Liverpool have now been provided with an update on their pursuit of Brentford defender Aaron Hickey, who is being targeted by some of the Premier League's top clubs.

Is Aaron Hickey leaving Brentford?

The Reds have recently been linked with a move for Hickey, but they are not the only top club eyeing a deal, with Football Insider reporting that Arsenal, Manchester United and Bayern Munich are now ready to battle it out for his signature in January. However, the 21-year-old is currently said to be happy at the Gtech Community Stadium, despite the widespread interest, and Brentford are under no obligation to sell him anytime soon, given that he is contracted until the summer of 2026.

The Scot has solidified his place in the Brentford starting XI this season, appearing in all six of their Premier League games up to this point, and he deputised for Rico Henry in the 3-1 loss against Everton on Saturday, after the left-back suffered a serious knee injury.

As such, the Bees may be even more unwilling to let the full-back leave in the January transfer window, and Football Insider report it will take a huge bid for elite clubs like Liverpool or Arsenal to prise him away from his current club.

Brentford have no plans to let the youngster leave at any point in the near future, in what could be a blow for the Reds, whose links to him come amid the recent injury setback suffered by Trent Alexander-Arnold. Joe Gomez has been deputising at right-back, but the Brentford defender is a more natural option, and Klopp had been hoping he could get a deal done this winter.

However, the Scotland international is keen to play regularly ahead of next year's European Championships in Germany, and he does not want to disrupt his flow of first-team football ahead of the tournament with a mid-season move.

How good is Aaron Hickey?

Lauded as "brilliant" by members of the media, the right-back has impressed for both club and country over the past 18 months, establishing himself as a first-team player for Brentford, and racking up 11 caps for his country since making his debut in March 2022.

Given that the Glasgow-born defender's career is just starting to take off, it is clear to see why he may be unwilling to move to Liverpool this January, where he would undoubtedly be behind Alexander-Arnold in the pecking order.

Considering he is still young, the former Bologna man is still prone to the odd bad performance, and he was withdrawn early against Everton at the weekend, receiving a Sofascore match rating of 6.1, the lowest figure of any player on the pitch.

As such, it is clear that Hickey needs regular first-team football, if he is going to fulfill his potential, and a move to Anfield may not be exactly what he needs at this point in time.

Considering Brentford are set to hold out for a huge fee, it is probably wise for Liverpool to steer clear, and begin to look at other right-back targets.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Corinthians tem um trunfo no banco de reservas para vencer a Copa do Brasil: o técnico Vagner Mancini. O experiente comandante possui bons números na carreira quando o assunto é o mata-mata nacional.

continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasCorinthiansJô ainda é dúvida e Corinthians pode continuar atuando sem centroavanteCorinthians25/10/2020VídeoVeja como está a preparação do Corinthians para a Copa do BrasilVídeo25/10/2020CorinthiansPreparador físico do Timão diz como quer melhorar performance do timeCorinthians25/10/2020

Sua primeira experiência na competição já foi com título. Em 2005, Mancini treinava o Paulista de Jundiaí e conquistou o título do torneio ao bater o Fluminense na grande final. Ao longo do caminho, o time paulista derrotou Juventude, Botafogo, Internacional, Figueirense e Cruzeiro.

Em 2013, Mancini também chegou a grande final do mata-mata nacional, desta vez comandando o Athletico Paranaense. Porém, o Furacão perdeu a grande decisão para o Flamengo, no Maracanã.

Ao longo da carreira, o técnico do Corinthians teve 21 classificações na Copa do Brasil e foi eliminado apenas sete vezes no torneio. Nesta temporada, ele dirigiu o Atlético-GO que eliminou o Fluminense. Na carreira, Mancini tem 55 jogos na Copa do Brasil, com 22 vitórias, 19 derrotas e 14 empates, um aproveitamento de 48%.

Celtic maintained their position at the top of the Scottish Premiership table as they swept Dundee aside on Saturday with a 3-0 win at Parkhead.

Who scored for Celtic against Dundee?

David Turnbull opened the scoring from the penalty spot after he was adjudged to have been fouled just inside the box, although it took VAR to confirm that the incident was indeed a penalty rather than a free-kick.

