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Quoted from Knut Anders Fosters Voles

In answer to your points:

1. All I know is that I don't need any data driven XG points summary to tell me that our possession is woeful.

If we trust these stats to be correct, we have the 9th highest ‘ball possession per match’ percentage in L2. Our average league possession is over 50%. Now…hold the popcorn…despite those high possession statistics, out of the 8 teams above us on that list, we have played 6 of them in the first 11 matches. If we dispel our Sladeian conspiracies, we’ve played a lot of possession focused opponents, yet have still averaged over 50% possession. I accept that sterile possession can still be ‘woeful’ but I don’t think that was the point you were trying to make

2. I almost dread having the kick off for the 1st half, watching us kick the ball out of play on our 2nd touch of the game time and again tells me we have a team that is not concerned with keeping possession.

See pt 1. Based on the eye, and on statistics, we do appear concerned with keeping possession. Despite some views on here, we are a team in transition. When Maher and Rodgers have been fit, the defensive line has been higher. If you’ve watched us, we are trying to retain possession. We are trying to press and play higher up the pitch. Is it working? Not always. There has been a definite shift in our style, or attempt to do so though. Playing well for 45 mins doesn’t matter much but that first half at Bradford was as close to Buckley MK II as I can remember for a while (yes, it didn’t last, but it had the same probing, high-brow, chin-strokery as Buckley MK II (not MK I or III))

3. On a related note why can we no longer retain the ball and see out the final few minutes? Against Crawly, after conceding a 2 goal lead why on earth are they even in our box on 90 minutes?

Because it’s football. When an average side plays an average side, there will be an ebb and flow to a match. Even a team with such superiority, oil-fuelled finance, tactical and possession skills as Man City concede a lot of late goals. Man City (corrupt) have the highest possession stats in the US/OPEC League and, other than PSG (farmers league, corrupt) and Barcelona (massively corrupt, bit farmy), the highest in Europe. Your opponent will attack. You can’t lay landmines in your penalty box to prevent them from entering. It’s supposed to be sport, not Risk. The horror! The horror!

What is the point? You are going down a rabbit hole that will have no bearing whatever on how we perform.  All the stats are obviously past events, they will bear no resemblance to what is to come; the next match will be completely different to the last as you say yourself because some players won't be available or the opposition will be different and will better or worse or lucky or unlucky.

We played excellently during the first half of one game but then the opposition manager changes his team around and pushes us back for the second half. What have stats got to do with that?

The match results and the final table nicely tie all the nuances of the season together.

Quoted from Mappers

One near me in the lower takes them all down, Hurst gets quite an easy ride compared to some ; especially Ryan Taylor last season-  he seemingly hates ginger people . All quite amusing for entertainment value but hardly supportive of the team - you have to feel for lower league players , they take a battering for relatively small reward financially - they must really love playing the game .

Unfortunately there are alot of tossers who pick on players, I don't think any player steps on the pitch with the intention of having a excrement game. Some get less leeway than others due to skin colour etc, look at efete he gets dogs abuse and he tries his heart out every game. Now pyke is getting it. At this level unfortunately we don't get polished players like you see on your tele

Quoted from Knut Anders Fosters Voles

In answer to your points:

1. All I know is that I don't need any data driven XG points summary to tell me that our possession is woeful.

If we trust these stats to be correct, we have the 9th highest ‘ball possession per match’ percentage in L2. Our average league possession is over 50%. Now…hold the popcorn…despite those high possession statistics, out of the 8 teams above us on that list, we have played 6 of them in the first 11 matches. If we dispel our Sladeian conspiracies, we’ve played a lot of possession focused opponents, yet have still averaged over 50% possession. I accept that sterile possession can still be ‘woeful’ but I don’t think that was the point you were trying to make

2. I almost dread having the kick off for the 1st half, watching us kick the ball out of play on our 2nd touch of the game time and again tells me we have a team that is not concerned with keeping possession.

See pt 1. Based on the eye, and on statistics, we do appear concerned with keeping possession. Despite some views on here, we are a team in transition. When Maher and Rodgers have been fit, the defensive line has been higher. If you’ve watched us, we are trying to retain possession. We are trying to press and play higher up the pitch. Is it working? Not always. There has been a definite shift in our style, or attempt to do so though. Playing well for 45 mins doesn’t matter much but that first half at Bradford was as close to Buckley MK II as I can remember for a while (yes, it didn’t last, but it had the same probing, high-brow, chin-strokery as Buckley MK II (not MK I or III))

3. On a related note why can we no longer retain the ball and see out the final few minutes? Against Crawly, after conceding a 2 goal lead why on earth are they even in our box on 90 minutes?

Because it’s football. When an average side plays an average side, there will be an ebb and flow to a match. Even a team with such superiority, oil-fuelled finance, tactical and possession skills as Man City concede a lot of late goals. Man City (corrupt) have the highest possession stats in the US/OPEC League and, other than PSG (farmers league, corrupt) and Barcelona (massively corrupt, bit farmy), the highest in Europe. Your opponent will attack. You can’t lay landmines in your penalty box to prevent them from entering. It’s supposed to be sport, not Risk. The horror! The horror!

If the possession and retention stats where split into the two halves of the pitch and then compared with other teams our deficiencies would probably be clearer.

Quoted from Knut Anders Fosters Voles

In answer to your points:

1. All I know is that I don't need any data driven XG points summary to tell me that our possession is woeful.

If we trust these stats to be correct, we have the 9th highest ‘ball possession per match’ percentage in L2. Our average league possession is over 50%. Now…hold the popcorn…despite those high possession statistics, out of the 8 teams above us on that list, we have played 6 of them in the first 11 matches. If we dispel our Sladeian conspiracies, we’ve played a lot of possession focused opponents, yet have still averaged over 50% possession. I accept that sterile possession can still be ‘woeful’ but I don’t think that was the point you were trying to make

2. I almost dread having the kick off for the 1st half, watching us kick the ball out of play on our 2nd touch of the game time and again tells me we have a team that is not concerned with keeping possession.

See pt 1. Based on the eye, and on statistics, we do appear concerned with keeping possession. Despite some views on here, we are a team in transition. When Maher and Rodgers have been fit, the defensive line has been higher. If you’ve watched us, we are trying to retain possession. We are trying to press and play higher up the pitch. Is it working? Not always. There has been a definite shift in our style, or attempt to do so though. Playing well for 45 mins doesn’t matter much but that first half at Bradford was as close to Buckley MK II as I can remember for a while (yes, it didn’t last, but it had the same probing, high-brow, chin-strokery as Buckley MK II (not MK I or III))

3. On a related note why can we no longer retain the ball and see out the final few minutes? Against Crawly, after conceding a 2 goal lead why on earth are they even in our box on 90 minutes?

Because it’s football. When an average side plays an average side, there will be an ebb and flow to a match. Even a team with such superiority, oil-fuelled finance, tactical and possession skills as Man City concede a lot of late goals. Man City (corrupt) have the highest possession stats in the US/OPEC League and, other than PSG (farmers league, corrupt) and Barcelona (massively corrupt, bit farmy), the highest in Europe. Your opponent will attack. You can’t lay landmines in your penalty box to prevent them from entering. It’s supposed to be sport, not Risk. The horror! The horror!

I still don't understand why we play from the back with our Goalie passing to a player a few feet away who has the opposition breathing down his neck. A bit kamikaze, and if eventually, our backs do get it safely to our midfield, the midfield punts it to the opposition's backs, and the balls are lost anyway. Might as well cut out the tiki-taki and launch the ball from our penalty area.
And why is everyone back when the opposition takes corners? Inevitably we head the ball out, and comes back in so we head it out and it comes back in etc etc etc.
Man City play possession football with an attack in mind, seems to me we retain the ball by passing side to side to run down the clock. We try to play Prem Footy and have only read half the script.

I don't know one way or another, but the following is a piece from  the Guardian way back in 2014.

