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Shadab Khan returns to the T20I side as vice-captain, while Rizwan retains his ODI captaincy

Danyal Rasool04-Mar-2025

Salman Agha captained Pakistan to a 2-1 series win in Zimbabwe recently•ICC via Getty Images

Pakistan have shuffled the deck once more in an attempt to find the right T20I combination, dropping captain Mohammad Rizwan as well as Babar Azam for the five-match series in New Zealand.In the first squad announced since Pakistan’s ignominious exit from a home Champions Trophy, there are several changes, including the return of Shadab Khan – also appointed vice-captain, and the awarding of the T20I captaincy to Rizwan’s deputy Salman Agha. On the ODI front, Rizwan retains his captaincy, but Shaheen Afridi has been dropped.According to a PCB release, Mohammad Haris returns after an extended spell out of the national side, while Saim Ayub remains absent with the ankle injury he picked up in South Africa. Hasan Nawaz, the 22-year old wicketkeeper who has played just 21 T20s, is in the squad. Abdul Samad, the 27-year-old big-hitting batter who is also yet to play PSL cricket, comes in after a positive domestic T20 tournament showing. Quetta Gladiators batter Omair Yousuf earns a call-up as Pakistan pivot sharply away from their experienced batters in the format.Pakistan’s white-ball squads for their tour of New Zealand•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

There are fewer changes in the bowling department, with the make-up roughly the same as it was for their recent T20I series in South Africa. Afridi and Haris Rauf are part of the squad, but Naseem Shah – who last played T20Is against Australia in November – remains absent. Spinners Sufiyaan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed retain their places, while Khushdil Shah comes into the side.Related

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Pakistan face patchwork New Zealand in first test of their new T20 era

Agha promises 'fearless and high-risk' brand of cricket as Pakistan captain

Fakhar Zaman dismisses retirement talk, expects to be back 'within the month'

These changes bring an end to an unhappy, if brief, stint as T20I captain for Rizwan. He led Pakistan as full-time captain in just four completed T20Is, losing all of them. He was absent for the three T20Is in Zimbabwe, with Agha leading the team as Pakistan won 2-1.Babar’s absence, too, suggests Pakistan are once again looking to break free of the Babar-Rizwan combination at the top of the order. The duo have polarised opinion almost as soon as the combination was set up in 2020. Critics have panned them for being too-risk averse at the start in T20Is, but their reliability and consistency of run accumulation, set in contrast against an oft-misfiring middle order, had seen Pakistan continue to return to them.The ODI squad doesn’t include such drastic changes, except for the omission of Afridi. He was Pakistan’s best bowler in their ODI series wins in South Africa and Australia. Rizwan retains the ODI captaincy and Babar is in the squad, while Abdullah Shafique returns after being dropped for the Champions Trophy. Left-arm quick Akif Javed earns a maiden ODI squad selection while Sufiyaan Muqeem returns as well.Pakistan play five T20Is in New Zealand starting March 16, followed by three ODIs.Pakistan T20I squad: Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Salman Agha (capt), Irfan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyaan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman KhanPakistan ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan (capt), Salman Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Irfan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir.

عدد مارينكو جورينديك المدير الرياضي السابق لفريق أوجسبورج الألماني، مميزات الدنماركي ييس توروب مدرب النادي الأهلي الجديد، الذي كان يقود الفريق الألماني خلال الموسم الماضي.

وقال جورينديك خلال تصريحات لبرنامج “هاتريك” المذاع على قناة “أون سبورت 2”: “توروب مدرب رائع، ويعمل بجد، وعمل لأعوام كثيرة في الدوريات الكبرى، وأيضًا مع أوجسبورج الألماني، فهو فعلاً مدرب يستحق كلمة مدرب أو مدير فني على أعلى مستوى من وجهة نظري”.

