Claudio Ranieri was left to rue another poor defensive performance as Fulham lost to Burnley. Reuters
Claudio Ranieri was left to rue another poor defensive performance as Fulham lost to Burnley. Reuters

Claudio Ranieri at a loss for words as self-destructive Fulham fall to 'strange' defeat at Burnley



Perhaps this will be the ignominy after the ecstasy for Claudio Ranieri.

No Premier League-winning manager has ever been demoted from the division, but while the Italian inherited a Leicester City team tipped for the drop and turned them into champions, his Fulham contrived to make a different sort of history to render relegation more likely.

They became the first side since the division’s records began to concede twice to a team who failed to register a shot on target.

“What we can do?” asked Ranieri rhetorically, deserted by the fates that once seemed on his side. “It's unbelievable.”

If it made Burnley’s third straight win fluky, Fulham were symbolically self-destructive, luckless and hapless as they scored two own goals in three minutes. While the visiting fans chorused that Burnley were going “down with the Fulham,” winning a six-pointer puts them seven ahead of relegation rivals.

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“The table is a good question,” said Ranieri; extricating Fulham from its bottom three looks ever harder for a club who authorised a £100 million (Dh472m) summer spending spree and who were ejected from the FA Cup by League Two Oldham.

If the key to survival lies in improving Fulham’s dreadful defensive statistics and their wretched record on the road, this was doubly demoralising. Ranieri selected five defenders – a sixth, Calum Chambers, was in midfield – but two of them scored for Burnley in a vignette of why Fulham have the division’s most porous rearguard.

They led for the first time on their travels in four months, but remain the lone team in the Premier and Football Leagues without an away win.

Few relegation-threatened teams boast a player who set up the winner in a World Cup final but the talent in Fulham’s ranks was illustrated by a magnificent piece of control and a still better volley from Andre Schurrle.

“A great goal,” said Ranieri. But errors outnumbered examples of excellence. Fulham lacked structure, cohesion and, at times, basic competence, summed up when Cyrus Christie accidentally volleyed the ball onto his own chest and, after Chris Wood headed against the post, Burnley struck twice in freak fashion.

“This period is very strange,” added Ranieri in an understatement. Twice Fulham redirected Jeff Hendrick’s deliveries into the net. The first was a shot from the Irishman, diverted in off the unfortunate Joe Bryan’s need. The second was a cross, converted in comical fashion by Dennis Odoi, with a header.

“I hope they give the first to Jeff because I think it is going in,” said Burnley manager Sean Dyche. “We have had a bit of luck today but we haven't had much this season."

“We deserve minimum a draw,” insisted Ranieri. The subsequent events underlined the sense Fulham are capable of scoring sufficient goals. Calum Chambers headed against the bar and the influential substitute Luciano Vietto had a shot cleared off the line by James Tarkowski and a stinging drive parried by Tom Heaton.

Ranieri rued Tarkowski’s intervention. “The episode changed the music,” he said. But the soundtrack to Fulham’s season may be in a minor key.

The specs

  Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

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ESSENTIALS

The flights 
Fly Etihad or Emirates from the UAE to Moscow from 2,763 return per person return including taxes. 
Where to stay 
Trips on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian cost from US$16,995 (Dh62,414) per person, based on two sharing.

How The Debt Panel's advice helped readers in 2019

December 11: 'My husband died, so what happens to the Dh240,000 he owes in the UAE?'

JL, a housewife from India, wrote to us about her husband, who died earlier this month. He left behind an outstanding loan of Dh240,000 and she was hoping to pay it off with an insurance policy he had taken out. She also wanted to recover some of her husband’s end-of-service liabilities to help support her and her son.

“I have no words to thank you for helping me out,” she wrote to The Debt Panel after receiving the panellists' comments. “The advice has given me an idea of the present status of the loan and how to take it up further. I will draft a letter and send it to the email ID on the bank’s website along with the death certificate. I hope and pray to find a way out of this.”

November 26:  ‘I owe Dh100,000 because my employer has not paid me for a year’

SL, a financial services employee from India, left the UAE in June after quitting his job because his employer had not paid him since November 2018. He owes Dh103,800 on four debts and was told by the panellists he may be able to use the insolvency law to solve his issue. 

SL thanked the panellists for their efforts. "Indeed, I have some clarity on the consequence of the case and the next steps to take regarding my situation," he says. "Hopefully, I will be able to provide a positive testimony soon."

October 15: 'I lost my job and left the UAE owing Dh71,000. Can I return?'

MS, an energy sector employee from South Africa, left the UAE in August after losing his Dh12,000 job. He was struggling to meet the repayments while securing a new position in the UAE and feared he would be detained if he returned. He has now secured a new job and will return to the Emirates this month.

“The insolvency law is indeed a relief to hear,” he says. "I will not apply for insolvency at this stage. I have been able to pay something towards my loan and credit card. As it stands, I only have a one-month deficit, which I will be able to recover by the end of December." 

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How to get exposure to gold

Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.

A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.

Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.

Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.

London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long

However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.


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