Just remember Sky have their own agenda - they need to sell subscriptions to watch World T20 and English summer games once football is over without England's top player. That's why Charles Colville and Bob Willis are very one-eyed. No coincidence they're showing KP's greatest innings and then a very biased slant on KP's sacking with Charles, Bob, one of cricket's journalists form a sensationalist tabloid with the largest reader base and a few words from Harmy, who actually did pretty well.
It's a real shame that KP's gone - my overriding feeling is sadness and it's very well saying "he's our best player," "manage him better" etc. The issues are trust. We will all have experiences of playing with, managing talents who may well be idiots of the highest order, but they are tolerated because of their talent. But what if that talent starts undermining you as a manager? What if they're in the ears of the players, especially the younger ones, saying how poor you are at your job and you don't know what you're doing? What if those players then start 'acting up' and performance levels drop and you see that star players' influence spreading? You can cite, for example, Sheringham and Cole not getting on at Man Utd. But they only had to tolerate each other for a few hours each day and, at most a couple of nights on a away European game. Kp is in that camp for 3-4 months. You can magnify his influence significantly.
Cook has gone down in my estimation around this. He's quick to take the plaudits in 2012 when he reintegrates KP back into the side, but has gone silent (publicly at least) on this now he's seemingly had a big say. One thing is certain though. He'll learn from it. He knows he didn't learn, on and off the pitch, in Oz and it's a major mistake not seeking the advice of Strauss/Vaughan/Hussain. He should and I hope he does. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't drop Strauss a line, if he hasn't already. I agree he was managed better by Vaughan and Strauss, who were more experienced and stronger personalities than Cook, who has to learn quickly. He's been undermined and he needs to show he's a strong leader capable of doing the job.
Overall I'm disappointed KP isn't playing for England any more. I think it could've been handled better, by all parties (having Piers Morgan as his Rottweiler is a massive mistake and he needs to muzzle that dog - the ECB shouldn't have even acknowledged his input), but I can totally understand why England have binned him. You have to have the same rules for all players.
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Topic: Is that the end of KP? (Read 22036 times)