In the last few days has surprised some people, dismayed many and generated a lot of publicity, not all of it favourable.
But on meeting him for the first time on Thursday evening on the balcony of the Sticky Wicket, which acts as the pavilion-cum-bar of his ground, I was struck by an unexpected thought.
He has something in common with , and even .
England's journey to the Caribbean was meant to be an answer to the enormous changes in world cricket produced by Indian money, in particular the hugely successful launch of the Indian Premier League.
England's contracted players were not allowed to play in the inaugural IPL competition and this adventure to the West Indies was meant to be a sweetener to make up for that.
But with the much talked about million dollar match still to be played, it is clear whatever else Saturday produces this is no challenge to what the Indians unveiled earlier this year.
Last Monday night the former Spurs managerhad dinner with the club's directors at London's restaurant where the word seemed to be the board still believed that the manager should be given time.
The man for the chop was more likely to be the director of football
But late on Saturday at the Canary Wharf hotel where Tottenham prepare before a match Ramos learnt that he and his team were to join Comolli in a complete shake-up at Spurs.
So what changed between Monday night and Saturday night?
Credit Crunch? ? That may well be the cry in global sports.
On Sunday, the - the second time it has done so. The ratings for were so good that, despite the economic downturn, the NFL is eagerly eyeing .
, which hopes that next year its , also sees no reason to believe why business would now want not to be involved in sport.
Now you may wonder what the American presidential election has got to do with the Olympics. Quite a lot. At the moment, four cities - Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo - are bidding for the Games in 2016.
Although it is too early in the race to say who will win - it is another year before the bid is decided - Chicago has generally been considered the favourite.
often raise exaggerated hopes which they fail to fulfil, but has proved the great exception.
Back in February 1988 at the in (as the city was then called), the 14-year-old Tendulkar made 326 not out against my old school and in the process set a world record for an inter-schools match, participating in a third-wicket stand of 664 - a record which still stands.
Such records are often regarded as cricketing trivia. This one, for example, is listed in under minor cricket along with the statistic for who has thrown a cricket ball the furthest.
But as I wrote in my : "However the record that the young man helped create at the Sassanian Ground that February day has proved more than a mere cricketing curiosity.
"Over the following decade the boy was to become a cricket wonder and acclaimed as such by no less an authority than who, shortly before his death, declared that the young man's style was the closest to that of Bradman himself."
If you think we are heading for the Great Depression, with , , shops and , then I would suggest you take the train to and watch in wonder as the biggest construction project the country has seen for sometime takes shape.
Here , where the , Britain is not closing down but building at a pace that is quite breathtaking.
I visited the site this morning and a quick walk round showed that in the three months since I was last here the progress has been astonishing, , proceeding nicely and the foundations for 3,000 apartments being laid.
Football clubs did not always have debt. For some 30 years, Liverpool never had a bank overdraft. Peter Robinson, the club's secretary and the man I consider the best administrator the English game has ever seen, made sure his budgeted expenditure matched revenue from season ticket income and match-day ticket sales. Of course, Robinson was from a different era. Then, old John Moores of Littlewoods owned Everton and had more than a quarter of Liverpool. Nobody shouted for him to open his cheque book.
Club finances were simple. Income was essentially the money clubs received from ticket sales. There was no commercial income and very little cash from television. Banks did not like lending to clubs. Those clubs that did have overdrafts had cosy deals with their local bank manager. Yes, clubs did go into administration, but until the 1990s the idea that they were floating on a sea of debt would have appeared ridiculous.
Everton seem poised to be sold. , the Everton chairman, is flying off to meet an overseas buyer today which could see the Merseyside club sold for a total value of about £180m.
The deal is said to be at an advanced stage.
This would include taking over Everton's debt of about £65m (£25m securitised debt and a £40m overdraft).
If the remaining £115m is paid for the club's shares that would represent quite a premium on the club.
The Premier League's 39th-game proposal will be welcomed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) provided the Asians are approached in the right manner.
AFC President confirmed this when he spoke to me at this morning. So what has changed since Bin Hammam reacted with much hostility to the idea when it was first made earlier this year?
One very interested spectator to the spat between Football Association chairman Lord Triesman and Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore at Tuesday's Leaders in Football Conference at Stamford Bridge was Mohammed bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation.
In other countries, in Europe and particularly Asia, such a row would be impossible as most leagues are part of the national association and not a separate body as in this country. However, Bin Hammam is well aware of how big a beast the Premier League is and the considerable impact it has on his own continent.
The is yet to get its first star, but for the moment is dominating .
attracted a full house as he faced MPs on the Select Committee for on Tuesday.
At one stage, he couldn't remember the old saying of 'cutting your coat according to your cloth' and turned to for help... prompting lots of laughter in the Margaret Thatcher room in - which for a select committee is a rare event!
When someone can forget a cliché and still get laughs, you know he is a star.
The government will provide the first £20m of the £80.1m earmarked for elite British athletes competing at the Olympics. The £20m is the first installment on a funding package that runs from 2009-2013.
As to the remaining £60m the government is still hopeful that some of it can be raised through fundraising via the recently launched Medal Hopes plan. Given the current economic climate this seems unduly optimistic.
This elite funding package has generated a great deal of controversy over the years.
The British government may have to step in and guarantee bank loans for developers if enough funding is to be raised for the construction of major Olympic projects in 2012, such as the Olympic Village and the broadcast and media centres. The original plan was for such projects to be funded in the main by developers, but the has made things immensely difficult.
Back in July, just before the and despite the gathering economic clouds, I was confidently told that the funding for the Village would be in place by August. Now it is clear that such plans are not ready and the developers will only be granted bank loans if they are underwritten by the government, making it the lender of last resort. It is worth knowing that the government has already pledged extra funding of its own, committing an additional £250m for the building of the Village.
The is now becoming football's equivalent of .
It could well run into the 2009-2010 season before we know if West Ham will have to pay any of for having suffered .
West Ham's lawyers led by the redoubtable Maurice Watkins, Manchester United director who has been a pioneer in sports law, have succeeded in postponing the direction hearing due on Thursday. Their successful argument was that Watkins's firm had been appointed only a week ago and needed time to study the massive set of papers.
Jump to more content from this blog
Mihir Bose's blog is no longer being updated. You can read recent entries about ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport's coverage and insights into the latest issues on the Sport Editors' Blog.
You can stay up to date with Mihir Bose via these feeds.
Mihir Bose Feed(RSS)
Mihir Bose Feed(ATOM)
If you aren't sure what RSS is you'll find useful.
´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
