As the pandemic approached its peak, online retailers saw sales spike.
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Sellers of Sex Toys Capitalized on All That Alone Time
Sellers of Sex Toys Capitalized on All That Alone Time
Well, the data bears out what we expected. Sex toys are selling.
Adam and Eve, a company with franchised locations across North America and an online store, reported a 30 percent increase in online sales in March and April based on the same time period last year.
Other big companies that do most of their sales online also saw an uptick. Wow Tech Group, which owns We-Vibe and Womanizer, reported that online sales for both brands were over 200 percent higher this April compared to last year.
And as Vice reported in April, online sales for products through Cotr Inc, the company behind B-Vibe, Le Wand and the Cowgirl, were roughly three times higher this March than they were last year. Alicia Sinclair, the chief executive, said that the numbers have continued to climb, with April’s sales surpassing March’s by 80 percent.
Some of this can be chalked up to quarantine boredom. (Also, during the height of stay-at-home orders, Amazon seems to have continued to ship sex toys, despite their nonessential status.)
But while big, corporate sex toy retailers seem to have thrived, the same can’t necessarily be said for brick-and-mortar sex shops. As consumers rush to buy sex toys from websites, businesses that usually rely on foot traffic and interpersonal connections with customers are suffering.
Sid Azmi, 37, the owner of Please, a store in Brooklyn that’s been open for roughly six years, explained that despite having an accompanying online shop, she can’t compete with bigger online retailers.
Ms. Azmi said that small businesses often charge more for sex toys: They don’t get bulk-buying discounts from distributors, and they can’t afford to have huge sales on their products. Customers are usually willing to pay more, she said, because of the friendly service and education stores like Please can offer.
“The reason why people come to us rather than buying from Amazon or bigger sex shops like Adam and Eve is because we offer in-house education, conversations, our time and our recommendations,†she said. “It’s that one-on-one personable service that we can’t promote through online sales.â€
Shag, a store that features a collection of body-safe sex toys that has been in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn since 2009, is also feeling financial strain. Samantha Bard, 45, one of the store’s owners, said that while online sales have risen slightly in the past two months, the store is selling far less than it would if the brick-and-mortar shop were still open.
As a result, the owners have tried different tactics to succeed online: They’ve started selling locally made face masks; they’ve revamped their online store and added more products to it; they’ve even integrated with Amazon, so potential customers can find the store’s products there.
“We’re hoping that that will generate some people to come back after they’ve made their first Amazon purchase, maybe they’ll come back to our own web store and purchase through us,†Ms. Bard said.
In addition to single-location sex shops, established chains in New York are also hurting. Lisa Finn, a representative from Babeland — a chain with three of its four locations in New York City — said that, though online sales are higher, it isn’t enough to make up for how much the stores usually sell in person.
Glen Buzzetti, the C.E.O. of Romantic Depot New York, said that since shifting to online-only, and offering same-day delivery, sales from the website have surged: Online sales in March and April were roughly 12 times higher than they were this time last year.
Yet it doesn’t compare to how much the business, known for its massive, depot-style locations, usually sells from its physical stores.
“It’s not enough to make a difference where it’s going to be able to pay our rent,†he said. “That’s the reality: Our bills are higher than what is coming in.â€
Sex shops in other cities, further along than New York in easing restrictions, are still struggling to adapt to new, mostly-online business models.
Darling Way, in Houston, was able to open its doors to the public again on May 1. But Beth Liebling, 54, the owner and founder, said that the store is quieter now than it ever has been in its four-year history. The store’s sales in May 2020 were 70 percent lower than what Ms. Liebling had projected in January.
“People aren’t out and about very much,†she said. “They just aren’t in a big spending mood.â€
Serene Martinez, the owner of Pink Bunny in San Francisco, said that it had been a generally positive experience. Though Pink Bunny hasn’t been able to open its doors to the public yet because of California’s restrictions on retail stores, Mrs. Martinez has been able to connect with customers through one-on-one Zoom calls where she acts as a personal shopper, as well as through the store’s YouTube channel.
June Pilote, a sex educator, said that part of the reason boutique and smaller sex shops are struggling right now is because their prices are higher.
“Sex toys are something that can really help you explore your gender and your sexuality, but they’re also expensive,†he said.
He said that to avoid spending money on a product that’s not right (it’s usually not possible to return a used sex toy), people should take the time to research the toys they’re buying.
Local shops may also be able to provide more education and community. Luna Matatas, a sex and pleasure educator in Toronto, said sex toys made from materials like jelly can be toxic.
She said safe materials include medical-grade silicone, stainless steel and glass.
Ms. Liebling emphasized that, though sales may be high for big online retailers, the next few months will be uncertain for business owners like herself.
“I don’t think I’m the only one that’s just looking around and going, ‘Can we do this? Can we actually survive, financially?’â€
Kevin Durant won’t play for Brooklyn Nets if NBA season resumes
Kevin Durant won’t play for the Brooklyn Nets if the 2019-20 NBA season resumes.
”My season is over,” Durant told Marc J Spears of The Undefeated. ”I don’t plan on playing at all. We decided last summer when it first happened that I was just going to wait until the following season. I had no plans of playing at all this season.”
Durant ruptured his right Achilles tendon in last season’s Finals as a member of the Golden State Warriors. He has not played an NBA game since June 10, 2019.
The Warriors would go on to lose that series in six games to the Toronto Raptors, and Durant departed this past summer in free agency for the Brooklyn Nets.
While Durant was progressing during his rehab with the Nets, the team will take a cautious approach as the NBA gets set to return. Durant was participating in 5-on-5 scrimmages in March, but has not played to that level since after the season was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Shortly after the 2019-20 was suspended, Durant revealed he was one of the first NBA players to test positive for coronavirus.
“I was shocked. And then I was curious,” Durant told The Undefeated when asked about getting the diagnosis. “I wanted to know what it meant. What is the virus about? I started to get information about it more and more. It calmed me down. I was just more curious [as] to what I was dealing with and how I could fight it myself.”
Durant is expected to be ready to participate in training camp for next season.
Because of the delayed ending to the 2019-20 season, next season’s training camps will start in November, with the 2020-21 season set to start on December 1.
3:21
Kevin Durant connected on 18 of 31 shots from the field to help him score 51 points while grabbing 11 rebounds against the Raptors
Durant, 31, is a two-time NBA champion and won his lone MVP award in 2013-14.
He has averaged 27.0 points and 7.1 rebounds over 12 seasons (849 games) with the Seattle SuperSonics, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Warriors. He has led the NBA in scoring four times, most recently in 2013-14 with the Thunder, when he averaged 32.0 points per game.
Israelis protest against Netanyahu’s plan to annex West Bank
Several thousand Israelis demonstrated on Saturday in Tel Aviv against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex the Jordan Valley and illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The de facto annexation of occupied Palestinian land has prompted the Palestinian Authority to threaten it will withdraw from all agreements with Israel.
Protesting in face masks and keeping their distance from each other under coronavirus restrictions, the demonstrators gathered under a banner “No to annexation, no to occupation, yes to peace and democracy”. Some waved Palestinian flags.
The protest was organised by left-wing groups and NGOs, and did not appear to have the support of the wider population.
Around half of Israelis support annexation, according to a recent opinion poll.
The organisers screened a video address by US Senator Bernie Sanders.
“It has never been more important to stand up for justice, and to fight for the future we all deserve,” Sanders said. “It’s up to all of us to stand up to authoritarian leaders and to build a peaceful future for every Palestinian and every Israeli.”
The Palestinian Authority wants an independent state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in a 1967 war.
Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but two years later it imposed a crippling land, air and sea blockade of the enclave that the head of the UN humanitarian chief has called an “open-air prison”.
US President Donald Trump unveiled in January a Middle East plan that recognised Israeli sovereignty over settlements – considered illegal under international laws - in the occupied West Bank.
Trump said Israel would be granted security control of the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, where dozens of illegal settlements have been built over decades.
