Take nothing away from Diego Simeone, the dude is a good manager who has enjoyed his own fair share of success, winning the spanish league title twice and also making it to two CL finals even though he sadly lost, i am not saying he is better than Guardiola, of course i do not think any manager is better than Pep, but diego Simeone is right up there amongst the best managers in the world.

Having said that, let us leave the coaches aside, Athletico Madrid also have quality players, maybe not as many as City, but they can definitely compete; i admire Simeone as a manager, but i do not fancy his defensive tactics especially in big games, he must understand that his team can likewise dominate a game, but they are only following his instructions to park the bus and hit on the counter attack. I am pretty sure it will be City doing all the attack in this game, and overall i believe City would be too strong for them, and they will win the game and progress.

Yeah, i honestly didn't know that Arsenal and Spurs are so close to Chelsea in the table, the blues are in 3rd position (having played 29 games) with 59 points, while Spurs are in 4th position (having played 30 games) with 54 points, with Arsenal in 5th (having played 28 games) with 54 points as well, thus the battle is no longer for only 4th position, but for 3rd and 4th position as nothing is decided yet. Arsenal have the advantage, and honestly i can see them overtaking Chelsea and claiming 3rd place, if they win their outstanding games and their crunch encounter with Chelsea coming up, then they will finish 3rd. Chelsea must up their game so they do not fall out of the CL spots entirely.

AS Roma won, and they continue their chase for a top four finish, i am pretty sure Mourinho will not be happy finishing anywhere other than in one of the champions league spots, as things stand now they are 6 points behind Juventus, it is a big gap as they would expect Juventus to drop 6 points while they themselves would have to be impeccable from now till the end of the season, it is highly improbable, but mathematically it is still possible. Roma would just have to continue winning and see what happens from now till the end of the season, in my opinion they will have to make do with a Europa league spot and try harder again next season.

I am not a merit source, but i don't think Theymos would make a user a merit source without first asking them, so for users who never applied to be a merit source, i am pretty sure Theymos first of all sent a PM asking them if they would like to take up the voluntary 'job', then if they said yes, they became merit sources and if no, then they don't. Correct me if i am wrong The Pharmacist.
Happy you are back, and not planning to leave the forum for good, of course we can have a lot going on in real life to make us inactive for a while, i can only hope for quality users who have left the forum for such reasons, that they get to solve their problems and come back to the community and start contributing again, exactly where they left of.

Goodluck on your application bill.

As far as i know and have studied, it is more or less impossible that Bitcoin would replcace Fiat currencies irrespective of fiat inflation/devaluation, fiat would still be the number one medium of exchange, and mind you that Bitcoin was not even created to oust fiat currencies, it works just fine as an alternative. No offense intended mate, but when you talk about making a fortune of Bitcoin, it somewhat sounds like having a sole aim of only wanting to getting rich via Bitcoin investment, and it is likewise contradictory to your earlier statement of Bitcoin replacing fiat (which is impossible imo), don't get me wrong, i am not saying it is bad, but isn't that the sort of mindset affecting Bitcoins growth as a currency/actual medium of exchange? I am a believer of Bitcoin being used exactly how the owner deems fit, but Bitcoin should also be appreciated as a currency, and not just an investment.

I would also like to know from the community: How many stores/shops/businesses, etc, have you seen/witnessed/experienced accepting payment in Bitcoin in Nigeria?

As a new trader, first thing is first, and that is to take things easy, there is really nothing to look out for that would tell you that x or y project isn't a scam or a shitcoin, for now you basically just have to concentrate on learning and doing your own personal research, that is the only way to do it right.

Having said that, you should also be very careful about following people's suggestions about coins to invest in, more often than not people would suggest to you coins that they are hodling, thus you might just end up helping them pump it, while they pull out and the coin dumps, leaving you in a loss/receiving end.

Study the history of a coin before investing, take Bitcoin as a case study, if you do your research about Bitcoin, you will understand that it is a great investment and a long term project, and if you are a long term investor then it could be your best bet; but on the other hand, if you lack patience and possibly want to ride your luck in "getting rich quickly" then you could prolly try new/pump and dump coins, but you must understand the grave risk involved if you choose to go down that path.