"All 20 clubs in the Premier League – and many in the lower divisions – now employ data analysts to make sense of this information. Manchester City has 11 of them. In 2012, Liverpool caused a stir by creating a new position, director of research, for Ian Graham, who has a PhD in theoretical physics. The analysts are involved in pre-match preparation and post-game debriefs; they help to identify transfer targets and devise strategies for nurturing young players through the ranks."

This is not an opinion by me, nor is it an argument for or against data analysts, it's just something to add to the debate.  Many other similar pieces can be found all over the internet with a simple search.

Quoted from Knut Anders Fosters Voles

In answer to your points:

1. All I know is that I don't need any data driven XG points summary to tell me that our possession is woeful.

If we trust these stats to be correct, we have the 9th highest ‘ball possession per match’ percentage in L2. Our average league possession is over 50%. Now…hold the popcorn…despite those high possession statistics, out of the 8 teams above us on that list, we have played 6 of them in the first 11 matches. If we dispel our Sladeian conspiracies, we’ve played a lot of possession focused opponents, yet have still averaged over 50% possession. I accept that sterile possession can still be ‘woeful’ but I don’t think that was the point you were trying to make

We play 2, 3 even 4 passes..next pass straight to the opposition. Not Sladian. Percentage irrelevant.

2. I almost dread having the kick off for the 1st half, watching us kick the ball out of play on our 2nd touch of the game time and again tells me we have a team that is not concerned with keeping possession.

See pt 1. Based on the eye, and on statistics, we do appear concerned with keeping possession. Despite some views on here, we are a team in transition. When Maher and Rodgers have been fit, the defensive line has been higher. If you’ve watched us, we are trying to retain possession. We are trying to press and play higher up the pitch. Is it working? Not always. There has been a definite shift in our style, or attempt to do so though. Playing well for 45 mins doesn’t matter much but that first half at Bradford was as close to Buckley MK II as I can remember for a while (yes, it didn’t last, but it had the same probing, high-brow, chin-strokery as Buckley MK II (not MK I or III))

I waited until after todays (Tranmere) game to see what we had in store. A kick off that went out of play halfway into the opponents half at a height of around 10 - 12 feet. Same old. We want to see Hunt do his thing, spray the ball around yet when he plays he's under instruction to plant the ball into the stand from the kickoff in this way. Cheap possession turnover. The pattern is set.

3. On a related note why can we no longer retain the ball and see out the final few minutes? Against Crawly, after conceding a 2 goal lead why on earth are they even in our box on 90 minutes?

Because it’s football. When an average side plays an average side, there will be an ebb and flow to a match. Even a team with such superiority, oil-fuelled finance, tactical and possession skills as Man City concede a lot of late goals. Man City (corrupt) have the highest possession stats in the US/OPEC League and, other than PSG (farmers league, corrupt) and Barcelona (massively corrupt, bit farmy), the highest in Europe. Your opponent will attack. You can’t lay landmines in your penalty box to prevent them from entering. It’s supposed to be sport, not Risk. The horror! The horror!

Crawley were terrible, just terrible in the opening 20 minutes, no ebb and flow here, we should attack and make them pay during the flow before the ebb. They laid their landmines then trod on them, shot themselves and each other in the feet, pulled pins on grenades then held onto the grenade and threw the pin.

Quoted from Ash brown

Unfortunately there are alot of tossers who pick on players, I don't think any player steps on the pitch with the intention of having a excrement game. Some get less leeway than others due to skin colour etc, look at efete he gets dogs abuse and he tries his heart out every game. Now pyke is getting it. At this level unfortunately we don't get polished players like you see on your tele

Got to throw skin colour into everything .Can it not be just people feel Efete is not very good .I've seen lots of white players get dogs abuse .

Quoted from Norseman

Got to throw skin colour into everything .Can it not be just people feel Efete is not very good .I've seen lots of white players get dogs abuse in recent times Luke summer field springs to mind but don't remember anyone mentioning skin colour then .Not everything is racist

Apparently 86% of men over the aged of 65 think using data is a waste of time.