saulkamionsky-blog

[saulkamionsky-blog]

"I got stronger and stronger" - 'The Bullet' looks back

The Tour de France, one of the most-watched sporting events with an average TV viewership of 2.6 billion, currently has cycling fans fastened to their sofas.

Unbeknown to many, a Jewish cyclist competed in the world’s most popular multiple stage race in 1985.

New Yorker Doug Shapiro caught the cycling bug as a youngster despite initially being exposed to football.

"I grew up just outside New York City and played soccer – like most kids," says Shapiro, who was the third ever American to finish the Tour, following Jock Boyer and three-time winner Greg LeMond.

"When I was 13, during the off season our coach suggested that we do another sport to keep fit. There was a German language professor in the school who ran a cycling club, so I joined it and we went to see a race, I was like – Wow! I want to do this."

The following week he rode that very same race and won it.

When he started the 1985 Tour de France, however, he had a very different motive. In cycling parlance, he was a domestique for Joop Zoetemelk, 6 times second in the Tour De France

"In my role I had to keep [Joop] out of the wind, bring him food and drink from the car, keep him at the front coming in to climbs," Shapiro says.

But, despite undertaking this crucial role, Shapiro showed what a special rider he is by finishing 74th out of a field of 220 riders.

"Joop didn’t speak English and my ‘Nederlands’ wasn’t the best; but most of the rest of the team spoke English. I found that I got stronger and stronger as the race went on – it was very rewarding for me," Shapiro says.

Hoping to also get stronger as the race nears its climax will be the riders considered by cycling aficionados as amongst the favourites for this year’s Tour, including Geraint “G” Thomas, Nairo “Nairoman” Quintana, Vincenzo “The Shark” Nibali and Rigoberto “Rigonator” Urán.

And Shapiro has something in common with all this year's favourites - a nickname. The Bullet. This weapon-like sobriquet was due to the immense power he possessed in his armoury as a hill climber and sprinter – a combination of traits that has seen modern sensation Peter Sagan win the points classification in the Tour a record equalling six times.

Shapiro was a member of the American Olympic Team in 1980 and 1984 respectively. However, he was not able to participate in the former due to United States participation in the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott, for which he and his teammates received a Congressional Gold Medal at the White House.

With a medal in his trophy cabinet, an emboldened Shapiro went on to win what was then American's top cycling stage race - the Coors Classic in 1984 and he describes this as "probably my biggest achievement."

"Many of the riders who rode the LA Olympics were there and the likes of the 7-Eleven team were riding, too. There was a guy called Bob [Eucher] there, he was a talent scout for Kwantum and he saw my performance. That led to a ride with a composite team in the Olympia Tour of Holland where I went well – and the Kwantum contract came from there."

This race was so highly cherished that, in the subsequent two years, it was won by LeMond and five-time Tour de France champion Bernard Hinault. The latter would go on to win the 1985 Tour ahead of LeMond and Stephen Roche.

Tejay van Garderen, America’s brightest hope, has already crashed out of this year’s Tour and Shapiro also fell victim to "some very bad accidents" in his cycling career.

“In 1987 I was out with Eric Heiden on the bike," Shapiro says. "We were on the way to the cyclo-cross Nationals, test riding some new tyres on the ride there. I slipped, came down and broke my femur, Eric had just started at medical school and I might have died were it not for him being there.”

He was even more unlucky in the following year. "I was in the break of four at the Coors Classic in Reno and the four of us came down on a corner. I was OK but as I got up, the bunch rode into me at full tilt," Shapiro says. "I was in a wheelchair, I couldn’t walk, and my leg has never been the same since. I came back in ’89 – my last race was in September of that year and I came second.

A year later, however, Shapiro was back in the sport albeit in a different way. He acted as the technical advisor and technical writer for the video "Cycling for Success,” produced by the 7-Eleven Bike team. The video was the first of its kind to offer cycling safety tips and techniques.