وأضاف: “عملت معه وأعرفه منذ 15 عامًا، وعمل ودرب في أقوى الدوريات الخمس الأوروبية، أستطيع القول، أقوى 10 فرق في الدوريات الكبرى، وأعرفه جيدًا، فهو شخصية لديها السلطة القوية الحكيمة في التعامل مع اللاعبين، يتحمل دائمًا المسؤولية، ودائمًا ما ينشر الطاقة الإيجابية مع فريقه ومع العاملين معه، يستطيع العمل على صنع الحماس، ودائمًا يعمل على تحفيز اللاعبين وتقويتهم، ويجعلهم دائمًا جاهزين لأي تحدٍّ”.

طالع | ييس توروب: الخطيب حدثني عن تاريخ الأهلي.. وشعرت بعظمة هذا النادي

وواصل: “هو دائمًا إنسان يسمع، ولديه الكثير من المرونة في التعامل، نستطيع العمل معه بكل حب، فدائمًا ما نجلس سويًا ونستعد دائمًا لأي سوق انتقالات، هذا ما يؤدي دائمًا إلى نجاح الخطة والاستراتيجية التي يضعها النادي وأضعها أنا كمدير رياضي للنادي، فدائمًا ما نساعد بعضنا في تحقيق ذلك بنجاح”.

وأكمل: “في الأيام الأخيرة تواصلت مع توروب، وتحدثنا عن النادي الأهلي، هو يعلم أنه نادٍ كبير جدًا في إفريقيا، ودائمًا ما يسعى إلى تحقيق بطولات، أرى أن شخصية توروب تناسب تمامًا النادي الأهلي، وحكى لي ما حدث وما دار بينه وبين رئيس النادي الأهلي”.

وأتم: “أنا واثق تمامًا فيه، وأعلم جيدًا أنه حضّر نفسه بشكل جيد لهذه المهمة الجديدة، ويعلم تمامًا مدى قوة النادي الأهلي، وأنه نادٍ كبير وعظيم، وهو مستعد لهذه المهمة الجديدة”.

الأهلي كان قد أعلن بشكل رسمي، تعيين المدرب الدنماركي ييس توروب، مديرًا فنيًا للفريق لمدة عامين ونصف.

MatériaMais Notícias

O time feminino do Santos venceu o Real Ariquemes por WO na tarde desta segunda-feira (12), pela última rodada da primeira fase do Brasileirão Feminino. A partida seria realizada no Estádio Aluízio Ferreira, em Rondônia.

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Já rebaixada, a equipe mandante não se apresentou ao campo no prazo estipulado pela CBF. Portanto, as Sereias ficam com os três pontos e 3 a 0 no placar.

As jogadoras do Real Ariquemes se recusaram a subir ao gramado em forma de protesto contra os salários atrasados do elenco. A lateral Gabi Lira concedeu entrevista e reforçou a manifestação.

– Nós estamos com dois meses de salário com atraso. Nossa briga é pela modalidade. Hoje não entramos em campo para que a gente possa deixar, de alguma maneira, um ponto positivo para que as novas gerações possam saber que futebol feminino tem direitos. Não pode mais se brincar com isso – afirmou a atleta, ao SporTV.

O Santos já estava com a vaga ao mata-mata garantida antes mesmo do jogo desta segunda. O time aguarda os confrontos dos rivais para saber quem será seu adversário na próxima fase.

Leeds United head back into Premier League action after the international break, eager to pick up their first win in the challenging division since the opening weekend.

Since that 1-0 success over Everton at Elland Road, Daniel Farke’s Whites have depressingly lost 5-0 away at Arsenal, drawn 0-0 with Newcastle United back on home turf, and have even been dumped out of the EFL Cup by a youthful Sheffield Wednesday.

Standing in their way of a first away win of the season will likely be Harry Wilson, with the deadline day target for the Whites no doubt ready to inflict more pain on Farke and Co. by terrorising the Leeds defence at Craven Cottage later today.

Why Leeds will need to contain Wilson

Despite having a deal in the works on deadline day, a last-gasp change of heart from Fulham would see a late move for the Welshman to swap London for Yorkshire fall through.

