How our ball-by-ball commentary captured the seesawing emotions of one of the most dramatic overs in IPL history

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Apr-2019Forecaster says 8.2%. Equation is 18 off 6. Bowler is Stokes19.1 Stokes to Jadeja, SIX runs, Jadeja you ballerina beauty. Full ball outside off, well wide of off and Jadeja falls over while driving it straight back over the bowler’s head. Middles it while falling down and sends it over the fence! Incredible19.2 Stokes to Jadeja, (no ball) 1 run, no ball and Jadeja has leathered this through extra cover. There’s a fielder, but it’s a free hit coming up!Dhoni to face the free hit.19.2 Stokes to Dhoni, 2 runs, slower ball, back of a length, Dhoni doesn’t get hold of it properly, pulls it off the end of the bat past Stokes. Runs two19.3 Stokes to Dhoni, OUT, yorked him. Stokes nails the perfect ball at the right time. Tails in between bat and leg to shatter the stumps. Dhoni was looking to give himself roomMS Dhoni b Stokes 58 (76m 43b 2×4 3×6) SR: 134.88Santner in. 8 needed off 319.4 Stokes to Santner, 2 runs, another no-ball for height this time, slower ball goes wrong, ends up above waist height and Santner is able to shovel-flick it away. Okay scratch that, they have revoked that no-ball. And unprecedented – Dhoni is walking on the field to argue with the umpires He’s arguing with them, Stokes is in the thick of it. Scenes! Scenes! Dhoni will earn himself a sanction. And CSK are going to be docked ‘fairplay’ points. The umpire had stuck his hand out, but the square leg umpire said that was not a no-ball19.5 Stokes to Santner, 2 runs, wide of off and Santner stretches out and tries to swat it straight but it bounces in front of long-on19.5 Stokes to Santner, 1 wide, And now that’s been called a wide! Stokes went for the one wide outside off, and it is moving away a bit, ends up outside the tram line!19.6 Stokes to Santner, SIX runs, Santner finishes off in style. What. A. Finish. CSK have won. They’ve stolen this. Amazing, amazing win. This was bowled full and outside off, Santner was probably expecting it, given that Stokes had been trying that, moved into position just enough to be able to extend his arms and loft it high and handsome over long-on. I repeat. What a win!That last over was possibly the most action-packed in IPL history. It began with Jadeja falling over while hitting a six – how do you maintain balance to connect cleanly while falling over? It had a no-ball call reversed and the unprecedented sight of Dhoni marching on to the field (keep a watch for how he’s sanctioned for this) to argue with the umpires. And then a last-ball six to win it. CSK just keep finding ways to win. And Stokes has another memory of last-over sixes in a defeat to add to his bank…

Inexperienced but well travelled in life, Paine is chasing a victory that will help chart a more open-minded path for those who follow

Daniel Brettig at Lord's 13-Aug-2019More than nine years have passed since Tim Paine and Steven Smith walked out together as debutants at Lord’s, then the neutral ground for a Test match against Pakistan.While Smith has been back for two more Tests and one double century since, Paine is returning for the first time, not just as a Test player but also as captain of an Australian Ashes team. This match will go a long way towards defining his career and captaincy.It’s uncertain how long Paine will lead after this series, and it is difficult to see him pushing all the way through to the Test championship final in 2021. His time is now.Following their come from behind victory at Edgbaston, Australia have the chance to go 2-0 up, a position from which only one Test series in history has been lost. With the exceptions of 2009 and 2013, Lord’s is exceptionally friendly territory for Australian Test teams, and the match tends to draw a large collection of travellers and expats from the other side of the world to take in the history, the cricket and, more often than not, the victory party.Tradition hung thick in the air on Monday night, when Paine introduced his touring team at the official welcome for the visiting team at Australia House on the Strand, warmly received by more than 650 guests. History, Paine said in his address, “is all around us”, and he has not missed the significance of the opportunity to make some important history of his own this week.