The second then came as Callum McGregor floated a delicious cross in for Kyogo Furuhashi to rise and flick the ball past the goalkeeper with his head.

Celtic's Japanese marksman then turned provider as he raced down the right channel and produced a pinpoint cutback for Matt O'Riley to make it 3-0 and wrap up all three points.

How good was Kyogo against Dundee?

Whilst Kyogo caught the eye with a lethal display up front, the Denmark U21 international was an unsung hero for Brendan Rodgers with his display in the middle of the park.

The Japan international was not constantly involved in the match with regard to overall touches and did not provide a physical outlet for the team to play off through the middle of the pitch, but certainly made up for it with a goal and assist.

O'Riley, on the other hand, produced a fantastic all-round display throughout the match as he made an impact in and out of possession for the Scottish giants.

How good was Matt O'Riley against Dundee?

The 22-year-old was rock solid off the ball and did not allow the opposition to get the better of him in any physical contest as he won 100% (4/4) of his duels throughout 73 minutes on the pitch.

This certainly shows that he had too much strength for Dundee and was a brick wall in midfield for the Hoops.

His offensive play was also impressive too as the former MK Dons star caught the eye with his quality in possession. That included a composed and low finish for his third league goal of the campaign – matching his tally for the 2022/23 Premiership season already.

As per Sofascore, O'Riley completed 100% (2/2) of his attempted dribbles and had a pass success rate of 85%, which resulted in one key pass for his teammates, in 58 touches.

The central midfielder was reliable on the ball and rarely gave it away to the opposition, proving to be effective in his attacking actions, as the defenders found it impossible to dispossess him when he dribbled past them.

Kyogo certainly deserves plaudits for his two goal contributions that helped to secure all three points, ultimately receiving the highest Sofascore rating in the game (8.3).

However, O'Riley earned a rating of 8.0, which was the second-highest of the match, and as a result, was the unsung hero with the impact that he made at both ends of the pitch.

The ex-Fulham man put in an outstanding performance alongside Kyogo and Rodgers will surely be hoping for more of the same from the pair moving forward, particularly ahead of their Champions League clash with Feyenoord on Tuesday night.

Leeds United have made a strong start to the campaign and look to now be taking things up a notch as the memory of Victor Orta fades into the abyss at Elland Road, according to reports.

What's the latest news involving Leeds United?

Speaking to LUTV, Leeds United defender Sam Byram has taken encouragement from his side's 3-0 victory over Watford last weekend and has indicated that the Whites are starting to build some consistency heading into their upcoming fixtures.

Byram stated: "We know we have quality all over the pitch; we created a lot of chances at the first half, so we knew it was just a matter of time. There was a few times when we pressed really well and won the ball back you could feel the whole stadium roar and it lifts you on the pitch.

"I think we did well to nullify their attacking players as they have some quality in the attacking areas, but overall, I thought it was a well-deserved win. I said before the game if we could win against Watford it would have been a very good week, we’re building momentum now and hopefully we can keep going that way."

In some bad news, The Sun report that Crystal Palace are keen on Leeds United youngster Archie Gray, who has become an important cog on Daniel Farke's engine room since the start of this term. The report claims that Leeds may be forced to cash in on Gray if they don't win promotion to the Premier League at the first time of asking and Crystal Palace are looking to get a head start on other potential suitors to land the England Under-19 international.

Pundit Carlton Palmer has indicated to Football League World that Gray should look to stay at Leeds for the time being, as he said in an interview with the outlet: "It’s always important for a young player to be getting minutes, and he’s getting that and playing at Leeds United at such a tender age. He’s unlikely to move to a Premier League club and play every week, so it’d be best to stay where you are."

Who are Leeds United looking to bring in off the field?

Leeds Live journalist Beren Cross has issued an update detailing some exciting off-field developments at Elland Road that will be enacted by the 49ers, stating on social media platform X: "Three weeks on from summer window, Leeds have launched hiring process for multiple transfer roles, including head of recruitment. Would work with Farke and Steinsson. Scouts wanted across Europe and UK in further restructure following Orta's tenure."

