Aston Villa 'strengthened' thanks to sale of Jack Grealish


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Dean Smith believes Aston Villa have a stronger squad now than before the sale of Jack Grealish to Manchester City.

Although Grealish’s £100 million exit has been the main story of the summer at Villa Park, Smith will take five new signings to Vicarage Road for the season opener against Watford on Saturday — believing Leon Bailey, Danny Ings, Emi Buendia, Ashley Young and Axel Tuanzebe provide the depth Villa need.

“It was important that we strengthened the squad depth this season,” Smith said. “We felt we had an 11 that could compete against anybody including the top teams — now we’ve got more variation, more adaptability, and more depth and that’s really important.

“Obviously Jack going was a big loss — we wanted to keep him but we would have added more creativity and have added more creativity with Buendia whether Jack stayed or not. I think we’re in a good place …

“We’ve brought in five new players to cope with the loss of one, and they are quality players.”

Smith admitted that when Grealish’s £100m release clause was added to his contract Villa never expected to receive such an offer, but said the fee for a home-grown player reflected well on the club.

“Jack was our best player, but we never expected the £100m to be met,” he said. “It has been met and he goes with our best wishes.

“We had a plan A and a plan B if Jack stayed or went. The plan was always to strengthen, to make us a better team. I feel we’ve done that. The day Jack said goodbye to the players we announced we’d signed Danny Ings and there were a lot of big smiles around the dressing room that we’d kept it quiet.

“I know a lot of people from the outside and certainly on the inside are really happy with our business.”

Smith plans to tell his players on Friday evening which of them he has selected to replace Grealish as captain, but he was clear he did not expect any one individual to take on his role as talisman.

“I wanted to build a better team if Jack left and I feel we can do that,” he said. “There was an over-reliance at times, an unconscious over-reliance on Jack.

“I think we’ve moved away from that now. Only time will tell if that’s a good thing but we believe in the team we’ve got and the squad we’ve got and what we have to do now is prove it on the football pitch.”

The first test of Villa’s reshaped squad will come away to Watford on Saturday, with Smith admitting facing newly-promoted opposition left plenty of questions.

“They’ll be a little bit of an unknown,” he said. “But with a full house they’ll be lively to start the game. We’ll have to be at our best to beat them.”

Grealish was not the only high-profile departure from Villa Park this summer, with first John Terry and then long-serving assistant Richard O’Kelly leaving Smith’s back room staff.

Smith said there was “nothing sinister” in O’Kelly’s exit on the eve the new campaign, with the decision entirely down to the 64-year-old — who had previously worked with Smith at Walsall and Brentford.

“Knowing Richard as well as I do, he’s a selfless person,” Smith said. “It wouldn’t have been an easy decision he’s had to take and it would have been in his mind for the last month or two.

“I think he’s just made a professional decision where he’s seen the progress of the football club and felt it was time to step aside.”

Aston Villa have signed striker Danny Ings from Southampton. PA
Aston Villa have signed striker Danny Ings from Southampton. PA
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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THURSDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY

Centre Court

Starting at 10am:

Lucrezia Stefanini v Elena Rybakina (6)

Aryna Sabalenka (4) v Polona Hercog

Sofia Kenin (1) v Zhaoxuan Yan

Kristina Mladenovic v Garbine Muguruza (5)

Sorana Cirstea v Karolina Pliskova (3)

Jessica Pegula v Elina Svitolina (2)

Court 1

Starting at 10am:

Sara Sorribes Tormo v Nadia Podoroska

Marketa Vondrousova v Su-Wei Hsieh

Elise Mertens (7) v Alize Cornet

Tamara Zidansek v Jennifer Brady (11)

Heather Watson v Jodie Burrage

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Court 2

Starting at 10am:

Arantxa Rus v Xiyu Wang

Maria Kostyuk v Lucie Hradecka

Karolina Muchova v Danka Kovinic

Cori Gauff v Ulrikke Eikeri

Mona Barthel v Anastasia Gasanova

Court 3

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Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

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Married Malala

Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.

The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.

Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.

What is the FNC?

The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning. 
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval. 
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
 

RESULTS

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7.05pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (Turf) 1,000m

Winner Almanaara, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.

7.40pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m

Winner Grand Argentier, Brett Doyle, Doug Watson.

8.15pm Meydan Challenge Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,400m

Winner Major Partnership, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.

8.50pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,200m

Winner Gladiator King, Mickael Barzalona, Satish Seemar.

9.25pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,410m

Winner Universal Order, Richard Mullen, David Simcock.

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Formula One top 10 drivers' standings after Japan

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 306
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 234
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 192
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 148
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 111
7. Sergio Perez, Force India 82
8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 65
9. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 48
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault 34

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Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors:  $400,000 (2018) 

SNAPSHOT

While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.

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The%20specs
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If you go

The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.

The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.

Our legal consultants

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

SPECS

Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
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MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
  • Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000 
  • Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000 
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  • Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000 
  • Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000 
  • Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000 
  • Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000 
  • Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
  • Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
  • Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Updated: August 13, 2021, 11:28 AM`