“From the time I’ve spent with him, not much flusters him unless he has a bad night on Fortnite on the play station, that tends to get to him a bit more than the cricket”Paine on his BBL mate and Lord’s opponent Jofra Archer

That, in fact, is how Paine thinks he’s changed the most since that first Test – appreciation of his surroundings and moments of import arrives a little more frequently.”I’ve been here a number of times since but I still sort of remember coming through those gates the first time,” Paine said. “It’s one of those grounds, you get a similar sort of feeling I reckon – whether you’ve been here 10 times, 100 times or it’s your first time. It’s just got that sort of feel about it with the history, barring the media centre up there [at the Nursery End], but yeah I think it’s just a special place to come and play cricket. Everyone, whether you’re English or Australian or from anywhere else – you enjoy coming to this ground.”England are very lucky but also unlucky. Because this is probably the best ground in world cricket, but it is also a venue where teams love to come and play. You are in London for one, one of the great cities and when you are at Lord’s you are really spoilt. Off field, the facilities are brilliant, it’s always great time for a touring team the week you spend in London and at Lord’s.”I probably know a few more things now than I did then. I know one thing is that I certainly take it in a lot more now, enjoy what I’m doing. I think back then I didn’t really. I put a hell of a lot of pressure on myself to perform. Probably too much. We have to perform, that’s our job. Back then – even though I was young I didn’t enjoy the cricket as much as I did the off field. Now I tend to enjoy the cricket more than I do the off field. So it’s a nice place to be.”Getty ImagesThat level of self-awareness extends to the major reality of Australia’s task this week. Where at Edgbaston they had the enormous good fortune to be facing an England team shorn of James Anderson and thus operating with only four bowlers, here they will be bolstered by the balance of attack they prefer and a fresh, rapid spearhead in Jofra Archer. As well as Australia batted in Birmingham, they will have to be better for longer at Lord’s.”Yeah I think it’s obviously important to them. we’re slightly different, our bowlers are used to playing with just the four of them, used to that sort of workload,” Paine said. “So no doubt that was something different for some of their players at Edgbaston. That’s Test cricket, you have to be able to deal with that but w’ere expecting they’ll go with what they prefer, which is to have five bowling certainties if you like.”Coming into this series, we knew Jofra was going to be a key player for them at some stage, we are in a bit of a lucky given guys have faced him, albeit in Big Bash cricket. We know how good Jofra is, we know he bowls fast, we know he is very skillful, he is a great asset for them. It’s not every day a 6’5 or 6’6 West Indian turns up on your door step. We know how good he is and we’re prepared to play him, it’s his first Test match as well so there is going to be plenty of pressure on him.”From the time I’ve spent with him, not much flusters him unless he has a bad night on Fortnite on the play station, that tends to get to him a bit more than the cricket, but obviously he is a pretty laidback character. Test match cricket is a different beast, it’s up to us to put him under pressure, whether that’s physically and making him bowl a lot of overs and make him back up day after day, I think that can test the very best of bowlers.”For Australia’s own attack, the question is near identical to that ahead of Edgbaston – does Josh Hazlewod find a way into the team or do the selectors keep James Pattinson and Peter Siddle together to complement Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon? Paine, as part of his leadership, has stressed the need to ensure more players share the load, the better to keep Cummins, Hazlewood, Pattinson and Mitchell Starc in particular on the park for the next four years or so.”We’ll make a call on the conditions and what we think is going to be the best combination of bowlers but also knowing this is a big series and there’s going to be a lot of overs bowled, and there’s a lot of cricket coming up. We want to make sure the five or six bowlers we’ve got here have the next three or four years bowling as a group together. And there will be some management as part of that at some stage as well.”Returning to Paine’s legacy, perhaps the biggest resulting from leading the first Australian Ashes win in England since 2001 would be a redefinition of what the national captaincy can look like.A wicketkeeper, inexperienced in terms of Test played but well travelled in life, and far from the most prominent figure on the Cricket Australia contract list, Paine has brought with him a sense of common purpose not always evident in the past. He is chasing a victory that will not only secure his own reputation, but help chart a more open-minded path for those who follow.”It’s pretty important when you have got any leadership position whether you are the best player or the most popular player or whatever it is is irrelevant, that’s not just for sport,” Paine said. “Hopefully we can continue to play a good brand of cricket and keep winning games. Potentially I think there’s no reason why a wicket keeper can’t cut it, he’s got the best seat in the house.”

Was the boundary count tiebreaker a fair way to decide the champions? Former cricketers tweeted their disagreement with the rule

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jul-2019

Don't understand how the game of such proportions, the #CWC19Final, is finally decided on who scored the most boundaries. A ridiculous rule @ICC. Should have been a tie. I want to congratulate both @BLACKCAPS & @englandcricket on playing out a nail biting Final. Both winners imo.

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) July 14, 2019

After coaching at the highest level, Mark Ramprakash will now be responsible for honing the skills of schoolboy cricketers at Harrow

Ivo Tennant08-Jan-2020Mark Ramprakash’s last assignment, as England’s batting coach, was to oversee the techniques of some of the best cricketers in the world. When that ended, he was all prepared to remain in the international game, having received an offer to become head coach of Sri Lanka, or to take on a franchise in Bangladesh or Scotland. Instead, to the surprise of his peers, he will oversee the development of schoolboys, returning to the north London borough where he grew up.It must be said that this will not be at any old school. It is Harrow, whose annual fixture against Eton, dating back to 1805, is the oldest at Lord’s. It is the alma mater of Winston Churchill; of Lord Byron, who played in that first match; of Archie MacLaren; and more recently, of Nick Compton and Gary Ballance – though those two signed up on scholarships that did not have a great deal to do with academia. As did two members of England’s rugby World Cup team, Billy Vunipola and Maro Itoje.ALSO READ: Mark Ramprakash looks to future after being removed as England batting coachThis is a notable coup for Harrow. Already on the staff at the school is Robin Martin-Jenkins, the former Sussex allrounder, who has switched from being master in charge of cricket to a housemaster.Ramprakash, who starts next term as director of cricket, is no county old sweat of the kind who have long coached at public schools as an alternative to being a publican or salesman. He is the scorer of 114 first-class centuries, holder of 52 Test caps, and was coaching, until last May, the likes of Joe Root and Ben Stokes. At 50, he remains as fit as when he won . And yet, for the foreseeable future he will be coaching only schoolboys.”I could tell it caused a surprise. I had had a chat with Middlesex at the end of the 2018 season but they went for Stuart Law as their new coach. I would have taken the Sri Lanka job had not the offer from Harrow come in,” he says. “I think it is very important for English coaches to have experience overseas but it would have meant nine months away from England during 2020. My two daughters are still at home and I am not sure where the professional game is going.”The future of the game concerns him, particularly in England. “The Hundred has been pushed through and other competitions sidelined to a degree. The T20 Blast has been pushed aside and the status of first-class cricket eroded in the last few years. Our spin bowling is in a dire state now, compared to when I started at Middlesex, with John Emburey, Phil Edmonds and then Phil Tufnell.”

“When I was a boy, playing in black trousers and trainers, what happened at Harrow on the Hill was a bit of a mystery”