Today, Shapiro, who resides in Marin County, California, owns and operates Shapiro & Associates.

“It’s a thing that’s very close to my heart. Now I’m a crime scene investigator in situations where cyclists and cars have collided. But I also keep in touch with guys like Chris Carmichael and Bob Roll and watch all the races."

He is still just 59-years-old, but the man who can be described as a ‘Doug of all cycling trades’ is also a public speaker and has hosted many cycling training camps and educational seminars for bike shops, cycling fanatics, and racers of all levels.

In addition to his years in the pro peloton, he’s also been hit by a car. It was not the first time that he experienced both physical and mental pain simultaneously, but he certainly knows how to bite the bullet.

[saulkamionsky-blog]

Ronnie Schloss – a lifetime of achievement in soccer

15 May 2004 was no ordinary day in South Africa. It was the day that the host of the 2010 Soccer World Cup would be announced. The likes of Nelson Mandela, Danny Jordaan and Ronnie Schloss anxiously waited with feelings of hope, excitement and fear for the big announcement to be made by the then president of the Federation of International Football Association's (FIFA), Sepp Blatter.

Schloss, who was an integral part of the bid team working under Jordaan - the leader of South Africa's 2010 FIFA World Cup bid, was thinking back to how his life has led him to be a mere seconds away from helping South Africa to host football’s biggest showpiece.

“I was born in Johannesburg, I grew up in Hillbrow and I went to Highlands North High School. I played soccer from about under 10s, 12s, 14s, 16s, 18s for Ramblers who used to be a team in Johannesburg and also for Wits,” recalls Schloss.

However, Schloss first got involved in the administration of football after he suffered an injury in his playing career. “I was a student at Wits studying Quantity Surveying, and played for them, but then I got injured, and then I got involved in the administration of the club.”

“I started off as a committee member of the Wits soccer club, then became the secretary, then became chairman and then decided to relinquish the chairmanship to give others a chance and then became the president.

“By being involved with Wits soccer club, I represented them at meetings with the old NFL and NPSL and served on committees in both organizations and over the years I got involved with the league then, assisting them with regard to their facilities. I became the treasurer of the old NPSL and subsequently became the treasurer of the PSL [South Africa’s Premier Soccer League] for many years.

“While I was still at the university, I got involved as project manager for the 2010 World Cup bid handling the stadium development because my background is construction – I was professor of construction at Wits.

“As project manager I was also involved in all the preparation of the bid books which were the most important thing to present our case to FIFA and after being awarded the World Cup I had to do a detailed analysis of all the stadiums we had proposed to see how we could meet those minimum requirements in the short time period that we had.”

“At the same time I was working at the PSL as the Chief Operations Officer.”

Although Schloss is no longer the COO of the PSL due to having reached retirement age, he is still very much involved in the day to day running of the PSL. “My main functions now are to look after and ensure that we comply with all the latest legislation regarding safety and security at stadiums. I am responsible for licensing all the stadiums in the country and I also assist in the day to day running of football and that would involve players insurances, fixtures and so on.”

Throughout his tenure at the PSL he has helped improve South African football in a variety of ways, but he is most proud of two. “The big thing was working with the unions years ago in improving the livelihood of the players by introducing insurances for the players, debt cover, so looking after the welfare of the players. And the other I really believe is also important is the implementation and making sure that the clubs complied with the latest legislation and the owners of the stadiums – such as the municipalities – complied with the statutes that were there. My big thing was to get across to the municipalities the fact that we couldn’t facilitate matches at their stadiums because they didn’t comply with a, b, c and d and until they did there would be no games there.”

His position has allowed him not only to make good friends both locally and internationally, but also gave him the opportunity “to meet most of the Presidents for the last 25 years.” He has met FW De Klerk, Nelson Mandela and Jacob Zuma, amongst others.

He also has also met the crème de la crème of the footballers that have shone in many stadiums. “I met George Best years ago.” He also met David Beckham, as well as Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard when the England team were in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup.

However, Schloss is saddened by the fact that there are very few professional Jewish players in South Africa (currently Dean Furman is the only one) . “I go and watch my grandsons play and there are some good little Jewish kids and they just seem to fizzle out. Once they get to high school they disappear, but there is a lot of good talent and it’s a pity. They should be nurtured and they should be with some of the pro clubs. Some of the pro clubs have very good academies, where they can finish their schooling, get a university entrance and carry on playing.”

Schloss also went to Maccabi as manager of the soccer team in 1989, 1993 and in 1997. His duties as manager were to manage the team, try to get the players to work with the coach and to get the team prepared for the tournament so that they could play to their full potential.

On the subject of attendances at PSL matches, Schloss reveals that South Africans’ interest in local football is tremendous. “We know from the AR ratings for TV, we have millions of people watching our games, we can get 5 or 6 million for just an ordinary league game on a weekend and during the week night games we can exceed that quite easily because at times we have matches being televised on both SABC and SuperSport.”

Furthermore, the presence of satellite dishes are prevalent throughout the country, even in squatter settlements and there is a reason for this. “There is a special, cheap package which has soccer on it and people can sometimes watch three or four games on one weekend that are all televised live.”

The recent emergence of young white men attending games is something Schloss also finds heartening. “I think it’s to do with mixing in school, integration with people of other races at school. We are all South Africans and we have got to learn to mix.”

Schloss also encourages even more people, especially Jews, to attend PSL matches. “Our matches are actually a good evening’s entertainment. If you go to Wits, for example, it’s a good fun evening because there is normally four to five thousand people and the students are singing and there’s the music and the band.”

“My two sons are soccer mad, both of them used to play soccer.” One of his sons, Jonathan, is the COO of Bidvest Wits and following in his father’s footsteps.

Schloss’s thoughts were then interrupted when Blatter said: “The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be organized in… South Africa.” Cue celebrations throughout South Africa, and Schloss knew that his lifetime of hard work and dedication to soccer had bared fruit.

[saulkamionsky-blog]

Club vs Country

One of the key peformers in Sweden's run to the 2018 FIFA World Cup quaterfinals was Ola Toivonen. On top of starting all of Sweden's matches in the tournament, the 6 foot 4 inch striker gave his country the lead against reigning champions Germany in the group stages with his right-foot lob over Manuel Neuer and set up Emil Forsberg's winner against the Swiss in the round of 16. Yet, Toivonen failed to find the net for his club side, Toulouse, in the French Ligue 1 last season. This was despite the fact that he made 23 league appearance for Le Téfécé in the 2017/18 season. Whilst working as an analyst for Supersport, a sports channel in South Africa, former Republic of Ireland international, Andy Townsend, aired his view on Toivonen's curious ability to elevate his performances when playing for his country. Townsend said: "There are certain players in international football that elevate their game, they seem to be able to do more for their country in these international matches than they can do on a weekly basis for their clubs. [Toivonen] must be one of those because you wouldn't want to pick a striker for your team who can't score a goal. Yet, clearly as he showed against Germany he was more than capable when he got half a chance to nick one."

On paper Belgium centre-back Toby Alderweireld has nothing in common with Toivonen. However, they seemingly share the same peculiar desire to elevate their performances when playing for their country. In Belgium's run to a third-place finish in the 2018 World Cup, their best finals placing in history, Alderveireld starred in six out of his country's seven matches. According to whoscored.com, in these 6 matches Alderweireld achieved an average match rating of 6.93 with a pass success percentage of 90.4%. Alderweireld also averaged 0.7 interceptions per game and 1.3 outfielder blocks per game in those six World Cup matches. These impressive statistics are in stark contrast to Alderweireld's much poorer undertakings for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League last season (2017/18). Alderweireld featured in a mere 14 matches for Spurs last season at an average match rating of 6.68 with a pass success rate of 85.8% along with a disappointing average of 0.3 interceptions per game as well as 0.4 outfielder blocks per games. Therefore, Alderweireld either greatly improves his performance levels when he dons his national team's kit or his stats show that Tottentam underused him maybe because the coaching staff undervalue him. The latter is certainly possible due to the fact that Alderweireld played the majority of Tottenham’s matches in the opening stages of last campaign before a hamstring injury disrupted his season and, despite declaring himself fit in January, he made just six appearances since November. Consequently, this snub may have motivated Alderveireld to prove his true worth when he was picked in Belgium's starting-lineup at the World Cup. He even told reporters: “I wanted to show that I’m still Toby, same as in November.”

Another player who is seemingly adept at elevating his performance level in the international scene is former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud. The Frenchman has been lambasted by critics for his failure to score a single goal during the 2018 World Cup. Moreover, in 2015 Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry said: "I think Giroud is doing extremely well. But can you win the league with him? I wouldn't think so." However these criticisms clearly motivated him to elevate his performances and the 31-year-old is pleased to have silenced his detractors with his stellar work-rate in his team's World Cup triumph in Russia. However France's World-Cup-winning manager, Didier Deschamps, deserves praise for sticking with Giroud and for reaslising the off-the-ball work-rate and clever support player Giroud brings to the team. Yet, only one month before winning the World Cup, Giroud was being critisided by fans and pundits of the Premier League for scoring a meagre 3 goals and providing only a single assist in 13 appearances for Chelsea in the Premier League last season.

The trend of performing at a higher level for you country than your club side is exemplified by Manchester United's Paul Pogba. Last season Pogba was the subject of criticism from some quarters for his performances for The Red Devils and found himself relegated to the bench at times during the second half of the campaign. However, the 25-year-old was instrumental in Russia and he was one of the goalscorers for Les Bleus against Croatia in the final. His manager at Old Trafford, José Mourinho exclaimed: "To win the World Cup can only be a positive thing. It's difficult to say that to win the World Cup is not good for a player's career." And Mourinho will certainly hope that Pogba proves that his words are correct by consistently delivery quality performances for Manchester United.

Players must be appreciated by their managers, supporters and pundits because when a player is trusted by his manager and given confidence, the player considerably elevates his contribution to the team's cause - like the case with Giroud at the 2018 World Cup. Additionally, players who have a poor season at club level will be drastically determined to remind their naysayers of their quality on the biggest stage in world football, the World Cup. Players are also aware that the World Cup is a shop-window because all the biggest clubs in world football are watching to unearth the next biggest star.

[saulkamionsky-blog]

The All England Club seeds' carnage

On Saturday 7 July 2018, Wimbledon lost World number one and French Open champion Simona Halep, as the All England Club seeds' carnage claimed another victim.

Halep lost to 48th seed Hsieh Su-wei 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the third round. Defeat for Halep means that Karolína Plíšková, ranked as the seventh best woman in the world, is the only women's top 10 seed to reach the fourth round. This carnage of the top 10 women's seeds poses a numerous number of questions: Are the underdogs boosted by the support they receive from the crowd at Wimbledon? Is their a lack of desire possessed by previous Wimbledon champions to add another trophy to their cabinet? Are the top seeds getting older and succumbing to young talent? And are the WTA rankings accurate and reliable?

After Hsieh beat Halep, the Taiwanese player exuberantly exclaimed: "The crowd pushed me to fight." And the crowd certainly did - from 2-5 down in the final set, Hsieh saved a match point when the Romanian served for the match at 5-3 in the decider. This shows the immense impact that the spectators have on a match. When the crowd chants a player's name, the player feels motivated to repay the crowd's support by displaying the best shots the player has in his or her locker - as was the case with Hsieh. The Wimbledon crowd often supports a Brit in action or the underdog playing against a seeded player. Therefore, the top seed may struggle because he or she is distracted or frustrated by the crowd's constant chanting for his or her opponent.

Another cause for the carnage of the top 10 women's seeds is the deficiency of desire. Top seeds who have previously tasted victory at Wimbledon may loose the innate desire to go all the way to the final again. If a player is subconsciously not fully hungry and determined to lift the trophy again, then he or she may not put in the extra effort required. Consequently, the former champion looses to a player who has never won Wimbledon.

The main causes of this year's carnage has been the youngsters. In last years Wimbledon Women's final a then 23-year-old Garbiñe Muguruza defeated a Venus Williams in her late 30s and the 2018 edition has continued the trend of the kitten triumphing over the cat. We have witnessed 38-year-old Venus Williams being whiped aside by Kiki Bertens, 26, and 31-year-old Maria Sharapova coming unstuck at the hand of Vitalia Diatchenko, 27. Another former Wimbledon winner, Petra Kvitová was unable to handle the racket made by 24-year-old Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

The All England Club seeds' carnage is clear from the fact that a miraculous 27 of the top 32 seeds at Wimbledon have all suffered the dreaded chop - the likes of Caroline Wozniacki, Venus Williams, Petra Kvitová and defending champion Garbiñe Muguruza have all been knocked-out. Therefore, this surely suggests that the WTA rankings are inaccurate and unreliable. According to the WTA website, "the WTA rankings are based on a 52-week, cumulative system. A player's ranking is determined by her results at a maximum of 16 tournaments for singles and 11 for doubles." However, the WTA rankings noticeably do not take the player's age into account and the previous passage emphasises that it is currently the young players who have the upper hand. Yet, a vast volume of players in their 30s are seeded higher than the young talent in their early 20s in the WTA rankings. Therefore, although elder players posses more experience and maturity - which are bother crucucial components needed for a player to succeed - the WTA needs to seriously consider introducing the age factor in its seeding system because young players are hungry for success, not tarnished by previous failures, not afraid to take risks and eager to show that they deserve to be competing against the top seeds.

[saulkamionsky-blog]

'The Game of Gunner's Goalkeepers'

The 2018 FIFA World Cup Group H match between Poland and Colombia can be considered as 'The Game of Gunner's Goalkeepers': Arsenal's current second-choice 'keeper David Ospina is in goal for Colombia, while Poles Wojciech Szczęsny and Łukasz Fabiański formerly donned the gloves for Arsenal.

From David Seaman to Jens Lehmann, Arsenal have had some fantastic goalkeepers in the club's history. However, it was 'The Game of Gunner's Goalkeepers' that caused me to wonder why Arsenal sold two Polish international goalkeepers.

In July 2017 Arsenal sold Szczęsny, who started against Colombia, to Juventus for a €12.2 million initial fee after the Pole endued a two consecutive seasons on loan at Roma in the Serie A. Yet, less than a decade earlier then Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger revealed that he had high hopes for Szczęsny, saying, "I really believe in him that he will one day be Arsenal's number one. He has all the qualities you want from a goalkeeper." From making his Premier League debut for Arsenal in 2010 to featuring in his final Premier League match for The Gunners in 2015, he garnered 48 clean sheets in 132 Premier League appearances for Arsenal.

However, Szczęsny's grip on the number one jersey at Arsenal dwindled in the 2014/15 season and ultimately it turned out to be the last season that he would don the gloves for Arsenal. Szczęsny was the culprit for both goals that Southampton mustered in Arsenal's 2–0 defeat to the Saints on 1 January 2015. Moreover, he was later fined £20,000 by the club for smoking in the changing room showers after the match. Therefore, his unprofessional behaviour on top of his poor performance against Southampton led to none other than David Ospina replacing him as Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper for the remainder of the Premier League season. Consequently, Szczęsny moved-on from Arsenal because he decided to take up offers from clubs in Italy to experience regular playing opportunities. Szczęsny also impudently admitted that he "chose Juventus for their winning mindset."

