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Their ability to not merely survive, but thrive, so soon after the catastrophic events of Lahore is beyond remarkable

Alex Brown12-Jun-2009The last time these two nations met on a cricket field, Sri Lanka left by helicopter gunship. A scenic bus journey through the tree-lined streets of St John’s Wood on Friday no doubt served as a contrasting – and, perhaps, cathartic – experience for those concerned, but the preceding three hours at Lord’s proved, in pure cricketing terms, just how little had changed for Sri Lanka in the intervening three months.The world will inevitably remember the second Test at Lahore for the bullets that tore through flesh and innocence outside the gates to the Gadaffi Stadium. In the circumstances, the scoreline of the match seems trivial to the point of irrelevance; the counting of runs giving way to the counting of bodies.But a review of the abandoned game is instructive in illustrating the strength of character and resolve of Sri Lanka’s players. Despite being forced at gunpoint upon an emotional journey few could fathom, the Sri Lankans are playing cricket with a focus and purpose all but identical to that they produced in the carefree days before the terror attack on their team bus.If the two-Test series in Pakistan was notable for anything other than the atrocities committed, it was the dominance of the batsmen. Thilan Samaraweera’s dual double-centuries were celebrated by his countrymen – almost as enthusiastically as his anticipated comeback from a bullet wound later this month will be – and Tillakaratne Dilshan’s near even-time century gave further weight to the theory that this was a Sri Lankan batting line-up at the height of its considerable powers.The shoot-out in Lahore might have changed many things – sport’s veneer of innocence, Pakistan’s status as a host nation – but Sri Lanka’s resolve and ability as a cricketing unit is not one of them. Since arriving in England for their first sporting assignment since the shoot-out, Kumar Sangakkara’s redoubtable troupe have proven themselves among the game’s most potent batting units, romping to victories over Australia, West Indies and, on Friday, Pakistan. Quite the hit-list.Their ability to not merely survive, but thrive, so soon after the catastrophic events of Lahore is beyond remarkable. Indeed, this band of terrorised and galvanised cricketers might well be remembered as one of the most courageous teams to have graced a sporting field. Sri Lanka deserve nothing less than a famous victory at Lord’s on June 21, but with opponents the quality of South Africa and India still in the frame, much work needs to be done to ensure such a result.In a wonderful gesture of solidarity, Sri Lanka and Pakistan stood not as separate teams but as one intertwined unit at the singing of the national anthems on Friday. Thereafter, however, there was little commonality between the two sides, as a committed and determined Sri Lanka ran roughshod over their ill-disciplined opponents, whose woes began with Sohail Tanvir’s opening over.Two no-balls, three wides, three boundaries and a single gifted the Sri Lankans an ideal 18 for 0 start to the match, and Dilshan (46 from 29 deliveries) took full advantage. Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal temporarily applied the brakes through the middle overs, but Sri Lanka’s total of 150 for 7 always seemed defendable with an attack featuring Lasith Malinga (3-17), Muttiah Muralitharan (2-28) and the surprising Angelo Mathews (1-23).Sri Lanka are favoured to overcome the part-timers of Ireland and the injury ravaged New Zealanders to earn safe passage through to the semi-finals. That, in itself, would be a remarkable feat in the circumstances. But given the quality of cricket produced over the past week, one senses that nothing short of a finals berth will satisfy Sangakkara and his spirited team. A fairytale ending to a horrific few months is in the offing.

Williamson believes the environment in the New Zealand camp is “quite good” despite some external noise

Alex Malcolm06-Mar-20242:04

Taylor on Wagner: ‘I think it’s a forced retirement’

Kane Williamson played a typically straight bat to questions around Neil Wagner’s retirement saying ‘nobody is forced to retire’ after former team-mate Ross Taylor suggested all was not well within the New Zealand camp.Responding to a question on ESPN’s television show Around The Wicket about Wagner’s finger-on-the-mouth celebration after dismissing Zubayr Hamza in his final Test appearance, against South Africa in Hamilton, and a visual of him showing someone the middle finger as the team got in a huddle to celebrate another wicket, Taylor said, “I think it all makes sense a little bit now. There’s no sugarcoating it: I think it’s a forced retirement. If you listen to Wagner’s press conference, he was retiring, but it was after this last Test match [against Australia]. So he did make himself available.”Williamson was asked about Taylor’s comments during a press conference at Hagley Oval on Wednesday just two days out from the second Test against Australia, where he and Tim Southee will celebrate their 100th Tests together.Related

