I don’t know about the rest of the crowd but I feel that Bob is an extremely over rated coach.
The team has not improved much under him and all the use of technology has amounted to a zero. Let me elaborate. Recently I read the article in which S. Rajesh has shown Naved to be extremely effective towards the death of an innings during one days.
http://content-eap.cricinfo.com/columns/content/story/281283.html
I was impressed with the analysis and was wondering howcome Bob never figured this one out.
Rana is also amongst one of the worst early bowlers yet he was persisted with throughout the SA series.
There seems to be no strategy and no game plan. It seems as if Bob has just given up and is waiting for his contract to finish so he can close shop and move on. I don’t see any professionalism in this sort of an attitude. If he felt that the team was not listening to him he should have resigned, but rather he is sticking around to make his money. So clearly his loyatly is with the green back rather than the green shirts
I for one would be happy to see him go along with the good for nothing hangers he brought
Also the team needs a good shove up their behinds to act like professionals. As long as we have a lethargic captain (who himself does not show up for training) don’t expect the players to be any different
Re: Bob the over rated coach
He is a good coach if not the best. Similarly Rana is a good bowler if not the best. However bowlers like Akhter, pollock and Lee fall in another category and class. A couple of years back Rana delivered his best in India and he was named the man of the series.
Players miss their form but they can get it back if they get enough oppurtunities.
As for india they were doing great before they changed their coach (who was believed to be the best in business that time) and similarly Pathan has not delivered the form and quality he delivered in Pak a few years back. But India and Pathan can get back as well.
Re: Bob the over rated coach
Yes Bob is over-rated as his away record of 4 wins & 10 losses proves. That ratio drops to 2-9 if you exclude sub-continental away series.
Can't honestly say the fielding has improved plus the all-important opening dilemma remains unresolved.
Re: Bob the over rated coach
Bob Woolmer will be gone and history after the World cup. He will be replaced by a desi coach and will see if the team improves.
Re: Bob the over rated coach
he is a great coach if we have a good captain who is willing to take risk and try new players, just because he gets along well with the captain and has a very passive role in decision making. Unfortunatelky with Inzi incharge he has been totally useless and hasn't contributed in any department of the game but has managed to keep his job. I think players have a big communication problem with him, his days are numbered after the world cup fiasco
Re: Bob the over rated coach
There are flaws in Woolmer, no denying that, but he is not bad either. You guys have to take into account that he is working with Inzamam who is not a best and able leader himself, in fact he was put in captaincy shoes without him asking for it so Woolmer had very challenging chemistry to deal with which I believe he pulled off nicely.
Re: Bob the over rated coach
I dont know if Bob is over rated but i do know that the expectations of the people from Bob are EXTEREMLY unrealistic.
Re: Bob the over rated coach
The fact of the matter is that it is not enough to appoint a well-regarded GORA as the coach of a DESI team. You also have to give him the freedom to operate and to make tough (possibly unpopular) decisions, if necessary. Look at what is happening to Chappel. Gangu clearly needed to be kicked out of the team(due to total lack of performance for 2 years) during the famous Gangu-Chappel episode...but the media/ex-players/public went after Chappel. Similarly, I am sure Woolmer finds it very difficult to do things his way without inviting all sorts of attacks from various quarters (most notorious are the desi ex-players who have their own axe to grind).
To summarize, one should not expect radically positive results by planting a GORA coach in the same old CHAOTIC DESI setup.
As for John Wright - I don't believe he was an extra-ordinary coach. He just happened to be at the right place at the right time - i.e. when the Indian batting line-up was solild and delivering. Also, since he was not very assertive, he did not court as much controversy as Chappel - but that is not necessarily a good thing.
Re: Bob the over rated coach
hes the best coach I've seen for Pakistan. which doesnt mean hes miles ahead but he is definitely savvier and progressive than his predecessors.
Re: Bob the over rated coach
KARACHI, Feb 25: Former Pakistan skippers Imran Khan and Zaheer Abbas have lashed out at Bob Woolmer for his utter failure in devising a winning strategy for the Pakistan team during his tenure as coach.
Giving their candid opinions during a television show ‘Sach To Yeh Hai’ on Sunday, the two players insisted that former England batsman has neither been able to improve the techniques of Pakistan batsman nor has he given a match-winning strategy to skipper Inzamam, which has hurt the home side on challenging overseas tours of England and South Africa.
“I was the manager of the Pakistan team on the tour to England last year and was thoroughly disappointed by the laid back, unimpressive coaching style of Woolmer,” said Zaheer, known as the Asian Bradman for his prolific scoring during the ‘70s and the ‘80s.
“I think any local coach can do a better, more dedicated job than him because he has nothing new to tell our boys, neither does he have any control over the players.”
Zaheer recalled how he had taken the initiative to give some batting tips to the struggling Pakistan openers in England but was discouraged by the attitude of both Inzamam and Woolmer who, apparently, felt uncomfortable by his sincere move. “I was clearly made to feel like an outsider by them as they went around making sarcastic remarks about me exceeding my powers as manager,” said Zaheer bitterly. “But the fact of the matter is that all I was trying to do was to help our players because Mr Woolmer was making no effort to boost the sinking morale of the side.”