The goalkeeper, who was on the bench when Szczęsny started for the Polish against Colombia, endured a career at Arsenal that remarkably resembles that of Szczęsny's.  Łukasz Fabiański signed for Arsenal in May 2007 from Legia Warsaw, from whom Szczęsny also joined The Gunners. Upon Fabiański's arrival at Arsenal, manager Wenger proclaimed: “He is one for the future. We have identified him as having all the qualities to challenge here and be one of the future great goalkeepers for Arsenal Football Club” - sounds familiar?

However, injuries and numerous goalkeeping-errors limited Fabiański to appearing a mere 32 times for Arsenal in seven years. Thus, it is not surprising that Fabiański stated his desire to be a "number one goalkeeper" as his main reason to join Premier League side Swansea City when his Arsenal contract expired at the end of the 2013/14 season.

Consequently, Arsenal filled their goalkeeping void with David Ospina, who was instrumental in Colombia's first-ever journey to the quarter-finals in the FIFA World Cup in 2014. Manager Wenger said that The Gunners signed Ospina, who kept a clean-sheet in his country's 3-0 win against Poland, due to his "good experience and a proven record of performing." However, Arsenal signed goalkeeper Petr Čech from Chelsea ahead of the 2015/16 sason, which led to Ospina - who has garnered 12 clean-sheets in 29 Premier League appearances for Arsenal - being demoted to second-choice 'keeper.

On 19 June 2018, Arsenal announced that they had signed German goalkeeper Bernd Leno to add even more competition to their goalkeeping department. As a result, Ospina may fall even further down the pecking-order at Arsenal, whose ever-evolving rotating-cycle of goalkeepers continues.

[saulkamionsky-blog]

Do Arsenal really need Goalkeeper Bernd Leno?

Arsenal Football Club announced on 19 June 2018 that Bernd Leno has agreed to join the club from Bayer Leverkusen for a reported19.3m pounds. The 26-year-old German goalkeeper becomes the second signing of the new Arsenal manager, Unai Emery, following the arrival of Switzerland international Stephan Lichtsteiner on a free transfer. However, the acquisition of Leno follows reports that Arsène Wenger’s successor as Arsenal manager will have to work with a restricted summer budget of around £50 million following two club-record transfers and three major new contracts in the last 12 months. This poses the question: Were Arsenal right to have spent almost thirty-nine percent of their summer transfer budget on a goalkeeper?

Petr Čech has been Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper in the Premier League since he arrived from Chelsea in the summer of 2015. Last season (2017/18),Čech kept 11 clean sheets in 34 appearances for Arsenal in the Premier League. This was the fifth highest amount of clean sheets, same as Burnely's Nick Pope, by a goalkeeper last season. Leno, on the other hand, kept 10 clean sheets in 33 games for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga last season. While, one cannot forget Arsenal's second-hand goalkeeper, David Ospina, who arrived at the club in 2014. The Colombian has managed to achieve 12 clean sheets in 29 appearances for Arsenal in his Premier League career.

Leno's clean sheet percentage last season was 30.30%. However, in the limited opportunities Ospina has received at Arsenal, the Colombian's clean sheet percentage of 41,38% is much better than that of Leno's. Furthermore, Ospina, 29, is only three years older than the 26 year-old Leno and 29 is a young age for a goalkeeper. For example, Spain's former number one, Iker Casillas was 29 years of age when he captained his country to victory in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

However, if Leno is even half as good as his idol, Iker Casillas, then Arsenal fans can be confident whenever the German dons the gloves. Leno told Bundesliga.com: "I used to watch a lot of Casillas growing up. He's calm and no-nonsense, I'm the same. I don't have to make a show of myself to stand out."

Additionally, Emery praised new signing Leno for his "high quality and experience." One cannot question Leno's experience because he made more than 230 appearances for Bayer Leverkusen and he has won six caps for Germany. Ospina's impressive clean sheet percentage as well as that of Čech's (32,35%) and their vast experience render them credible candidates to compete with Leno for the number one jersey at Arsenal. Therefore, the acquisition of Leno will only serve to strengthen Arsenal's goalkeeping department.

