Manuel Jimenez on mission to complete unfinished job in second spell at Al Wahda

Manuel Jimenez has been unveiled as the new Al Wahda manager in what sees him face a difficult start to his second spell at the Al Nahyan Stadium.

The Spaniard replaces Portuguese Carlos Carvalhal, who became the first casualty of the season after four games despite a 4-0 win in his last game against the promoted Al Bataeh.

Jimenez, 58, was appointed in a similar way by the Abu Dhabi club following the dismissal of Dutchman Maurice Steijn after four games in October 2019.

Under him, Wahda were in second spot in the league when the competition was cancelled following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Jimenez’s contract wasn’t renewed and then he returned to AEK Athens for a fifth spell.

“I loved this club and I’m glad to be back,” Jimenez said on Tuesday.

“We will work together and we will put all our efforts to challenge all titles. I watched the four games of Wahda this season. They are a good side and we will work in the best way and try to improve to achieve better results.”

First up is Al Nasr in the Adnoc Pro League at home on Saturday, followed by an away fixture at Al Ain on October 15 and the President’s Cup final with the current league leaders Sharjah on October 21.

“They are difficult matches but we will fight for the win in every game we play,” Jimenez said.

“Everything is possible in football. We will take one game at a time and our focus will be the next match against Al Nasr.”

Ismail Matar and Sebastian Tagliabue are two players Jimenez remembers during his time at the Al Nahyan Stadium.

“It’s nice to meet them again,” he said of the two veterans. “They are true professionals and have been in the game for a long time. I would like to think they are still the players that I knew during my time.”

Jimenez spent two seasons with Al Rayyan of Qatar from 2013 to 2015. Rayyan were relegated from the Qatar Stars League in his first season but earned promotion the following year.

He said he took a year off from football “for family reasons” when Wahda approached him with a deal to lead them for the rest of the season.

“I had a few offers at the time but chose to take charge of Wahda because I worked with them for nearly a season and could not finish the job because of the pandemic,” he said.

Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.

Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

Bloomberg

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Manuel Jimenez on mission to complete unfinished job in second spell at Al Wahda

Spaniard has tough opening against Al Nasr, Al Ain and Sharjah in his first three games in charge

Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE