As Liverpool long knew, Steven Gerrard always had the capacity to deliver late drama. If the task for Gerrard the manager is to make the same impact as Gerrard the player did, this represented a fine start. Aston Villa seemed to be grinding out a goalless draw which, after a sequence of five successive defeats, would have still represented a step forward. Instead, two goals in six minutes meant Gerrard could exit amid rapturous scenes, applauding the fans who witnessed an immediate impact.
He ran down the touchline when Ollie Watkins scored the first goal of his reign, seemed intent on doing so again when Tyrone Mings added the second, before turning to celebrate with his coaching staff. He has punched the air in glee at many a Premier League ground over the last two decades. Now he could again.
“They are the buzzes, the highs you miss as a player,” Gerrard said. “They are why you want to stay in the game. They are my medicine.” The feeling, he said, was: “A mixture of excitement and relief and pride.”
Gerrard can be framed as the architect of victory. Certainly a manager who had targeted defensive improvement got a clean sheet at the first time of asking; no mean feat, given Villa had let in 13 goals in Dean Smith’s final five games.
Emi Martinez only had two attempts to field, a snap-shot from Leandro Trossard and a drive from Tariq Lamptey. Brighton, now winless in seven, missed an opportunity to put pressure on a side short on confidence and lacking cohesion until the heady final few minutes. “I didn’t really feel under any danger until they scored,” said Brighton manager Graham Potter.
Then dreariness gave way to Villa’s delight. Gerrard had brought on his former England team-mate Ashley Young and the veteran got the first assist of the new era. “I know Ashley extremely well and he has been absolutely outstanding since we walked through the door,” said Gerrard.
Then Watkins sprinted away from the half-way line to curl in a shot. “There is no better sight in football when you see a No. 9 finish with that class and that style,” said Gerrard. Watkins had started on the left and been liberated when Gerrard took off Danny Ings, who was out of sorts and out of shape. Perhaps he merely rectified his own earlier error, but it made a difference.
Then Mings swept in a shot after Adam Webster had half-cleared John McGinn’s cross. Dropped for the last home game by Smith, the captain, who had almost scored earlier, could enjoy this rather more. As Smith could testify after his debut win with Norwich, new managers can feel transformative.
While Gerrard has a natural tendency to command the attention, he did not try to. There was nothing flashy about his entrance or his appearance. Rather, he had the air of a man who meant business. He stood alone on the edge of his technical area, often observing, sometimes interjecting. The Gerrard glare used to be directed at team-mates; now it was aimed at his charges at times.
He retained a 4-3-3 system. There was a hint of his influence in Villa’s first chance. Overlapping full-backs formed a prominent part of Gerrard’s Rangers and two combined, Matt Targett crossing for Matty Cash to draw the first save of Jason Steele’s Premier League career. Cash’s prominence suggested he may be charged with emulating James Tavernier, Gerrard’s prolific right-back for Rangers. “We have got a lot of things to build on,” Gerrard said. “In time we will become stronger and grow and get better.”
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Naga
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Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Results:
Women:
1. Rhiannan Iffland (AUS) 322.95 points
2. Lysanne Richard (CAN) 285.75
3. Ellie Smart (USA) 277.70
Men:
1. Gary Hunt (GBR) 431.55
2. Constantin Popovici (ROU) 424.65
3. Oleksiy Prygorov (UKR) 392.30
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
LAST 16
SEEDS
Liverpool, Manchester City, Barcelona, Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Valencia, Juventus
PLUS
Real Madrid, Tottenham, Atalanta, Atletico Madrid, Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, Lyon, Chelsea
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.