In an attached report from Leeds Live, further insight reveals that Leeds United want scouts privy to potential additions across France, Scandinavia, Germany, Holland, Belgium and across Britain. Technical scouts will also be deployed to try and maximise the Whites' recruitment potential relating to data and uncovering players suited to playing in Farke's system.

Leeds United sit sixth in the league table and have not lost in their last six Sky Bet Championship fixtures, as they now seem to be putting the building blocks in place off the pitch to breed sustainable success.

Former scout Mick Brown has now tipped Aston Villa to “make a move” for an “amazing” striker as a potential replacement for Marcus Rashford this summer.

Doubts over Rashford's long term future

The situation surrounding Rashford was one of the most discussed transfer sagas of the January window, with the 27-year-old ultimately moving to Villa on loan for the remainder of the season, although the deal includes a buy option for a fee of £40m.

The Manchester United loanee has been at Villa Park for a matter of weeks, featuring just twice for the Villans in the Premier League, but there have already been reports linking the forward with a move elsewhere in the summer.

There have been widespread suggestions the Englishman is still eyeing a move to Barcelona at the end of the season, having been linked with a move to the Camp Nou this winter prior to his move to the Midlands.

As such, Unai Emery may be tasked with bringing in another striker in the summer, and Brown has now tipped Cheslea’s Nicolas Jackson for a move to Villa Park.

"Deal there to be had" as Aston Villa target "world-class" £62.5m striker

Reliable reporter Ben Jacobs believes Villa could sign a top striker in the summer.

ByDominic Lund Feb 18, 2025

In an interview with Football Insider, the former scout said: “They’ve got Rashford at the moment, and if he performs to the best of his ability, it could be hard for them to keep hold of him long-term.

“Come the end of the season, let’s say they lose Rashford. Then, they’ve just lost Jhon Duran to Saudi Arabia, so that’s another option gone. Ollie Watkins is attracting interest from Arsenal as well.

“If Jackson is available, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see them make a move for him.

“So there are a lot of moving pieces, but it’s very possible Villa are going to be looking for a new striker, and Jackson is one of the names on their list.”

Jackson has been "amazing" for Chelsea at times

Villa should have some reservations about signing the £32m forward, given that he consistently underperforms his xG, averaging 0.50 non-penalty goals per 90 over the past year, despite being expected to average 0.58.

The Senegal international’s form has also gone downhill after a fantastic start to the campaign, failing to score in his last eight Premier League games, which should be a cause for concern.

However, while a striker’s main job is to score goals, the 23-year-old has received praise for other aspects of his game, with Mauricio Pochettino lauding him for the “amazing” job he did last season, combining a good work-rate with goals and assists.

As such, Villa should monitor Jackson between now and the end of the season, although they may also be keen to sign Rashford on a permanent basis if he performs well during his loan spell, particularly considering £40m seems a reasonable fee if the forward is able to get back to his best.

يلتقي المنتخبان الأسكتلندي والمجري على أرضية ملعب شتوتجارت أرينا، بمدينة شتوتجارت، ضمن الجولة الثالثة من المجموعة الأولى ببطولة يورو 2024.

ويتصدر المنتخب الألماني المجموعة الأولى بـ 6 نقاط ويليه المنتخب السويسري بـ 4 نقاط، بينما أسكتلندا بنقطة واحدة، والمجر بدون رصيد.

طالع أيضًا.. تشكيل ألمانيا أمام سويسرا في يورو 2024

ويأمل المنتخب الأسكتلندي في الفوز من أجل ضمان التأهل لدور الـ16 بنسبة كبيرة حتى في حالة فوز سويسرا على ألمانيا، ليتواجد ضمن أفضل ثوالث.

تشكيل أسكتلندا تحت قيادة المدرب ستيف كلارك، يقوده روبرتسون نجم ليفربول على الجانب الأيسر في طريقة 3-5-2.

بينما المدرب ماركو روسي يعوّل على دومينيك سوبوسلاي زميل روبرتسون في الريدز، بوسط الملعب خلف بيرناباس فارجا، لمنتخب المجر. تشكيل أسكتلندا أمام المجر في يورو 2024

حراسة المرمى: أنجوس جن.

خط الدفاع: سكوت ماكينا، جاك هندري، جرانت هانلي.

وسط الملعب: أندرو روبرتسون، ماجريجور، جليمور، ماكتوميناي، رالستون.

الهجوم: جون ماكجين، شي آدمز. تشكيل المجر أمام أسكتلندا في يورو 2024

حراسة المرمى: بيتير جولاسكي.

خط الدفاع: بوتكا، أوربان، دارداي.

وسط الملعب: بولا، شافير، ستيليس، كيركيز.

وسط الملعب الهجومي: رولاند سالاي، دومينيك سوبوسلاي.

الهجوم: بيرناباس فارجا.

Somerset took control against Hampshire thanks to a James Hildreth hundred and some lower-order resistance from Craig Overton

Paul Edwards at Taunton12-May-2018
ScorecardJames Hildreth plays a cover-drive at Taunton on a Saturday afternoon in May. The scoreboard flicks over and something of summer is held in the moment. Barely a good hit away the County Stores is offering cream teas at two for £6. Across town church aisles have been swept in preparation for weddings and now speeches are being smartened up, the bad jokes made a little worse. But inside the County Ground, Hildreth glides Fidel Edwards between gully and slips and down to the boundary. He is making a century and changing this game.On Sunday morning the papers will note Hildreth’s unbeaten 125 and his 133-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Craig Overton. That stand all but broke Hampshire’s attack and it took Somerset into a lead which had been extended to 93 by the close of a day from which 17 overs were trimmed by bad light. Overton’s dismissal when he played on to Gareth Berg for a rather cultured 80 did not end the suffering for James Vince’s players. Jack Leach was also batting capably when the players finally went off.Those papers will also make something of the absence of Kyle Abbott, who turned an ankle in the third over of Somerset’s innings and could not bowl for over three hours. And they may make much of Edwards’ dropped catch at midwicket which would have ended Hildreth’s innings when he had only 24 and Somerset were 71 for 4. Both points will be valid but the folk enjoying their caramel lattes in Coffee#1 will recall the ease of Hildreth’s square drives, the gentle tempo of his innings and all the pleasure it gave them.Taunton’s cricket ground, which is now squeezed between flats and offices, is woven tight into the life of the town. Hildreth moved into the nineties with the sweetest of clips through midwicket off Abbott and reached his century with a cut to the boundary off Berg. He had faced 138 balls and hit 13 fours in getting to his 41st first-class hundred for Somerset. But they still call him Hildy in The Ring of Bells.And centuries are often made glorious by the circumstances of their making. Somerset were 40 for 2 when Hildreth walked out to bat. They had lost Eddie Byrom, bowled by Edwards for 10, and George Bartlett, caught at slip off Brad Wheal for 1. The prize wicket, though, was that of Matt Renshaw, who had looked in the mood to reduce another county attack to weeping impotence. His flick through midwicket had carried the mark of Zorro; his uppercut for six off Wheal had been daring theatre. But having been dropped by a diving McManus and also survived a drum-splitting lbw shout from Edwards, Renshaw was eventually squared up by Berg and caught by Jimmy Adams at second slip when looking to play to leg. Seven balls later local gloom deepened when Tom Abell hooked his first ball to Edwards at long leg, thus giving Berg the second of his four wickets. Hildreth strolled around the pitch like a farmer inspecting his land.Something approaching calm was restored in the hour after lunch. Steven Davies and Hildreth put on 60 before the Somerset wicketkeeper was forced to retire when hit on the ankle. Lewis Gregory lasted seven balls but Overton marched out and announced his arrival with a blunderbuss off-drive to a ball from Wheal. One of Instow’s finest settled in and took his cue from Hildreth.And now we are deep in the evening session. The sun has bustled its way through tissues of cloud, prompting Jeff Evans and Jeremy Lloyds to summon the cricketers out again. The outfield carries shades of the afternoon’s magic. But we face only 11 balls before play is called off on this day when Hildreth made Somerset’s sixth hundred of this barely adolescent season. A year ago most of the top order had difficulty reaching double figures but victory in this game may take the county to the top of the table.Spectators drift away hardly daring to dream. It is over eight hours since the gates opened and they streamed to their favoured spots in the Marcus Trescothick Stand and the Colin Atkinson Pavilion. For the first Championship match against Worcestershire they were queuing at 8.30am and the club played the “William Tell Overture” as the members hurried to their coveted places. All for a game “nobody watches”; all for people like Hildy and days like this.

