Watford have named Javi Gracia as their new manager, the Spaniard replacing the sacked Marco Silva at the helm. Getty Images
Watford have named Javi Gracia as their new manager, the Spaniard replacing the sacked Marco Silva at the helm. Getty Images
Watford have named Javi Gracia as their new manager, the Spaniard replacing the sacked Marco Silva at the helm. Getty Images
Watford have named Javi Gracia as their new manager, the Spaniard replacing the sacked Marco Silva at the helm. Getty Images

Marco Silva and Watford a marriage of convenience not designed for loyalty


Richard Jolly
  • English
  • Arabic

It was never a relationship that was designed for longevity. But if Watford and Marco Silva was a marriage of convenience, they were nonetheless soulmates of sorts. Not in the conventional way, admittedly. But Watford show little loyalty to managers. Silva shows little to clubs. The Portuguese had tried to orchestrate a break-up when Everton made advances towards him. Instead, Watford dissolved their union, coupling with Javi Gracia with such speed to make it apparent they had been talking to him behind Silva’s back.

There may be little sympathy for Silva, who suffered from a surfeit of ambition and whose talent means he will probably be back in management soon, if not perhaps at the stratospheric level he evidently hopes to reach. His may be a case study of the dangers of treating clubs as stepping stones, but in other respects, he is no anomaly.

He was the eighth Premier League manager to lose his job this season. By way of comparison, only six were sacked during the whole of last season. It means that, 60 per cent into the campaign, 40 per cent of the men who began the season in the dugouts are gone. A certain type of manager is more imperilled: because the top six have kept faith with their coaches, more than half the other clubs have sacked someone. Take out the constants, in the 2012 appointments Eddie Howe and Sean Dyche, and two thirds of the lesser lights have fired.

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There is a common denominator. While Silva was sacked with Watford in 10th place, they were seemingly in freefall, after taking five points from a possible 33. Others’ fears of relegation looked more immediate: six clubs dispensed of managers when in the bottom three while West Bromwich Albion were 17th when they axed Tony Pulis.

The day before Silva’s departure, Stoke City marked their first league game under Paul Lambert by beating Huddersfield Town to jump out of the drop zone. It conformed to a trend: new managers have often had an early impact. Only Alan Pardew at Albion has a lower points-per-game average than his predecessor, and then only fractionally.

New Stoke City manager Paul Lambert, right, shakes hands with Darren Fletcher after beating Huddersfield Town 2-0. Carl Recine / Reuters
New Stoke City manager Paul Lambert, right, shakes hands with Darren Fletcher after beating Huddersfield Town 2-0. Carl Recine / Reuters

The unlikely poster boys – ageing and unfashionable and scarcely coming off glorious triumphs in their last jobs – for the strategy of change are David Moyes, Roy Hodgson and Claude Puel. The Scot has taken West Ham United from 18th to 11th. The Englishman inherited a Crystal Palace team with neither a point nor a goal but has reached the comparative safety of 13th position rather quicker than anticipated. There were only two teams below Leicester City when they sacked Craig Shakespeare. Now there are only six ahead of Puel’s team.

It suggests that the lower half of the Premier League is moving towards a quick-fix culture, where managers are recruited on short-term assignments, charged with delivering straight away, knowing one slump is a sackable offence and in a climate where a fear of a costly drop in the Championship means any thoughts of loyalty are outweighed by concerns about the consequences if it backfires.

Claude Puel has guided Leicester City to seventh in the Premier League table. Frank Augstein / AP Photo
Claude Puel has guided Leicester City to seventh in the Premier League table. Frank Augstein / AP Photo

Watford may be deemed pioneers in that respect. Their hire-and-fire policy jars with those who believe managers deserve time to build their team and implement a style of play. Yet Silva, like Quique Sanchez Flores and Walter Mazzarri before him, made a flying start. For each, the problem was sustaining it.

Unlike Stoke and Everton, Watford had a replacement lined up when they sacked their manager. Indeed Stoke, who had only had three managers in 15 years, arguably persisted with Mark Hughes for too long whereas Watford have never seemed clouded by sentimentality. Neither, for that matter, has Silva. Perhaps they are the ultimate modern manager and club respectively.

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Table (note: excludes Swansea City v Liverpool and games under caretaker managers)

Leicester City

  • Under Shakespeare – 6 points from 8 games, 0.75 points per game.
  • Under Puel – 25 points from 15 games, 1.67 points per game.

Everton

  • Under Koeman – 8 points from 9 games, 0.89 points per game.
  • Under Allardyce – 13 points from 10 games, 1.30 points per game.

West Ham United

  • Under Bilic – 9 points from 11 games, 0.82 points per game.
  • Under Moyes – 17 points from 13 games, 1.31 points per game.

Crystal Palace

  • Under De Boer – 0 points from 4 games, 0.0 points per game.
  • Under Hodgson – 25 points from 20 games, 1.25 points per game.

Stoke City

  • Under Hughes – 20 points from 22 games, 0.91 points per game.
  • Under Lambert – 3 points from 1 game, 3.0 points per game.

West Bromwich Albion

  • Under Pulis – 10 points from 12 games, 0.84 points per game.
  • Under Pardew – 8 points from 10 games, 0.80 points per game.

Swansea City

  • Under Clement – 12 from 18 games, 0.67 points per game.
  • Under Carvalhal – 4 points from 3 games, 1.33 points per game.
The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

How will Gen Alpha invest?

Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.

“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.

Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.

He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.

Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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
Stree

Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Gothia Cup 2025

4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

26 UAE teams

15 Lebanese teams

2 Kuwaiti teams

Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

SPECS

Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now

The specs

Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre

Power: 325hp

Torque: 500Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh189,700

On sale: now

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle%20front-axle%20electric%20motor%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E218hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E330Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20touring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E402km%20(claimed)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh215%2C000%20(estimate)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeptember%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Pad Man

Dir: R Balki

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte

Three-and-a-half stars

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Graduated from the American University of Sharjah

She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters

Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks

Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding

 

The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%20synchronous%20electric%20motors%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E660hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2C100Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETouring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E488km-560km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh850%2C000%20(estimate)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOctober%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

THREE
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Nayla%20Al%20Khaja%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Jefferson%20Hall%2C%20Faten%20Ahmed%2C%20Noura%20Alabed%2C%20Saud%20Alzarooni%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
War and the virus
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 four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

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

How%20to%20avoid%20getting%20scammed
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3ENever%20click%20on%20links%20provided%20via%20app%20or%20SMS%2C%20even%20if%20they%20seem%20to%20come%20from%20authorised%20senders%20at%20first%20glance%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EAlways%20double-check%20the%20authenticity%20of%20websites%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EEnable%20Two-Factor%20Authentication%20(2FA)%20for%20all%20your%20working%20and%20personal%20services%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EOnly%20use%20official%20links%20published%20by%20the%20respective%20entity%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EDouble-check%20the%20web%20addresses%20to%20reduce%20exposure%20to%20fake%20sites%20created%20with%20domain%20names%20containing%20spelling%20errors%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
The bio

Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions

School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira

Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk

Dream City: San Francisco

Hometown: Dubai

City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

Fixtures (all in UAE time)

Friday

Everton v Burnley 11pm

Saturday

Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur 3.30pm

West Ham United v Southampton 6pm

Wolves v Fulham 6pm

Cardiff City v Crystal Palace 8.30pm

Newcastle United v Liverpool 10.45pm

Sunday

Chelsea v Watford 5pm

Huddersfield v Manchester United 5pm

Arsenal v Brighton 7.30pm

Monday

Manchester City v Leicester City 11pm