others. Every golf-course is like a different surface in tennis parlance, making it very difficult for any player to master all the different playing conditions in various tournaments. (Quite unlike tennis where you only need to master grass, clay, indoor carpet and hard-court)

Fedex needs to learn from the guy on the right

Tiger is a classic case of never being satisfied and always looking for continuous improvement – a lesson Federer has forgotten in his arrogance. And most of Tigers’ unending pursuit for excellence has been a joint effort with his coaches. When Tiger first appeared on the tour, he was already hitting the ball the farthest – an advantage which resulted in a slew of titles and the world number one ranking. But he was still willing to take it to the next level. So, on the advice of swing coach Hank Haney, he decided to re-model his swing completely. This lead to a drastic drop in performance but Tiger persevered with his coach; trying to perfect the new swing. And when he managed to do it, he was an even better player. This is the equivalent of Goran Ivanisevic or Pete Sampras deciding that their serve wasn’t good enough and hence they needed a new service action. Tiger has been strongly challenged by some extremely talented guys like Phil Mickleson and Ernie Els but his ever-improving game has broken their resolve. Federer’s arrogance on the other hand has only fuelled the hunger of Nadal and Djokovic.

Roger Federer needs to accept that he is facing a crisis. His once imposing game is no longer good enough to keep the challengers at arm’s-length. He needs to raise his game by a few notches to extend his greatness. He also has to understand that he is capable of that. All human beings are capable of further improvement. Perfection is a theoretical concept. A coach can facilitate the improvement process. Getting a coach is not the sign of weakness but a reflection of wisdom. He can continue to walk the tight-rope between confidence and arrogance. Just needs to get himself a coach first.

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Symonds breaks new ground for cricket....with his shoulder!!!

We are a cricket mad country but still some of us are sane enough to be aware of the sports global standing - lost in the back of the queue. I totally blame Lord Cornwallis for cricket's plight. If only he had won the war called the War of American Independence in the 1780's prolonging the British influence on the Yanks. The Americans would have adapted cricket whole-heartedly, nipping baseball in the bud. Cricket would have harnessed the global marketing machine that is America, to achieve global prominence. Well thank God for Andrew Symonds. He is already making up for the watershed events of the 1780's.

I am a regular follower of ESPN.com. This is the flagship US website of ESPN which is easily the most powerful sports media corporation in the world. And before you cricket and football fans even protest that claim, please remember that Cricinfo and Soccernet are also owned by ESPN.

In all my years of following ESPN.com, I don’t remember coming across any cricket-related news. There are regular titbits about football though. All that changed yesterday. Finally ESPN had a reason to sit up and take notice. Andrew Symonds' rugby style tackle of a streaker has become the first cricket news to figure on ESPN.com. There's a video for your voyeuristic pleasures as well.

So, here's a message for the mandarins of cricket. Rather than fine this wonderful cricketer; who has already had to endure so much trauma this summer, we should felicitate him. He should be awarded with the SBE (Shoulder of the British Empire) for starters and be allowed to tackle any naked person he comes across. And that includes Harbhajan as well.

I will leave you with another race -related thought. Symonds tackled a white male. Would he have done the same had the streaker been a female or a black person or say a pretty black female? Shouldn’t he be put to the test to determine whether he was racially motivated or not? And like the second final, this should be done with a global audience watching. Imagine what this would do for the popularity of cricket?

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Newcastle deserve to go to the dogs

Newcastle United have sacked another manager and the poor fellow couldn’t even manage a full year in the job. “Big Sam’ is gone. Less than a year removed from his confident entry, he is now a forlorn shadow of his once glorious self at Bolton Wanderers. He follows in the footsteps of Glenn Roeder and Graeme Souness. The three of them had found moderate to great success at other premiership clubs and were expected to bring success to the Geordies. All of them were given sufficient transfer funds to make an impact and failed miserably at that, making inglorious exits. But even then, they were treated with far greater respect than the man who preceded them; a man whose stature as a manager, both at Newcastle and elsewhere, belittles the three who followed him to mere midgets.

Sir Bobby Robson - forever young

Sir Bobby Robson is a man greatly admired, loved and cherished by everyone remotely connected to football. After a distinguished playing career which saw international action as well, he made his mark as a manager by winning league titles in England, Spain and Portugal. He also managed his native England at two World Cups and on each occasion his team was successful, played with flair and displayed great courage and unity – qualities not seen in many English sides since. His passion for the game knows no bounds and when not on the pitch or the bench, he can be seen cheering like a young kid from the rafters. This from someone who’s had 6 cancer operations and counting.

After conquering the continent with Barcelona and Porto, Sir Bobby returned home on being courted by the Newcastle chairman, Freddy Sheppard. The club was floundering and going nowhere. Sir Bobby (I cannot address him in any other way) immediately put the club back on track leading to three successful campaigns in the premiership. The club finished in the top-5 every time including a third –place finish as well. They had two fairytale Champions League runs, adding substantially to Geordie lore. Sir Bobby achieved all this with far less to spend than what was afforded to the losers who followed him. But for Sir Bobby, Freddy Sheppard’s stint as Chairman would have been remembered like the Chinese remember the Hwang-ho floods- for their misery.

