iblamestephan

[iblamestephan @iblamestephan]

CORE MEMORY MADE ❤️

[MATTY 🫀 @fromtheheartza]

May has been a great month. All my mense took home small victories and made some core memories.

It’s lekker so man.

[SA Weather Service @SAWeatherServic]

Media Release: South African Weather Service statement on the 2026/27 El Niño

[iblamestephan @iblamestephan]

Fairs 🤣🤣

[OptaJoe @OptaJoe]

2-2 - Liverpool are only the second Premier League side to start a campaign with two 2-2 draws, along with Everton in 2014-15.

Desmond.

[Eddie Gibbs @eddiegibbs]

‼️ Liverpool Are Too Big For This SH*T

£85m for Cody Gakpo is a serious offer. If Andoni Iraola genuinely believes Bradley Barcola plus a different profile on the right, whether that is Sarr, Minteh, Fernandez-Pardo (yet another left-sided player) or somebody else, gives Liverpool the attack he wants, then the manager deserves our backing.

The problem is Richard Hughes has done almost nothing this summer to earn the benefit of the doubt.

Liverpool have 3 days to replace Gakpo when it's taken most of the window to address an attack already lacking depth. Szoboszlai finished our first home game at right-back (it may actually be his position, gulp). Ekitike is unavailable. Isak cannot be expected to carry the centre-forward position alone. There are holes everywhere, square pegs filling them, and around ten senior players heading towards the final year of their contracts.

That's incompetence. That's neglect.

I went early on Hughes after the Diomande debacle and took plenty of criticism for it. I wish I had been wrong. Instead, every week seems to bring another example of a sporting director operating without a convincing plan, reacting late, shopping beneath the required level, and leaving the manager to make sense of a squad assembled without proper balance.

If Hughes were not seemingly edging towards Saudi Arabia, the calls for his dismissal would already be deafening.

FSG deserve their share of this too. They appointed him, empowered him, and have allowed Liverpool to drift through a summer where the manager appears to be accepting whatever is available from a late trolley dash.

None of this is the players’ fault. I also struggle to believe this is the happy transition some keep portraying. How could it be with this much uncertainty?

I want to enjoy Liverpool. I want Iraola to succeed. I want to be proved spectacularly wrong.

Yet Champions League qualification currently feels like the ceiling, two games into a new era.

Liverpool are too big for Richard Hughes, too big for second and third choices, and increasingly too big for an ownership model whose sell by date has passed.

I hope this time next year serious people are running the football operation.

[iblamestephan @iblamestephan]

Miss you #hekination

[iblamestephan @iblamestephan]

I’m ready to take Trent back with open arms.

[iblamestephan @iblamestephan]

Are you at ITK space now?

[MATTY 🫀 @fromtheheartza]

This deal is complete. #cfc just sorting out the replacement.

[barry @BackseatsmanLFC]

28 year old Luis Diaz can't be given a new contract but £50m for 28 year old Sarr is fine

[Sam McGuire @SamMcGuire90]

Are we sure Hughes didn't mean to send this from his Al Hilal email?

[barry @BackseatsmanLFC]

I hope that Victor Munoz has a lovely evening

[Jay Llewellyn @JayLleweIIyn]

i seriously don’t know if i have it in me to watch another season of gakpo

[iblamestephan @iblamestephan]

Owned him.

[Melissa Reddy @MelissaReddy_]

There is no measurement tool to capture the scale of this embarrassing take. The FIFA President is being held to account for his own nefarious actions. It is a big part of the job to further global development. The ‘friend’ gimmick is a way to buy loyalty, secure votes, and receive endorsements like this which fly in the face of reality.

Is this ‘friend’ the one that successfully pushed for a change in the frequency of AFCON? That made the 2025 tournament move for his Club World Cup? That didn’t deliver the promises over African Super League? That did nothing when African Referee of the Year Omar Artan was robbed of his World Cup dream? Who didn’t help African fans that couldn’t travel to the WC due to blanket bans or the visa bond of $15,000, which was dropped too late and saw Vozinha's own mother miss his historic debut.

Do you know who Gianni Infantino considers his friend? Donald Trump. Tell me, what’s his position on South Africa and how has he treated the country, Minister?

[A Global Media PowerHouse👑. @Ndamase_Siya]

Hello, please register to vote:

https://t.co/z7kk4uFPto

[iblamestephan @iblamestephan]

@GovernmentZA Capable state? Laughable.

[Phumzile Van Damme @zilevandamme]

Y’all. I still can’t stop thinking about the Spain vs Argentina game.

It was more than a match. It was a life lesson. Walk with me. Let’s turn a football lesson into one about human existence.

Spain dragged the defending champions all over the pitch like Raggedy Anns. Cute. Popular. But ultimately boneless. No cartilage. No osseous tissue. No structure. Just vibes. Brute force with little brawn.

So what happened?

Argentina’s gameplay leaned entirely on Messi. It revolved around him. He was the strategy. Everything funneled toward facilitating assists and his conversions. That’s why at one point he alone bore the burden of attack and closing.

But Spain made sure Messi barely touched the ball. And when he did, he didn’t hold it for more than a few seconds. Spain understood Argentina’s game.

Let me digress. Messi is also the team’s greatest weakness: a team reflects its leader. That applies across all teams and organizations. Messi is the world’s best, his talent unquestionable. He has reached a pinnacle few ever will. As a celebrity, doors open for him and rules bend. When things don’t go his way, there’s an expectation that something will adjust. That mindset trickles down, and trickle down it did. Spain understood this about Argentina’s game, played on it, leaving it discombobulated.

As a result? Substitution after substitution followed. In waves, betraying desperation and ultimately strengthening Spain. Spain understood that desperation was blood in the water. Spain understood Argentina’s game.

Argentina had had no plan to respond to Spain’s play. They assumed talent alone would carry them and deliver domination with no curveballs. They hadn’t taken time to understand Spain’s game or how to execute against it.

Spain’s execution, on the other hand? Precision. Surgical. Clean. Confident.

Their strength is also a brilliant coach who turns individual talent into a cohesive, disciplined unit. Every player knows their role. The system holds around a clearly planned strategy. Spain barely touched their starting XI because they didn’t need to. That kind of preparation is talent too. That’s coaching talent. That is LEADERSHIP.

So here’s the lesson we can all take.

Trust yourself. Do the work beforehand. Prepare relentlessly. Know your opponent. Anticipate their actions and psychology so well that when challenges come, you’re not scrambling. You are executing. You already knew every scenario.

Anticipate. Strategize. Move with intention. Keep your head down. Trust your instincts and the preparation you’ve put in. When pressure hits, it won’t shake you, you’ll already be ready.

That’s how you win 9/10 times.

Thank you for attending my TED Talk.

*Bow, hat tip.*

[iblamestephan @iblamestephan]

Good morning to SARS, and only SARS.

[iblamestephan @iblamestephan]

@carrynann Blikkie Pizzeria really knows how to do a hake & calamari combo 👏

[‎➳ ⋆.𖥔 𝘚𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 @gildfae]

8 weeks of Dragons and bullshit. I’m so fucking ready! 🐉⚔️ #houseofthedragon

[iblamestephan @iblamestephan]

Just messaged my tax lady. 1 July. No delays. I need that return converted to euros asap.

[iblamestephan @iblamestephan]

Academy. Identity, intesity, aggressiveness, organisation. All in gaffer 👊 https://t.co/jfgh7MmEEf