Having started Fulham’s last contest against Brighton and Hove Albion before this messy situation unfolded, Wilson might well get the nod to start against Farke’s men, too, with a desire to show Leeds what they heartbreakingly missed out on.

After all, despite all the talk about his future and Wilson’s inability to pick up a goal or assist so far this season, he does have a moment of magic like this flicked finish against Brentford up his sleeve.

In total, for the Cottagers, the ex-Liverpool man has a hefty tally of 25 goals and 38 assists next to his name, with his own personal record against Leeds also making him a worthy candidate to start later today.

From six career clashes against Farke’s men to date, Wilson has two goals and one assist to shout about, with one of those goals even coming about the last time the two teams tussled with each other in Premier League action.

The German will be hopeful that his own set of attackers can rain on the Craven Cottage parade, however, as faces such as Daniel James try to get one over on their former employers.

Leeds are even brewing their own homegrown version of Wilson in the U21 ranks currently, and while the starlet in question won’t be featuring this weekend, he is certainly one to keep an eye on for the future.

Leeds' "very talented" homegrown Wilson

After all, the Premier League newcomers are well-known for their conveyor belt of standout youngsters initially learning the ropes at Thorp Arch, before then exploding into life on the senior scene.

Harry Gray is definitely one who could make waves in the first team picture soon, having just been nominated for Premier League 2 Player of the Month after bagging a blistering four strikes from just three league encounters this season.

Alongside Gray, his fellow attacking teammate for the U21s, Josh McDonald is another name that could soon break into Farke’s first-team plans, having already been branded as “very talented” by Hamilton Academical academy director George Cairns when the teenager was still on the books of the Scottish side.

He has lived up to that high praise in West Yorkshire already, with a whirlwind return of seven goals and six assists for the U18s during his debut season in the youth ranks, bumping him up to the U21 fold.

McDonald’s Leeds record

Position played

Games

Goals + Assists

LW

19

6 + 3

LM

9

1 + 3

RW

4

0 + 1

RM

2

0 + 1

Sourced by Transfermarkt

In time, McDonald might well become Leeds’ very own Wilson to soften the blow of the Welshman staying put at Fulham, with his versatility to play down either wing – as seen in the table above – drawing immediate parallels to the adaptable former Liverpool youth product.

Moreover, with eight goals and eight assists next to his name for Leeds, it’s clear he possesses a similar eye for a goal and an assist to the Cottagers’ number eight, away from being dubbed a “lovely” talent to watch when bursting forward with pace by Whites-based content creator Conor McGilligan.

Leeds will just have to wait and see if their raw Scotsman does go on to have a celebrated career like Wilson, but the early signs are very promising.

Related Leeds brewing biggest homegrown talent since Gray in "exciting" 18-year-old

Leeds could look to bring their next Archie Gray into the first team this season

Posts ByJoe Nuttall Sep 12, 2025

Bumrah is understood to be close to taking the final round of fitness tests at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru

Nagraj Gollapudi04-Apr-2025

Jasprit Bumrah wants to ensure he is totally fit before returning to action•AFP/Getty Images

Jasprit Bumrah will not only miss Friday’s IPL 2025 game for Mumbai Indians (MI) against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) but is also doubtful for MI’s next game, at home against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on April 7.However, ESPNcricinfo has learned that Bumrah, who has been in rehab since January following a stress-related discomfort in his lower back, is getting closer to returning to action. He has been building his bowling workload in recent weeks at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru and is understood to be close to taking the final round of fitness tests. Only after he gets the all-clear from the BCCI medical team can Bumrah link up with MI and play in the IPL.Bumrah, it is understood, has been cautious himself and wants to ensure he is totally fit before returning to action. This is keeping in mind India’s five-Test series in England, starting on June 28.Related

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MI have so far played three games in IPL 2025, winning one and losing two, and have handed debuts to the likes of Satyanarayana Raju, Vignesh Puthur and Ashwani Kumar in Bumrah’s absence, with Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar leading the attack and Hardik Pandya the other seam-bowling option in the line-up.The last update on Bumrah had come on March 19, when MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene had spoken about the “challenge” of being without Bumrah at the start of the season. At the time, it was understood that Bumrah would miss MI’s matches in March but join the squad in April. That has been delayed.Bumrah has played all his IPL cricket for MI, starting in 2013 and picking up 165 wickets in 133 matches over the years. The only IPL season he missed since he started playing was in 2023, when he had a back injury.Ashwani Kumar is among the bowlers who have been handed IPL debuts in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence•AFP/Getty Images

He suffered the latest injury on the second day of the final Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Sydney on January 4. Bumrah was subsequently ruled out of the Champions Trophy, which India won last month. This is the first time Bumrah has gone down with a back injury since his surgery in March 2023.While announcing the Champions Trophy squad in January, Ajit Agarkar, India’s chief selector, had said that Bumrah had been asked by the BCCI medical team to offload for at least five weeks (from the SCG Test). Since the Champions Trophy only started on February 19, Bumrah had been included in India’s provisional squad. He travelled to Bengaluru for fresh scans in early February, but continued to feel discomfort and was not named in the final squad.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Corinthians novamente ficou impedido de registrar reforços ao atrasar uma das parcelas da compra de Fausto Vera ao Argentinos Juniors. O ban impediu o Timão de inscrever Matías Rojas a tempo para o confronto contra o América-MG, na última quarta-feira (5), pelas quartas de final da Copa do Brasil. A informação foi dada pelo ge e confirmada pelo Lance!.

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+ VÍDEO: Luan é agredido por torcedores do Corinthians em motel

Não há confirmação sobre qual parcela foi atrasada, mas a reportagem apurou que a dívida com o clube argentino foi quitada na última sexta-feira (30), antes de abertura da janela de transferências, assim como as pendências com o empresário Eduardo Bou Daye e com o atacante Mauro Boselli.

+ Renove o seu estoque de camisas do Timão com o cupom LANCEFUT 10% OFF

Incomodado com o atraso da diretoria alvinegra em quitar a parcela, o Argentinos Juniors não comunicou à Fifa sobre o envio do dinheiro. Dessa forma, o Corinthians avisou a entidade sobre o pagamento, e o clube aguarda o prazo de cinco dias úteis para ter o ban retirado.

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A tendência é que a Fifa tenha em mãos os recibos dos pagamentos até sexta-feira (7), e o Corinthians espera poder inscrever Rojas no BID da CBF para o jogo deste sábado (8), contra o Atlético-MG, pelo Brasileirão.

+ Timão avança? Veja datas de todos os confrontos das quartas de final da Copa do Brasil

O meia paraguaio teve o seu primeiro contato com a torcida corintiana no domingo (2), quando acompanhou a derrota do Timão para o Bragantino em um dos camarotes da Neo Química Arena. Ele está com a delegação alvinegra desde segunda-feira (3) e viajou com o grupo para Belo Horizonte.

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تحدث الدولي الهولندي فرينكي دي يونج، لاعب خط وسط الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي برشلونة عن إشادة النجم الأرجنتيني ليونيل ميسي به ومدربه الألماني هانز فليك وأزمة تير شتجن.

وأجرى اللاعب البالغ من العمر 28 عامًا مقابلة مع صحيفة “إل باييس” يوم الأربعاء الماضي بعدما جدد عقده مع النادي الكتالوني حتى عام 2029.

راتب دي يونج خلال الفترة المتبقية من الموسم الحالي سيكون حسب العقد القديم، بينما سيبدأ راتبه الجديد بدءً من 1 يوليو القادم أي مع بداية موسم 2026/2027، وستكون قيمة الشرط الجزائي في العقد الجديد 500 مليون يورو بدلًا من الحالي الذي يُقدر بـ400 مليون يورو.

