Pep Guardiola's Statistics as Barcelona Manager

Pep Guardiola

13 titles won and a 70% win rate are just a few of Pep Guardiola’s stats since his took charge of FC Barcelona’s first team.

Pep Guardiola started his career on the bench in 2007 when he took charge of Barça B when the team was in the Spanish Third Division. A year later, after having led the reserve side to Second Division B, the Catalan took the reins from Frank Rijkaard as the first-team manager. In his over 200 matches at the FC Barcelona helm he won 13 titles.

PEP GUARDIOLA'S TOTAL NUMBERS
- Matches: 242
- Victories: 175
- Draws: 46
- Defeats: 21
- Goals scored: 618 (2.55 per match)
- Goals conceded: 178 (0.73 per match)
- Winning % : 72.31%

PEP GUARDIOLA IN LA LIGA
- Titles: 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11
- Matches: 148
- Victories: 113
- Draws: 24
- Defeats: 11
- Winning % in 08-09: 71%
- Winning % in 09-10: 81.5%
- Winning % in 10-11: 78.9%
- Winning % in 11-12: 73.5%

PEP GUARDIOLA IN THE KING'S CUP
- Titles: 2008/09
- Matches: 30
- Victories: 21
- Draws: 6
- Defeats: 3

PEP GUARDIOLA IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
- Titles: 2008/09 i 2010/11
- Matches: 52
- Victories: 31
- Draws: 15
- Defeats: 6

PEP GUARDIOLA: Other competitions (European Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, Club World Cup)
- Spanish Super Cup Titles: 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12
- European Super Cup Titles: 2009/10 and 2011/12
- Club World Cup Titles: 2009/10 and 2011/12
- Matches: 12
- Victories: 10
- Draws: 1
- Defeats: 1

Honours as manager
- 2011 FIFA Best Manager of the Year
- Best manager in 2009 and 2011 according to the IFFHS

- ONZE d’Or as best European manger in 2009 and 2011

- Best LFP manager in 2009 and 2011
- World's best manager according to World Soccer in 2009 and 2011

- Royal Order of Athletic Merit 2010
- Gold medal from the Parlament de Catalunya
- 2009 Catalan of the year
- Santpedor's favourite son in 2009

Source: FC Barcelona

Mexican Woman is Pregnant with 9 babies

 A Mexican woman is pregnant with nine babies - six girls and three boys - the country's main broadcaster Televisa reported on Thursday night.

The woman was identified as Karla Vanessa Perez of the northeastern state of Coahuila, which borders Texas. She is currently being treated at a hospital in the state capital Saltillo, the broadcaster said in the report.

Perez, whose age was not given, had fertility treatment leading to the multiple pregnancy, it said.

State-owned news agency Notimex also reported the pregnancy, saying Perez was due to give birth on May 20.

"It's very early to think of names for the babies," Perez told Notimex. "First I hope that everything goes well."

The successful delivery of nonuplets would be one of the highest multiple births ever recorded.

In 2009, a woman in California gave birth to octuplets, sparking worldwide media attention.

 Source: Reuters

Video from ThisDay Office in Abuja after Suicide Bombing

Another Bomb Blast in kaduna, Near ThisDay kaduna Bureau

In what seems like a coordinated attack with the ThisDay office bombing in Abuja, another bomb blast has been reported in Kaduna State. The state witnessed a suicide bomb attack on Easter Sunday that killed scores of people.  Unconfirmed reports say at least 10 people have been killed following the attack this morning close to ThisDay newspaper's Kaduna bureau.

No group has claimed responsibility so far for today's attack.

ThisDay Newspaper office in Abuja Attacked in Aparent Suicide Bombing

ThisDay Newspaper Office in Abuja

Source: @OloriSupergal

At least one death and several casualties have been reported in an attack this morning at ThisDay office in Jabi, Abuja. This story is still developing but you might recall that the United States Embassy in Abuja put out a warning to its citizens about a potential attack on Nigeria's capital, Abuja 9 days ago.


The warning which was contained in a statement dated 17th April, 2012 amongst other things read:

The U.S. Mission in Nigeria issues the following emergency message for the attention of all U.S. citizens in Abuja, Nigeria. The U.S. Embassy has received information that Boko Haram may be planning attacks in Abuja, Nigeria, including against hotels frequently visited by Westerners.  The U.S. government has no additional information regarding the timing of these possible attacks.  The Nigerian government is aware of the threat and is actively implementing security measures.


The Embassy reminds U.S. citizens to exercise additional caution.   Please maintain a high state of vigilance and personal security awareness, particularly in and around Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, near Nigerian government facilities, diplomatic missions, large gathering places, hotels, markets and malls, and places of worship.   We advise all U.S. citizens to review their personal security plans, remain aware of their surroundings, including local events, monitor local news stations for updates, and report specific incidences of targeted violence to the U.S. Embassy in Abuja or the U. S. Consulate General in Lagos at the numbers below.  For additional information, please refer to “A Safe Trip Abroad.