Rampraskash lives in Elton John’s Pinner, two stops on the Metropolitan line from Harrow on the Hill; Colombo is ten and a half hours’ flying from Heathrow. In the context of travelling and family life, his mindset becomes clearer. He was not offered any position in the Hundred and his five years with England came to an abrupt end. He was also interviewed for India’s batting coach role, and does not rule out an international return in the future, but there are no regrets about moving away from the professional game.”I didn’t expect to go beyond the Ashes series last summer as England’s batting coach, but my contract ran until the end of September and things were not handled well. I had put a lot of energy into my five years.” Was his contract fully paid up? “I had to come to an arrangement, financially,” he says. Ties have not been completely severed with the ECB, however: since May, Ramprakash has run five level-three presentations for 20 coaches sinces.ALSO READ: The biggest unfulfilled talent”I have no idea whether Joe Root wanted me to continue,” he says. “I think so highly of him – he was wonderful, searching for excellence with a tremendous work ethic. The England batsmen only needed to have their techniques tweaked. It is about how they think and how they practise. There is a tricky balance between wanting to build a trusting relationship and allowing a player to grow and have his own space.”I listen to some coaches and cringe at the way they take ownership of a player’s career when that player is successful. There are many influences – I had Mike Gatting and Desmond Haynes when I was playing for Middlesex. England players handle themselves so well now. But I wonder, could I have been more interventionist?”Ramprakash has been involved in professional cricket, as batsman and coach, since he was 17. His talent was immediately apparent as a teenager (“Better than me,” says Gatting). His career and the discrepancy between his first-class batting average and his Test one – 53.14 as opposed to 27.32 – has been picked apart so often as to need no further repetition. “There are many things that, with hindsight, I might do differently. I don’t remember understanding the bigger picture on tour,” he says.”England players handle themselves so well now. But I wonder, [as batting coach] could I have been more interventionist?”•Getty ImagesIn his playing days, when there were no central contracts, and Test selection was more haphazard and brutal, Don Bennett, the wise old Middlesex coach, suggested Ramprakash go and seek advice from Mike Brearley, whose career ended five years before his started. There seemed to be confusion over whether he should be seeing Brearley the psychoanalyst or Brearley the former England captain. “I don’t know if it was a help. Mike let me talk, and I guess I wanted him to divulge his knowledge. I possibly needed more guidance.”Away from cricket Ramprakash is measured, polite, with a wonderfully friendly smile. Intensity and flashes of temper are confined seemingly to the dressing room of yesteryear, and it is doubtful the schoolboys will experience much of those aspects of his personality, although he will expect high standards. He is, though, more outspoken on Twitter.ALSO READ: The burden of being RampsHis politics seemingly have long been constant, although he challenges that perception. “What are they?” he asks quizzically. His recent retweets are of utterances by Jeremy Corbyn and the left-wing Momentum movement, who expressed a wish in the run-up to the general election to abolish private education. At the very least, Labour would have added VAT to school fees, likely preventing some of the boys he will soon be coaching from gaining a private education. How does Ramprakash, who went to a comprehensive in Harrow, square this with joining the staff at one of the most famous public schools? “I want a fairer society, an NHS for everybody. I don’t like where we are at the moment – we are very polarised. As a result, race hate has gone through the roof.”What particularly appeals to him about going to Harrow is that he has been asked by the headmaster to forge closer links with the local community, including his old school, whose playing field has been built over. There is also an element of moving into a different world. When growing up in the area, did Ramprakash perceive the school to be full of toffs? “When I was a boy, playing in black trousers and trainers, what happened at Harrow on the Hill was a bit of a mystery,” he says.A new indoor school will be built soon, which will also be used by youth in the wider community. “It is a school that can change lives. If a cricketer wants to get to the top of the game, that can be done at Harrow. I very much want to nurture and develop aspiring cricketers, but I won’t be going overseas to find them.”

“There is a tricky balance between wanting to build a trusting relationship and allowing a player to grow and have his own space”

Ramprakash will work full-time at Harrow, overseeing all the teams of boys from the ages of 13 to 18. He has been made aware of the drawbacks of the system in the past, where the likes of Ballance and Compton arrived in the sixth form, taking the places of boys who came through the age groups and who found they would be left out of the XI to play Eton at Lord’s – a fixture that often draws larger crowds than a Middlesex Championship match.In the winter he will coach in the indoor school. “I want to keep the traditions evolving and reflective of a modern society,” he says. He will, of course, have to retain motivation to coach a schoolboy of average ability in freezing January when he could have been honing the techniques of Test cricketers in the warmth of Sri Lanka.In the summer school holidays, and indeed other times of the year, he will be free to undertake some television and radio work, which he enjoys, and to play golf off a handicap of ten. He will be in the Sky studio for England’s tour of South Africa. He will not do any academic teaching but might undertake some football refereeing – he is an FA level-two coach who played for Watford Under-14s. Any prospects of a different career came to an end when they were beaten 7-0 by Arsenal. He was playing in central defence. “Around the age of 15 I realised cricket would be the pathway.”Ramprakash’s daughters are aged 22 and 17. In a few years’ time, presumably, they will be off his hands and he will be in his mid-fifties – still young enough to take on another big job. Or the combination of coaching in his home borough, assisting boys and girls who will have the run of facilities that he never had, and media work in the holidays, might prove ideal. For now, though, Eton and other school opponents will have to raise their game.