وقال دي يونج، في تصريحات نقلتها صحيفة “موندو ديبورتيفو”: “في أحد الأيام، كنا نتناول وجبة الإفطار وجاء ميسي وقال لي أنت رائع، لكنني لا أريد التحدث كثيرًا عن ذلك لأن ليو لا يحب أن تُنشر محادثاته الخاصة على الملأ”.

وعن أزمة تير شتيجن أكمل: “أحيانًا تتعقد الأمور، لو كنت أؤدي بشكل جيد ولم يختارني المدرب لرحلت بكل تأكيد، أريد أن ألعب كرة القدم”.

وعن عدم تكوين صداقات مع إعلاميين أوضح: “أريد أن أكون منصفًا وأعيش بسلام، لا أريد أن يكون عندي أصدقاء في الصحافة يتحدثون عني بإيجابية ويدافعون عني دائمًا، إذا لعبت بشكل سيء فليقولوا ذلك وإذا لعبت بشكل جيد فليقولوا ذلك أيضًا”.

اقرأ أيضًا | تشكيل برشلونة المتوقع أمام جيرونا اليوم في الدوري الإسباني

وأضاف: “صحيح أن العديد من زملائي والمدربين الذين تدربت معهم في الفريق قالوا دائمًا إنني أكثر لاعب لا يأخذ حقه من التقدير”.

أما عن أسلوب لعبه كشف: “أعتقد أنه من الصعب تقييم أدائي لأنني لا أسجل الكثير من الأهداف أو أقدم الكثير من التمريرات الحاسمة، هذه الأيام الناس تركز كثيرًا على الإحصائيات، كما أنني أمتلك الكرة كثيرًا، أحيانًا أحتفظ بها لفترة أطول من اللاعبين الآخرين، لا ألعب دائمًا بلمسة واحدة أو لمستين، أحيانًا أفعل ذلك لكن الأمر يعتمد على اللحظة التي تكون الكرة معي فيها”.

وعن افتقار برشلونة لقائد أوضح: “يخلط الناس بين القائد والشخص الذي يصرخ كثيرًا أو يغضب أو الذي يوبخ زملائه في حال حدوث أي شيء لكنني أعتقد أن الأشخاص أصحاب الشخصية القوية هم أولئك الذين يتمسكون بـ قيمهم، أشخاص صادقون يساعدون زملائهم، لست بحاجة إلى الصراخ من أجل القيادة، إذا صرخت كثيرًا سيتوقف الآخرون عن الاستماع، يكمن الذكاء الحقيقي في معرفة كيفية التحدث في الوقت المناسب”.

وعن هانز فليك: “يتمتع بشخصية قوية، لديه أفكار واضحة للغاية وهو شخص ودود ولطيف ولكن عليك أن تفعل ما عليك وإن لم تفعل فلن تلعب”.

واستطرد: “تكتيكيًا، علينا أن ننفذ أفكاره لأنه يمتلك أفكارًا واضحة للغاية وهذا أسلوبنا ولكن لدينا حرية داخل النظام لإظهار مهاراتنا، هناك حرية ولكن هناك أيضًا نظام تكتيكي”.

وأتم: “لهذا السبب أعتقد أن الكثيرين يقولون إن برشلونة فريق ممتع للغاية، كل لاعب لديه فرصة للتعبير عن نفسه على أرض الملعب”.

MatériaMais Notícias

A janela de transferências está aberta e o São Paulo está atento ao mercado, tanto para chegadas, quanto para saídas de jogadores. Com orçamento apertado e uma dívida alta para pagar, a diretoria sabe que tem poucos recursos em busca de contratações, mas tem um objetivo claro: manter o elenco para o restante da temporada.

Para os tricolores paulistas apaixonados: produtos a partir de R$39,90 na FutFanatics!