In return, Palestinians would have their own demilitarised state with a capital in East Jerusalem.
As part of a recent agreement to form a coalition government with Benny Gantz, Netanyahu can submit the Trump plan to his cabinet and Parliament as early as July 1 for possible endorsement.
Netanyahu wants to annex parts of Jordan Valley and illegal settlements in the West Bank.
The plan also envisions the creation of a Palestinian state, but on reduced territory and without meeting a key Palestinian demand of having its capital in East Jerusalem.
Palestinians have rejected the proposal and voiced outrage against Israel’s proposed annexation.
One demonstrator at the protest called for more solidarity between Palestinians and Israelis.
“In an apartheid reality there cannot be peace for us or them, nor can there be justice,” a protester, identifying herself as Eden, told AFP news agency.
Warning of possible violence and diplomatic repercussions, some European and Arab states, together with the United Nations, have urged Israel not to go ahead with the annexation plan.
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Palestinian President Abbas says accords with Israel, US are void
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Bodies of boy, 5, and man located in search after fishing boat capsizes
The body of a man has been pulled from waters south of Sydney hours after authorities located the remains of a five-year-old boy in a capsized fishing boat that had been carrying four people.
NSW Police were called to the scene off Bulli Point near Wollongong about 6.20pm yesterday, along with the assistance of the Marine Area Command, PolAir helicopter and Surf Life Saving NSW.
A search then started that resulted in two men, aged 31 and 23, being rescued from the water about 8pm by the Toll Ambulance Helicopter and taken to Wollongong Hospital for treatment.
Local residents told reporters today they could hear people yelling for help before the search began.
“When I came out I also heard a pretty well-blood-curdling scream,” resident Matt Hoff said.
The two rescued men have since been released from hospital.
The search was later suspended around midnight due to conditions over the water and the remaining two people who were in the boat were reported as missing.
The four-metre capsized boat was towed into the Port Kembla Harbour in the early hours of this morning, and police divers found the young boy’s body.
Authorities later recovered another body, believed to be that of a 28-year-old father-of-three, in the water near Corrimal about 1.10pm. He is yet to be formally identified.
Locals told 9News the stretch of water where the boat hit trouble is notoriously dangerous and is known for being difficult to navigate even for the most experienced boaters.
The search has now ended and police are preparing a report for the Coroner.
Boris Johnson told to dump rhetoric and plan for new Covid wave
Senior figures from across the NHS have issued an urgent plea for a comprehensive plan to tackle a second wave of coronavirus infections, as Boris Johnson continues to lose public confidence in his handling of the pandemic.
Amid persistent fears among scientists that the virus remains too prevalent to ease the lockdown further, the prime minister has been urged to ditch “cheap political rhetoric†that risks eroding the public’s adherence to lockdown measures in the months ahead.
Health chiefs say there should be no further easing before a comprehensive test and trace system has been proved to work, as NHS figures accuse the government of lacking a strategy and dodging an “honest and open†debate about Britain’s plight. They also warned of a “dramatic†drop in capacity at NHS hospitals.
The Observer spoke to organisations including the Royal College of GPs, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, the Royal College of Anaesthetists, the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers on how ministers should plan for a potential second wave. They called for:
• An “aggressive public health campaign†to boost flu immunisation to stop the NHS having to deal with flu as well as Covid-19 outbreaks this winter.
• The retraining of more hospital staff so that they could be a “reserve†force, redeployed in the event of a second peak.
• The retaining of private hospital space to help deal with the NHS backlog.
• A comprehensive plan to protect care homes from a second peak in Covid-19 infections.