Five magic moments from the career of the just-retired Irfan Pathan

Shashank Kishore04-Jan-2020For a generation of Indian cricket fans, Irfan Pathan promised to end their quest for an allrounder in the mould of Kapil Dev. He burst onto the scene as a fresh-faced teenager with lively pace and menacing left-arm swing, always threatening the right-hander’s pads and the left-hander’s outside edge. There was clear ability with the bat too, and it translated into runs across formats when Greg Chappell took over as India’s coach and gave him opportunities up the order.But with time, the pace dipped, the swing disappeared, and his threat was vastly reduced. Then came a slew of injuries that further hampered his progress. But he came back and briefly looked a world-beater again, playing a key role in India winning a world title, and then contributing handsomely with bat and ball to a famous Test win in Perth. But the magic moments were sporadic thereafter, and after a spell of regular white-ball selection in 2012, his international career came to an end when he was just 27.Irfan’s may not have fulfilled his lavish potential, but the imprint of his finest moments will always remain fresh in fans’ eyes. ESPNcricinfo looks back at his career, and picks out five of his greatest performances.The Chappell surprise at the KotlaVirender Sehwag’s illness left India an opener short, and after Rahul Dravid did the job in the first innings, they sprung a surprise in the second, after pocketing a 60-run lead, sending Irfan out alongside Gautam Gambhir. The elevation proved a masterstroke, as Irfan showed composure, an uncomplicated technique and a wide range of shots to score a match-sealing 93.Sri Lanka were taken aback by the move, and by the time they figured out a way to bowl to him, India had swelled the lead well beyond their reach. His disdainful take down of Muttiah Muralitharan – he hit him for towering sixes over long-off and long-on, and was unafraid to hit him against the turn – was the stand-out feature of his innings, his no-holds-barred approach contrasting with the caution shown by the likes of Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.Irfan scored 45 off 58 balls against Muralitharan during this innings. In the first innings, while scoring his landmark 35th Test ton to go past Sunil Gavaskar’s record, Tendulkar scored 35 off 76 against the offspinner.He scored at more than four-and-a-half against Muralitharan; Sachin Tendulkar, who in the first innings brought up his landmark 35th Test ton to go past Sunil Gavaskar’s record, managed a rate of 2.76. Irfan missed his maiden Test century by seven runs, but he showed he could be a legitimate option up the order – at home, at least – if India wanted to play an extra bowler.The Karachi hat-trickWhen India toured Pakistan in 2004, Javed Miandad famously quipped that Pakistan had a bowler like Irfan Pathan in every (lane) and (hamlet).Irfan’s response to the words of the Pakistan coach were emphatic: 12 wickets in the three-match Test series at 28.50, as India won 2-1.Two years later, though, Irfan was having a much harder time in Pakistan. Sure, the pitches were like roads, but he looked particularly unthreatening, with his pace down and his swing a faint memory, as the first two Tests brought him combined figures of 2 for 319, with an economy rate above four an over.There were plenty of questions about Irfan’s form and his effectiveness on flat tracks when the series moved to Karachi for the third Test, with the series still 0-0. India were taken aback by the greenness of the pitch at the National Stadium. Rahul Dravid elected to bowl, and within one over, Irfan had put India in what seemed an impregnable position.Three balls went by, and then, mayhem. The ball was coming out of Irfan’s hand with that familiar menacing curve to it. Salman Butt nicked the fourth ball of the over to first slip. Then Younis Khan, his front leg sliding across, following the initial angle from left-arm over, had no answer to the late inswing, and was trapped plumb in front. The last ball of the over was slightly shorter, and it nipped in off the seam and sneaked between bat and pad to rattle Mohammad Yousuf’s stumps.Irfan had become the second Indian after Harbhajan Singh to take a Test-match hat-trick. Pakistan were 0 for 3 in one over.Irfan Pathan’s 3 for 16 swung the World T20 final India’s way•Gallo ImagesOn top of the world in Jo’burgIndia were defending 157 in the World T20 final. Pakistan had lost a clutch of wickets, but weren’t out of it when Irfan began his second over. They needed 82 off 54 balls, but still had Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq at the crease, with Shahid Afridi to follow. After delivering two dot balls, Irfan had a wicket off the third when Malik’s short-arm jab was pouched by Robin Uthappa at midwicket. Pakistan were five down.In walked Afridi, and Irfan immediately tested him with a short ball, which was signalled wide. Irfan later revealed how the short-ball was part of a ploy to let Afridi know he wouldn’t be getting anything in his arc. That was just a bluff, though. The follow-up delivery was fuller, right in Afridi’s hitting arc, but it was a cutter, devoid of any pace. Predictably, Afridi swung, got more elevation than distance and Sreesanth held on to a tough catch at mid-off. Only two runs came off that over, and two danger men were gone.Irfan’s third over was just as tight, going for just four runs. When he came back for his final over, Pakistan simply had to go after him, with 59 required off 30 balls. Yasir Arafat managed to connect well with the fourth ball of the over, striking it back over the bowler’s head for four. But two balls later, he missed a straight one while going for a leg-side hoick. Irfan finished with 3 for 16, with India well on top. There would be more twists and turns in the overs to follow, but India eventually held on to win by five runs, and Irfan bagged the Player of the match award.Glory at the WACAAustralia had a shot at going where no team had gone before: 17 Test wins in a row. The 16th had been the ill-tempered New Years’ Test of 2008, where they had ended India’s resistance with minutes remaining on the fifth day.Given all the events of Sydney, tensions were high when the teams came to Perth, and on a typically fast and bouncy WACA surface, Australia went in with four quicks, three of them – Shaun Tait, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson – capable of breaching 150kph.India bolstered their pace attack too, bringing Irfan in as their fifth bowler, with an expectation that he could chip in with the bat too. And he answered the call brilliantly, dismissing both openers cheaply in both innings, and making two vital contributions with the bat – 28 in the first innings, and 46 in the second, having come in as nightwatchman at No. 3, and kept one end going even as Australia chipped away at the other to reduce India to 125 for 5.His doughty innings helped India set a target of 413, and by the end of the third day’s play Australia had already lost Chris Rogers and Phil Jaques, both left-handers nicking off to Irfan’s new-ball swing. The middle and lower order kept pushing, but the target was too far beyond Australia’s reach, and India eventually wrapped up victory by 72 runs.Player of the Match? Irfan Pathan. And India were so impressed by his exploits that they left out the out-of-form Wasim Jaffer and made him open the batting in the next Test in Adelaide.Carnage in ColomboIndia and Sri Lanka seemed to be playing each other every day in 2009, but even as one match blended into another, fans will remember this one-off T20I in Colombo for the combined brilliance of the Pathan brothers.From 81 for 2, India lost Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja to slip to 115 for 7. The target of 172 seemed distant, the asking rate had touched 11.40. Enter Irfan, who clinically took down Sri Lanka’s bowlers with his older brother Yusuf. They put together an unbroken 59-run stand off just 25 balls; India were home and dry with four balls to spare.After Yusuf teed off against Malinga Bandara’s legspin, Irfan joined in the fun. He carved Lasith Malinga over extra-cover for a one-bounce four, clubbed Dilhara Fernando over midwicket for six, and delivered the coup de grace off Malinga with another muscular hit over midwicket. Game, set and match for India.Irfan finished 33 not out off just 16 balls. Earlier in the evening, he’d broken a threatening opening stand by removing Sanath Jayasuriya for a 17-ball 33. It was a day’s pay well earned.

