Sharing my data analytics projects for the first time since I started learning 2 months ago. Exploring different datasets and discovering insights.
I registered for EXCEL WITH DIKKY @ThisIsDikky and the class was so amazing that I even got more than expected.
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For so long, Manchester United have carried one of the highest wage bills in world football, and the club is finally trying to correct that. Yet some fans want us to repeat the same mistakes by handing Matheus Fernandes £200k+ per week before he’s even kicked a ball for the club.
High wages don’t just affect one player they reset the entire dressing room. The moment one new signing arrives on £200k+ a week, Cunha’s agent, Mbeumo’s agent, and every key player’s representative will be knocking on Carrington’s door asking for parity. That’s exactly how unsustainable wage structures begin.
Football has changed. The Premier League is moving towards a squad cost control model, where wages, transfers and agent fees are becoming just as important as transfer fees themselves. United’s biggest problem isn’t spending transfer fees it’s maintaining a sustainable wage bill.
The club has shown a clear recruitment strategy under the new regime:
• Avoid signing players over 28 unless the deal makes exceptional sense.
• Avoid handing out £200k+ contracts to players who haven’t proven themselves at Manchester United.
• Prioritise players who genuinely want to play for the club rather than chasing the highest salary.
We’ve seen this movie before. In January 2018, United beat Manchester City to Alexis Sánchez by offering him a contract worth around £350,000 per week, with bonuses taking it even higher. That deal didn’t just fail on the pitch it distorted the wage structure.
Soon after, David De Gea’s renewal rose to around £375k per week. Marcus Rashford later signed a deal worth around £300k per week. Jadon Sancho arrived on roughly £350k per week. The cycle continued, and the wage bill became increasingly difficult to control.
Barcelona are another example. Their problems weren’t caused solely by transfer fees it was years of an unsustainable squad cost ratio that eventually caught up with them.
Every successful club needs a wage hierarchy. Reward players after they’ve consistently performed, not before. We still need to compete for top talent, but we also have to be smart enough not to repeat the mistakes that put the club in this position in the first place.
The safest way to travel is by plane. Do you know why?
Because they crash.
A few months ago, I learned a concept called Black Box Thinking which is a system that defines how entire industries respond to failure.
In aviation, when a plane crashes, they don't just look for who to blame.
They find a device called a Black Box, retrieve the data, and then ask what went wrong with the system.
And there is a reason for this.
To explain this, there is a famous story of a crash involving an Asian airline years ago.
When investigators listened to the recording from the black box, they found the engine didn't just fail on its own, the junior pilot actually noticed a mistake.
But because of a cultural hierarchy in Asia that demanded absolute respect for elders, he didn't question his senior pilot.
Instead, he hinted and spoke softly and the plane crashed.
That tragedy changed aviation safety forever.
It moved the focus from "Who made the mistake?" to "Why did the system allow this mistake?"
As we stand on the 29th of December, looking back at 2025, I want you to adopt this strategy of Black Box Thinking.
Most of us look at our failures this year and feel shame.
We hide the crash, and blame the economy, government, or something that does not exist.
But Black Box thinking demands a harder question: "How did I contribute to this problem?"
Did I stay silent when I should have spoken up?
Did I rely on motivation instead of a system?
Did I ignore the data because of my ego?
Don't bury your failures of 2025.
Open the box and analyze it.
Because that is the only way to fly safer in 2026.
@ThisIsDikky was my first tutor and he made sure he taught us all we need to know in excel. He has been supporting all his students even after the class ended, we still have 24/7 access to him. Thank you for all you do boss 🙏
Of course, I didn't teach her Power BI.
But I made sure I COOKED her with SOLID FUNDAMENTALS of Data Analytics in Excel With Dikky Training.
I'm not surprised seeing the quality of projects she keeps pushing out. 👏🏾