 You know what this club means to me and what I wanted to achieve here for the club for the fans for the players for the staff I wanted us to take the next step to challenge for the league to win trophies And I only think it's right that it comes from the horse's mouth. I don't want to answer all There's going to be journalists asking me about interviews, but no, I'm not going to do any interviews I want to get it out there I'm going to leave by the front door because I think everyone knows I've given everything for this club We're talking of course about Oli Runa Solshar, the ex-manager now of Manchester United That's our top story of the day On a day when actually we're talking about multiple coaches That's the common theme of our show today We are watching play things of alien forces with Leslie Xavier and myself Siddhanthani on Newsclick Our weekly show where we talk about some of the most interesting sports stories of the week We're leading off today with Manchester United And they're firing off their manager The 1999 Champions League winning goal scoring Legend Hero Who spent what, three years of the club? Yeah, three years, 2018 he joined us For those of us who don't very much enjoy Manchester United's successes It's not such a bad day Leslie I'm just wearing, removing my neutral mask and then putting it back on But Manchester United doing well is good for football It's important for football also in many ways Because when I look back at when European football started infiltrating into the Indian psyche 90s when cable came in and all those live matches started happening Manchester were on the ascent and the Ferguson era And so many of the people I know became football fans Became Manchester United fans to start with And so the popularity of the European game in India From that generation onwards to the current generation Manchester United has played a big part in it Something like the Italian clubs did in the 80s In areas where those matches were coming in I'm talking specifically about Middle East Where some of my relatives were based So my uncle Zandor would come back from there And they would come back with Italian jerseys And they would also talk about Italian goal scoring And sometimes when they play locally with us They will score a curler and they would talk about that So these clubs no matter how distant we are At this discussion previously also saying that What do you mean? You don't understand how these clubs are You are far away from there So what is the connect with the Indian fans But there is a larger connect Emotional connect of reach And so United doing well United's health in a way it's good for football economy It's good for generally football in India as such So with Solskjaer's news coming in And it was long time pending also I thought that it will happen after Liverpool or after Manchester City But I guess Watford 4-1 The final sort of proverbial nail in the coffin So if you look at football in a neutral perspective Why can't a small club beat a big club? That question came because if you are looking at Giving the coach the right kind of support From behind to work things out Then it has not been there for Solskjaer Because he took over the reins of the club Let's not forget that when the clubs were equally Given the stature of Manchester United Relatively in a very bad position And from there he did admirably well They were top four finishers And they reached the European final And so I mean that's Solskjaer for you also It was not like he came in with a lot of coaching credentials As such, yeah he was a great player But as a coach he was not a proven name And he came into the dressing room He took charge of things, he made things work With the setup But then this year a big change happened Because Manchester United finally started With the base that Solskjaer has created They finally started looking at pushing for Title pushing for European presence Serious European presence And then they got Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho And so the way I look at it Going for stars rather than going for a logical Building process which probably Which exactly is what Ferguson did At the start of the Manchester United's Golden period Class of 1992 and all of that So despite the two years of Decent running for Solskjaer This was in the making And it just so happened that it happened now So one thing you should definitely I think talk about is What is the impact of Because this is something since you mentioned The context of Indian football Over the course of the past one year We've heard of a lot of From the fans and from various People who are involved with the sport To get rid of the national team Head coach Egos T-Match After a series of Uninspiring results, not bad results But uninspiring results And similar to Manchester United In that I think fans From the outside are not seeing any progression So how much is this a coaching decision Like a decision to say We are not heading in the right direction Under this coach from a tactical From a footballing standpoint And how much is a sort of Band-aid that fans are unhappy Fans are angry And we have to do something to change Which is it? Or is it a balanced decision in your opinion? With Manchester United I'm not very sure if it's a balanced decision It takes a knee-jerk reaction To what is happening on the field So results matter But on a larger sense Team composition is what It's failing the coach also Because we have had Manchester's Defense and midfield practically Non-existent in those defeats That you're talking about And in generally also whatever the good results That they have managed to happen Also it was not very inspiring performance So removing that coach Fine because it has some Heads have to roll when these things happen And the same thing happened In Barcelona as well So the decision to remove the coach Is probably in one way Let's forget this season But in one way it's a signal That they are trying to Probably get a new person With some kind of vision Which they can get into the club system But for that vision to work You're bringing in an outsider For that vision to work You are working with the exact set of Executives also Because these are the decision makers Where the money is being spent The decisions made by the board So I always have this problem That when the scapegoat is the coach And when the decisions of Player signings, team compositions The board at Elijah Se Then shouldn't the board And the officials who were in charge Of that be held accountable for also So if a club looking at Elijah change Should be looking at clearing