We’ve picked 20 landmark moments from the first 1000 T20Is. Vote for your favourite

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2019From the very beginning, T20s at the international level have been a sporadic exercise, coming into focus during the World Cups played every few years. A number of memorable moments have come in those World T20s, with a few record-breaking feats coming in bilateral games. We’ve picked 20 landmark moments from the first 1000 T20Is. Which of these is your favourite?Is there any big one that pops up in your mind that we’ve missed? Let us know by tweeting us or mailing [email protected]

Celtic returned to action in the Scottish Premiership last weekend with an emphatic 3-0 win over Hearts to retain their 13-point lead at the top of the table.

The Hoops secured all three points against the Jam Tarts thanks to a brace from Daizen Maeda, either side of a close-range finish from Jota, as they bounced back from their 3-2 defeat to Rangers before the international break.

Brendan Rodgers is closing in on his second Premiership title in as many seasons since his return to Parkhead in the summer of 2023, having already won the League Cup earlier this term.

The Northern Irish head coach has a domestic treble in his sights between now and the end of the campaign, with a healthy lead at the top of the league and a semi-final against St. Johnstone in the SFA Cup booked in.

Rodgers may, however, have one eye on the upcoming summer transfer window and how he can make moves to improve his squad to perform even better next term, with the Champions League in mind.

The former Leicester City and Liverpool head coach already knows that he has a situation to deal with at left-back, after revealing that Greg Taylor is likely to move on from Parkhead.