Mushfiqur Rahim has impelled Bangladesh to employ caution against Afghanistan’s spinners when the two teams meet each other next month. Afghanistan are set to host Bangladesh for three T20 internationals before their historic maiden Test, against India, and Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman are set to feature significantly in the series.While the two teams have faced each other only once, and their last international meeting in any format was in 2016, Rashid is a regular in the BPL, where 12 of his 19 wickets are of Bangladesh batsmen, including Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur. Mujeeb made his BPL debut last year, while others such as Mohammad Nabi and Mohammad Shahzad are regulars in Bangladesh’s domestic cricket.Having lost to them twice in six international encounters, Mushfiqur acknowledged the threat the Afghanistan side brings. “Afghanistan is a dangerous team in T20s. A lot of things are in their favour in this series, particularly the home advantage,” he said. “But we have to use the confidence from the previous series in Sri Lanka. We beat Sri Lanka in their home venue and also did quite well against India.”As Tamim said recently, they have a number of world-class bowlers who are doing well in the IPL. Rashid Khan is a world-class bowler. He hasn’t conceded more than 6 or 7 an over in all but one IPL game this season. I am personally working on certain run-scoring shots. You can’t just play out a single bowler in T20s, so we must also execute our team plan. Apart from Rashid Khan, Mujeeb bowls with the new ball. But we have some high-quality batsmen. If they click, this will be a good series.”Mushfiqur, who had been in good form in the Nidahas Trophy and later in the domestic one-day and first-class competitions, was, however, contended to see the rise in T20 fixtures for Bangladesh.”We are essentially playing back-to-back T20s in a span of two-and-a-half months, which is quite different from the usually long gap between T20s,” he said. “But to be honest, Afghanistan is a bigger challenge than playing T20s. The last time they toured Bangladesh, we lost against them, although it was in the ODIs.”The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun is set to host an international match for the first time, and Mushfiqur hoped to make the most of the June 1 practice match to acclimatise to the conditions.”I have heard that it is a good stadium, although the ICC hasn’t given the approval. Some have said the heat may be an issue, but we did play in Sri Lanka’s heat. I think the only challenge could be the unknown stadium. We have virtually no idea about the pitches there. But we hope to quickly adjust through the practice match.”

When looking at Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool squad over the summer, the main focus was rightly placed on welcoming midfield reinforcements, especially after the departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.

The Reds, in the end, managed to solve their midfield crisis with the addition of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, and Ryan Gravenberch. But, in solving that problem, they placed another issue to one side – one that they could revisit come the January transfer window.

That problem, of course, is their defensive depth, with the likes of Joe Gomez and Joel Matip suffering regularly from injury problems without other options to step up in their place. With that said, according to transfer insider Dean Jones, Liverpool could join the race and beat Tottenham Hotspur to their own January target.

What has Dean Jones said?

Even after getting off to a solid start to the Premier League season, remaining unbeaten in four games with three wins to their name, Liverpool still reportedly have their eyes on January reinforcements.

Turning their attention to their defensive options, according to Jones, the Reds could battle it out with Spurs to sign Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly when the winter transfer window arrives.

The transfer insider told GiveMeSport, when asked about Liverpool's interest in Kelly: "Yeah, I mean, there's a possibility that Liverpool could join the race on that one.

"It's a bit of a strange situation in the way that it kind of fizzled out at the end of the transfer window, and Tottenham were obviously the hottest link to him at that point. But when you consider what Liverpool might be needing in the January transfer window as they start to tweak the squad, it wouldn't be a complete surprise at all if they were mentioned again in the Lloyd Kelly conversation."