things Wherever the chinks are Regardless of who the person is What the reputation is and all that And as far as Manchester United's Case is concerned They have gotten Michael Garrikin Who was part of the Sholzai's team Set up But then already players have started murmuring And there is a bit of a dissent That he is also inexperienced So when they got I shouldn't be saying we Because When they got Sholzai Rin It was a temporary sport again They are getting Michael Garrikin For the temporary sport again Sholzai managed it really well initially So they made him permanent A temporary setup like that Then getting back to the India part of it Ours is not a temporary setup that way We got Shimash in with the reputation He was supposed to Work things Towards, towards Future building things towards future And so dynamic wise It's an entirely different thing We are talking about Fans reaction is entirely different Because we are talking about a national team That's the difference Fair enough How is it looking in terms of the future For Manchester United things Going to look up because You did mention briefly The impact that these big clubs have They are essentially mega corporations Worth hundreds of millions Of dollars Trading Worth hundreds of millions of dollars And therefore play things Of alien forces in that sense Yeah So they are going to Villarreal For the Champions League So that match It's a single match, it's Carrick's first match But it's also a lot of bearing Because they win, they qualify for the knockout So it's It's hanging in the balance there And from there it starts So loose also from there it starts So we'll have to wait and watch I guess which direction the club is taking At this point Clearly this season is I would say beyond salvage And they should be probably Planning on my largest The idea of How to rebuild the squad itself I mean and for that you need a man At hell, you get a man at hell Get someone like, I mean I would I mean you are not I mean if you have that kind of money The world is out there for you to Have a good man Except Zinedine Zidane who has said Alright, so talking about Men at the helm, we are moving on To Rahul Dravid Who's had a good start Three nil start Against New Zealand after taking over As coach of the Indian cricket team Men's cricket team You've been watching some of the cricket And of course we are Dravid fans So it brings For me personally A little bit of interest back In cricket Because among the many things that are happening In the sporting world One is that Indian cricketers play Like 300 days Of cricket So of course there are die hard fans Who watch every game There are some in our studio Who probably watch every time India play But For a more Like not such a hardcore fan It's harder to follow There are less narrative Storylines And it's the same bunch of people Essentially doing the same thing Again and again and again With Dravid coming in and of course Rohit Taking over the captaincy of the T20 squad Some of that has changed. We talked about this In brief on the last show Are you seeing some Like how's it been for you So last night I mean in that sense it's too early To take that kind of a call For the T20 series We are talking about also But a trivial whitewash of a team Which performed Really well at the World Cup And just coming back Yeah I do agree that The captain was not there Was Michel Sandner was leading the side And couple of players were also rested But still So it's a bounce back For India And Which did well at the World Cup And we lost to them at the World Cup also So in that regard there was pressure There was sort of a glare On Rohit Sharma As well as Rahul Dravid Because It's not a make or break Series as such It is a make series that way So there is this Saying I mean A line which I remember now Which is attributed to Salah Uddin He says what do you gain by winning Jerusalem Nothing he said And then he says everything So that way And sorry for the Aggression but Dravid I saw a picture of Dravid walking In the second match just before the second match He was walking beside the pitch He was saying something to the official Saying give me a second let me just have a look And that is And I was taken back to the days Of Rahul Dravid as a player where He would meditatively sit in front Of the pitch and look at the pitch As though he is trying to listen to what the pitch is saying So So this pitch reading Is actually a myth some cricketers Themselves say But it's also it plays in the opposition's Mind And you have a cerebral player like Rahul Dravid Who is the coach Of Indian team Is walking in the middle of the pitch and Is looking at it and he is walking back As though he has learnt something out of it That's it Psychologically Rahvid Sharma has Slightly more lesser job to do now Trust you Sensei to come up with this Yeah So I guess Dravid's main difference All due respect to Ravi Shastri and his leadership Skill whatever that he brought On to the table but Rahul Very anzone and attention to detail And it was evident In the whitewash because To win a series Against a great side like New Zealand 3-0 It requires that kind of Match by match attention to detail Including the last match where it was India won by an overwhelming margin And for that to Take place it was not fluke I mean I believe it was not fluke Or it was not New Zealand failing But it was Understanding the conditions Understanding the due factor that will come into play Winning the toss and going in and batting Because that's the best time to bat All these factors fell into place And of course it was executed also Whatever the plan that was there And it's very promising I mean in the sense The direction that the Indian team could Potentially take now with A leader like Rahul Dravid And Of course in the Test and ODIs Virat Kohli would be the skipper So Rahul Dravid will be the Common factor across all three formats So We could Be seeing a Golden period of Indian cricket That way across formats And I am very keen and keenly looking At the test series now Which will start by the end of the month Where the New Zealand full squad The Indian team full squad Would be there, Virat Kohli would be back So it would be interesting to see How Virat Kohli Acts as a skipper With Rahul Dravid working In tandem with Rahul Dravid And test is the biggest test And I think it's about time also We've spent now four or five years Doing sport and news click With very little sort of Consistent coverage of cricket Maybe this test series Will start something up Get us non-cricket guys For a change to have some Cricketing conversations