There were also demands for more open communication about the risks ahead and the strategy being adopted, following Johnson’s much-criticised claim that the UK would have a “world-beating†test and trace system by the start of June.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “The real concern is that we don’t have that same degree of trust, because we’re not having the kind of honest and open debates that we need. We seem to be resorting to kind of fairly cheap political rhetoric about stuff being world class, when it clearly isn’t.â€
Niall Dickson, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “We absolutely don’t want any more relaxation [of lockdown measures] until we are confident that the test and trace system is working both at national and local level.â€
Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: “I think the criticism that we can’t see a strategy is a legitimate criticism … We need a strategy for test and trace, for PPE, for the use of technology, for maintaining Covid services and opening up non-Covid services.â€
The latest Opinium poll for the Observer reveals that public confidence in the government’s ability to deal with the pandemic has dropped 21 points since the beginning of lockdown. The proportion of people who lack confidence in the government’s handling has doubled. While 36% said they were confident, 44% said they were not. Meanwhile, the Tory lead over Labour has fallen from 26 points in early April to 3 points in the latest poll.
A further 204 deaths from Covid-19 in the UK have been announced, bringing the total to 40,465.
The growing anxiety about the dangers of a second wave of illness comes as anti-racism protesters defied safety warnings by gathering in their thousands across the UK to demonstrate against the death of George Floyd in America. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, and Priti Patel, the home secretary, had urged people to avoid mass gatherings.
Scientists warned yesterday that the anti-racism protests posed a serious public health risk. “Any mass gathering risks significant numbers of further cases,†said Keith Neal, Nottingham University’s emeritus professor of the epidemiology of infectious diseases. “There is clear evidence that banning mass gatherings was one of the most effective and important parts of the lockdowns across European countries.â€
Calls are growing for a rapid public inquiry into the Covid-19 crisis to be launched as soon as this summer. Una O’Brien, the former permanent secretary at the Department for Health, wrote in a blog: “What better time than this summer, as the first serious phase of the pandemic recedes, for the UK government to … launch an impartial, independent and comprehensive inquiry here?â€
A Department of Health spokesperson said: “We will continue to be guided by the latest scientific advice – including from world-renowned epidemiologists – and give the NHS whatever it needs, as we have done throughout this unprecedented pandemic.
“Thanks to the hard work and dedication of NHS staff, hospitals have not been overwhelmed and intensive care capacity continues to meet the needs of patients. Our new NHS Test and Trace service is also up and running and anyone in this country with symptoms can book a test, with the majority getting their results back within a day.â€
Sebi censures Astrazeneca promoter, Elliot Group for unfair trade practices
Markets regulator Sebi has “censured” Astrazeneca Pharma India Ltd’s promoter and Elliot Group for professional misconduct and following unfair trade practises during the company’s delisting plan in 2014.
The regulator, in a 65-page order, said that Astrazeneca Pharma India Ltd’s (AZPIL) promoter AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals AB Sweden (AZPAB), and Elliott Group, which held 15.52 per cent stake in the company, had a ‘private arrangement’ to sail through the delisting process, news agency PTI reported.
Sebi said it “strongly censure the noticees (AZPAB and Elliott Group) for displaying such gross professional misconduct and fraudulent trade practice and trying to arrive at a private arrangement amongst them so as to help the company sail through the delisting procedure”.
It further said that the entire procedure was intended to dilute the reverse book building mechanism for discovery of delisting price of the scrip as per stipulations in the Sebi (Delisting of Equity Shares) Regulations, thereby jeopardising the interests of retail public shareholders and investors of the company at large.
ALSO READ: India Inc takes cautious approach to Covid disclosures mandated by Sebi
Sebi came across certain reports stating that the Offer for Sale (OFS) through stock exchange mechanism of shares of Astrazeneca Pharma, carried out by its sole promoter AZPAB in May 2013, was a deliberate strategy to subsequently get the shares of AZPIL delisted at its own convenience.
It was also reported that more than 94 per cent of total shares offered through OFS had been subscribed by a group of six Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) who were reportedly extending support to the promoters of AZPIL in the matter of delisting of AZPIL.
The reports also stated that in March 2014, AZPIL had informed the stock exchanges that it received a letter from AZPAB proposing to make voluntary delisting offer to the shareholders of the pharma company.
Following this, the regulator undertook an investigation of OFS exercise carried out by the promoter company of AZPIL and the earlier two attempts in 2004 and 2010 made by the pharma firm to delist its shares from the exchanges.