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Taylor on Wagner: 'I think it's a forced retirement'

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Imagine there was no Kane Williamson. It's not easy, don't try

Williamson believes that Wagner had not been forced into retirement and said the team gave him a great send-off last week in Wellington.”I don’t think anybody is forced to retire,” Williamson said. “I think last week, he had a fantastic week and it was reflecting on what was an incredible career.”We had some amazing moments in the dressing room. It didn’t go perfectly. Obviously, an on-field performance would have helped but it was so much more than that. He’s just done such incredible things for this team. And we’ve seen the skill that he has and the numbers that everybody sees but the heart and soul and effort that he’s brought to the side and largely led through that for so long has been incredible. It was quite a special week for that reason and I think he had a really amazing time sharing that with the side.”Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson shared many great partnerships together for New Zealand•Getty ImagesWilliamson also added some context to Wagner’s finger-on-the-mouth celebration on the mouth celebration, suggesting it had come as a result of some banter between Southee and Wagner about his fielding.”Those guys are great mates and have been and will continue to be,” Williamson said. “That was banter in the dressing room with Waggy and his fielding so he ended up putting him down at fine leg. So to get a catch was quite amusing. So Waggy took his opportunity. I think he thinks that obviously out of context [and] it doesn’t look great, but it was a little bit humorous at the time and all the players understood the context.”Williamson said the environment within the Black Caps team was good despite the external noise.”Yeah, quite good,” Williamson said. “Something that we’re always trying to improve and evolve as a team. And it’s something we’ve tried to do for years. You always have different transitions and players come and go, support staff come and go.”[Taylor] might know more than me, I’m not sure. But I see guys that are giving everything, trying to get better as a team, trying to move the team forward and that’s really a focus for us.”2:07

Taylor on Southee: ‘It sends a bad message’

Taylor was also critical of Southee’s dismissal in the fourth innings in Wellington when he holed out to long-on off Nathan Lyon as New Zealand slumped to a heavy defeat.”When you’re a batter, we all play poor shots, but when you’re captain I think it just sends a bad message, and the optics of it I think don’t look good,” Taylor said. “He does get a lot of runs for us playing an attacking brand. He loves hitting sixes. He and Brendon [McCullum] have a bit of banter about whether he can ever catch him. But when you’re captain you have to look your team in the eye. We didn’t bat very well as a team, when you play a shot like that, it’s hard to look the team in the eye and tell them off.”Williamson was unfazed by the comments saying that the Black Caps were focussing on themselves.”Lots of people come out and say different things and as a team, we try and focus on what’s important and that’s our team and our environment and what we’re trying to do and give our energy to that,” Williamson said.

Brentford star Kristoffer Ajer has backed Yoane Wissa's behaviour after he forced a move to Newcastle in the summer transfer window.

• Wissa joined Newcastle on deadline day
• Forced his way out of Brentford
• Alexander Isak did similar to leave Newcastle

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Wissa forced through a move to Newcastle in the summer, as he publicly went on strike to engineer his transfer, which eventually went through on deadline day. From the other side of the deal, Alexander Isak did the same thing, as he left Newcastle to join Liverpool. 

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  Now, Ajer has insisted he holds no ill-will towards his old team-mate, as he believes that there is a double standard, with clubs being allowed to force players out, as opposed to players forcing their way out of clubs. 

• WHAT AJER SAID

  Ajer told TV2: “Unfortunately, that’s how football has become. There is little focus on it when clubs try to push players out of their clubs, when they have longer contacts and you try to get rid of them.

  “If you are going to focus on players who are striking, you also have to address a huge problem where clubs don’t treat their players well enough when they are not good enough.”

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Brentford start life without Wissa against Chelsea on September 13, while Wissa will hope to play for Newcastle against Wolves on the same day. 

Visitors lead by 255 runs going into the final day after spirited counterattack

ECB Reporters Network19-May-2024

Northamptonshire regained control of the Vitality County Championship Division Two match at Derby after a Ross Whiteley counter-attack revived Derbyshire.Whiteley scored 54 in his first Championship match for nearly three years and dominated a last wicket stand of 58 with Daryn Dupavillon to carry his team to 362 after Ben Sanderson took 5 for 76.Wayne Madsen and Matt Lamb also scored half centuries for the home side but positive batting after tea strengthened Northants position with Emilio Gay’s unbeaten 89 taking the visitors to 195 for 2, a lead of 255.Warm sunshine and a cloudless sky made it a good day for batting but Derbyshire lost a wicket to the fourth ball of the third morning.Brooke Guest had to play at a delivery that Sanderson moved away enough to take the outside edge and was caught behind without adding to his overnight score.Derbyshire almost gifted Northants another wicket in the next over when Lamb took on Luke Proctor’s arm at mid on and was very fortunate not to be run out by a direct hit.Lamb made the most of that escape by sharing a stand of 82 with Madsen who swung Rob Keogh for six on his way to a 118 ball 50 that contained only two fours.Lamb dished out the same treatment to Liam Patterson-White before completing his 50 from 90 balls but the second new ball sent the innings into decline.Sanderson got one to straighten to bowl Lamb before Siddharth Kaul tempted Aneurin Donald into playing at one he could have left and then found some late movement to have Anuj Dal caught at first slip.Madsen was bowled trying to swing Kaul over mid-on and when Sanderson had Zak Chappell and Blair Tickner taken at second slip, Derbyshire looked like conceding a substantial first-innings lead.But Whiteley played impressively, mixing watchful defence with controlled aggression, and with solid support from Dupavillon, kept his side in the game.Whiteley, who pulled Kaul for six and drove Patterson-White over the long-on boundary, farmed the strike astutely while Dupavillon displayed a sound defence to frustrate the visitors.By the time Proctor ducked one in to trap Whiteley lbw, the deficit had been cut to 60 and Derbyshire had momentum going into the evening session.That would have increased if Ricardo Vasconcelos had not been dropped at second slip off Tickner in the second over but by the time he was bowled charging wildly at David Lloyd’s off spin, the lead was 150.Patterson-White took on the short ball until he was caught behind pulling at Chappell but Gay and Karun Nair maintained the tempo against pace and spin in the closing overs.The pair added 76 from 77 balls to set a platform from where Northants can press on in the morning to give themselves enough time to try and bowl Derbyshire out on what is still a good pitch.

Barcelona legend and Marc-Andre ter Stegen's former team-mate Ivan Rakitic still sees the German as the club's No. 1, despite Joan Garcia's arrival.

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• Rakitic offers support to the out-of-favour Ter Stegen
• German goalkeeper told he's lost his place in the team
• Refusing to leave despite his situation

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Ter Stegen is probably going through the most difficult phase of his career. After 11 years, he will no longer play an important role at Barcelona – something his former team-mate Rakitic finds incomprehensible. The Croatian maestro made it clear that he still sees the German as the best option to be Barca's first-choice keeper next season, despite the arrival of Joan Garcia from Espanyol and the renewal of Wojciech Szczesny.

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  Per reports, Barca coach Hansi Flick hasinformed Ter Stegen that he is no longer the first-choice goalkeeper for the time being and will have to settle for third-choice behind Garcia and Szczesny. Despite the current situation, Flick has encouraged Ter Stegen to accept the competition for the goalkeeper position and continue to fight for a return to the team. The club, though, want to offload the German, who has placed certain demands in order to consider a departure. Currently, Ter Stegen is training away from the first team.

• WHAT IVAN RAKITIC SAID

  "If I have Ter Stegen in my team, Ter Stegen plays. That's quite clear," Rakitic asserted in an interview. "For me, it's clear: Joan Garcia is good, a goalkeeper with a lot of talent. But he's competing with Marc.

  "Hansi will have a pretty tricky situation there, because you can only ever play one goalkeeper. And we know how it is: whether you're the first, second or fifth goalkeeper, everyone wants to play. It won't be easy. I'm sure Hansi has a plan. He'll try to create an atmosphere in which it works – because at the end of the day, it's the team that counts."

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Ter Stegen remains under contract at Barca until 2028, and has been linked with a number of suitors across Europe. The Blaugrana are intent on offloading the veteran goalkeeper, as their transfer plans for the summer could rest on the amount of sales they can manage.

A four-wicket haul from Naveen Ul Haq and a three-for from Qais Ahmad consigned United Arab Emirates to a series defeat in Sharjah as Afghanistan won by four wickets to clinch the T20I trophy 2-1.Naveen’s three wickets in the first-innings powerplay had UAE reeling at 38 for 4 by the sixth over, after which Qais stepped up to claim the next three scalps, including UAE’s top scorer Muhammad Waseem (27). UAE’s score of 75 for 7 soon became 107 for 9 when Naveen returned to pick up his fourth to finish with 4 for 20, but an unbeaten 19-run tenth-wicket partnership between Muhammad Jawadullah and Junaid Siddique took the hosts to 126. Qais finished with 3 for 24 while Azmatullah Omarzai picked up two.Afghanistan’s chase was comfortable if not clinical. Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 14-ball 20 provided the early impetus, and the pair of Hazratullah Zazai (36) and Ibrahim Zadran (23) scored slowly but kept the chase moving. The Zazai-Ibrahim stand of 37 for the second wicket took Afghanistan past the halfway stage of the target, but a middle-order collapse – where they slid from 85 for 2 to 103 for 6 – gave UAE an opening.However, with 24 needed in 18 balls, Najibullah Zadran turned up the tempo again, smacking two fours in the 18th over to bring the rate under six. With 13 needed off the last two overs, he finished the game with consecutive sixes to finish unbeaten on 28 at a strike-rate of 215.

Napoli have reached an agreement with PSV winger Noa Lang and are all set to bolster their flanks with one more addition – which could be Jadon Sancho or Federico Chiesa.

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• Napoli reach agreement with Lang
• Gli Azzuri planning to add either Sancho or Chiesa
• Both players are ready for a move

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Serie A champions are eager to wrap up Lang's signature as soon as possible, with Gianluca Di Marzio reporting they will submit a €28 million (£24m/$32m) offer to PSV on Tuesday.

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  Antonio Conte's side are eager to bring in at least one more winger, however, and have Manchester United and Liverpool outcasts Sancho and Chiesa on their list alongside Bologna's Dan Ndoye. Sancho, 25, has spent most of the last two seasons on loan at Dortmund and Chelsea, and is not considered a part of the project under Ruben Amorim. Chiesa, meanwhile, has not enjoyed sufficient playing time since his move to Liverpool last summer, having clocked only 466 minutes in 14 appearances across all competitions, and is on the lookout for a move back to Serie A with Milan, Inter, Roma, and Napoli among the interested parties. Napoli have reignited contact with the Italian winger recently, the report adds.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Napoli are yet to decide on the other winger they hope to sign, but they face competition from Fenerbahce and Juventus when it comes to the signing of Sancho, with the England international possibly teaming up with Jose Mourinho in Turkey.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR NAPOLI?

  Napoli will look into the potential formalities and finances involved in bringing either the English or the Italian winger, albeit before the 2025-26 season kicks off.

Harry Kane enjoyed his first "crazy" experience of live NHL action, with the Bayern Munich striker taking in a wild Stanley Cup clash.

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• England captain in the States for another trophy bid
• A-list guests attend epic ice hockey clash
• Bayern will open Club World Cup quest on Sunday

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The England international, fresh from captaining his country in a World Cup qualifier with Andorra and friendly date with Senegal, is in the United States ahead of 2025 FIFA Club World Cup duty.

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  In a bid to relax and recharge before experiencing another bid for major silverware – with his trophy duck being broken with a Bundesliga title triumph – Kane has been sampling what the American sporting scene has to offer.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  He is a big American football fan and has previously hinted at exploring a post-soccer career in the NFL ranks. Kane has now branched out and moved into the world of ice hockey. He was in attendance for an epic encounter between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers – joining pop superstar Taylor Swift and her Super Bowl-winning boyfriend Travis Kelce in the crowd.

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• WHAT HARRY KANE SAID

  The Florida-based hosts of that clash suffered an agonising 5-4 defeat, leaving the 2025 Stanley Cup series all square at 2-2. Kane said of soaking up the action rinkside: "What a night! A crazy game in the Stanley Cup, my first ever NHL experience!"