Endorsing his former colleague’s point of view, Imran said it was beyond his comprehension why the Pakistan Cricket Board was paying over 10 million rupees to Woolmer annually for merely arranging fielding sessions and giving a few pep talk sessions to the players. “Is there any special service that he is providing to our players for that kind of money?” asked Imran. “If on the eve of the World Cup, the coach is saying that Pakistan batsmen lack mental toughness, he should be taken to task for it because that was just the thing he was employed to do. And even if you talk about fielding, the falling standards are for everyone to see.”
National selector Ehteshamuddin, one of the two other participants in the discussion alongwith former PCB chief Tauqir Zia, said Inzamam was not a natural leader of men and should have got more strategic support from others which, unfortunately, was not seen on the tours. “We also realise that Inzamam is no wizard when it comes to captaincy but if he had some able advisors in the ranks, things would have been different today,” said the former pacer.
He laid the blame squarely on Inzamam for the rank bad decision of calling over an unfit Shabbir Ahmed to South Africa. “The selectors had clearly informed Inzi about Shabbir’s inability to sustain the five-day contest but he still insisted upon the lanky pacer’s availability in SA and we had no choice but to comply,” said Ehtesham.
Defending Danish Kaneria’s omission from the one-day series in South Africa, Ehtesham said the leg-spinner was really tiring after a gruelling Test series and the selectors decided to give him some rest before the mega event. “He had carried the brunt of bowling alongwith Asif during the Tests and we decided to call him back to give him some rest before the World Cup.”
Imran, however, dismissing the argument, asked Ehtesham if Inzamam had any faith in his best leg-spinner to take wickets in the limited overs medium. “I don’t buy this argument of Kaneria being too tired. The poor chap is himself pleading his case that he can do as well in the ODIs as in the Test matches if given the chance but sadly no one is backing the lad,” said Imran.
Ehtesham later conceded that it took a lot of convincing from the selectors before Inzamam agreed to include Kaneria in the Cup squad.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/02/26/spt2.htm
Re: Bob the over rated coach
wow that is some article^
if thats the case, i think pakistan need a new coach and new captain after WC
personally before i read that article, i thought woolmer was a good coach, and pakistan were doing pretty good a year or 2 back, but the amount of controversies they have gone thro in the last yr has become a lot to take for them and they havent been able to recover
Re: Bob the over rated coach
^ Yes his away record as coach (4 wins and 10 losses) is anything but flattering
Re: Bob the over rated coach
And the knives are out, Inzi+Bob better come up with some sort of miracle otherwise its cutains for both of them.
I have lost all respect for Woolmer now, he was supposed to be the professional with integrity, but sadly that is not the case.
As for Inzimam, well what can one say, the guy does not have the brains to be even a captain and here he was Chairman, chief selector, jury and captain. Either he had to be brilliant or he has been setup big time.
Re: Bob the over rated coach
To summarize, one should not expect radically positive results by planting a GORA coach in the same old CHAOTIC DESI setup.
As for John Wright - I don't believe he was an extra-ordinary coach. He just happened to be at the right place at the right time - i.e. when the Indian batting line-up was solild and delivering. Also, since he was not very assertive, he did not court as much controversy as Chappel - but that is not necessarily a good thing.
John Wright build the team without dividing it. Chappel sailed a perfectly flowing ship. What did Chappel discover for India, going back to Gangully, sticking to Sachin, keeping same old side. What is the discovery of Chappel for Indian team? If they were leaving John Wright for so long with same team, he could have guided it under the leadership of Gangully to mich higher hieghts. As a captain it is not just about scoring runs rather leadership need more than that. If taking wickets, scoring runs and stoping boundries were the leadership then Lillee, Javed Miandad and Jonty Rode should have been captain of Australia, Pakistan and SA for the longest period of time.
Leadership is more than just performance as player, that is why Imran was better captain than Javed, Gangully was better than Sachin and Hasnie Cronie was better than Rode. Gangully was the most successful captain of India because he stand up for his players. Some senior players may not liked him because he stand up for youngsters like Imran.
Now if we get back to Woolmer, then there is no doubt we have to agree with the fact that he didnt do anything for Pakistan cricket. If people argue that he doesnt have an able leader in Inzi on his disposal, then why he is compromising with Inzi for his survival, rather he should have demanded a different Captain and kept his reputation and integrity, but NO! he would rather cash his pay check, enjoy some delicious meals, let waste a talented pool of players.
Whole world acknowledge the talent on Pakistan disposal, but a coach who is there to polish, stabalize and refine this talent, is not getting anything out of it, rather after years and years of association with the team is coming out with the verdict that players need mental stability? why didnt you knew this few years ago, and why didnt you improve this weakness if you knew it. Similarly, as a coach you should know your team strengths and weaknesses, and best utilize the strength of the team and help remove the weaknesses. He got a battallion of aide on his disposal, but he didn't plan anything to avoid injuries to the players, he didnt preserve his player for such an important event.
Overall, I think he is a nice man and every Pakistani will be happy to invite him on a meal, but as Coach, he is useless atleast in case of Pakistani team.