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@Modheemofficial Lol, it is you people who will call the manager dictator if they don't laugh. You will say he is making them tensed. They should laugh please.

Dem go reach training ground begin dey shine teeth

After 28 years, sadly my time at Opta has come to an end. Through seven different owners, some good, some bad, I've helped the companies grow the brand from start up to global behemoth and I've been very lucky to have a job that was also my hobby.

@afalli It's the Nigerian problem with numbers. Lives in an echo chamber and is just extrapolating his experience without checking the actual numbers to confirm his bias or otherwise

@SirJarus Yup, consultants have that advantage of solving problems for numerous companies. Where you've solved a particular problem once or twice, they have done it 10 times for different companies with different peculiarities. Their 1 yr experience is like 5yrs for some

@AjiOfMosho @SirJarus It was a Tax Manager position, at a certain level, you have some lee way depending on who you're meeting. A graduate trainee would MAYBE not have told that joke. Just try the read the room.

@SirJarus Wow but sir are there times you started an interview with jokes like this and the interviewer dint get the joke? If any how did you compose yourself?

In 2021, I wanted to move from Savannah Energy, a British independent energy company, where I was the Tax Manager, to Shell, an IOC, as Tax Manager for their Gas Operations. My interviewer at the final stage, a senior industry colleague well-known to me through our industry tax managers meetings, was a Man U fan. I am an Arsenal fan. He had Man U jersey on in the virtual interview he was conducting from his home office and I started the interview with a light joke. "You are a Man U fan. I am an Arsenal fan. I think anyone that supports Arsenal should get extra point for loyalty and perseverance. We have not won the league in many years and we are still supporting." He laughed and said he accepted Arsenal fans are a lesson in perseverance. Interview proper started. Technical questions about gas and taxation and all that. I didn't get the job. A senior manager in KPMG got it. Later that year, in a BA flight from London to Lagos, I saw him in the business class cabin while I walked to my economy cabin, I quickly stopped by to tell him I wanted to talk to him when we landed in Lagos. We landed and I asked why Shell didn't give me the job. His response: "You did well, but the person that got the job had more nuances in his answers. You were focusing too much on PIA (which was just passed at the time) while he spoke on broader issues even outside PIA. My boss in Hague that listened to the recording of the interview preferred him" We rode home from the airport in same car. Well, I quit 9-5 less than two years later and started entrepreneurship. He is winding down his 9-5 career too. And we are business partners today.

@RealAdeshina Has to be University of Saskatchewan based in Saskatoon not Cascatum.

@IsonguyoM @Real1_balogun Yes!!!!

@_theOluW @Real1_balogun Especially when they have proven themselves before in a good system

You must think so lowly of footballers. How do those PSG players fare in their national teams? The ones Enrique met at the club, what were they like before he got there? When it’s pointed that football systems trump individual abilities, what it means is what you see at PSG. They’re a very good team but I saw Ousmane Dembele struggle at Barcelona and even at PSG before finding his feet. Hakimi toured Europe before he got to Paris. He was growing and evolving. As long as you’re a good player at an elite level, you’re trained to understand systems. You think Cucurella won’t attack the box if he’s asked to and he’s convinced it will work like it’s working at PSG. Or you think William Saliba won’t operate in this PSG system? How lowly must you think of Bernardo Silva or Haaland? This one, Bo le n be. Na beans.

@Real1_balogun Just to add, in PSG's case, I'd really like to see how these players perform if they had to play 2 tough matches a week and not get postponements other teams don't get.

@Real1_balogun That's why it's very difficult for me to call any player at a top European club shit as long as the fundamentals are good. That's why I'm genuinely befuddled when Arsenal fans pile on Odegaard and Martinelli. It's all about platforming

@Real1_balogun For 8m, it was a generational steal.

One of Liverpool’s best signings ever. Absolute wonder of a left full-back under Klopp. One of the most brilliant businesses Liverpool have ever done.

@SirJarus The spaces are no longer there like it used to. Watch a random premier league match from that era and you'll see all the spaces. Players are not fools

Some people try to counter this with nostalgia bias. I don't agree. Football fell off. The one that annoys me most is wingers or attacking midfielders passing to the back.