White-ball coach also aims to lift West Indies from the bottom half of ODI and T20I rankings

Deivarayan Muthu27-May-2023

West Indies’ newly-appointed white-ball coach Daren Sammy has had “in-depth conversations” with Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine about their reintegration into the national side.Hetmyer had recently made himself available for selection for the upcoming 2023 ODI World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe, but he was left out of the squad because the management wanted to give a longer run to the players who had performed well in South Africa, where West Indies drew the ODI series 1-1 and took the T20I series 2-1. As for Lewis, he hasn’t made himself available for West Indies selection until after CPL 2023. Russell hasn’t played for West Indies since the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE while Narine’s last appearance for West Indies was way back in August 2019.In an interview with last year, Narine, though, had said that he hadn’t shut the door on a West Indies return.Related

Daren Sammy: 'I have a dream that I'll be part of another World Cup title in the near future'

Johnson Charles isn't finished just yet

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Daren Sammy appointed WI white-ball coach

“Well, first thing I’d like to make it known is everyone who plays regional cricket is available or is indicating that they’re available for West Indies selection,” Sammy said in his first press conference as the white-ball coach. “I’ve had conversations with both Hetty [Shimron Hetmyer] and Evin Lewis. Having played not too long ago and understanding the complaints of players – and the lack thereof of communication – I think it’s important for us to communicate. It sounds simple but I understand that just clear communication makes the process better and it gives you a better understanding. So, yes, I’ve had in-depth conversations with Shimron and Evin Lewis about their mindset, their plans, and where they see West Indies cricket in line with themselves in [it].”I must tell you that the feedback has been positive and I’ve also reached out to guys like Andre Russell. I’ve reached out to Sunil Narine and all these guys, too, to hear what their thoughts are. Because they still take part in some of our domestic competitions. But it takes honest and mature conversations, which is one I’m not afraid to have with the players. I’m encouraged by the discussions that we’ve had when it comes to West Indies cricket, outlining clear plans as to how we reintegrate because these players….look at the caliber of Shimron…I’m sure it hurts fans to see him perform elsewhere and not in the maroon.””We want to finish in the top eight next year and start taking these little steps”•Getty Images

Sammy has been in charge of the St Lucia and Peshawar Zalmi franchises in the CPL and PSL respectively, but this West Indies assignment is his first as a coach in international cricket. Sammy hopes to draw from his experiences of having worked with former West Indies coaches Phil Simmons and Ottis Gibson.Under Gibson and Sammy, West Indies lifted their first T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2012 and four years later in India in 2016, West Indies won another T20 World Cup under the leadership of Simmons and Sammy.Sammy also has a good working relationship with current West Indies red-ball coach Andre Coley, who had been an assistant to Simmons, when West Indies clinched that T20 World Cup title seven years ago.”For someone who didn’t have the desire to go into coaching, they’re more of coaches I’ve worked with – whether in franchise cricket or the West Indies team or the different teams I’ve played,” Sammy said. “I’ve garnered so much knowledge that I could implement for myself. Ottis Gibson and I are quite close. We’ve always been in contact from way before he came into the set-up and we had a very good relationship, in terms of planning our cricket and how we presented to our guys.”I also worked with Phil and we won a championship together, so everybody has their own styles. For me, all what I’ve garnered and now putting all this into my style but my way is not the highway. It’s incorporating everybody to pull in one direction and try to get results for our team. And try to inspire the next generation of cricketers and our fans.”Sammy: WI are not ‘far off’ from being an elite teamSammy’s immediate focus is a three-match ODI series against the UAE in Sharjah in June, which will form part of the preparations for the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe in June-July. His long-term focus is to lift West Indies from the bottom half of the ICC rankings. They’re currently tenth in ODIs and seventh in T20Is, but Sammy feels they’re not “far off” from being a top international side.”Numbers don’t lie. We’re No. 9 [10] and No. 8 [7] respectively,” Sammy said. “We’re there for a reason, and we’ve not been consistent enough, but then when I look at the data ahead of me – what we’ve done in the last five years, where we’ve been losing games in different stages… Man, we’re not far off, and that excites me. When I say I try to build an elite team, I look at what openers are doing around the world overseas, we’re not far off. Different stages of the game where spin is killing us between overs 11-40, you know areas we could improve.”When I look at the one percenters, if we could improve on certain areas and just be more aware of the situation, probably a different mindset and better skills and better execution, we’re not far off. If we could build on these things and improve the small goals that I have for the team…we want to start improving on our rankings by the time our year ends. We want to finish in the top eight next year and start taking these little steps.”