[saulkamionsky-blog]

Global T20 Canada

In May this year, Kamau Leverock was suspended by the Bermuda national cricket team for the first two matches of the ICC World Cricket League Division Four tournament in Malaysia following an outburst in traning. However, a month later the left-handed batsman's fortune changed drastically after after being drafted by the Vancouver Knights for the inaugural Global T20 Canada. The Bermudian will now don the same jersey as the formidable West Indian trio of Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Evin Lewis in the team coached by Canadian Donovan Miller.

Two players who undoubtedly will garner great attention during the tournament, which takes place from June 28 to July 15 2018, will be Steve Smith and David Warner. The Australian pair were both banned from all international and domestic cricket for a year for their role in the ball-tampering scandal against South Africa in March. Smith was drafted by the Toronto Nationals, who also boast explosive batsmen from the Caribbean in their ranks due to the presence of Darren Sammy and Kieron Pollard. While, David Warner will play for the Waqar Younis coached Winnipeg Hawks.

Warner will be joined at the Hawks by powerful Proteas batsman David Miller. The left-handed Durban-born batsman, who recently announced that he will be returning to the Hollywoodbets Dolphins for the upcoming 2018/19 South African domestic season, can now add Canada to the list of T20 international tournaments he has performed in -after appearing for the likes of the Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League and the St Lucia Stars in the Carribean Premier League.

However, the team with the the biggest South African flavour to it is the Edmonton Royals, who possess the most South African cricketers out of the six teams destined to feature in the tournament. The team, which is set to be captained by Pakistani legend Shahid Afridi, picked Christiaan Jonker in the sixth round of the draft followed by left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell in the seventh round. Jonker made his T20I debut for the Proteas in sensational style earlier this year after smashing 49 not out off a mere 24 balls. Parnell reunites with Jonker after playing alongside him during the Warriors' penultimate round-robin match in last year's Ram Slam T20 Challenge as part of a loan deal the Warriors agreed with the Cobras.

The last South African to be picked in the draft was Lions opening batsman Rassie van der Dussen, who boasts a highest score of 112 not out in T20s. He was aquired by the Vancouver Knights after being named named in Cape Town Knight Riders' squad last year for the South African T20 Global League, which was postponed until November 2018 due to financial considerations, the lack of a broadcast deal and title sponsor.

Van der Dussen will be hoping to add his name to the smorgasbord of batting power-hitters on show at the Global T20 Canada. Chris Gayle, Chris Lynn, David Warner and David Millar will certainty provide plentiful fours and huge scores. It will also be intriguing to witness how Lasith Malinga, who last played for the Sri Lankan national team in September 2017 against India, performs for the Montreal Tigers.

[saulkamionsky-blog]

Stand by your manager

Upon the conclusion of the 2017/18 Premier League season, two famous clubs decided to sever ties with their mangers, both of whom impressively improved the club's position on the log. However, the owners of both these teams seemingly failed to take into account their club's original position when making their decision.

David Sullivan and David Gold, the owners of West Ham United, decided against renewing David Moyes's contract at the end of the season. This despite Moyes greatly exceeding his mandate - which was to secure the club's Premier League status. When Moyes took over from Slaven Bilić, the Hammers were languishing in the relegation zone. However, Moyes instilled organization into the team and managed to get the best out of hot-headed Marko Arnautović - a task many acclaimed managers have failed - to steer West Ham to a respectable thirteenth-placed finish on the final league-table.

Continuing with this discourse, the former West Ham gaffer, Sam Allardyce was sacked by Everton owners Farhad Moshiri and Bill Kenwright. Allardyce was unable to garner the confidence of the owners and he was constantly lambasted throughout his tenure by the club's fans for his team's style of play. Yet, Big Sam guided the Toffees to an eighth-place finish after succeeding Ronald Koeman with the side a meagre five points above the bottom three. The only teams that finished above the Toffees was the impressive Burnley and the 'Big Six'.

Allardyce could have achieved so much more by being allowed a full pre-season in charge and having an entire summer transfer window to introduce a better style of play. This is evident by the fact that one of his signings, Cenk Tosun, in the 2018 January transfer window excelled - the Turk found the net 5 times to aid Everton's surge up the league table.

On a pitiful note, managers are seldomly appreciated for their achievements at a particular club. Upon Claudio Ranieri's appointment as Leicester City manager in 2015, former English football great Gary Lineker did not conceal his bemusement by tweeting: "Claudio Ranieri? Really?" However, Ranieri sensationally won the league with the Foxes in his first season at the helm but, even more sensationally, the Italian was sacked only 25 matches into the very next season. Ranieri deserved not only a vast volume of more loyalty from the owners but he also should have possessed the choice to manage the Foxes for the rest of his life after guiding the previously relegation fighters to their first ever Premier League title.

Managers with the experience of Moyes and Allardyce should be appreciated when they improve teams which they inherited in gloomy situations. Additionally, owners, players and supporters alike should also remember their team's situation when the manager was appointed. Managers need time. Pep Guardiola failed to win any silverware in his first season as Manchester City manager, yet look at what he achieved in the following campaign.

[saulkamionsky-blog]

Platinum Stars's pitiful downfall

There will be no team representing the North West Province in the upcoming 2018/19 Premier Soccer League season after Platinum Stars Football Club were relegated to the National First Division.Yet, only two years ago Dikwena finished third in the PSL and qualified for the CAF Confederations Cup group stages. Here are four conceivable causes for the club's curious collapse:

1) One of the causes of Platinum Star's downfall has been the club's ceaseless selling of its best players. The likes of Ndumiso Mabena, Issa Sarr, Siyabonga Mpontshane and Mogakolodi Ngele have all been sold and Dikwena has failed to adequately replace them. Experience on the field and in the dressing room is invaluable for all PSL sides. However, Dikwena were hampered in this area following the club's decision to release both veteran midfielder Solomon Mathe, who had been with Dikwena for almost seven years, and worldly-wise winger Tintswalo Tshabalala prior to the 2017/18 season's commencement. Their vast experience was needed to guide the numerous youngsters in the squad.

2) Constant changing of goalkeepers has been detrimental to Platinum Stars this season. Last season's number one, Mbongeni Mzimela, only started in 15 PSL games in the current campaign while Dino Visser featured in the other 15 PSL games. This has meant that Dikwena's defenders have needed to constantly adjust to both goalkeepers' methods of communicating and playing style. The defenders may also not possess full confidence in the man between the posts if they feel that the coach is undecided on who should don the number one jersey.

3) The decision to not renew the contract of former head coach Cavin Johnson after he steered the team to a ninth-placed finish at the end of the 2016/17 Premier Soccer League season has, in hindsight, gravely cost Dikwena. The management's reason for this was that they wanted to take the club "to another level". However, Johnson's replacement, Peter Butler, lasted a mere two matches before he was sacked and Roger De Sá was unable to arrest Platinum Star's spiral down the log. Moreover, Dikwena's long-term assistant coach, Willem Jackson, was also deemed surplus to requirements following the departure of Johnson, who led AmaZulu to a top-eight finish upon the recent conclusion of the 2017/18 campaign. Consequently, Platinum Stars were deprived of the experience and know-how that both Johnson and Jackson garnered from many years at the club.

4) Dikwena was bought for R22.5 million in February this year by a consortium, of which De Sá is a part of, from Royal Bafokeng Holdings. However, when the side went up for sale reports surfaced of a camp that was indulged in chaos immediately after general manager Senzo Mazingiza, who had served as the club's general manager for four years, tendered his resignation. The reports of an imminent sale also ostensibly led to unnecessary distractions for the players regarding where their future lies.