Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier, scored against West Ham United. AFP
Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier, scored against West Ham United. AFP

Sport

Crystal Palace persevere and Eric Dier is the unlikely hero for Spurs

Grahan Caygill looks at the key moments from the weekend's Premier League action.

Graham Caygill

August 18, 2014

NO COLLAPSE AT PALACE

Tony Pulis’s last gasp departure as manager of Crystal Palace before a ball had been kicked had caused pundits to reverse their predictions and forecast relegation for the London side.

But while Pulis – the man who took Palace from bottom of the table to 11th last season – may be gone, he has left a legacy and Palace were as well organised and combative at Arsenal as they would have been had the Englishman still been shouting away on the touchline.

They were unfortunate to lose 2-1 to a last-minute goal and there is no reason why – with the right managerial appointment – they should fall down the table despite the change of leadership.

DIER’S GOOD HUMOUR

The Premier League can, quite rightly, be accused of taking itself far too seriously on occasions. That made it all the more refreshing to see Eric Dier laughing about the unlikely nature of his winning goal on his debut for Tottenham Hotspur.

The right-back was the furthest man forward for Tottenham in stoppage time as he ran onto a Harry Kane pass to round home goalkeeper Adrian and slot the ball into the net.

Rather than the bland spin of “it was all part of the plan” or “we never give up” Dier joked: “I am not sure why I was in attack to be honest.” He also confirmed that Tottenham’s management had been equally as bewildered.

Mauricio Pochettino, the Tottenham manager, is unlikely to care too much about the randomness of the winner. His reign at White Hart Lane has begun with a winning start and, for good measure, against an opponent who had beaten Tottenham three times last season.

WORK TO BE DONE AT LIVERPOOL

Well, they won, that was the most important thing. But Liverpool had to ride a wave of Southampton pressure in the second half and, but for some average finishing by the visitors, could have recorded a draw – if not worse.

The predatory finishing of Daniel Sturridge got them the three points, but they looked off the pace in the midfield and, despite the summer arrivals from yesterday’s opponent of Dejan Lovren and Javier Manquillo, the backline still looked weak.

It is early days, but Liverpool cannot afford to play like that at champions Manchester City next Monday.

WEST BROM’S ACHILLES HEEL

West Bromwich Albion lost several points last season to late goals, a trait that led to them finishing 17th in the table.

They were at it again on the opening day.

Leading 2-1 with five minutes until full-time against Sunderland, they finished with a draw.

Manager Alan Irvine’s men are not good enough to fritter away points and they must improve on closing out games if they are to avoid another desperate battle against the drop.

gcaygill@thenational.ae

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Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
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India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)

Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)

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Spain v England, 10.45pm (UAE)

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The chef's advice

Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.

“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”

Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.

The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.

Washmen Profile

Date Started: May 2015

Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui

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Sector: Laundry

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MATCH INFO

Karnatake Tuskers 114-1 (10 ovs)

Charles 57, Amla 47

Bangla Tigers 117-5 (8.5 ovs)

Fletcher 40, Moores 28 no, Lamichhane 2-9

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6.30pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah – Group 2 (PA) $36,000 (Dirt) 1,600m, Winner: RB Money To Burn, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)

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7.40pm: Meydan Trophy – Conditions (TB) $50,000 (T) 1,900m, Winner: Secret Protector, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

8.15pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 - Group 2 (TB) $293,000 (D) 1,900m, Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass

8.50pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Zakouski, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (T) 1,000m, Winner: Motafaawit, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson

About RuPay

A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank

RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards

It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.

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The name blends two words rupee and payment

Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs

Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

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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.”