Even though Celtic are a whopping 16 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership, supporters worldwide will all be desperate for this side to beat fierce rivals Rangers in Sunday’s Glasgow derby.

When they most recently met in January, Rangers demolished Celtic 3-0 at Ibrox, a repeat of the scoreline that went the way of the Hoops back in September.

Given that the Gers are without a manager, have lost two of their last three Premiership fixtures and were taken to extra time by Fenerbahçe on Thursday, you have to make Brendan Rodgers’ side overwhelming favourites to dish out some derby day revenge.

However, the home side could be without their most-important player, so does that redress the balance somewhat?

Callum McGregor's importance to Celtic

As reported by Ross Pilcher of the Daily Record, captain Callum McGregor is a doubt ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm due to a ‘calf injury’ suffered towards the end of last weekend’s Scottish Cup victory over Hibs.

The captain admitted he’d not been able to take part in group training this week, reduced to “individual work with the physios”, although he is still optimistic he’ll be available, adding that one always “wants to play in these games.”

However, should McGregor be sidelined, this would be a major blow given that, as noted by Kieran Devlin of the Athletic, he is Celtic’s ‘most important player’ due to his ‘tactical intelligence’, ‘leadership’ and ‘quality’.

If the Bhoys go on to complete the treble this season, the 31-year-old would become the club’s joint-most decorated player of all-time, joining Bobby Lennox with 25 major honours.

He has also become only the 14th player to reach 500 appearances for the club, with manager Rodgers describing him as “the beating heart of the team”.

So, how on earth do you go about replacing someone that important? Well, Celtic might just have the perfect player to fill the void.

Celtic's midfield maestro

As the saying goes, it’s important to always make a good first impression, and Reo Hatate certainly did that after arriving from Kawasaki Frontale for a reported fee of just £1.4m in January 2022.

On his debut against Hibernian, Hatate was named man of the match following a ‘captivating display’, leading to this hilarious clip of him finding out; having been taken off, he asked substitute James Forrest why his name had been announced over the tannoy, before being both pleasantly surprised and pleased to find out.

A week later, he scored a thunderbolt at Tynecastle, before netting twice as Celtic hammered Rangers 3-0 at Parkhead soon after, with Andrew Smith of the Scotsman noting the Japanese midfielder has been ‘central’ to Celtic’s success since his arrival.

Meantime, Declan McConville of Glasgow World labels him ‘exceptional’, former Hibs and Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart believes he is “top-class”, while his manager describes him as an “outstanding player”.

In total, Hatate has now made 133 appearances in hoops, scoring 23 goals and registering 24 assists, predominantly deployed as a number eight, but occasionally filling in deeper, most notably doing so against RB Leipzig in the Champions League when McGregor was nursing a knee injury.

So, let’s assess how the duo compare.

Statistics

McGregor

Hatate

Appearances

44

46

Minutes

3,786

3,155

Goals

9

7

Assists

1

5

Pass completion %

94.1%

80.1%

Progressive passes

45

38

Shot-creating actions

13

19

Big chances created

4

13

Touches per 90 (UCL only)

69.7

57.7

% of dribblers tackled

37.5%

58.3%

Interceptions

32

10

Ball recoveries

47

38

% of ground duels won

54.7%

49.9%

The table produces some very interesting statistics, highlighting the fundamental similarities, but also the key differences, between McGregor and Hatate.

McGregor dictates the tempo, as noted by Mark Atkinson of the Scotsman, while Hatate operates higher up the park, hence why he’s recorded more assists and created more than three times as many big changes this season.

Nevertheless, the Japanese international compares favourably when it comes to touches per 90, pass completion percentage and defensive metrics, such as tackles, interceptions and, most of all, ball recoveries, underlining that he would be the natural choice to be deployed at the base of midfield, should McGregor be forced to sit out on Sunday’s derby.

Celtic's star loanee is now worth even more than Engels & Jota after exit

The former Celtic loanee has seen his value soar beyond Arne Engels and Jota’s.

ByDan Emery Mar 14, 2025