Esse já foi um pedido do técnico Dorival Júnior em pelo menos duas ocasiões. Em entrevista ao canal Camisa 21, o diretor de futebol do São Paulo, Carlos Belmonte, admitiu que o clube tem como prioridade a manutenção de peças importantes, como o zagueiro Beraldo e o volante Pablo Maia, dois jogadores mais cotados para receberem ofertas do exterior.

– Eu sempre tento ser o tempo inteiro mais autêntico. O São Paulo tem ainda muita dificuldade no ponto de vista financeiro e estamos numa recuperação que eu acredito que seja importante. Estamos preocupados nesse momento na manutenção do nosso elenco. Estamos mais preocupados na janela de saída do que de chegada. O Pablo tem feito um campeonato espetacular, que marca muito e finaliza forte. A nossa intenção é manter o Pablo ao menos até essa temporada. Não posso cravar que o Pablo não saia nesta janela, pode chegar uma proposta muito acima do que a gente tem como expectativa. Mas eu e o Casares não pensamos em vender ele nesta janela – disse Belmonte.

+ São Paulo perto do G6! Veja tabela e simule os jogos do Brasileirão

O São Paulo tem alguns alvos no mercado da bola, como o atacante Erick e o meia Zalazar. Porém, com a crise financeira instaurada pelos lados do Morumbi, Belmonte prega cautela, principalmente com novos reforços, até pelas questões de atrasos nos direitos de imagem, como de Reinaldo e Volpi.

– As chegadas estamos analisando como sempre analisamos como oportunidades de mercado. Temos hoje uma máxima a questão de imagens atrasadas, vamos fazer o pagamento um pouco mais para frente. Nossos atletas merecem isso pela dedicação que têm. Não somos cobrados em nenhum momento pelos atletas. Com tudo acertado, podemos pensar em reforços ainda dentro da janela. Estamos atentos, olhando, mas esse momento, de verdade, não temos nenhum nome para chegar. O fundamental para o São Paulo hoje é buscar a manutenção do elenco, acertar o que temos de atraso e ir em frente. Estamos satisfeitos com o elenco – finalizou Belmonte.

Could we be looking at the shortest permanent managerial tenure at Ibrox in Glasgow Rangers’ 153-year history?

Not including caretakers, Pedro Caixinha is the shortest-serving Rangers manager of all-time, for now, overseeing 26 matches in 2017, but could Russell Martin smash that record?

Well, things have not gone very well for Martin in his 11 matches in charge of the Gers, ignominiously dumped out of Champions League qualifying by Club Brugge, demolished 9-1 on aggregate, while he is yet to win a Premiership fixture, drawing all four so far.

Martin’s 26th match would be a Europa League home game against Braga on 27 November, but many are forecasting he’ll be long gone by then, so could 49ers Enterprises turn to an experienced Premier League manager instead?

What is going wrong for Martin at Rangers?

Back on 23 February, Philippe Clement was sacked, following a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of St Mirren.

Manager Focus

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Barry Ferguson took caretaker charge for the remainder of last season, actually producing some exceptional results, during which time 49ers Enterprises completed their takeover of the club.

Thus, after a thorough recruitment process, Martin was appointed 102 days on from Clement’s dismissal and, well, supporters were pretty underwhelmed.

Speaking on the Guardian Football Weekly podcast, Ewan Murray asserted that never before has a managerial appointment been so instantaneously “doomed” from day one as this, noting that Rangers fans never wanted Martin in the first place, and he has certainly not won them over.

The Gers have failed to win any of their first four league outings for the first time since 1983, going on to finish fourth back then, lucky to salvage draws at St Mirren and Motherwell, outplayed by both for long periods.

Also, the aforementioned 9-1 annihilation at the hands of Club Brugge is the Light Blues’ heaviest aggregate European defeat since a 12-4 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt in the European Cup semi-finals 65 years ago.

After the international break, Rangers welcome both Hearts and then Hibs to Ibrox, the latter a League Cup quarter-final, before commencing their Europa League campaign against Genk in Govan, but, should results continue to deteriorate and Martin’s position become untenable, who should the 49ers turn to?