It is yet to be confirmed who is behind these attacks but immediate suspicion would be on Boko Haram, the religious sect that has waged a campaign of terror in Nigeria for close to 5 years now.

The 'Eggless' Chick

Now, I don't know if chickens are getting jealous of mammals that give birth to live young and have now decided that they too want to give birth which is what a particular hen in Sri Lanka 'tried' and achieved at the cost of her life.

According to the BBC,  the egg got fertilised and remained in the hen's body incubating for 21 days when it hatched. The chief veterinary officer of Welimada, PR Yapa who  did a post-mortem on the hen said it died of internal injuries which is surely a lesson to other hens who may want to try this 'suicide mission' of birthing life chicks.

Eggless Chick

This post is about me being sarcastic, for real journalistic reportage read the BBC's report on this story here.

CPC releases official statement on General Muhammadu Buhari's 2015 Candidacy

PRESS RELEASE.
Muhammadu Buhari and the 2015 Presidential contest.
The Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, has noted the furore engendered by the statement credited to the Party’s National Leader, General Muhamadu Buhari (GMB) while receiving a delegation of Political admirers in Kaduna some days ago. In that occasion, GMB had stated, inter-alia, that owing to the leadership deficit and the truncation of the hope of the common man through the pervasive injustice in the land, he would continue relevant political activism in the run to the 2015 general elections.
True, GMB told the Nation, during the electioneering campaigns for the 2011 Presidential elections, that he would not be contesting the nation’s subsequent elections.
It is almost a year ago since he made that statement. Indeed, the Nigerian nation has been tottering as a result of the besmirched reputation of an inept, dishonest and egregiously incompetent political leadership; the Party’s leadership has brought to bear immense pressure on GMB to rescind his earlier stance on Nigeria’s tempestuous politics.
Meanwhile, the CPC is in alliance and possible merger talks with other progressive coalition partners in order to give true meaning to democratic governance within the Nigerian polity. It is our considered opinion that it would be rather preemptive to speculate at this time what the choice of these coalition partners shall be. However, what is unmistakably true is that, as the Almighty God grants the enablement, GMB shall continue to actively participate in the politics under the Nigerian nation-space.
 

God bless Nigeria.

 
Rotimi Fashakin (Engr.)
National Publicity Secretary, CPC.
(Saturday, 14th April, 2012).

Expanding a business

Expanding your business should increase its profits

Businesses in general have the major objective of maximizing profits so that their shareholders or owners can have a high return on their investment. However, it usually gets to a point that for a business to continue to remain profitable, it has to expand its operations to take advantage of larger volume of sales and turnover.

There are several methods of expanding a business such as merger and acquisition, joint ventures, product diversification as well as forward and backward integration. However, whatever method an organization selects for its expansion there are certain factors that have to be considered.

First, the management of the company has to decide if there is adequate capital to finance its expansion or if they have to seek additional funding. If the company is going to need additional capital in what form will it come; debt or equity? If the capital is in the form of a debt what is the explicit and implied cost? As for equity, what will it mean for the ownership structure of the company? Once these questions are addressed the company can then decide on whether or not it wants to raise additional capital to finance its expansion.

Another issue to address is the capacity of the organization to scale-up its operations without hitches. There will be a need to invest in facilities such as new factories, machinery, office and equipment. There might also be a need to employ new workers or integrate some from a company that is being joined in a merger or being acquired.

Ultimately, expansion of a business must guarantee increased profitability for it to be worthwhile. Hence, there is a need to be patient and ensure that the right strategy and decision is taken for the company long term.

Do not take your customers for granted

Keeping customers happy is essential to the survival and growth of any businesss

Many businesses put in a lot of time, money and resources to win customers and when they do, they take them for granted. I suppose it is part of human nature, familiarity breeds contempt they say. 

There are many dangers inherent in this attitude because your company may get away with bad customer service for some time, but you cannot continue with it for a long time before a rival with better customer service wins them over.

Bad news travels fast, and people will tell more people about your bad customer service than they will talk about your good customer service. The implication is that it could take you up to a decade to build a loyal customer base with good service but it could take less than a year to lose them with bad customer service.

It is imperative for senior management to emphasize the philosophy of customer service to front-end staff as well as ensure that the company’s products retain a high level of quality.

The competition never sleeps and a company which is the leader in its market would be making a great mistake if it thinks that it cannot loose its market share because its competition is not strong enough. All it takes is one major mistake for customer to drop its products and seek out alternatives.

Also, it is important that a company opens up channels of communication with its customers through customer service desks as well as customer forums and meetings, this will help the company to receive feedback from its customers about the quality of its products and service be it positive or negative.