Elliott Group, through FII sub-accounts,had purchased 15.52 per cent shareholding through the OFS. Also, the Group decided to participate in the delisting offer in 2014.
Elliott Associates L.P, ElliottInternational L.P, Elliot Advisors (HK) Ltd, Elliott Management Corporation, The Liverpool Limited Partnership, Mansfield (Mauritius) Ltd and Suffolk (Mauritius) Ltd were the sub-accounts.
Sebi found that the series of communications exchanged between the representatives of promoter of the company and the Elliott Group conspicuously indicate that the firm’s promoter was very pro-active to arrive at an understanding with the Elliott Group about the price at which the Group would like to exit its stake in the firm so that AZPAB can realise its ultimate goal of delisting the company from the stock exchanges.
Besides, Elliott Group had voted in favour of the delisting resolution proposed by the company, and without its support, the delisting proposal would have certainly fallen through, it added.
It further said these are sufficient ground to conclude that”there existed a prior meeting of minds between AZPAB and the Elliott Group with regard to the proposed delisting of AZPIL”.
The regulator said it is disquieting to note the way the promoters of the company and the Elliott Group have conducted themselves while brazenly dealing with each other trying to arrive at an negotiated deal on the best price that may be acceptable to the Elliott Group.
ALSO READ: Sebi penalises one person found guilty in Bata India WhatsApp leak case
In this process, they have not bothered to think about the interest of other minority shareholders who had held 8.9 per cent of the total shareholding of the company nor have they thought about the adverse impact of their collusive behaviour on the interest of other investors in the securities market, Sebi said.
However, their plan to execute their ambition through an artifice or device in the form of pre-arranged negotiated price for delisting could not fructify due to judicial intervention and the interest of the minority public shareholders remained protected as well as saved from being adversely affected by the probable manipulative their actions, it added.
In the order passed on Friday, the regulator cautioned the promoter company as well as Elliott Group and directed them to refrain from indulging in such unfair trade practices in future.
It further said that in case a fresh delisting proposal is initiated by the promoter company anytime in future, the same will be initiated only after complying with regulatory provisions in letter and spirit.
Stock exchanges, BSE and NSE, have been directed to closely monitor the entire delisting process to be initiated by the company in future to ensure complete satisfaction of all regulatory stipulations with fairness, transparency and integrity, and to promptly report any aberrations noticed in the delisting process of AZPIL to Sebi, it added.
Number of Dubai football academies back in action – Sport360 News
Some of Dubai’s top football academies, including Manchester City, Barcelona and Juventus, have reopened their doors for training after weeks of closure due to COVID-19, while others like Real Madrid, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are waiting for restrictions to ease on players under the age of 12.
Manchester City Football Schools, Barca Academy and Juventus Academy Dubai have already resumed training players in the 12-18 age group in accordance with the safety and preventive regulations approved by the Government of Dubai, as well as the guidelines issued by Dubai Sports Council.
Other prominent academies are waiting for the authorities to ease restrictions on players aged 12 and under. Chief among them are Real Madrid Foundation Football Academy, Liverpool Football Academy, Arsenal Soccer School, Manchester United Soccer School and AS Roma Academy.
In the first phase of reopening of sports facilities in the Emirate of Dubai, authorities have not permitted children below the age of 12 and people above the age of 60 to take part in sports activities at these facilities.
Dubai Sports Council is keen to support and provide all means of success for the sports academies sector, which includes hundreds of official and private academies, which are linked to sports clubs, sports federations and private sports institutions.
These academies offer training and coaching in more than 50 different sports, including football, tennis, basketball, karate, cricket, badminton and squash. The academies are distributed across the Emirate of Dubai and employ thousands of trainers, technicians, medical staff, fitness and nutrition specialists.
The academies cater to a huge and growing number of talented young athletes, and play an important role in grooming these talents for success in the future.
Jason Euell interview: From the Crazy Gang to coaching England
Charlton coach Jason Euell has his qualifications and is ready to manage
The school of hard knocks. That is how Jason Euell describes his experience breaking through at Wimbledon in the era of the Crazy Gang. But he would not change it.