Finally a bizarre Story, a tragic story from Sonipat An unsurprising story in some Senses for those who Have some understanding of how The wrestling circuit Or firmament operates In the north of India and Haryana Specifically in this case Two young trainee Wrestlers Shot dead by their coach At the academy Their academy in Sonipat An academy named after perhaps India's most celebrated wrestler In recent times definitely India's Most celebrated wrestler Sushil Kumar who himself Is in jail In a murder case So Nisha and Suraj Young wrestlers who died and their mother Seriously injured In what is Quite un Sort of becoming Termed in India as crimes of passion I'm not sure why they need to Sort of make this differentiation Between kinds of crimes Murder is a murder But it's a complicated Case but one of I think fundamentally The coach Using his power as a coach To Firstly there were allegations By the woman wrestler who Was no more Who was killed That there was physical assault Molestation The coach himself Has come out and apparently In preliminary investigations According to reports Has come out and said that She was in a relationship She did not want to be In that relationship and broke it off And that He couldn't handle it And this was a reaction In that sense being told No It's a very complex case And also we can't As far as case investigations go We all know that Policies in preliminary investigation And all that reports or the stories It's also Very ambiguous where we Because in the How Indian courts and Law work Everything has to have some kind of It has to be proven for things to happen So there is a narrative That's been woven by the police We have the police's version And all based on Confession by the Coach, accused coach So He is probably Covering his tracks By saying that they were in a relationship But where do we draw that line We are talking about coach and a student And We are talking about wrestling as well So a relationship That is celebrated through the ages As a And kept on a pedestal The Guru Shishya Parampara And it's all not just broken Trying in tatters But that Parampara that Celebrates It was always Deeply problematic And This case or Sushil Kumar's case We do realize That the role of the coach Has had some bearing in How things transpired leading into crimes Leading into this crime or leading into that crime And A larger Introspection should be done Or inspection should be done By the wrestling fraternity We keep saying this over and over When each time a crime happens Within the wrestling community And being an X wrestler myself I have a Larger investment in this The reputation of the sport Because where I feel The sport, despite all the medals And the international potential It's still stuck somewhere It has Hardly shown signs to be Cosmogold and hardly broken Into the larger Societal acceptance that is Sport of When we are winning internationally So wrestling is always associated to Antisocial elements To Political muscle To general Everything and it doesn't help When A Coach who is training in a Established well established centre Taking, brandishing his gun And shooting his students It doesn't help at all And the reason behind that That doesn't help either Because we are talking about molestation And harassing The Student, woman or Nineteen year old It's a very dirty complex case And Like I said to comment on that Beyond, on the case At this point is pointless also Because I am also very unsure What exactly the truth is I seriously can't trust With the reports That are coming out by other police And there might be A larger connection to it Initially, for instance There were talks that there is Violence involved in it also Because that's also a natural assumption That comes with wrestling because you never know What the dynamics happen But it seems so that this is The crime is related to the Relationship or the forced relationship That was there between the coach and the student And it's unfortunate that it is happening And this has happened And also unfortunate that Sushil Kumar's name is It seems forever now It would be associated with one crime Or the other because he is Still in jail And his academies Understood me now Place named after his academy I don't know whether he has a direct stake In it or not And so How do you clean up this sport And I don't think the federation officials Or the people who run wrestling in this country They understand the gravity Of this situation They are stuck in their own Dynamic competitions, medals Funding Whatever the power Struggles they play Within themselves and also what they Perceive is the way forward For the sport but ultimately Medals apart The reputation of the sport The well-being of the players Right from The local level to the higher level Some kind of structure Or discipline is not there It falls down and we understand that In a cross-port Why is cricket so celebrated Because we don't see Cricket as brandishing guns And talking about brandishing guns I just remember This International wrestler International medalist Who is a police officer At the 2012 Nationals in Govinda, Ayodhya He was there at the venue He was not competing that year And In civil clothes Jeans Typical wrestler wear T-shirt And a gun popping out from the jeans Brandishing it and walking with pride This is a gun that I can hold Because I am a police officer So it's a cultural thing Hypomasculine Like Just simmering violence Exactly And broad shoulders are not enough When you have a gun to boot Then it makes the picture complete I don't know It's a tragic, tragic story And I can't even imagine For the family of these Two kids who died What must be going on But it's something that we In the next weeks look at Hopefully Things will visit Sonipath And try to get a sense of what's going on Because of all the wrestling Commentators and pundits In this country which is a very Large number I think because we pride Ourself at having a tradition Of wrestling and understanding Of wrestling and it's a popular sport Across many parts of the country And our man here is one of the Finest minds at least in terms of Understanding the sport And why people get involved In the sport and therefore Contextualizing some of this Absolute nonsense that's going on Outside the pitch But that will do it for The show today I hope you enjoyed watching Play Things of Alien Forces You can check out more of our Sports stories on newsclick.in Follow us on social media channels We'll be back again next week With perhaps some updates on some of these stories Perhaps some new stories from the Good-bye and we'll see you again.