Book by Gibbs exposes dark side of South African cricket: Read more

[vaibhav_delhi]

Great post nirvanam

[achilles]

Nah...I think it had lot more to do with Greg Chappell's inability to learn to be a good leader than anything else. All of us, in our professions have seen Leaders, Managers, and we ourselves have been Managers and Leaders of teams...what is the first thing we do when we have a totally new team? We listen...we "pace" with them...walk at their pace, understand what ticks and what doesn't for each individual. Its only when we earn the respect and trust of the team that we change the "pace" to suit our style...because then the team learns to walk at the Leader's pace. Chappell did not have this basic leadership quality in him...he thought he was some great military General and he could order the folks around...sorry Guru Greg it dunn work like that especially when u are working with a culture that is different from yours....a good leader always listens and learns the ways of the new culture before demanding others follow his culture, his methods. Greg Chappell was useless as a Leader...big mouths are not great leaders. A leader is one in which the individuals of a team put their faith in and trust him to share their inhibitions, apprehensions, insecurities in the hope that the Leader will help them and while doing so, he maintains the integrity of the relationship. Chappell screwed it up badly...he was untrustworthy and he destroyed Indian cricket. He took a team that was well and truly ready to take over from Australia back in 2005 itself and turned them into a complete nonsensical shambles. The moment his influence and auric energy left the dressing room, the Indian team transformed...we won in England, won the World Cup, beat Pak, came close to winning in Aus, beat them in the ODI series, and basically other than the SL series in 2008 are yet to taste any major defeat. Chappell identified Raina as a talent, fair. However he screwed up a very serious talent like Irfan, almost finished off Viru, and by the time he was done he made Rahul unsure of himself and his own abilities. Greg Chappell was not interested in India becoming better, he was more bothered about whether his ideas will be implemented or not. He was least concerned about the effectiveness of his methods...even a simple Entry Level Engineer / Professional understands how Team work can be fostered...this guy was divisive. He was more interested in the massaging of his ego via the implementation of his recommendations than taking the team to the next level. Seriously, ask yourselves this question: you have a team of hardened professionals, all raring to climb the next mountain with the enthusiasm of teenagers and possessing the talent of the very best plus being blessed with the experience of climbing such mountains. This bunch of people have been grooming newcomers in their own ways and forming an extremely strong team bond and all of them in unison tell their Guru, "we are ready for the last 500 meters of Mt.Everest left for us to reach the top". The Guru then tells them "No, let us abort the mission, let us all go down to the first base camp of the mountain and start building a new conquest so that we can make it to the top in the next 4 years." Then the seniors in the group question, "But Guru we are almost there...its right in our sight...just 500 mts, we have come so far with all the pain and sacrifices and single minded dedication. We have carried our new boys along with us and now they are carrying us. Pls its just 500 mts, with one push we will make it. Once we get there, we can start building for a different team to scale the top. We have come so far...let's not waste the last 6 years of effort" The Guru says "Shut Up you selfish idiots! You fools, can't you see it is this aspect of your culture of unnecessary reverence to your seniors and their ambitions that is dragging you down? Follow my mantra and you will succeed else I will reveal all your insecurities to the media." What's the best thing that can happen in such a situation for all involved, including the Guru? Part ways. And Indian cricket saw an almost instantaneous revival.

Superb post. I think it was a clash of cultures. I believe that Greg is a better coach than Gary, although Gary is a better Manager than Greg. History has constantly told us that a Strong personality being the coach has never helped any Subcontinent team. Our players and their inflated egos of passing off on something because they are seniors doesn't go down well with people before whom, everyone is equal, be it the senior or junior player. I think we would've done better under Greg's stint had the seniors not divided the team into 2 camps to arm-twist him into doing things that suited them. And had Greg walked the extra-mile to try and talk it out with the seniors.

[Zero_Unit]

ahh Gibbs, trying to sell off his team mates for a few extra $$$ ... sad really. I bet this is a man with no real friends...

[sangrock]

Superb post. I think it was a clash of cultures. I believe that Greg is a better coach than Gary, although Gary is a better Manager than Greg. History has constantly told us that a Strong personality being the coach has never helped any Subcontinent team. Our players and their inflated egos of passing off on something because they are seniors doesn't go down well with people before whom, everyone is equal, be it the senior or junior player. I think we would've done better under Greg's stint had the seniors not divided the team into 2 camps to arm-twist him into doing things that suited them. And had Greg walked the extra-mile to try and talk it out with the seniors.

There is the difference between cricket and football,soccer! The manager/coach as much smaller role and the captain has a much bigger role in cricket than in football and soccer - And the power control should also be in balance to decision making. So, Guru Greg was stupid to impose himself! I think he wanted to hog the glory of a team's win which usually goes to the captain (rightly too - as he faces the instantaneous decision pressure).

[mastana]

No regrets for calling Pak fans 'bunch of animals': Gibbs

Out-of-favour veteran South Africa opener Herschelle Gibbs has no regrets about the "bunch of animals" remark directed towards the Pakistani fans during a Test at Centurion in 2007 but said by no means he was a racist. In his recently published controversial autobiography, 'To The Point', Gibbs wrote that the entire South African team was "irritated" by the unruly behaviour of the Pakistani supporters during that match. "I think it was a tactic aimed at getting me out of the team rather than them being mortally offended by the 'racial' slur. It was a gambit to disrupt the Proteas more than anything else," he wrote. "They made a huge noise and even kicked Rashard, my son, and his mom, Liesl, out of their seats when they took over the area next to the pitch entrance that leads up to the changing room. "All of us Proteas were getting pretty irritated and unfortunately the stump microphones picked up our displeasure. I was standing at gully, Graeme Smith was at slip and we were both looking at these morons. We agreed that a little verbal retaliation as in order. 'Stop acting like a bunch of ****ing animals!' I said. I can't remember what Graeme said," the 36-year-old right-handed batsman wrote.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/No-regrets-for-calling-Pak-fans---bunch-of-animals----Gibbs/707005 Good one Gibbs. :two_thumbs_up: I think they are the worst fans.

[ZodiaC]

MashaAllah :woot:

[Feed]

Taste of own medicine for Gibbs South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs, whose autobiography 'To the Point' has irked fellow players and administrators, is about to get a taste of his own medicine when a book by former Proteas coach Mickey Arthur hits the stores on Monday. More...

[Sir john]

micky :finger: micky worst coach than guru greg.

[achilles]

^ SJ, he's one of the best coaches to grace the game.