I still don’t understand why Sir Bobby was sacked in the most unceremonious manner possible. By the same man, who once courted him and to whose club he gave a new lifeline. The slow start to the season was cited as one of the reasons but Newcastle overcame similar early hiccups in the two previous years. The primary owner, Sir John Hall was equally guilty; not even agreeing to meet Sir Bobby during his exit. What rankled even more was the surprising lack of protest from the fans. The most enduring image was of two ten-year olds holding placard saying, “Please don’t leave Sir Bobby”. While the entire adult world turned a blind eye to the injustice, a bunch of kids made a mute protest.

But bad karma has befallen them – the injury to Michael Owen being most notable. They have gone from one transfer bust to another and managers have come and gone. They have been so bad that even the great Alan Shearer has resisted the urge to become manager and tarnish his great playing record.

Luckily for Sir Hall and Freddy Sheppard, Mike Ashley came along; pockets full of money. His purchase of the club spared them the drudgery of running a cursed club. He inherited the bad karma as well, firing his first manager in half a season. He’s gambled with Kevin Keegan hoping for a repeat of his magical first spell as Newcastle manager. As the early results show, an overly attacking manager is not the right remedy for a club with no defense. Not that the attack is as potent as that of Man United. The club’s humiliation continues and the fans continue to suffer. They are supposed to be the best fans in the country. Not for me. Not when you treat Sir Bobby as if he was the originator of the Mad Cow disease.

Liverpool were banished from the European stage for their Heysel misadventure. Their return to European glory came after almost two decades. Newcastle deserve the same if not more. Long live Sir Bobby.

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Two reasons why Sir Alex is finally sleeping peacefully

Manchester United have an excellent record in the first half of the season against their fellow members of the top 4. They beat Chelsea at home, Liverpool away and had the upper hand in a drawn game against Arsenal. While the frontline and defense have performed admirably in these games, the men in the middle have been the real difference makers. They have won every midfield battle enabling their side to control the flow of the game. And this for me has been the biggest positive for the Red Devils from the first half of the season.

The role of the ball-winning midfielder is crucial in modern football. Especially, for attacking sides which often leave their defense exposed. A top-class, unselfish midfielder protecting your back four is a prized possession; the absence of which gives any manager regular sleepless nights. The rise and the fall of Real Madrid with and without Claude Makalele is the perfect example of how valuable these guys are. Most of the successful sides in Europe have had a quality guy in this role. Chelsea with Makalele again, AC Milan with Gattuso, Arsenal and Inter with Patrick Viera and Bayern Munich with Owen Hergreaves.

Roy Keane filled this role admirably for Manchester United during their dominant run in the Premiership. His decline and subsequent exit was largely responsible for United hitting a trough and playing second fiddle to Chelsea and Arsenal. Last year’s squad played glorious attacking football on their way to the title but was far from being a perfect team with glaring inadequacies – like when it came to ball –winning, as cruelly exposed by AC Milan in the Champions League semis. A title encore was highly unlikely without the necessary additions to the squad.

Fergie was acutely aware of the problem at hand and had been fairly active in the transfer market, trying to fill the hole. His targets included Javier Mascherano, Marcos Senna and Owen Hergreaves. Among the lot he was particularly keen on Hergreaves – a player Bayern were equally committed to hold onto. Fergie came close to getting his hands on both Mascherano and Senna, but preferred to bide his time for Hergreaves. Quite clearly, in Fergie’s eyes, the Canadian-born Englishman was the perfect fit for united. His relentless pursuit finally bore fruit at the start of the 2007-08 season. While this purchase was on the lines of the expected for united fans, what sir Alex did next left them gaping at his supposed impulsiveness. On a trip to Portugal to strike a deal for the new ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’ – Nani, he also bought the defensive midfielder Anderson. The Brazilian did not come cheap, was largely an unknown quantity and not expected to figure even on the United bench; with the midfield choc-a-bloc with quality players. He was considered a luxury Sir Alex could do without having already spent quite a fortune bringing in new players.

Anderson did nothing extraordinary in the pre-season to change the status quo in his position in the midfield pecking order. He got a lucky break when first Scholes and then Hergreaves got injured. The Brazilian grabbed the opportunity with both hands and has gone from strength to strength ever since. So much so, that on Hergreaves’ return, Fergie has often played them together. The emergence of the challenger seems to have had a positive influence on Hergreaves and the ex-Bayern man has delivered all the promised goods.

United cannot believe their good-luck. They asked for one ball-winner and got two class performers. This gives them the insurance of a quality replacement incase of injuries and the luxury to give each player enough rest to keep them fresh throughout the season. The duo has ensured that the team has developed a hitherto unknown defensive solidity – a quality critical for the European battles to follow. They break opposition attacks well before it gets to the United defensive third. This spares the defense long spells of duress; ones which mostly lead to a fatal error. The attack is better than ever and treble chants are emanating again.

Last season’s clash between United and Milan was billed as an encounter between Kaka and Ronaldo. The intervention of Gennaro Gattuso made it a no-contest in Kaka’s favour. In the 1999 Champions League final, United sorely missed the services of a suspended Roy Keane, escaping with a lucky victory. With the double-whammy of Hergreaves and Anderson, a repeat of either mismatch is highly unlikely

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