Seven months. It is a long time to wait for a meaningful match, especially for a club of Everton’s stature and history. Yet arguably their next significant match is so far away they know neither the opponent nor the venue. It is next season.
Some may feel that is hyperbolic. After all, Everton host Manchester City on Sunday. April alone contains meetings with Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea: none can easily be dismissed as irrelevant. Yet the fact is that Saturday’s FA Cup exit to Leicester means their trophy drought will extend into a 23rd year. The Premier League’s top six are so distant that the best they can realistically hope for is seventh position. After successive 11th-place finishes, it would offer the illusion of progress.
Yet neither a demanding crowd nor a demanding manager is likely to be satisfied.
Ronald Koeman has spent January becoming ever more vocal in his complaints about what he interprets as Everton's board's delay in signing, particularly Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin, even if Charlton's teenage forward Ademola Lookman has already arrived. He implies the job is not quite what he thought it would be. Everton may wonder if the same could be said of Koeman himself.
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Read more
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Koeman was hired as the north-west’s fourth managerial Galactico, Everton’s answer to Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. While Koeman has insisted he does not see it as another short-term assignment, his track record suggests otherwise. His capacity to effect an immediate improvement formed part of his appeal to Everton.
But quick fixes have proved insufficient. This, Koeman is fast discovering, is a long-term project. Now he gives the impression of a man who overestimated his inheritance. He has improved Everton’s defence — not hard, given some of their displays under Roberto Martinez — but not as much as first appeared.
And they have regressed as an attacking force. Until Everton went into meltdown in their final few weeks under Martinez, they were at least consistently creative last season. Not now. With some success, Koeman adopted a more direct, urgent approach in the home games against United and Arsenal. Everton’s supposedly sleek cats revisited their past as dogs of war.
Yet there is no real pattern of play. The flair players continue to be conundrums. Rewind to August and Koeman’s invention seemed set to rejuvenate Gerard Deulofeu, Kevin Mirallas and Ross Barkley. Now the Spaniard looks likely to leave, the Belgian is on the bench and the Englishman remains an enigma. Yannick Bolasie, his biggest buy, flattered to deceive and sustained an injury that may rule him out until 2018. Romelu Lukaku’s goal return is respectable but he has not kicked on.
Go back to the start of the season and Koeman’s team was built around Phil Jagielka and Gareth Barry, a pragmatist appearing to believe neither needed replacing for a future he may not be around to oversee. Now, neither veteran may be in his strongest side. The shift to rough-and-ready football can render Barry irrelevant – an immobile passer is of little use when a side has 32 or 41 per cent of possession, as Everton did against Liverpool and Arsenal, respectively. Both captain and senior professional have declined faster than they run.
Koeman’s sides have been patched up, notable for inclusions such as Enner Valencia, on loan after failing to sign strikers he actually wanted, and James McCarthy, who he initially underrated. Now he only seems truly happy with Idrissa Gueye and the 19-year-old midfielder Tom Davies.
Everton appear a side who, over the next two transfer windows, require six major additions.
But it is telling that Koeman’s five summer signings are 34, 32, 27, 27 and 27. He arrived intent upon putting the roof on, not laying the foundations Everton now need. Hence his frustration.
Yet an impatient manager has to bide his time. Everton have to wait until August for games to acquire the magnitude of those that really matter.
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Normcore explained
Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Scoreline
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 17
Jebel Ali Dragons 20
Harlequins Tries: Kinivilliame, Stevenson; Cons: Stevenson 2; Pen: Stevenson
Dragons Tries: Naisau, Fourie; Cons: Love 2; Pens: Love 2
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
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
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
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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MATCH INFO
Everton v Tottenham, Sunday, 8.30pm (UAE)
Match is live on BeIN Sports
if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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