Euell has fond memories of the club that gave him his professional debut in a playing career that spanned 16 years with a dozen of them spent in the Premier League.
He was also Charlton’s top scorer in the competition for three consecutive seasons between 2001 and 2004 and even gained international experience with Jamaica.
But he is planning to make an even bigger impact as a coach.
Euell already has eight years of experience at Charlton, where he is currently managing the U23 team, as well as working with England’s age-group sides as an out-of-possession coach.
He has his UEFA Pro Licence too. Most of all, he has big plans for the future.
It is a far cry from those early days as a teenager walking into what, for their opponents at least, was regarded as the most intimidating dressing room in English football.
Euell grew up around the 1988 FA Cup winning side of John Fashanu and the rest. While many had moved on by the time that he broke into the team, Vinnie Jones was back for a second spell and the cast of characters made for a special working environment.
“It made me the player that I was and the person that I am today,” Euell tells Sky Sports. “It was a unique group of people and it had a real impact on me. I am still in touch with probably 90 per cent of that team. We still have a WhatsApp group together.
“We were always up against it at Wimbledon. We could not afford to have off days. I still say that to the boys now. That could be the difference between getting a game and not getting a game. It could be the difference between having a career and not having a career.
“A lot of that mentality comes from Wimbledon. I had to man up very quickly. The game has changed a lot but you still take those values with you. It was about respect and trust.”
Euell has stayed in touch with many of his team-mates from Wimbledon
Perhaps you might expect someone now steeped in the ethos of the FA and accustomed to EPPP guidelines to look back in disbelief at the antics of the old Crazy Gang but Euell prefers to take the positives. He credits that experience for shaping his thinking to this day.
“What I learned was that talent was not enough. Plenty of talented players do not make it. You need to have other attributes. It is about values. If you do not do your job then others start slipping and it has a knock-on effect on the group. Do it properly or everyone suffers.
“Some people focus a lot on the technical and tactical aspects because they think that is football. But the psychological and the social are very much part of it. Some might not have all the attributes but psychologically they are winners. Their mentality sets them apart.”
Euell was Charlton’s top scorer for three consecutive Premier League seasons
As a player, Euell had that mentality. He was a natural too. Often ghosting into the box, he scored 56 Premier League goals. But he now believes he has found his calling as a coach.
“The plan was to play on,” he says of the decision he made back in 2012. “I had no serious injuries and I was a fit person. But the opportunity came up when I was offered the chance to coach the U15 side at Charlton. It was a great place to start the next phase of the journey.
“It also kept me in the building so I didn’t lose that changing room environment because I know that this is what a lot of people miss when they step away from the game they have been around for 15 years. For me it was an easy transition so that helped.”
Euell had looked to players such as Teddy Sheringham as an example of how he could play on but turning to coaching at a relatively early age has had its advantages. Not only is he now vastly experienced at the age of 43 but it ensured his initial impact was a positive one.
He recalls the day that the Charlton youngsters were told that he would be their new coach. “They had seen me playing for the club so you felt like you had already got them,” he explains. “They were going on YouTube and watching my goals. It made it easier.”
Maintaining that connection is a big part of the job now.
“I have to chop myself up into so many different people,” says Euell.
“You are the coach, the manager, the mentor, the role model, the best friend, the brother, the uncle. You are all of those different things to different people. Some might need an arm around them, others don’t. It is all about getting to know how to get the best from them.
“If you are a shouter then that will work for some but not for all because the players come from so many different backgrounds. You have to get it right for the individual you are working with. You might have to explain things differently in order to get them to respond.”
Euell has been coaching with England as well as with his club Charlton
Charlton’s youngsters can at least count on some of the best coaching around. Euell took up the invitation to work with the England U18 side as an out-of-possession coach and has since moved on to the England U20 group, working with the best young talent in the land.
“Being with England has enhanced everything for me,” admits Euell. “It has provided reassurance where I was already implementing the same things and it has helped me to add bits to my sessions that I had been unaware of. It has made me a better coach.
