How important are the coaches?

[Pratters]

Srikkanth and Ian Chappell are of the view the coaches can only do a bit. They are hyped too much.

For example India was losing, people were wondering regarding Chappell's coaching calibre when he first became coach.

Now every one is saying he is a great coach and he is such an important part of the resurgence.

The point of this view of thought is ultimately its the players who have to play in the field and perform. The coaches are good for the game but hyped TOO much.

The other view is to give coaches more power - Sportstar wondered whether the coaches would turn into football style managers!

How important are coaches and what is their importance and what is their percieved importance which is just a figment of our imagination?

Thoughts.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Coaches are there to "carry the horse to water". The rest writes itself.

 

[luckyeddie]

Coaches are there to "carry the horse to water". The rest writes itself.

Very well put.

Mind you, in your position, you can hardly say anything else, I suppose.

Another thing you can say about coaches is that they need the raw material in the first place - you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

I coached kids a few years ago in another sport, and one or two who put the work in made it to the very top. Not many (two, actually, but they are both international regulars), but it was a darned sight higher figure than those who just felt that their talent was enough. They fell by the wayside soon enough. My job was to influence, encourage and facilitate, but the final decisions lay with the kids themselves.

 

[howardj]

Coaches are there to "carry the horse to water". The rest writes itself.

Or, in the case of a few countries, lead their horses to the mirage in the desert, where upon they drink sand.

 

[marc71178]

Actually, Duncan brings them off for water, not leads them to it.

 

[Slow Love™]

Are we just talking about the international coaches, ie Chappell, Buchanan, Woolmer, etc?

I guess the answer varies. In the case of a young team (particularly a young captain), I think they can be extremely valuable. They can also carry a bunch of non match-day responsibilities that allow a captain to focus mainly on match-day responsibilities (as well as media commitments, which can't be avoided).

I guess the more successful and talented a side, the less important they become. So, while I don't think there's any denying that Bob Simpson for example had a huge effect on the Aussies in the 80's, I would question the impact John Buchanan has made on the Aussies who were already world-beaters when he took the job. It's possible that Greg Chappell (my criticisms of his handling of the Ganguly affair aside) may well get something out of the Indian team that sets them on the road to greater success. As with everything, it's a mesh of man-handling/political skills and the ability to get the best out of your players, as they come to you.

Their importance pretty much relies on the skills of the individual, and how established the team is, IMO.

 

[GotSpin]

Coaches can ruin a carear

 

[honestbharani]

I think the coach has a vital job, off the field. IN general, a coach is someone who has decent experience of cricket (FC or international) and is someone who has good ideas about the game. A captain sometimes needs a bit of space to work on his own game etc. The coach can step in those times. Plus, a coach and captain can, in combination, work out strategies etc. With all the video analysis etc. avaialble these days, the players do need someone to talk about these things with. I think the coach has an important role to play, but no, the coach does NOT make the difference between winning and losing. But I do think he can make a difference to individual players. For instance, Harbhajan has slightly slowed down at the point of delivery and is starting to pivot a little more. This has helped him immensely to bowl a better line and length (so he has said.) and plus, he is now going around the wicket straightaway to lefties. These things have made a difference to his bowling and some credit should be given to Greg Chappell, as these were, seemingly, his ideas and he got Harbhajan to work on these issues. I am sure Troy Cooley must have done a lot of work and help for the English pacemen as well, otherwise those guys won't speak that highly of him. I remember Balaji and Pathan claiming that Reid was a big influence for their "relative" success when in Australia.

 

[open365]

Very important,though they still get blamed un fairly when things go wrong.

The England rugby team would have never won the world cup without Sir Clive.

 

[The Baconator]

Very important,though they still get blamed un fairly when things go wrong.

The England rugby team would have never won the world cup without Sir Clive.

I know bleep all about rugby meself, but aren't rugby coaches a bit more like football managers in what they do than cricket coaches?

 

[sledger]

well...its a great aid to have a good coach, thats obvious, but having a good coach will mean very little if you dont have talented players to go hand in hand with it.

 

[open365]

I know bleep all about rugby meself, but aren't rugby coaches a bit more like football managers in what they do than cricket coaches?

That where Clive was so special,he revolutionised the coaching system and did a helluva lot to improve the coaching set-up.

He isn't that great a tactician,but that wasn't his area,he left the game plans to his assistants and took hold of how to make the best enviroment for players to achive their full potential.

in his first coaching job,he took Henley up 4 divisons in 5 season with much the same squad of players.He took massive attention to the little things,he played music during training sessions and other stuff.

With the England squad,he did too much stuff to list.

He managed to get top class traing facilities,he bought every single player a laptop to notify them of team meetings and so on,he even got changing rooms to re decorate the twickenm changing rooms because the ERB wouldn't give him the money.

His coaching team was huge and he consulted many different people from outside of sport(like the eye doctor).He decided to make the team change into clean kit at halftime so they would make a better start to the second half.
He insisted on taking a lawyer to the world cup which saved them and he got a new skin tight jerseys for the players so they couldn't be grabbed by their top when they were runing which allowed them to score a try in the world cup final.

 

[Neil Pickup]

They're absolutely vital, especially for away games. Just ask Craig White...

 

[archie mac]

Ian Chappell said the only thing a coach was good for was taking the team to the ground while in England.

I know Devon Malcolm believes a certain coach ruined his career.


Terry Jenner always makes a big difference to Warne when he is having trouble.

 

[open365]

They're absolutely vital, especially for away games. Just ask Craig White...