Whilst every investor would have their preference, personally i would go for 1 or 2 coins at most, the thing is this, many investors believe in just diversifying their portfolio blindly, they are of the view that as long as you aren't 'putting all your eggs in one basket' then there is a high possibility of profits, but that is not correct. There are quite a lot of shitcoins in the network, and even if you invest in all of them at once, you'll run at a loss in the long run. I believe in the Bitcoin network because it has utility, is a long term project, and for many other obvious reasons, thus if i had all of that sum, i would invest a large chunk of it in the Bitcoin network, and the remaining in ethereum cause i am impressed with how well eth has done down the years, and amongst altcoins, it looks more or less like the only long term sustainable project.

Okay, with the elections many months away from now, i crave your indulgence to change the topic a little bit with a new discussion. It is no longer news that the 19th million Bitcoin was mined a few days ago, so i will like to know what our amiable community thinks about it in relation to what it entails for the Bitcoin network in general, in terms of growth, mass adoption, regulation, appreciation in price and other whatnots.

There are about 2 million Bitcoins left to be mined, well i know we won't all be alive to see the remaining two get mined, but i am looking at the nearest feature, let us say in the next 30-40 years, how do you envisage the growth of Bitcoin, we all know the network has a stipulated amount of coins (21 million) to be mined, thus as time goes on we would thrive on scarcity amidst supplus demand, which invariably would cause an appreciation in price, thus:

1)How high do you think Bitcoin can appreciate in price in the nearest future, let us say in the next 3 decades?
2)What is your take on mass adoption? When does it seem possible that the network would achieve/attain mass adoption?
3)Quite rightly Bitcoin is a good hedge to fiat devaluation, but it isn't still a 'safe haven asset' nor a store of value like gold, do you ever think the network would get to the point of being a 'safe haven asset'/store of value?
4)Bitcoin has experienced a sporadic growth in our great country Nigeria, and with cost of living skyrocketing in Nigeria as a result of inflation, do you think more Nigerians would adopt Bitcoin in the coming months/years?
5)Are you a believer in Bitcoins long term sustainability?

Completely true, there is nothing else to it than Brentford were clearly the better team yesterday, even if Chelsea had started whoever you think they should have started, with the way Brentford played, pressing really high up the field, didn't allow Chelsea to build up anything from the back, winning the first and second balls, definitely there was only going to be one winner and that is the newly promoted team. Take a look at how Chelsea even took the lead, yes it was an amazing strike, but Rudiger tried his luck from distance because it was becoming increasingly difficult for the blues to create anything. Brentford won because they deserved to win, as simple as that.

On a different note, i felt particularly happy for Eriksen, a lot has happened to him in the last one year or so, but despite all that he is up and running again, and got his first goal since his return to the EPL, i wish he scores many more and retires in good health.

Yes, if Barcelona wins, the three teams directly below Real Madrid will all be on 57 points, but mind you that Barcelona will then have a game in hand, which of course gives them the advantage; i am strongly of the view that Barcelona will finish in second place, they are more or less the most in form team in the league at the moment and even since their rejuvenation, they have not looked back at all.

I had actually though Barcelona would not compete for titles for a long time, i felt their slum period would last for a while, but i think i am wrong, they aren't going to win the Spanish League this season, they could possibly win the Europa League (i am pretty sure that is not the kind of trophy they want to be winning), but just looking prospectively at next season, with a few more signings i believe Barcelona would be serious contenders for major trophies and then their crisis period would feel like ages ago.

I second absolutely everything you wrote here, that is the sort of thrilling and entertaining season we are having in seria A, to be honest it has been a long while since we experienced this sort of competition in the Italian league, Juventus were always running with the title, last season Inter broke the status quo, and this season the competition even got a whole lot stronger.

Man the league is very far from over like you said, the points difference between the four top teams is so small, and any slip up can give a chance to any team waiting to capitalize, the only way AC Milan can be certain of the title is if they have an impeccable run till the end, and in football you can't guarantee that. I will just grab my popcorn and see what happens from now till the end of the season, my support for Inter is well known, and i really hope something happens that will take them back to the summit.

In my opinion, Wike stands absolutely no chance to be the president of Nigeria, his declaration to me seems to have a hidden agenda, one i can't really figure out right now, but i am pretty sure that deep down in his heart he knows he doesn't stand a chance in hell.
Peter Obi is also a strong contender for the presidential ticket, and personally he seems to be the best candidate to represent PDP, honestly isn't it time for the likes of Atiku to give us a break, what does he have left to offer. Nigerian politics is really appalling to say the very least, the most 'qualified' candidate never wins, it is always the most popular/corrupt that takes the day, i have a slight hope that the 2023 General Elections would be a whole lot different that what we have had in the past, Nigerians need to change the status quo, enough of being inure to sufferings, let the best/most qualified candidate be elected.