Rangers' ideal Russell Martin replacement

When looking at the current out-of-work managers, some names immediately leap off the page.

José Mourinho, Erik ten Hag, Marco Rose, Sérgio Conceição, Steven Gerrard, even Ange Postecoglou (could you imagine?), but surely the most sensible appointment for Rangers, given their current predicament, would be Sean Dyche.

The 54-year-old was sacked by Everton in January, but undeniably did a good job on Merseyside, keeping the Toffees in the Premier League during a period of austerity at Goodison, with the Blues finishing 17th and then 15th with a very poor squad.

Dyche is most well known for his decade as Burnley boss before that, taking charge of 425 games, the third most of any manager in Clarets’ history, behind only Harry Potts (1958-70) and John Haworth (1910-24).

Under Dyche, Burnley twice won promotion from the EFL Championship, enjoying six successive seasons in the Premier League, their longest continuous period in the top division since the early-70s, most notably finishing seventh in 2018, thereby qualifying for Europe for the first time since 1966.

The Clarets were known for being defensively organised and tough to beat, with Dyche getting the best out of his players, elevating them to become better than they ever believed possible. He did so on a shoestring budget too, much like current Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers did with Swansea City.

Well, these are all qualities one cannot say about the current Rangers team, who are all over the place at the back, with Max Aarons and Nasser Djiga’s red cards against Brugge and Dundee respectively epitomising this chaotic approach.

Dyche’s Premier League record, when compared to Martin’s, tells the story.

Dyche vs Martin PL record

Statistics

Dyche

Martin

Matches

332

16

Wins

93

1

Win %

28%

6.25%

Goals scored

323

11

Goals per game

0.97

0.69

Goals conceded

467

36

Conceded per game

1.41

2.25

Points

370

5

Points-per-game

1.11

0.31

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt

As the table documents, Dyche is exponentially more experienced than Martin at Premier League level so, while the latter does only offer a small sample size, the way his Southampton team were going, they would’ve conceded 747 goals had he reached 332 matches; that’s 280 more than Dyche.

The main issue for Rangers right now is that, frankly, they have a poor squad, but even their competent players like John Souttar, who was excellent for Scotland in Denmark on Friday night, are not suited to Martin’s style of play.

Thus, what the Gers need right now is a pragmatist, not a dogmatic idealist who sticks to their principles at all costs.

So, if the Light Blues are going to fight for silverware domestically and make a deep run in the Europa League, they need a manager who can get the best out of players, and Dyche appears perfectly suited to that role.

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Posts ByDan Emery Sep 6, 2025

Sanjay Bangar, however, feels all pitches must adhere to broad guidelines, with local characteristics bringing in natural variety

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-20259:28

Chopra: Teams should dictate nature of pitches at home

Should IPL teams be able to tailor conditions at their home grounds to suit their playing styles? And if so, how much home advantage is too much?These have been major talking points over the early weeks of IPL 2025. Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Chandrakant Pandit has said his team has little or no say in pitch preparation at Eden Gardens. Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming has dismissed the idea that his team enjoys significant home advantage at Chepauk, and said they’ve struggled to read their home pitches in recent years. And after his team’s defeat to Punjab Kings, Lucknow Super Giants mentor Zaheer Khan suggested that the Ekana pitch looked like it had been prepared by the opposition team’s curator.Former India opener Aakash Chopra has a clear stance on the issue: allow teams to dictate conditions at their home venues.Related

