Lincoln Sack Manager !!

Quoted from Poojah

Well, that’s a different argument altogether. Our recent investment in data analytics isn’t about creating the kind of competitive enjoyment that Brighton enjoy, it’s about not having the kind of competitive disadvantage that has been allowed to open up while clubs around us moved on (not the fault of the current board, I might add).

I don’t know the secrets of the proprietary system Brighton leverage; evidently no one outside of the inner circle of the club’s top brass does. But it ultimately stems from Bloom’s own predictive gambling data company, where it was able to be developed in the environs of a multi-billion pound turnover business, and accordingly, was able to benefit from appropriate investment which probably runs into the hundreds of millions over time (because it has its own direct payback model). That’s what makes it unique. That’s why others can’t copy what Brighton have done. Even Chelsea can’t pump hundreds of millions into developing proprietary technologies; that’s not their modus operandi.

All that said, the notion that having some kind of data analytics capability should be better than having none, seems reasonable. The logic goes that coming into this summer, we had a more settled squad, a significantly bigger budget, AND new and improved ways in which to identify targets and make better recruitment and strategic decisions; the cumulative effect of these advantages, over last season if not the competition, should be tangible improvements in the playing side.

Based only on the evidence we have seen so far, that litmus test has been failed. We are not tangibly better than last season. That is clear. That leads me to just three possible conclusions:

1. We simply haven’t used the data platform
2. The platform, or the staff using it, aren’t very good
3. It’s all working perfectly, we just haven’t seen the fruits of its labour yet

Personally, scenario 3 feels very unlikely at this juncture, however I’ve been very wrong before and I’ll be very wrong again. But whether we’re using it or not, our performances and results so far this season suggest multiple points of failure. As such, it’s rather difficult to pinpoint precisely where things are going wrong and to what extent.

It’s a little bit early to jump to conclusions on anything, for me.

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

You can find good players without data.  Just takes a lot of leg work for starters.

Colby Bishop is the top scorer for Portsmouth last season and this season.  They are top of Div 1 and probably heading for the Championship.  At age 26, he has scored 28 goals in 58 appearances.  A very good return.

They bought him from Accrington in 2022 after he scored 32 goals in 109 games for them.

Between 2019 and 2022 he scored 28 goals in 49 games for Leamington.

However, in 2017 he played a few games for Boston United.  No one spotted his talent there.  Should he have been on Town’s radar?  Was his undoubted potential for scoring a lot of goals evident there?

(He had previously been released by Notts County at aged 17.  He is local (ish) having been born in Nottingham).

Annoying that he was at Boston and then went onto much better things at other clubs.  A proven goalscorer over the seasons.  A career record of 110 goals in 291 games. At age 26.  

Quoted from NorfolkImp

Amazing what a change of Manager can do (albeit interim) even if you have 4 first choice forward players missing (House, Walker, Mandriou & Hackett)

22 (TWENTY TWO) shots at goal with 9 (NINE) on target, culminating in a quite scintillating 3-1 over ex-boss Appleton’s Charlton who were unbeaten to this point.

It looked like the players were playing with the shackles off and more entertaining than anything under Mark Kennedy.  

Quoted from NorfolkImp

Amazing what a change of Manager can do (albeit interim) even if you have 4 first choice forward players missing (House, Walker, Mandriou & Hackett)

22 (TWENTY TWO) shots at goal with 9 (NINE) on target, culminating in a quite scintillating 3-1 over ex-boss Appleton’s Charlton who were unbeaten to this point.

It looked like the players were playing with the shackles off and more entertaining than anything under Mark Kennedy.  

Quoted from nealeardleyscrossing

It has definitely been a complete contrast since Kennedy left, a win away at Fleetwood and then battering an in-form Charlton without your 4 staring forwards is not something I thought would happen. I would be surprised if we stayed with the interim manager but it has put us in a position we should be really with the team we have.

Speaking with someone who watches Grimsby a lot due to his role in Football (Non league scout) - He thinks your midfield is your strongest area by far. I had a chat with him Sunday at my sons football match and he said your back 4 is poor, and lacks pace through the centre - He also suggested that nothing sticks up front - I have no idea if this is true but he has watched you a few times this season.

Quoted from Hagrid

Pretty true, We're excrement at the back