Should Liverpool sign Lloyd Kelly?

As already mentioned, Liverpool left their defensive issues to one side in the summer due to their midfield concerns. The fact is, however, they do not have enough depth within their backline.

As things stand, if Klopp has just four central defenders to choose from, and three of those have had injury issues during their Liverpool careers, as shown by how many games they missed last season, as per Transfermarkt.

Player

Games Missed Last Season

Virgil van Dijk

7

Ibrahima Konate

15

Joel Matip

5

Joe Gomez

5

So, welcoming another defensive option could prove to be crucial when it comes to whether Liverpool can return to the Premier League's top four at the first time of asking. The fact that Kelly can play both as a left-back and centre-back, too, means that he could be an ideal choice.

At his best, the Bournemouth man has earned plenty of praise, including from former manager Gary O'Neil, who said, via the Bournemouth Echo, after the Cherries defeated Liverpool last season: “I thought Lloyd was incredible. I think he had a 12-week ankle injury followed by a six-week calf injury.

"Didn't have much time in between, and then came back today having not trained much, to play left back against one of the best wingers in the world. I thought he showed everything, the potential he has to be a top defender. I thought it was a very, very impressive performance against a top attacker.”

The new Australia captain wanted to foster an environment where players did not feel they had to conform to a narrow idea of what an Australian Test cricketer should be

Daniel Brettig in Johannesburg30-Mar-2018Tim Paine began his first day as fully-fledged Australian captain with one small but significant departure from custom by initiating a pre-game handshake between all players and ended it by flagging a revolutionary departure from custom, at least for his team, by announcing a firm redefinition of the captain’s role.As the teams began their warm-ups on an overcast Johannesburg morning, he approached his opposite number Faf du Plessis to ask whether the two teams might shake hands at the end of the national anthems, a gesture common to football but only seen in international cricket after a match. Given the events of Cape Town and the fate befalling Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, Paine unsurprisingly has been thinking a lot about the image of the game. The handshakes were a telling way to show it.”I’ve been watching this week and they’ve had the soccer on and I notice they do that every game,” Paine said. “I thought cricket is the gentlemans’s game and I spoke to our players about how it was something I wanted to bring in. I waited for Faf to come out today and spoke to him and he was happy to do that. I think he thought it was a good idea and who knows, maybe other sides and South Africa may start to use it as well.”It’s not something we are going to do every Test match, but it is not a bad way to start a Test series. I think it’s something that we will use going forward; I just think it’s a good show of sportsmanship and respect. In this series, there’s been a lot of water under the bridge and a bit of tension between the two sides, we want to be super competitive but we also want to be respectful of our opposition, so it was important we showed that. It’s something we want to take forward and, if other teams want to do, we’ll do it to start every series.”It was still competitive, there wasn’t too much verbal going on back and forth between the two sides, we’ve spoken a bit about that as a group, about that going forward that is not the way we are going to play our cricket. It still felt like a Test match, it was still really competitive, we were playing a different style but as well a lot of the guys were thinking about some other things or were a little bit flat.”‘Time for Lehmann to heal’ – Paine

One more contrast came from the pair of South Australians in the tour squad – the coach Darren Lehmann now overseeing his last Test match and the seam and swing bowler Chadd Sayers playing in his first. Paine said the decision to quit had appeared to lift plenty of weight from Lehmann’s shoulders, while the opportunity to play for Australia after five years on the fringes had been very welcome for Sayers, who does not conform to the Australian idea of a fast bowler but now has two wickets and the respect of South Africa.
“[Lehmann’s] been a little bit more laid-back today to be honest,” Paine said. “I think what we sensed yesterday and he even touched upon it himself was just a little bit of relief. It’s obviously been really difficult, and he’s been copping a fair amount of flak and so have his family, so I think for him to take that away from them and for him to be able to move on and try to heal a bit from what’s happened, I can sense a bit of relief and a load off his shoulders.
“I thought [Chadd] did really well. Obviously he was really nervous, but Chaddy’s the sort of bowler where he’s always at you. He did it again today, he bowled 25, 26 overs, which is a really big effort here in the altitude. A lot of the boys were really blowing, but Chaddy keeps on trucking on so we’re really rapt for him to get a game and take a few wickets late get some some rewards for his earlier hard work.”