@kayakaynak97 They know its the in thing, they know it'll generate interactions.

The “open goal” being referred to. Odegaard hate is really weird. If the Man City loss didn’t show how important he is then not sure if you can be helped 🤷‍♂️

I’m not even in America and I can relate 🤣🤣

Thats not a red card, Alvarez left his leg trailing....its cheating #UCL #BARATM

@MisolaofJesus The funny thing is, before you get to that level, you'll want to be in those meetings only to realise that they're not all that and a waste of time when you finally get there

Senior management work is funny. Because after all the meetings, ta lo ma shey gbogbo ise to ku yi?????

This player of the season convo has to include David Raya #UCL #PremierLeague

@OneMotolani Clapperboard was showing matches before 95, cable TV too

Wasn’t old enough to watch prime Baresi. Even if I was, as much as Serie A was the best, most watched league in the world, not until 95/96 could you really watch games in Nigeria, and most were late at night. I think Baresi retired in 98. So I caught maybe 1 or 2 - he was done…

@jadeosiberu The thing thats amusing me in this convo is that none of them have said where the money for the royalties will come from.

It has nothing to do with actors but actors must earn lifetime royalties 😂🤣😂 My darlings we need a town hall. Everyone needs to understand the other person’s role in the ecosystem and the co-dependencies. By the way producers are guilty too oo, cos we accuse and attack exhibitors meanwhile those ones are carrying overheads that don’t change if one person comes to see your film or the entire room is sold out. All of us need to know a lot more about the unit economics of this industry and how that impacts our individual role & income prospects.

@Xtopherewesi I stand to be corrected, didn't MKO Abiola play a big role during this era? He used to sponsor these athletes to American colleges were they were able to compete under the collegiate sports system which helped a lot

Nigeria lost a GOLD medal in this race. The quartet of: Olabisi Afolabi, Fatima Yusuf, Charity Opara & Falilat Ogunkoya came very close to doing the unthinkable, almost beating USA on their turf if only Opara had been smarter. I am not blaming Opara for going out too hard, she just had an adrenaline rush after "maybe unexpectedly" receiving the baton in first place. A 400m race is all about distribution: knowing when to re-kick, and when to manage speed. Opara ran her first 300m with the same speed, and didn't save enough for the home-straight, but without a 49s runner like her, Nigeria wouldn't have even finished on the podium. I must say that Yusuf ran the best leg of the four, slightly above Ogunkoya, and giving Nigeria a lead they capitalized on to hold on and secured Silver. Ogunkoya tried to run down Jearl Miles, but the American had the endurance of an 800m athlete, so it was always going to be difficult. This race sums up the hey days of Nigerian Athletics. Three women who competed in this race for Nigeria, have PBs of 49:10s, 49.29s & 49.43s respectively. Bisi Afolabi who ran the first leg, has a decent PB of 50.30s. Till today, that 3:21.04 they ran in Atlanta, remains an African Record, 30yrs after. They competed in an era there was conscious effort by government, to make sports work in Nigeria. I once spoke to an ex Olympian who told me that most of his colleagues who built houses, was because of the money they made competing for Nigeria (in the 90s). For Nigeria to get back to this level of challenging USA, and with focus on LA 2028, we have to start making these athletes happy, two years ahead of LA. I will use the women's 4x400m team for example - we can actually win a GOLD medal (or another medal) in this event in LA, if we do the right things. Ella Onojuvewvwo, Elo Joseph, Chioma Nwachukwu... we already have the foundation to build on.

@nyxeal @Real1_balogun And you know this how?

@_theOluW @Real1_balogun Hall can't do it in the pressurized games, NOR is a big game player.

They’re both solid options in different ways. O’Reilly is a tactical monster. He’s so good at the things that go under the radar. He offers England a lot of tactical flexibility. Lewis Hall may be capable of that too, but O’Reilly has had more time doing that. If Tuchel wants a flying full back who will bomb forward at will, I think Hall should be his option but if they seek solutions beyond the traditional, O’Reilly fits the bill. My name is Rilwan, I love and write about football systems, memories and the depths behind the game. Follow me and repost if you want more of this.