Steve Luckings looks back on a season of intrigue with no doubt plenty of twists still to come as we approach the final round of games.
While most of the hard-to-fathom headlines have been reserved for Leicester City’s improbable title triumph, this campaign has truly been the most remarkable of the Premier League since its inception in the 1992/93 season.
As we look ahead to Sunday’s final round of games, the permutations for the league’s final Uefa Champions League, Europa League, as well as the final two relegation places, hold plenty of intrigue.
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And what about Tottenham Hotspur?
Leicester’s title triumph could have been lifted right out of a JM Barrie fairy tale, but for much of the run-in, it was a two-horse race with Tottenham Hotspur to see who would cross the line first.
Spurs, who until two weeks ago were the only team capable of thwarting Claudio Ranieri’s side, are now in danger of not even finishing as their closest challengers.
A run of three games without a win — despite taking the lead against West Bromwich Albion (1-1), Chelsea (2-2) and Southampton (1-2) — Mauricio Pochettino’s side go into their final match, away to Newcastle United, needing at least a point to guarantee they finish above Arsenal and avoid the ignominy of a “St Totteringham Day’s” party, a celebration Arsenal fans hold to commemorate their hex over Spurs, who have failed to finish above their hated North London rivals since 1994/95.
And what about Arsenal?
Arsene Wenger’s side broke their modus operandi of the previous decade of starting a campaign slow before finishing with a flourish by blasting out of the blocks before suffering the jitters down the home stretch.
When Arsenal beat Leicester 2-1 at Emirates Stadium on February 14, the gap was cut to two points, Arsenal completing a league double over their opponents in the process.
But a stuttering run of form since saw Arsenal collect 17 points from a possible 33 while Leicester picked up 27 in the same 11-match stretch. Arsenal fans staged their most vociferous protests of Wenger’s 20-year reign in last month’s win over Norwich City with their title drought to stretch to a 12th year.
And what about West Ham United?
After the transformation from workmanlike to wonderful under the guidance of Slaven Bilic, their season is in danger of tailing off where ambitions have slid from Champions League hopefuls to not even being certain of Europa League football next term.
And what about Manchester City?
Manuel Pellegrini’s farewell speech to a handful of fans at Etihad Stadium after the 2-2 draw against Arsenal went down like a damp squib despite a League Cup trophy and taking the club farther than any predecessor in the Champions League. His legacy to his successor, Pep Guardiola, may not even be the guarantee of Champions League football next season.
And what about Manchester United?
Louis van Gaal has had more comebacks than Frank Sinatra. When a 2-0 defeat to Stoke City in December signalled the final death knell in the Dutchman’s turbulent 18 months in charge, he answered it with a 0-0 draw against Chelsea. He has repeated that feat several times since, all the while speculation over his future at the club, with Jose Mourinho’s name forever lurking in the shadows, persists. United could even end this season with silverware if they overcome Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final this month.
And what about Chelsea?
From Premier League champions to struggling to finish in the top 10. A disastrous run of form saw championship-winning stalwarts Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic, Gary Cahill, Diego Costa and Eden Hazard, the reigning player of the year, lose their form and Mourinho, their manager lose his job. Guus Hiddink has steadied the ship, but the highlight of Chelsea’s season was in denying Spurs the title, battling back from 2-0 dow to secure a point that meant Leicester couldn’t be caught. A huge fall from grace for the West London club.
And what about Liverpool?
Replaced Brendan Rodgers with Jurgen Klopp last October but the latter’s record for his first 21 Premier League games in charge was identical to Rodgers’s over the same period dating back to the tail end of the last campaign, a return of nine wins, five draws and seven defeats.
Even the most diehard Liverpool fans wouldn’t have envisaged their club contesting two cup finals and becoming the highest scorers in the Premier League in 2016. No doubt Liverpool are a different beast under the animated German. They were a Willy Caballero save away from winning the League Cup and, given Sevilla’s abysmal away form this season — the Spanish side are yet to win on the road in 2015/16 — probably start this month’s Europa League final as slight favourites.
