DUBAI // Al Wasl officials said they will provide Jorginho, their new coach, sufficient time to change the club's fortunes while also warning that his fate ultimately will depend on results.
The seven-time UAE champions have endured another hugely disappointing season and find themselves 12th in the 14-club Arabian Gulf League, seven points above relegation with three matches remaining.
The continued slump prompted significant change at both the coaching and boardroom levels, with Jorginho becoming the fourth manager to guide the club since last summer.
He replaces Hector Cuper, the Argentine, dismissed last month after taking the reins in November.
Jorginho, who assumes control of the squad when his one-year contract commences in June, is the first major appointment made by Wasl’s new board.
Led by Rashid Belhoul, the chairman who oversaw a highly successful period between 2003 and 2009, the club’s technical committee identified Jorginho as the ideal man to lift the team from their malaise.
A World Cup winner with Brazil in 1994, Jorginho has coached several clubs in his homeland and also spent a largely impressive year in 2012 in Japan with Kashima Antlers.
Wasl made a shortlist of potential candidates, but say they were quickly won over by Jorginho’s immediate knowledge of the club.
“He has a lot of attributes, but the main one is that he knows each and every single thing about the team,” Majed Abdullah, the Wasl team manager, said. “When we first sat with him, he knew almost 90 per cent of the team already, players’ strengths and weaknesses.
“This gave us the feeling that he was the right coach for us, because even before we had signed anything with him, he was very focused and very curious to know everything about the club. So the first picture we have is that he’s a hard worker, a very good coach on the pitch. And this is what we need.”
Abdullah said the club would wait until the conclusion of the 2013/14 campaign before they agree on this summer’s transfer strategy.
Wasl’s foreign contingent includes Mariano Donda, Ricardo Oliveira, Emmanuel Culio and Edson Puch. No decision has been made as to who will be retained.
Abdullah stressed the importance of unearthing local talent, too.
“We don’t want to be in a hurry,” he said.
“You can easily bring in other foreign players, but in the end, they don’t give you what exactly you expected from them.
“We are looking to wait, take a deep breath after finishing the season, and then see exactly what the situation is and what specific positions the coach needs to fill.”
Wasl have not lifted any silverware since the league and cup double in 2006/07.
Since then, 12 managers have failed to add to Wasl’s wealth of titles; the club hope Jorginho will not be unlucky No 13.
“At the end of the day, results control everything,” Abdullah said. “If you’re not getting good results, then definitely action will be taken. But, inshallah, everything will progress very well.
“We are really putting a strategy in place where we need the new coach to be with us a long time. I know we have a very hard path ahead, but we have to see what we want and then prepare to take Al Wasl to at least the top four.
“This is the spirit of 2006/07. We will try to bring it back and to go forward again.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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Origin
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Doubleday
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
It Was Just an Accident
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Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
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Ad Astra
Director: James Gray
Stars: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones
Five out of five stars
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.”
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
