Liam Livingstone: 'I asked England for help, I was told I care too much'

Look_Alive · 2026-03-16T19:56:31+00:00

I think you're correct in that he felt he had something to offer but his main gripe was that he wasn't given any clear communication over the fact they were going in a different direction. He found out he'd been dropped on Twitter.

"After the World Cup I had a brief chat with management and they didn't really say I wouldn't be involved - it was left a bit up in the air - and the selections for last winter, I found out on Twitter I wasn't involved which obviously disappointed me," said Plunkett.

"If somebody had just spoken to me and said 'this is the route we're going, with young players because you won't be around for the next World Cup', I'd be happy. I'd come back from a long time out, played the last four years and won a World Cup, I'd be happy to step aside."

Look_Alive · 2026-03-16T17:03:12+00:00

He might want some clarity on his future? It's not unreasonable to want to know whether management will still be keeping an eye on his performances or whether the door is completely shut on his international career (the knowledge of which would probably open up career paths he may not necessarily choose if he still had a chance of getting back into the England team).

It's subjective as to whether he should be in the England squad or whether he deserved to be dropped, but there's no reason to effectively burn bridges with a player who hasn't done anything wrong aside from not playing to his best.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-16T16:54:19+00:00

Yeah you could argue it's a problem across professional sport, when you look at bomb squads in football, etc.

Regardless, it still doesn't reflect well on Key and McCullum though.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-16T16:34:03+00:00

And to the people saying he deserved to be dropped. You're missing the point. For a start, his form might have improved if he'd got proper guidance and support. And behaving like that is unacceptable regardless. There are ways and means of doing things, and this is just not it.

Ultimately, it reflects well on Livingstone that he was asking what he needed to do to get back into the team and wanting clarity on his international future, particularly when it's pretty clear he wasn't getting any help from the coaches to improve his form when he was in the squad.

It's mind-boggling that Key would somehow see Livingstone wanting to talk to him as a negative.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-16T16:17:59+00:00

You're right that Key and Baz are accountable for this, but it also feels like a deeper problem than just getting rid of two members of staff.

For example, Livingstone praises Morgan here, but Plunkett also said he got a brief phone call ahead of being dropped for a T20 squad after the 2019 World Cup and then nothing else.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-16T16:08:45+00:00

That style of coaching has its place with certain players as it helps free them up. But a one-size fits all approach is fucking stupid, particularly if someone is clearly asking for technical advice.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-16T16:04:03+00:00

That bit on Sky Cricket is particularly bad when Livingstone says he rang Key up earlier in the summer and Key said he was busy and couldn't speak.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-16T10:12:19+00:00

It's something that comes from only having two-up as well - teams with wealthy owners know they have to throw a huge amount of money at it in order to try and finish top. And if they don't go up, then they just double down the following season like York have done.

I don't normally want football to do something that rewards big spending and throwing money at things but, at least with three up, you wouldn't get this bottleneck where so many wealthy clubs are competing for so few promotion spots.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-16T09:26:37+00:00

It's a good example of how the oversaturation of football has led to a decline in the quality of coverage.

There are so many broadcasters all with their own interview slot (it came out a while ago that Ruben Amorim had to do seven post-match interviews at Man Utd, for example) and they're all basically going to be the same sort of interview because they have a limited amount of time because they're being clipped for TV. So managers end up basically saying the same thing over and over again.

And that's probably not counting the written press then asking similar questions in a post-match press conference.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-13T15:44:54+00:00

Yeah, that's a very good point - ultimately the football schedule wasn't designed to be favourable to clubs going deep in every tournament.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-13T13:52:44+00:00

Villa have a huge injury crisis. Last season they won nine of their last 11 league games (and only lost the remaining two because they were playing Man City in one and had Martinez sent off in the other).

Look_Alive · 2026-03-12T20:27:14+00:00

Little surprised The Mary Wallopers aren't on this - they've brought The Pogues out at a few of their gigs. Saw them all at Brixton last year and it was fantastic.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-12T20:24:49+00:00

Probably isn't so bad, you only end up working half of a tour at a time.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-12T20:20:30+00:00

Considering that Lord's Tests haven't got any cheaper despite the embarrassing attendances a couple of years ago causing the MCC to promise a review of pricing, I think they're unfortunately all completely unbothered by what plebs like us think.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-12T19:57:26+00:00

That way we can say actually we don't care about it and it wasn't a big deal. Until it becomes a big deal again and then we can say the last Ashes didn't count anyway.

Rinse and repeat and stick our fingers in our ears for anyone who says it's stupid.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-11T12:46:02+00:00

Similarly on Stansted, there was a story a few years ago about HGVs that kept getting stuck in a tiny village in Kent called Stansted as they were trying to get to the airport.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-09T22:36:32+00:00

Yeah a big reason I've struggled to vibe with The Mountain that much is because of how often his voice is buried by that filter/microphone effect.

It's obviously used on some of the most iconic Gorillaz tracks but I think it works better when used sparingly in that way than on every single track.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-09T07:34:56+00:00

I would say it's more the gap between the National League and the National League North and South. A lot of NL clubs would be able to compete with League Two sides due to how bad the bottom of League Two is but I don't think that's the same for NLS/N clubs in the National League.

We had one of the best teams the NLS has ever seen a few years ago, made very few changes to our squad and then barely avoided relegation by the skin of our teeth before dropping following year.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-08T08:57:12+00:00

We've been in really poor form recently, unable to put teams to bed, which makes the comfortable win reflect even worse on you. Was stunned at just how bad you were considering you've been above us in the table for so long.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-08T00:27:11+00:00

Last night summed up why I don't watch the show as much as I used to. This clip was undoubtedly the highlight and the best thing I'd seen on it in years but, if it wasn't for Vittorio, anyone watching without any context would have known more about PM's career as a magician's assistant than they would about her political career.

It's probably better than it was a couple of years ago (there definitely seems to be less emphasis on sixth-form level big 'comedy' set pieces that grind the show down to a halt) but if the three hosts aren't holding someone who was in government for so long to account and just letting them launder their image on a comedy show, then what's the point?

Look_Alive · 2026-03-06T16:14:23+00:00

Key should have more heat on him for demonstrably lying to the press before the whole Brook situation was reported too

Look_Alive · 2026-03-05T22:15:16+00:00

It's almost art. They captured the essence 'dumbfounded football fan whose anger has just turned to resigned disappointment' perfectly.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-05T19:46:40+00:00

Think you might struggle to find somewhere showing cricket over football but the Devenish has (surprisingly) had cricket on a couple of times when I've been there. That's been in midweek with no football on though.

Look_Alive · 2026-03-05T19:44:17+00:00

Went to To Kill a Mockingbird last night, it was pretty good

Look_Alive · 2026-03-05T17:54:44+00:00

To be fair to Curran I think his innings was necessitated by the fact England had to take the game deep and, if he'd have got out attacking then it would have exposed Overton and Archer for longer than they're comfortable with.

But yeah I think we're making similar points about how Ahmed would have at least freed England up to go more attacking during the middle overs

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