With his name in the mix for a Premier League job Ange Postecoglou is helping change attitudes to coaches with backgrounds outside EuropeCeltic manager Ange Postecoglou has been mentioned of late as a “surprise candidate” for the vacant Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur jobs. The surprise should be that such links have not materialised sooner, but it is hard to battle the assumption that the best coaches are European or South American. Arsène Wenger came from Japan to take over Arsenal and had a huge influence on English football. Postecoglou, who unlike the Frenchman won the Japanese title, could also be a game changer internationally if he heads to the Premier League and succeeds.There is no reason why he would not,...
England’s game-changing play 70 years ago was nothing like Bazball, but it regained the Ashes in a summer of royal pompAre you excited for the biggest royal event since the last one? Have you downloaded your official quiche recipe and your print-at-home bunting? The Spin may not be about to stand in the street shouting oaths of allegiance to a new king, but that’s because The Spin was taught not to stand in the street swearing at anyone. And be you a coronation watcher or dodger, it’s impossible to ignore the prime cricketing omens embedded in this weekend’s celebrations.The last summer a monarch was crowned, England won back the Ashes by playing an entirely new brand of cricket. Admittedly, the...
By picking the company man backed by the outgoing Gillon McLachlan the league knows exactly what it’s gettingThe AFL cast their net around the world. They spent more than a million dollars on the search. It dragged on for nearly 12 months. For a while, it looked as though the league was about to appoint its first female chief executive. But in the end, they went for the man in the office next door. They opted for the company man, the safe pair of hands.For many, the appointment of Andrew Dillon as the CEO of the AFL is the epitome of the boys’ club. He ticks a lot of boxes – six premierships at Old Xaverians in the amateurs, and...
In Sunday’s come-from-behind win over Adelaide, Craig McRae’s team continued to take risks but their success is not all voodooThis week’s column was supposed to be about Richmond. It was supposed to be about their truly ghastly game at Marvel Stadium, a ground they hate, against the sort of team they would have rolled over with absolute contempt a few years ago. It was supposed to be a look at time’s assault on champion players, and on champion teams.And then Collingwood happened. You’re probably sick of me writing about them. I’m sick of it myself. It’s becoming ridiculous. “Every week is a new adventure,” Craig McRae said a few weeks ago. And every week, they outdo themselves. They’re the team...
Eleven of the 12 Commonwealth champions make the cut with coach Stacey Marinkovich confident despite absence of star shooter Gretel Bueta“Better the gold medallist you know” appears to be the motto adopted by Australian Diamonds’ coach Stacey Marinkovich after she named a surprise-free, 19-player squad for the World Cup.Despite calls from some quarters to add and adjust, Marinkovich and selectors Anne Sargeant and Michelle Wilkins resisted the temptation to tinker and named 11 of the 12 players from last year’s triumphant Commonwealth Games campaign – minus the pregnant Gretel Bueta – and added seven existing squad members. Continue reading...