Tottenham Hotspur signed off their season with a flourish, but Sunday's 4-1 thrashing of Leeds United was a case of too little, too late for the North London club.
A season that promised so much ended with Spurs not only missing out on Champions League qualification but European football altogether as they finished eighth on 60 points.
Ryan Mason saw the season out after two managers were sacked while fans turned on chairman Daniel Levy demanding his resignation.
There is also the more pressing matter of Harry Kane's future, with Spurs' record scorer almost certain to leave the club this summer.
Transfer policy will also have to be addressed after too few recruits lived up to expectations.
Spurs splashed upwards of £50 million to sign Richarlison from Everton but fans' misgivings about him proved well-founded as the Brazil striker struggled for goals and a regular starting place.
Others underperformed, a sentiment Antonio Conte was only too willing to point out in public, most notably after Spurs threw away a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Southampton in March.
The Italian labelled his players "selfish" and accused them of not wanting to play under pressure. As is his wont, Conte also took aim at the board for the team's struggles.
His reluctance for any introspection created a chasm at the club and he was sacked on March 26 after Tottenham suffered exits from the Champions League and FA Cup.
The appointment of Conte's assistant, Cristian Stellini, to help steady the ship with the club still, then at least, well placed for a top-four finish, proved a disaster.
Stellini suffered the same fate as his compatriot a day after Spurs suffered a humiliating 6-1 defeat at Newcastle United on April 23 that ended any lingering hopes of a top-four finish and Champions League football.
That game, in which Tottenham found themselves 3-0 down in nine minutes and 5-0 down at half time, almost certainly signalled the end of captain Hugo Lloris' 11-year stay.
The French goalkeeper was replaced at half time at St James' Park following an error-strewn display. It wasn't the first time in 2022/23 Lloris was badly at fault but is likely to be the last with Fraser Forster instilled as first choice for the remaining matches.
The one bright spot in a bleak campaign was undoubtedly the goalscoring exploits of Kane.
His typically predatory strike in Tottenham's 1-0 win against Manchester City took him past Jimmy Greaves to a record 267 goals for the North London club.
Kane's strike against City also moved him on to 200 Premier League goals, making him only the third player to do so. His 30 league goals this campaign came against 25 teams – a record for a 38-game season.
But the England striker's double against Leeds on Sunday – which took his tally to 280 goals for the club – could well be his last in Tottenham colours.
The 29-year-old's current deal ends next summer and the club must decide whether to hold him to the final year of his contract and risk losing him for nothing or to cash in on their prized asset.
With no European football as a distraction next season, Spurs, with the right manager and the right squad, will fancy themselves to challenge for a top-four finish in 2023/24.
Whether Kane is part of that remains to be seen.
Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
Esperance de Tunis 0
Al Ain 3 (Ahmed 02’, El Shahat 17’, Al Ahbabi 60’)
Martin Sabbagh profile
Job: CEO JCDecaux Middle East
In the role: Since January 2015
Lives: In the UAE
Background: M&A, investment banking
Studied: Corporate finance
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
Zayed Sustainability Prize
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
ARABIAN GULF LEAGUE FIXTURES
Thursday, September 21
Al Dahfra v Sharjah (kick-off 5.35pm)
Al Wasl v Emirates (8.30pm)
Friday, September 22
Dibba v Al Jazira (5.25pm)
Al Nasr v Al Wahda (8.30pm)
Saturday, September 23
Hatta v Al Ain (5.25pm)
Ajman v Shabab Al Ahli (8.30pm)
Details
Through Her Lens: The stories behind the photography of Eva Sereny
Forewords by Jacqueline Bisset and Charlotte Rampling, ACC Art Books
