Claudio Ranieri insisted he is not worried by Watford’s culture of sacking managers because it is normal in his native Italy and also argued that he is not too old to succeed in the Premier League.
The former Chelsea manager, who turns 70 next week, has replaced the fired Xisco Munoz on his return to England, where he was fired by Fulham as they went down in 2018-19, but said he is confident he can keep Watford up.
Ranieri took over a Leicester City team widely tipped for relegation in 2015 and led them to a shock title win, but he shrugged off suggestions of a repeat by describing it as the sort of fairy tale that happens once a century.
Changes in the dugout at Vicarage Road are rather more frequent and Ranieri has become Watford’s sixth manager in just over two years and their 15th since the Pozzo family bought the club in 2012.
But Ranieri, who is in his 22nd managerial job, said: “In Italy, it is normal, but also in England, slowly it is [becoming] the same, not only at Watford.”
Ranieri revealed he has a long relationship with the Pozzos, dating back to when he was asked to manage Udinese, which they also own, two decades ago. Munoz was sacked the day after Watford lost to Leeds and Ranieri, who managed his predecessor at Valencia, said his appointment came quickly and that he was not tapped up.
“Mr Gino Pozzo called me after the Leeds defeat and asked me: ‘Claudio. do you want to come to Watford and do you want to come back to Premier League?’ I said: ‘Why not?’” he said. “He is ambitious, I am more ambitious and I hope our link will be fantastic for Watford.”
Ranieri, who left Sampdoria in the summer after finishing ninth in Serie A, has proved reluctant to retire. “Fortunately, when I think about football I feel good every time,” he said. “Football is my life and I am very happy to come back. I have a strong character, I am still young and I want to continue. Why are you laughing?”
Ranieri becomes the oldest current Premier League manager, a title that used to belong to Roy Hodgson as he kept Crystal Palace up in four successive seasons. “I hope to do as well as him,” he said.
While Ranieri floundered at Fulham, winning only three of his 17 games in charge, he takes heart from the relegation battles he won with both Parma and Sampdoria. He has a two-year contract and added: “I hope to bring Watford to be safe at the end of the season and also to improve and increase the next season.”
When he was Leicester manager, he deflected talk of the title with a mantra that he was focusing on reaching 40 points. He repeated that as he argued Watford should not be expected to emulate his City team. “It was a fairy tale, it could happen once every 100 [years],” he said. “But now we have to be safe.”
The fixture list makes that tougher. His first eight games include Arsenal, Leicester, Chelsea and both Manchester clubs while Watford host Liverpool on Saturday. Ranieri famously bought his Leicester players pizza for their first clean sheet of the season. Now he said: “No pizza, a pizza is too little. I pay for dinner if we keep a clean sheet.”
He urged his new charges to show the fighting spirit he demonstrated in his playing days, adding: “I loved English football before I arrived in 2000 because my style as a player was very similar: very tough, very strong in every duel and that is what I want in my players.”
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
West Asia Premiership
Dubai Hurricanes 58-10 Dubai Knights Eagles
Dubai Tigers 5-39 Bahrain
Jebel Ali Dragons 16-56 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
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.”
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THE SPECS
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- 600-seat auditorium
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- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
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Under 19 World Cup
Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies
Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE
UAE fixtures
Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
Saturday, January 25, v South Africa
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RACE CARD
4pm Al Bastakiya – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
4.35pm Dubai City Of Gold – Group 2 (TB) $228,000 (Turf) 2,410m
5.10pm Mahab Al Shimaal – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,200m
5.45pm Burj Nahaar – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m
6.20pm Jebel Hatta – Group 1 (TB) $260,000 (T) 1,800m
6.55pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (TB) $390,000 (D) 2,000m
7.30pm Nad Al Sheba – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (T) 1,200m
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE
* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Ready Player One
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance
