Analytics FC Podcast

Episode 10! Thanks to everyone who's listened to and shared the podcast so far, we're thrilled to have made it this far! In this episode we talk with Ryan Bahia from Perform Group about Opta and the upcoming OptaPro Forum, tips for applying, previous forums and what clubs are looking for in an abstract. Note that the deadline for these is 18/10/2015, so get sending in soon! In the second half of the podcast we discuss Rory Smith's latest article on ESPN FC (see here: http://www.espnfc.com/blog/espn-fc-united/68/post/2626868/football-coverage-is-more-intellectual) and the sacking of Brentford's manager Marinus Dijkhuizen. Is this analytics 'fad' finally over?! Have the Moneyball men finally been defeated?! Tune in to find out! Please take the time to give us a rating on iTunes here: itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/analy…id991610009?mt=2. It really helps us grow the audience for this podcast and get new people involved. --------------- Ryan Bahia is @ RyanBahia and you can find the OptaPro blog here: http://www.optasportspro.com/about/optapro-blog/ Tom Worville is @ Worville Sam Gregory is @ GregorydSam [email protected] for any comments and questions! --------------- Intro music is MMHHMM by LiamLRY Logo created by Erik Wagner from the Noun Project.

We're back! In Episode 09 of the Analytics FC podcast we are joined by Messi Minutes/Seconds himself Joel Salamon to talk smart clubs, smart transfers, not so smart transfers and Anthony Martial. Please take the time to give us a rating on iTunes here: itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/analy…id991610009?mt=2. It really helps us grow the audience for this podcast and get new people involved. Once again, at least 2 stars! --------------- Joel Salamon is @ MessiMinutes and @ Messi Seconds and his YouTube channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSJYt9t01VUXbxNZt5dokew Tom Worville is @ Worville Sam Gregory is @ GregorydSam [email protected] for any comments and questions! --------------- Intro music is MMHHMM by LiamLRY Logo created by Erik Wagner from the Noun Project.

In Episode 07 of the Analytics FC Podcast Sam and Tom are joined by Dustin Ward aka Saturdays on Couch. Before Dustin joins us we talk about the Women’s World Cup. Sam cries into his Canada scarf while we discuss the game, looking forward to the quarter finals and reminisce about a penalty shoot-out way back in 2007. When Dustin joins we discuss his background, recent work on Statsbomb and his influences behind his very popular and thought provoking piece about getting granular with analytics in football. We also talk more generally about Dustin’s work around bucketing teams together depending on their playing styles according to some preset metrics. Finally we also discuss the teams Dustin is looking forward to watching in the 15/16 season (yes, we are slowly previewing the new season!) and round off with Tom absolutely butchering the pronunciation of “Spielverlagerung”. A really fun discussion with some salient points about the buy in of analytics, the importance of visuals in the implementation of it and how tactical awareness is vital to introducing this sort of match-day analysis too. The book we discussed quite a lot in this podcast is called Pep:Confidential by Martí Perarnau. You can buy the Kindle edition on Amazon for just £2.99 - a steal and very highly recommended! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pep-Confidential-Inside-Guardiolas-Season/dp/1909715255 Please take the time to give us a rating on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/analytics-fc-podcast/id991610009?mt=2. It really helps us grow the audience for this podcast and get new people involved. Once again, at least 2 stars! --------------- You can find Dustin’s blog at http://saturdaysonthecouch.wordpress.com/ Dustin Ward is @ SaturdaysOnCouch Tom Worville is @ Worville Sam Gregory is @ GregorydSam [email protected] for any comments and questions! --------------- Intro music is MMHHMM by LiamLRY Logo created by Erik Wagner from the Noun Project.

In Episode 06 of the Analytics FC Podcast Sam and Tom are joined by Grantland staff writer Mike L. Goodman. We discuss Mike’s role at Grantland and the analytical approach he takes in his writing, talking in depth about TSR (Total Shots Ratio) and Expected Goals. Mike also talks to us about his thoughts on what Analytics writers do well and can improve on, including the use of data visualizations in writing - referencing work done by fellow Grantland writer Kirk Goldsberry. Next we actually discuss some real football - looking forward to next season with Southampton, Liverpool and Juventus. We also talk about Juventus’ smart transfer market moves, and get into a big debate about the not-even-confirmed move or Petr Cech to Arsenal. Finally Tom and Sam trade very weak blows about a potential Canada-England Womens World Cup Quarter Final and Mike gives away the key criteria for getting a job at Grantland. Please take the time to give us a rating on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/analytics-fc-podcast/id991610009?mt=2. It really helps us grow the audience for this podcast and get new people involved. Once again, at least 2 stars! --------------- You can find Mike’s Grantland page here: https://grantland.com/contributors/mike-l-goodman/ Mike L. Goodman is @ TheM_L_G Tom Worville is @ Worville Sam Gregory is @ GregorydSam [email protected] for any comments and questions! --------------- Intro music is MMHHMM by LiamLRY Logo created by Erik Wagner from the Noun Project.

In Episode 05 of the Analytics FC podcast Tom and Sam are joined by Dan Altman - economist, writer and founder of North Yard Analytics. We talk about the challenges in the market for analytics, using different data and how likley clubs are to take onboard the ideas of 'fanalysts' (anybody got a better word than fanalyst?) We also discuss the use of economical thinking and theories in football, namely Dan's application of Shapley values. Finally we talk about Dan's latest blog post for Opta Pro and the likelihood of him one day becoming technical director of Newcastle United (spoiler alert: not likely). Please take the time to give us a rating on iTunes or a share here. It really helps us grow the audience for this podcast and get new people involved. Once again, at least 2 stars! --------------- You can find Dan's company North Yard Analytics here: http://www.northyardanalytics.com/ Tom Worville is @ Worville Sam Gregory is @ GregorydSam Dan is @ Altmandaniel [email protected] for any comments and questions! --------------- Intro music is MMHHMM by LiamLRY Logo created by Erik Wagner from the Noun Project.

In Episode 03 of the Analytics FC Podcast Sam and Tom are joined by Omar Chaudhuri, Head of Football Intelligence at 21st Club. We discuss Omar's background in the sports industry, what his job involved at 21st Club and what 21st Club does in the industry. We also cover Omar's interest in cricket, debating lessons the English Premer League can learn from the IPL. Finally we talk about Omar's latest piece about the European Coefficient and give our thoughts on the Premier League season just gone. Please take the time to give us a rating. It really helps us grow the audience for this podcast and get new people involved. As Sam says, at least 2 stars! For those interested, you can find Omar's excellent blog here: http://5addedminutes.com/ --------------- Omar Chaudhuri is @ OmarChaudhuri Tom Worville is @ Worville Sam Gregory is @ GregorydSam [email protected] for any comments and questions! --------------- Intro music is MMHHMM by LiamLRY Logo created by Erik Wagner from the Noun Project.

In the inaugural Analytics FC Podcast we introduce ourselves and interview freelance journalist Richard Whittall about the change he's seen in analytics in football, where he thinks the community is going and find out the motives and ideas behind some of his recent work. --------------- Richard Whittall is @ RWhittall on Twitter and www.richardwhittall.com Tom Worville is @ Worville Sam Gregory is @ GregorydSam [email protected] for any comments and questions! --------------- Intro music is MMHHMM by LiamLRY (https://soundcloud.com/liamlry/mmhhmm) Logo created by Erik Wagner from the Noun Project.