The latest on Greg Taylor's Celtic future

Speaking after the win over Hearts, Rodgers claimed that it is more likely that the Scotland international will leave when his contract expires this summer, rather than signing a new deal to remain in Glasgow.

He told BBC Sport: “I’ve been in this position so many times and I can read situations. It’s probably more likely now that Greg will move on than stay, which is a big shame for me because I love him as a person – and I love his game because it’s suited to how we work.”

The Celtic head coach added: “It’s not financial, but I respect his position because he wants to feel he’ll play every week. Whoever is in next year with Kieran will still play a lot of games, but my feeling is that Greg may well move on.”

The former Kilmarnock man has been an unused substitute in five of the last six matches in all competitions, and was withdrawn at half-time against Hibernian in the only start during that run.

Greg Taylor’s Premiership career with Celtic

Season

Appearances

Starts

24/25

22

19

23/24

35

35

22/23

31

28

21/22

24

22

20/21

26

23

19/20

13

12

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Taylor has been a regular starter, when available, throughout the majority of his time in the Premiership at Parkhead, since his move to Glasgow in the summer of 2019.

But his lack of minutes in recent weeks, as aforementioned, may be a driving factor in his likeliness to leave on a free transfer this summer, at the same time that Kieran Tierney is due to return to Celtic.

Why Kieran Tierney is a gamble for Celtic

It has already been confirmed that the Scotland international will be a part of the squad next season after his contract with Arsenal expires at the end of the current campaign.

As you can see in the table above, the former Celtic star enjoyed a terrific first spell at Parkhead after coming up through the academy system, as he won five titles and made 170 first-team appearances.

His terrific form for the Scottish giants over the years earned him a £25m move to Arsenal in the summer of 2019, which remains one of the biggest sales in the club’s history.

Despite all of this, signing Tierney this summer is set to be a gamble by the Hoops because of his worrying injury record that could cause Rodgers problems moving forward.

The 2022/23 campaign is the only season that the left-back has not missed 17 or more matches through injury since the summer of 2018, whilst he has been absent for 39 games through injury since the start of last term.

Celtic are, therefore, gambling on his fitness as he will not be too much use on the pitch if consistent injury problems keep him away from it, which is why it is important for the club to have another capable left-back in line to play.

So, rather than viewing Tierney as the replacement for Taylor, is it Ghana international Jeffrey Schlupp who should be signed permanently as a replacement for the Scottish full-back.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Expand Collapse Why Celtic should sign Jeffrey Schlupp permanently

The experienced defender joined the Hoops on loan from Crystal Palace in the January transfer window and has hit the ground running at Parkhead in the second half of this season.

Schlupp, who Rodgers claimed has “incredible pace and power”, is out of contract at Selhurst Park at the end of June, which suggests that Celtic have the chance to snap him up on a free transfer this summer.

That could make him the dream replacement for Taylor, who is also due to depart for nothing, as the Hoops would not have to spend a penny on transfer fees, whilst they would also be bringing in a player who has already proven that he can perform in the current team.

Schlupp has also not missed a single game through injury since the start of the 2021/22 campaign, which suggests that he would also come in as a reliable figure who could cover when Tierney is unavailable.

24/25 Premiership

Jeffrey Schlupp

Appearances

7

Goals

1

Assists

1

Tackles + interceptions per game

1.8

Duels won per game

4.6

Ground duel success rate

52%

Aerial duel success rate

60%

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, the Palace loanee has provided defensive strength in his short time at Parkhead to date, winning the majority of his duels on the deck and in the air.

His performance against Bayern Munich in the second leg of their Champions League play-off, winning eight of his ten duels and making a staggering 11 tackles and interceptions combined, also showed that he has the quality to step up in big games against huge European teams.

This suggests that Schlupp could be a great signing for Celtic with their European hopes in mind, because the 32-year-old ace has proven that he can perform on the biggest stage.

Therefore, signing the loanee on a permanent deal could result in the Hoops having their dream replacement for Taylor, as he is not as injury-prone as Tierney and the defender has already proven his quality on the pitch for Rodgers in recent months.

It is now down to the manager and the recruitment staff to complete a free transfer for the full-back, should he not sign a new deal at Palace, to bolster the squad in the summer transfer window.

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Posts ByDan Emery Apr 1, 2025