A little over six hours after the handshakes, Paine sat before the media and contemplated leadership beyond this day. Should he remain captain, he said he wanted to redefine the post as a collaborative part of a wider whole, rather than the traditional branding of it as the major leadership rose above all others. Paine is clearly not a subscriber to the oft-quoted line that the position of Australian captain is second only to that of the Prime Minister.”I think at the moment that it’s something that I probably will be doing,” Paine said when asked whether he would want the captaincy long-term. “I have not put a hell of a lot of thought into anything past this week. Now we’ve also got a new coach that’s got to be appointed, who’s going to want a say on the way we go about it, the way I go about it.”My captaincy style will be – I’ve never been a big believer in the cricket team being the captain’s team, I think that’s a bit old school. When you didn’t have all the resources that we do now, I see the captain’s role as being that link between the players and the staff and just a really small, privileged role within Cricket Australia. But it’s just one part of the wheel and I’ll be trying to be very involving of all my staff, all my players and that’s the way I operate best.Australia captain Tim Paine leads the team out•Getty Images

“A lot of our focus as a team has been around this week, we are not looking too far ahead at this moment. I know it’s a cliche in sport that you get that ‘one week at a time’, but at the moment we’re taking it one day at a time and slowly trying to build back the respect of the cricket world, our fans and the public. We know we’ve got a long journey ahead of us to get where we want to get to, but the last couple of days have been the start of that long journey.”Paine has gained most of his leadership experience as a lieutenant of George Bailey in Tasmania. He said that he wanted to foster an environment where players did not feel they had to conform to a narrow idea of what an Australian Test cricketer should be. Instead, they needed to be themselves, with the team broadening its horizons to make allowances for that sort of diversity.”We still want to keep a really competitive brand of cricket but I think there’s times we’ve got to be more respectful of our opposition, we’ve got to be more respectful of the game of cricket,” Paine said. “At times we’ve tended to push the boundaries as far as we possibly could. I think that we’ve seen that people probably don’t like that, so it’s time for us to change.”We’re happy to do that, I think it actually suits this group of players, we’re a different group of players than Australia have had for a long time, we haven’t got too many guys that like to verbalise and have that sort of really hard-nosed Australian approach. We’re about creating an environment where guys can come in and play cricket and just be themselves. I think if we can achieve that then we’ll have guys having better results as well.”Paine’s desire to establish a culture that was inclusive even led him to picture the returns of the players who had been banned for ball-tampering. The anguish shown by Smith and Bancroft upon their arrival home had clearly left a mark. “I think a few guys watched it and I think it really cut them up, as it did anyone that watched that,” Paine said.”We saw how difficult it was and how much not playing for Australia is hurting those guys. I think it’s really important for us to realise how lucky and privileged we are. We want to make this environment in the Australian cricket team one that people can come in, be themselves and play their cricket to their best of their ability. And we want to have that sorted by the time that those guys are ready to come back into this team.”Reflecting on the events of the past week, Paine quipped that his visiting wife had not seen much of him due to all of the many meetings and coffees needed to try to rebuild a team that had lost so much in the space of only a few days. “It’s been strange and very difficult,” he said. “I don’t think my wife’s too happy, I’ve hardly seen her for the last couple of days and she’s come over for it.”It’s just been really challenging for everyone involved. It’s a really stressful time and our thoughts are certainly with our team-mates who aren’t here at the moment. We’ve had conversations and a lot of coffees with each other talking about what we’re going to do to change and how we’re going to do that going forward. From all this dark cloud at some stage there’s going to be a silver lining and I think all the guys are really keen to be involved in how that looks.”We’ll look to get through this week and we go home. We’ve got a fair bit of time off and potentially a new coach will come in and share some ideas with us. Got a fair bit of time before our next Test where we can all get together and I’m going to be very involving of our whole staff and playing group. We’ll all sit down and map out how that looks, how we’re going to play.”