Wednesday, February 14, 2018

The Form of my Boyhood Club mirrors that of my Life


          Life is indeed full of surprises, Wolves has been a founder member of the English League since 1886 and for the last 38 years (since 1980 when they won the English league cup), they have won nothing of major importance ; sometimes I feel I am in the same predicament as them, as having gone through a good part of my life, success has come in various forms but the major successes - in business - has eluded me, till this year.   

                 





          The attributes and efforts on my part have been there, but 2 factors are missing :

-  Vision to charge into the Blue Oceans (uncharted territory)
-  Luck in the form of a strong repeat customer and benefactor  

           2018 and 2019 will be different 

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Champagne Football from Wolves ; Happy Days are Here Again !






This in my mind is the defining moment for Wolves ; making changes, adapting, team and managerial cohesiveness, everyone playing with 1 goal in mind. To win and score as many as possible. This is the best team in this Millenium for Wolves I dare say and their demolition of 6th places Sheffield United just goes to show how far ahead the team are technically, skillwise and characterwise. 

Reuben Neves goal is worthy of any Premier League goal anyday. He is a world class young player. In his teamates, in Diogo Jota, and Ivan Cavaleiro, you have the nexus of midfield and striking talent of the Portuguese national team.

Jota's goal was a team effort, brilliant finish from a 10 plus passing game. The Wolves team is all about strategy, individual skill and courage. No two ways about it. This team will will the Championship with 20 points to spare easily.

The last and 3rd goal by Cavaleiro was from a classic set piece, taking a deflection from the 'wall' the ball then shot into goal By this time, the 78th minute, the result was a forgone conclusion, so I am going to wager a small sum next year that Wolves will win the Premier League on their first try after more than 10 years.

So confident am I of their brilliance. 

Chic,Happening Milan Dec 2017

Applying Logic, Intuition and Life Experiences to everyday life situations


                                          Enjoying my seafood pasta in Florence 9 Dec 2017 

Saturday, February 3, 2018

Life is full of setbacks, accept it, study the failure and bounce back



Life is full of Ups and Downs. Today you are down and out, you have been retrenched, and currently are  struggling to find a job and you may have a drink, smoking or porn addiction. Your friends, and your children have better things to do than to meet up with you. You need some solace from this harsh, uncaring and uncompromising world. Your skill sets are last century,people who are younger, more energetic and willing to work for less are replacing you and your peers left right centre.   

Its tough. Very tough. 

I have been through similar tough times with my business ; its never easy for a 50 something man. Business had been through a rough 2 - 3 year cycle, there have been disruptions, there have been mean customers and debts to pay, there are many risks going forward.

So, I take a leaf from my boyhood team, Wolves, the manager Nuno Esperito Santos (NES) has had a pretty tough January, losing 2 games (1 FA Cup and another to Nottingham Forest in the league) and drawing another 2 ; he is under pressure, from the management and most tellingly  from the fans who are so used to their winning ways ; so what does he do ?  

1. Focus on the training ;
2. Change the unperforming or underperfoming players
3. Change the formation of the team (last time is 4 -3  - 3 now its 5 - 3  - 2)
4. Work doubly hard to recover and get back to the winning ways

Last weekend, his team bounced back with an 1 - 0 away win at Ipswich Town. This is the hallmark of a champion winning team. 

Likewise in business, failures are crippling and stressful. As a business owner, I have cut the expenses, reduced the debt and doubled on the efforts to focus back on the core business of trading. Keeping the team motivated and lean is also critical. Moving the business overseas is another big step I have taken.

Finally building the brand name overseas and internationally ; that is the ultimate goal.

Pick Myself Up and Carry On. Make less mistakes like in the past..

Carpe Diem    




My Last Visit to Beijing Sept 2010