“It is benefiting our players at Charlton too. Every time I come back from a camp there are questions. They want to know all about the players, they are so intrigued by it all.
“The good thing about it is that I can show them the sessions that we do with England and challenge them to do it too. That is where they aspire to be. They want to play for England. I can now say to them that if they do the right things with me then they can get there.”
Euell is grateful that Charlton recognised the advantages of having him take time away from the club, not just with England but in allowing him to complete his UEFA Pro Licence.
The course meant Euell missing the occasional U23 game but he believes it has been invaluable in terms of preparing him for a future career in senior management.
“With the Pro Licence, that is where the coaching stops. It is geared towards management and working relationships. It helps you understand the boardroom and managing upwards. It helps you understand what it is going to be like as a manager at first-team level.
“They bring different people in who work in different stress environments. We have the air ambulance come in and talk to us. We had someone from the fire department who dealt with Grenfell come in. We had a guy from the army talk about Afghanistan.
“It is about dealing with high-pressure situations. Of course, being a manager is not as important as those jobs but you do have people shouting at you so it is about how you stay calm and make good decisions rather than letting your emotions get the better of you.”
Euell has completed his UEFA Pro Licence while at Charlton
Management seems the obvious next step. After eight years at Charlton, Euell accepts there might be a perception that he has been in his U23 role for too long. But he has been headhunted for jobs and is open-minded if the right opportunity comes along.
“When I went into coaching, the ambition was to get to the top,” he explains. “That is what I wanted to do as a player and I was able to do it. That is where I see this leading too.
“I feel I have done it the right way in terms of the progression and the pathway.
“Nobody can say I have not got that qualification or this qualification. The only thing that can be thrown at me now is that I have not got the experience. Well, give me the chance to have that experience. That is the next step for me now.”
He would surely be a good appointment. As well as the qualifications and the experience, his contacts having worked with some of England’s best young players could be invaluable.
And any suggestion that his lengthy stint as a development coach might have somehow dulled his appetite for winning football misunderstands Euell’s approach to the game.
“We have won cups. We have won back-to-back league titles. We are not here just to take part. People misconstrue it when they talk of winning or developing. It is about winning because winning aids your development – that is what first-team football is all about.”
A modern manager then. But one who has not forgotten those lessons learned long ago.
American troops on German soil are in US interest too, says Heiko Maas
“If there were to be a withdrawal of U.S. troops, we take note of this,” Heiko Maas said | Pool photo by Andreas Gora/Getty Images
The German foreign minister said transatlantic relations are ‘complicated.’
U.S. troops stationed on German soil are there “in the interest of both our countries” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, following reports that Donald Trump plans a significant draw down. He described current relations with Washington as “complicated.”
The presence of American soldiers dates back from after the Second World War and has long served a a symbol of Washington’s commitment to protecting its European allies — acting particularly as a deterrent to Russian aggression. But a report on Friday suggested that the U.S. president plans to reduce the force stationed there by 30 percent, to around 25,000. The Pentagon has not confirmed the plan.
“If there were to be a withdrawal of U.S. troops, we take note of this,” Maas told Bild. “We appreciate the cooperation with U.S. forces that has grown over decades. It’s in the interest of both our countries.”
Transatlantic relations between the U.S. and Europe, and especially Germany, are strained after German Chancellor Angela Merkel turned down an invitation from Washington to attend a G7 leaders’ summit later this month because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Asked to describe the transatlantic relationship, Maas said “we are close partners in a transatlantic alliance. But: it’s complicated.”
Maas had previous criticized Trump over his response to mass protests in the U.S. following the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, while in police custody.
“I believe it is wrong to threaten further violence in a very tense situation,” Maas told Bild. “Democrats should always reconcile and not divide. There hasn’t been any reaction yet. But I’m quite sure — regardless of who’s currently in the White House — that our partnership with the U.S. is so close and resilient that it can take criticism.”
The German foreign minister added that he hoped an EU-China summit that had been due to take place in September in Leipzig, but was postponed last week, could take place later this year.