EPL Talk » Sulaiman Al Fahim

Gary McAllister Agrees To Join The Portsmouth Fight

Paul Bestall — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:20:21 +0000

It sounds as if Gary McAllister is about to named as Paul Hart’s assistant manager tomorrow morning. Reports coming from Radio Solent are claiming that McAllister, after turning down the same role under George Burley with the Scottish national team last week, has agreed to join Pompey. After the start that Paul Hart has had to endure with the loss of a team over the summer and then being expected to form one in about 3 days, he’ll be glad of the help.

McAllister’s reasoning for turning the Scotland offer down was that he wanted a full time position in English club football and it seems his chance has now arrived. It’s certainly a baptism of fire but when you’ve worked for Ken Bates, you can turn your hand to most situations without any fear at all. After being out of football for nearly 10 months, since being sacked from Leeds United on December 21st, it sees a welcome return for the likable Scotsman to the Premiership.

McAllister could actually do with such a position after two ill feted managerial positions at Coventry City and Leeds United. Both clubs had varying pressures that McAllister struggled to cope with, Coventry were desperate to return to the Premiership as quickly as possible but McAllister’s personal life was thrown in to turmoil when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. He resigned in January 2004 to spend more time with her, but she sadly passed away in March 2006.

Leeds United were struggling to overcome the shock of Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet leaving, when McAllister came to the club and they managed to get to the play off final, but lost in a shock defeat at the hands of Doncaster Rovers. After that, it was always going to be tough for McAllister and a shock defeat to non-league Histon in the F.A. Cup sent the club into free fall.

Now he’s got a chance to come in as an assistant manager and cut his teeth in an environment where he can learn more than simply taking the managers job at a club he used to play for. There’s no pressure from supporters who remember him strolling around the midfield, spraying balls to all corners of the park. There’s nowhere else for Portsmouth to go and Paul Hart has continued to rise above the ridiculous levels of media pressure on his position.

The two go back to their time together at Leeds United, when Hart was in charge of the youth academy and McAllister was the club captain. This is not a decision based on a whim, the two obviously know each other well and are aware of each others strengths and weaknesses. The existing relationship could be crucial in allowing the duo to hit the ground running and Portsmouth aren’t too far away from getting some points on the board.

Hart has had to suffer the biggest asset stripping seen at a Premiership club since Leeds United’s implosion in 2003-2004. Yet he had to go through something similar when he was the manager of Nottingham Forest as the club desperately tried to recover the money that David Platt had blown in his dreadful tenure as manger.The irony of the situation will not be lost on him at all, but at least is should stand him in good stead.

Portsmouth Need To Sort The Takeover Out Quickly

Paul Bestall — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:50:04 +0000

The Premiership season begins on August 15th, just under four weeks away and for most clubs in the top flight, July has seen them scurrying about trying to strengthen their squads. At Fratton Park however, Portsmouth find themselves hampered by the current process of due diligence for Sulaiman Al Fahim’s proposed takeover to be completed. As such, no new players have come in and the board have allowed Glen Johnson to leave for £17 million.

The board have now accepted an offer of £12 million from Peter Crouch and it seems a simple matter of crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s. The only question is where Crouch will end up. Sunderland were in the driving seat but the player would like to remain in the south of England which would have put Fulham in the driving seat until Harry Redknapp threw his hat in ring. Having signed him twice before, Redknapp would now appear to be the favourite to see Crouch finally return the club where his professional career began.

Of course, this misses the bigger picture here, that of Portsmouth Football Club. The last few seasons have been eventful at Fratton Park, even by Pompey’s standards, but overall it has been a significant, if not a completely positive period in their history. Until Redknapp left for Tottenham, it had been a period of continual improvement and the F.A. Cup win was the icing on the cake for the whole project. The first team squad had the most quality it had seen in years sprinkled throughout it, with England internationals in every department.

That squad as of today looks threadbare even before Crouch’s departure. So far, 9 players have left the squad. Johnson, Davis, Djimi Traore, Lauren, Little, Thomas, Pamarot and the loan deals of Jermaine Pennant and Amand Traore have concluded. At the moment, the club have 15 professionals on their books. Kanu and Sol Campbell are currently considering new one year deals to extend their time at Pompey.

Now I know that takeover’s seem to take a matter of days when it comes to Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City’s buy outs, but they did take time, we just weren’t so aware of the facts that we are when it comes to the Portsmouth deal. Yet the clubs fans need it resolving as soon as possible. The playing squad needs strengthening as a matter of urgency because if not, it could be too late to get a squad together before the kick off in August.

The news that the shirt manufacturers, Canterbury, have also gone in to administration has meant that Peter Storrie has been having to work hard to secure an alternative. Yet, when you’re the third highest paid executive in the Premier League, it shouldn’t take too much to bring in a new shirt manufacturer, with Umbro leading the charge to take over the contract.

By all accounts, the deal should be concluded in a matter of days, but with no manager, no shirt manufacturer and now the smallest first team squad in the Premiership, Sulaiman Al Fahim is going to need to hit the ground running to get the club ship shape. A new manager is paramount as a first decision to get the transfer targets already positioned; I’ll be amazed if Al Fayed hasn’t got a manager already on board to takeover. For all the good work that Paul Hart did to rescue the disaster that was Tony Adams’ reign, he has made it clear he wants to return to the academy.

I just hope everything get’s sorted soon for Portsmouth and their fans. It’s a terrific club, with some of the most passionate fans I’ve ever come across. They don’t deserve to get caught in the blocks once the season kicks off, three relegation scares in 5 years will be pushing their luck.

Who Is Abu Dhabi United Group?

The Gaffer — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:10:54 +0000

What is known about the Abu Dhabi United Group, the new owners of Manchester City Football Club?

Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment (ADUG) is the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi royal family. ADUG is expected to be represented on the new board by Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim (pictured below), the chief executive officer of Hydra Properties. Through Hydra Properties Al Fahim is already involved in several sports sponsorship deals, and is building a new football academy in Abu Dhabi with Inter Milan.

Hydra has signed over US$2 billion worth of projects, and has become one of the region’s fastest growing property companies, with major projects planned in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Dr. Sulaiman Al Fahim is known as “The Donald Trump Of Abu Dhabi.”

Abu Dhabi is the capital and second most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after Dubai. It is also the seat of government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. Approximately 850,000 people live in Abu Dhabi as of 2008. One of the world’s largest producers of oil, Abu Dhabi has actively attempted to diversify its economy in recent years through investments in financial services and tourism. Abu Dhabi city is the seat of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which is ruled by Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, – the President of the UAE.

The Abu Dhabi United Group is part of the oil rich state’s sovereign wealth fund ADIA which manages £500billion of assets and is the world’s second biggest institutional investor, behind the Bank of Japan, according to the Oxford Business Group.

Abu Dhabi manages oil reserves worth an estimated $1trillion (£555billion).

Dr Al Fahim has studied at American business schools, receiving his PhD in Real Estate Investment and an MBA in Finance and Real Estate from Kogod School of Business from the American Universtity in Washington DC.

Dr Al Fahim is ranked number 16 in the Arabian Power’s list of the 100 Most Powerful Arabs this year.

The multi billionaire plans on doing for Manchester City what Roman Abramovich has done at Chelsea. Dr Al Fahim is prepared to break transfer records and to develop a relationship between Abu Dhabi and Manchester City with the possibility of City playing friendlies or Premier League matches in Abu Dhabi.