by m@tt » Sat Apr 11, 2015 12:50 am
I hope that England, in trying to fix one problem, don't create another by employing too many people. They arguably already have too many as it is. The last thing we need is to have people stepping on each others' toes, it could lead to me-or-him ultimatums.
However I do like that the ECB has suddenly become keen on bringing in former players and captains. Whilst the senior team has plenty of access to ex-players in the media, more should be done and it's a shame that so many have gone into the media and not coaching/managerial roles.
As for the candidates, it's easy to say that Vaughan is too laddish and his opinion sways too much, that Strauss is still too close to the team, and that Stewart hasn't given 2nd Division Surrey the kick-start expected. Difficult to get out of the "what can't they do instead of what can they do" English mindset (and I'm including myself here!).
A pity Hussain ruled himself out. Not sure why - he said others were better suited to the role, but don't see what the others have that he doesn't.
It appears Vaughan is favourite (and so the Essex mafia is being replaced by the Yorkshire mafia?). There are valid queries about him, but I'm sure he would take the job appropriately seriously. Unlike in the media there is time to think about things, hours and days rather than seconds.
As for Downton, whilst it's never nice for people to lose their jobs, he simply wasn't up to it. At the time, I liked the logic of his appointment, the combination of international experience and a top business career, but the reality was that he was out of touch with the modern game, the modern media and the modern fan, whilst apparently his business career did not include a managerial role, so he was over-promoted by several levels. He botched his first decision (not that he should ever have been making a decision on KP either way, let alone in the hasty, undiligent way he did) and never recovered.
Andy Flower wrote:This is going to test my coaching expertise. This is the worst case I've ever seen.