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Newell takes blame as Patel and Ball offer hope
- Updated: September 6, 2016
Middlesex 9 for 3 (Ball 3-2) trail Nottinghamshire 241 (Patel 100, Finn 4-54) by 232 runs Scorecard
Legend has it that, when Brian Clough took over at Leeds United, he gathered his new team in the dressing room, told them to throw their medals in the bin as they were gained through cheating and made it very clear that things were going to change.
It seems safe to assume that Peter Moores will take a different approach to leadership at Trent Bridge. Moores, who will take over as head coach at Nottinghamshire on October 1, is not one for big gestures or emotional outbursts. He has always been, whatever the slings and arrows he has suffered, a gentle man.
So it is probably inevitable that some will suggest this “new” arrangement at Nottinghamshire amounts to little: just a re-branding of titles. Moores has, after all, largely been looking after the batsmen at the club this season and it has largely been that batting that has let them down. That old cliché about ‘rearranging deckchairs on Titanic’ had a few airings around the ground on Tuesday.
But, to listen to either Moores or Mick Newell, this is a significant change. It marks the end not just of an era that began in 2002, when Newell was appointed, but a move into a more professional era with a director of cricket managing long-term strategy across all the age groups.
Newell admits that, to some extent, the change of role will come as “a relief”. He has, in effect, been juggling two roles for some time. Juggling throw-downs with paper-work; net sessions with calls from agents; travelling with the team while planning for the future. He is tired. And the energy and ideas that once flowed so readily and took this side to the top have ebbed just a little. “I’ve lived it and breathed it,” he says. “Maybe it is a weight off my shoulders. I’ve had 33 years of dressing-room banter. I won’t really miss that. Besides, I’ve a passion for management now. And my selection job.”
But there is sadness, too. Not just for seeing the team he has built finish in such disappointing style – “You don’t want to go out on a relegation as your last contribution” – but for leaving the dressing room environment that has been his life for more than 30 years. There is a moment, when he was talking about his pride – the whole club’s pride – in the rise of Jake Ball, when he becomes just a little emotional and betrays the depth of feeling he has for a team that has been the focus of his entire working life. And he is not going far. Just “upstairs” as they say in football. But once that dressing room door closes, life is never quite the same. This is not a minor change for Newell.
It’s not for Moores, either. He admits that, after his latest experience with England ended, he needed time to “repair myself and get my mojo back”. At the time he was first approached for a consultancy role at the club, in July 2015, he had no interest in returning to a relatively high-profile role. It may be relevant that he will not have to move house to accept this job. He is settled, happy and valued. After the storms towards the end of his England episode, those are qualities not to be underestimated.
He …
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