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“I feel every home team should have the right to decide the kind of surface that they want,” Chopra said on ESPNcricinfo’s IPL show, Time Out. “They should demand the surface, and they should get it, is what I feel, because home advantage is real, and that comes in only two forms: one is the surface that you choose and the second is the crowd support that is there. Other than that it’s an away game.”The paramount thing is the surface they are going to play on – crowd might still be secondary. If you take away the pitch, I think whole plans completely derail.”The issue of home advantage in the IPL is complicated by the fact that three teams play some of their games at a second “home” ground – Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam, Punjab Kings in Dharamsala, and Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati.”From time to time I actually scratch my head [about this], and I still haven’t found an answer […] because you don’t pick a team based on how the pitch is going to be in Guwahati or in Dharamsala. You pick a [Royals] team [on the basis of], okay, I’m going to play seven games at Sawai Mansingh Stadium [in Jaipur], ideally,” Chopra said. “Or Chennai will pick a team that is ideal for Chepauk for those seven games. And if you deny them that opportunity to play the right kind of team that you picked thinking, that this is the kind of surface that we want, if you don’t get that surface, then it just doesn’t work out. So in my opinion, every team should actually be allowed to dictate the way the pitches are to be made.”Delhi Capitals are one of three teams who play some of their IPL games at a second ‘home’ venue•BCCI

Bangar: ‘You do not want the game to be too lopsided’On the same show, former India allrounder Sanjay Bangar, who has also been head coach at Punjab Kings (2014-16) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (2021-23) expressed a different view, that there be certain broad guidelines that all pitches must adhere to, with local characteristics of various venues bringing in natural variety.”I think still BCCI would like to have a little bit of control over it, and maintain the characteristics of a particular surface,” Bangar said. “If you totally give it to the hands of the franchise, you do not really want the game to be too lopsided as well, so I’m of the opinion [of having] a little bit of uniformity wherein not having too much of a say for the home side, still there is enough variety in terms of the vast nature of our country wherein cricket is played all across the nation, in itself has variations in terms of red soil, black soil and all of that. I’m of the opinion that a little bit of direction or guideline is always better.”Bangar suggested that it might be more difficult for teams to create pitches with a range of characteristics at smaller grounds such as the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, where only the two most central pitches on the square are used for IPL matches. Grounds with bigger square boundaries can play their IPL games on a greater number of pitches.”In RCB, Chinnaswamy, there are only two pitches on which you can play games, because of the size of the ground,” Bangar said. “And generally, you can’t have a lot of variation [between] those two surfaces, because it is practically impossible to do that.”With this in mind, Bangar felt the best way for teams to make use of home advantage would be to use their knowledge of home conditions while building their squads during the retention and auction stages.”You can clearly build a team taking into account the past knowledge and past experience of what has happened on that particular venue, and pick a team,” he said. “But if you pick a team and then ask the groundsman [for a particular kind of pitch], then I don’t think that will go down well with the system.”It’s harder for curators to prepare pitches to order at smaller venues like the Chinnaswamy•BCCI

‘I’m not asking you to remove chicken from butter chicken’Chopra remained firm in advocating for teams to ask curators for specific pitch characteristics, and felt there were enough checks and balances within the IPL to prevent home advantage from going too far.”There is a match referee in the end, if you think the pitch is not suitable for cricket,” he said. “[If] it’s a rank turner because they have Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy and Anukul Roy [all three are KKR spin bowlers] and they are going to now make a pitch that is unplayable because it’s turning so much, there is a match referee, just pull them up. There is a fair play award for all we care.”You should have something to actually ensure that you’re not compromising the sanctity of the game. If it is not going that far, please allow [teams to dictate pitch preparation].”Chopra used a culinary metaphor to illustrate the limits of this.”I’m not asking you to remove chicken from butter chicken,” he said. “I’m not saying that. I’m saying, okay, can we just make it slightly milder? Can we make it slightly less oily?”What ownership do IPL teams have over their home grounds, though? The BCCI’s member state associations own and administer the grounds, and are the employers of the groundstaff.”The thing is, the franchise pays a particular fee to the venue,” Bangar said. “They do not own the ground, they do not pay the curators. I think there would be a time and place [in the future] where the franchise may have their own grounds, may have their own groundstaff, and then they can [make pitches to] order. At the moment, they’re just living on rent, so to say. So when you live on rent, you can’t totally make a lot of changes.”