I second that really, in some first world countries signature earnings could be considered to be more or less just 'pocket money', but in some third world countries, let us say earning around $80 a week, sum it up to $320 per month is really a good sum of money and many people who work real jobs do not even earn that much after working for a month.

I am not saying people should rely on signature canpaigns, and i am very sure you are not saying the same, (they should take it as a secondary source of income), but it is just great to know that in one way or another people are benefiting from their knowledge of Bitcoin and their willingness to accept the technology, IIRC the 19th million Bitcoin was mined yesterday and we are basically just left with two million more (and even though we would not be alive to see it all mined), i am very much excited to know what is going to happen in the Bitcoin network in let us say the next 2-3 decades, and to know how far we would have come with mass adoption and all, it feels great to be in this network i must confess.

That is true to an extent, of course it is important not to be affected by FUD and sell your coins, but mind you that a lot of that depends on the coins that you are hodling, personally i consider majority of altcoins to be short term projects/pump and dump coins, and if i held any of them and there happens to be a real crash on the horizon, i can't assure you that i am going to hodl on the them. What i am basically saying is that one should only plan to hodl onto coins that are long term projects, like Bitcoin for example. But if the coins you own are short term projects, i would advise you sell them as soon as you have earned ROI on them.

Since the rules is more or less an 'unofficial list of BTT rules', then there would always be exceptions, see what Theymos had to say:
Thus, since there is never going to be anything like a set-in-stone rules on Bitcointalk, then there would always be exceptions, especially based on how the mod who handles the case/issue interpretes the 'rule' pertaining to it.

There is actually no 'reward' per se, of course for someone who reports that amount of posts within such a short space of time, you get the deserved recognition from the community, which Ratimov absolutely has already, the only sort of 'reward' might be in the future if the Admin of the forum decides to implement a reporters badge that has been discussed previously, if that happens then Ratimov is definitely going to get one, no doubt about that.
In my opinion, being a newbie you basically should be more concerned about contributing to the forum through learning more about the forum in general, Bitcoin/other whatnots, and making quality posts and participating in discussions, thus somewhere along the line you can now start reporting posts in mass, it would be easier for you then as you will be able to discern which post is LQ/not in the right section/breaks the forum rules, etc.

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Ratimov, you already have quite a few threads dedicated to helping users rank up when they have a few merits to go:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5275032.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5391172.0
You are also amongst the top generous merit givers in the forum, likewise a top reporter of low value post, and a high quality poster yourself; Your efforts to make the forum a much better place is really appreciated by the community, well done mate.

That is quite a bold prediction mate, especially when the team in question elimimated PSG, are you a Chelsea fan ? It is definitely possibe that Chelsea wins both legs, it is also possible Madrid wins both legs, it is that sort of game, two big teams, two European giants, though Madrid is obviously the 'bigger giant', two super powerhouses, i can go on and on, but my point is just that i find it very difficult to confidently predict games of this magnitude as it can go either way cause the two teams are somewhat evenly matched. I would hope Madrid wins though, cause i do not like Chelsea .

If Inter drop any point in this game, then they can say goodbye to any title hope or aspiration they have, if Inter are to have any chance of retaining their title, then they must be impeccable from now till the end of the season, and hope the teams above them make a mistake that they will capitalize on. Juve on the other hand have a chance to go into third position by beating Inter (though inter has a game in hand), but at least Juve get to top them temporarily if they take all three points, it would be a frantic encounter; well, a draw seems to be the most likely result, and as for who wins the title, i think AC Milan are going to get it after a very long time.

Oh really! I am just in the know that earning merits is a reason why a user would want to make a post, and then we get to a situation like this: 'no merits earned, then i ain't gonna post', fair enough
I am pretty sure Theymos is going to get this suggestion soon: "substitute the merit system for the IQ system"
Absolutely not, it is on mate! .

I didn't really have anything to post here, just wanted to test my IQ again . By the way, the industrial revolution began in Britain eh? Cause that was my answer right before posting this, lol .