Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, wants to keep Niko Kranjcar at White Lane Hart despite the Croatian playmaker expressing his disappointment over his peripheral role this season.
Kranjcar, who Redknapp signed last year from Portsmouth, has made just one league start this season and admitted after scoring two goals in Croatia's 2-0 win over Malta on Wednesday that he does not "want to spend years of my life just sitting on the bench. I have to admit I am not happy playing regularly".
The winger, who can play on either flank and in a central role, has seen his chances limited this season because of the form of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Aaron Lennon and the arrival of Rafael van der Vaart.
However, with Tottenham looking poised to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League and likely to be in contention for a top-four spot in the league, Redknapp knows he will need to a deep squad to cope with a hectic fixture list.
Liverpool and Juventus are thought to have been alerted by the potential availability of Kranjcar, who still has three years left on his contract, but the Tottenham manager says it is unlikely that any player will leave the club when the transfer window reopens.
"We don't want to be selling any player in January," he said.
"On the transfer front the only thing I have discussed with the chairman is maybe bringing in one or even two more players to strengthen our squad."
Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti is contemplating re-assessing his own claim that he does not need to bolster his Chelsea squad in the January.
And that could put him on a collision course with owner Roman Abramovich.
At the start of the month Ancelotti maintained the Chelsea squad was strong enough to last the distance in both the Premier League and Champions League.
Indeed Ancelotti laughed off any notion that Chelsea would be in the market for Fernando Torres, Liverpool's apparently unsettled striker.
But despite their impressive start to the season the strength in depth of the Chelsea squad is starting to look increasingly thin in the wake of injury and illness to their key players.
John Terry, the captain, admitted this week he does not know how long it will take him to recover from a mystery leg injury.
Frank Lampard, the England midfielder, has been out since August with a groin problem, while Didier Drogba is battling to overcome malaria.
Yossi Benayoun, the Israeli midfielder, signed from Liverpool in the summer, will be out for up to six months while Alex, the Brazilian centre half, is the latest to join the casualty list. He will be out for up to two months with a knee injury.
Chelsea's senior management could soon be regretting the decisions to allow Michael Ballack, Ricardo Carvalho, Juliano Belletti and Joe Cole leave in the summer.
"Ancelotti is starting to wonder whether he should bring in a couple of players in January," a Blues insider said.
"But he will have to clear things with the owner first and that could prove interesting given that Ancelotti's hopes that assistant Ray Wilkins would not be shown the door were not heard."
sports@thenational.ae
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off
'Nightmare Alley'
Director:Guillermo del Toro
Stars:Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Rating: 3/5
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
UAE SQUAD
Khalid Essa, Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammad Barghash, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Hassan Al Mahrami, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Yousef Jaber, Majed Sorour, Majed Hassan, Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Khalil Al Hammadi, Fabio De Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoon Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Caio Canedo, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
