KEVIN Keegan might have been one of the best footballers this century. A hero at Liverpool and Hamburg, he was twice voted European Footballer of the Year and both at club and international level enjoyed a glittering career.

Yet as we've seen so often, good players don't always make good coaches.

And there have been tell-tale signs all this season that Keegan hasn't quite got what it takes when it comes to guiding a club through what is arguably the toughest league in the world - the English Premiership.

His insensitive comments moments after Shaun Goater had earned Manchester City a valuable and highly unexpected point against cross-town rivals United at Old Trafford last Sunday spoke volumes about his ability (or lack of) as both tactician and motivator.

Goater, he implied, had done his job and little more. He was almost 33 years old and virtually over the hill and despite his startling goalscoring record still wasn't good enough for a place in the City starting eleven.

He would, in Keegan's words, have to settle for 'cameo' appearances for the rest of the season at the end of which he was free to leave if he so wanted.

If ever such ungrateful and distasteful comments had been uttered by a manager so soon after one of their players had fired home a goal of such importance, it would be difficult to recall when.

Goater might be the first to admit that, unlike Keegan in his playing days, he isn't an extrovert, he rarely scores flashy goals and sometimes to his own detriment he puts team-mates before himself.

But if his strikes aren't sensational, his record is.

This season alone he's banged in three goals against Manchester United - there's not another striker in the country who can match that.

In limited appearances - Goater has started less than half of City's games this term - he's scored seven goals.

Bigger names such as Mark Viduka (Leeds), Darius Vassell (Aston Villa), Craig Bellamy (Newcastle) and Dwight Yorke (Blackburn) haven't been able to keep a similar pace.

Ironically two players finding the net more frequently are Newcastle's Alan Shearer and Tottenham's Terry Sheringham, both of whom are older than Goater, which tends to shoot down Keegan's theory that anybody over 30 should be consigned to the knacker's yard.

What most City fans will tell anybody who cares to listen - and they make their point frequently on the club's website - is that Shaun Goater is the best thing that ever happened to the club.

His work rate, his unselfishness, his humility, his public appreciation of the fans and his unbelievable ability to combat adversity with a positive outlook, have made him a role model to any aspiring professional.

Yet he continually has to listen to critics, Keegan among them, who insinuate he isn't good enough.

Indeed Keegan would have us believe that ?6 million buy Robbie Fowler was a bargain who's about to become the new Maine Road messiah.

From what we've seen in two uninspiring appearances so far, he isn't fit to lace up Goater's boots.

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APATHY. It's almost a catchword for local cricket.

This week's revelation by Bermuda Cricket Board of Control that training sessions for the senior and under-19 national squads were attracting only a handful of players will have surprised no-one.

It's a familiar story.

Despite the fact that Bermuda cricket faces a massive summer in terms of international competition, at this time of year soccer still comes first and no matter what the Board seem to try to raise players' enthusiasm, their efforts are suffocated under a blanket of indifference.

Sadly, the end result will be the same as it was at the ICC Trophy (World Cup qualifiers) two years ago and the tournament in Argentina last year - abject failure.

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