And what about Southampton?
The 2-1 victory away to Spurs on Sunday secured victory over every Premier League team Ronald Koeman has faced in his two years in charge. It moved them up to sixth, the last Europa League qualifying spot. The Dutchman has assembled a squad full of guile and gumption, and Southampton are now a well and truly established top-eight team.
And what about Everton?
Roberto Martinez can no longer pull the wool over fans’ eyes, despite possessing a prolific frontman in Romelu Lukaku, a dynamic midfielder in Ross Barkley and, although he has somewhat lost his way this term, a stylish defender in John Stones who will no doubt recover as soon as he stops thinking he is already a £40 million (Dh211m) player destined for Chelsea.
And what about Sunderland?
Relegation certainties when Sam Allardyce climbed aboard a sinking ship last October, they can secure a ninth-straight season in the top flight on Tuesday if they beat Everton at home and Norwich fail to beat Watford.
And what about Watford?
How, how I ask you is Quique Sanchez Flores’s position under threat with Watford’s status in the top tier long secured and a run to the FA Cup semi-final? Their form in 2016 has been poor, with only four wins in the calendar year so far, but the good work done in the first half of the season seems to have been forgotten by too many myopic fans.
And what about Newcastle United?
A net spend of over £80m on signings in 2015/16, but Mike Ashley pulled the trigger on Steve McClaren too late to save their season.
Newcastle are five games unbeaten under Rafa Benitez but the 0-0 draw against Aston Villa on Saturday all but killed their chances. Their fate will be sealed if Sunderland beat Everton at the Stadium of Light in their penultimate game of the campaign.
Yes, it has been a strange season. But a wonderful one all the same.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Race card
5.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m
6.05pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,400m
6.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 1,200m
7.50pm: Longines Stakes – Conditions (TB) Dh120,00 (D) 1,900m
8.25pm: Zabeel Trophy – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (T) 1,600m
9pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 2,410m
9.35pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 2,000m
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The%20specs
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Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETuhoon%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EYear%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFares%20Ghandour%2C%20Dr%20Naif%20Almutawa%2C%20Aymane%20Sennoussi%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERiyadh%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Ehealth%20care%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E15%20employees%2C%20%24250%2C000%20in%20revenue%0D%3Cbr%3EI%3Cstrong%3Envestment%20stage%3A%20s%3C%2Fstrong%3Eeed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EWamda%20Capital%2C%20Nuwa%20Capital%2C%20angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Gully Boy
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Rating: 4/5 stars
Illegal%20shipments%20intercepted%20in%20Gulf%20region
%3Cp%3EThe%20Royal%20Navy%20raid%20is%20the%20latest%20in%20a%20series%20of%20successful%20interceptions%20of%20drugs%20and%20arms%20in%20the%20Gulf%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMay%2011%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUS%20coastguard%20recovers%20%2480%20million%20heroin%20haul%20from%20fishing%20vessel%20in%20Gulf%20of%20Oman%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMay%208%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20US%20coastguard%20vessel%20USCGC%20Glen%20Harris%20seizes%20heroin%20and%20meth%20worth%20more%20than%20%2430%20million%20from%20a%20fishing%20boat%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMarch%202%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Anti-tank%20guided%20missiles%20and%20missile%20components%20seized%20by%20HMS%20Lancaster%20from%20a%20small%20boat%20travelling%20from%20Iran%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EOctober%209%2C%202022%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERoyal%20Navy%20frigate%20HMS%20Montrose%20recovers%20drugs%20worth%20%2417.8%20million%20from%20a%20dhow%20in%20Arabian%20Sea%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESeptember%2027%2C%202022%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20US%20Naval%20Forces%20Central%20Command%20reports%20a%20find%20of%202.4%20tonnes%20of%20heroin%20on%20board%20fishing%20boat%20in%20Gulf%20of%20Oman%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
