I think you might be surprised by how many, at least in the top two divisions. Lower down the pyramid, cost is the problem. Most clubs can barely afford to employ a one-man-does-all, traditional British manager, never mind a DoF and coach. As for number crunching and data analysis, most probably have to rely on FM! WBA were trail-blazers in the Championship; Southampton also. Early data-crunchers were Swansea under Martinez, and Brentford under Benham. The main driver was EPL clubs appointing foreign coaches, who were already familiar with the management structure and importance of data. (Wenger, being Wenger, preferred the autonomy the traditional British approach gave him! And no-one at Man Utd dared suggest appointing a DoF to "help" Sir AF .)
Remember how Mick McCarthy and others at Ipswich mocked us for going continental? They've done so well by sticking to the old!
Leicester have signed a LB, so that presumably cools their "interest" in Lewis. Whilst I don't disagree, you'd almost think cost is the reason they can't afford NOT to do it! WyScout offer subscriptions for less than £500 a year, and an entry level sports data analyst doesn't command a salary beyond £25k per year unfortunately. The new salary caps in League One and Two are £2.5m and £1.5m per year respectively. If you can't differentiate your club from the rest of the league on wages, there's going to be an even greater need for smart recruitment, and having a small team able to do that is probably going to become increasingly essential.
Norwich CB pairings by xGa per game (EPL 2019--2020) 1, Zimmerman/Godfrey (8 games): 1.61 (2)* 2. Zimmermann/Hanley (8 games): 1.72 (4)* 3. Hanley/Godfrey (6 games): 1.81 (3)* 4. Godfrey/Klose (7 games): 1.83 (1)* 5. Tettey/Godfrey (3 games): 1.92 (0)* 6. Amadou/Godfrey (6 games): 2.56 (2)* * Games against teams that finished in the top six (Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Leicester, Spurs)
Kenny McLean has signed a new 3 year contract: https://www.canaries.co.uk/News/202...an-signs-new-three-year-deal-at-norwich-city/
Absolutely, and as you point out, there are other ways of doing it now apart from taking people onto the payroll. It's salutary that WyScout started up in Italy in 2004! Here, ten years later the penny still hadn't really dropped. As far as data analysis goes, my understanding is that City have actually been pretty forward thinking, thanks in no small measure to Chris Hughton who set out to restore the football infrastructure -- only to be sacked of course.
We seem to be picking up a few Arsenal academy players that don't make the cut , Josh Martin the pick of the litter
Apparently we are ‘clear favourites’ to sign Ben Gibson. Chris Martin going to Bristol City after scoring 76 goals in 225 games and numerous assists for Derby County.
Gibson is a loan deal with a view to a permanent deal if we get promoted to Premier league. Apparently we have the best loan offer to Burnley https://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/spo...al-a-march-in-gibson-transfer-chase-1-6821646
Some say Gibson on a permanent deal, others say a loan with an option on a permanent deal like this from David Smith: "NORWICH. Agreed a deal with Burnley for defender Ben Gibson. Will be a season long loan. Norwich paying 70% of his wages and a £2m loan fee."
Potentially a good signing on paper, just hope his head is in the right place. Sounds like he might end up at Norwich because nobody else wanted him. Our interest is long documented, but most reports suggest we weren't of interest to him.
I think his heart is probably with Boro, having come up through their youth system. He doesn't particularly know us, but would hopefully fit in if he joins and a loan would give both sides options. He might also see us as a likelier possible route back to the PL.
Indicative of Zim's importance. I would guess he is also the tallest of those CB's as well. Tells a story that no pairing played more than 8 games together.
I hope he's as solid as his eventual price tag suggests! 'Gibson is poised to become the Canaries’ 11th summer signing – with City not expected to do any further business unless there is a major departure in the coming weeks.'
See Canary Rob's post #684 on this thread. The figures are compiled from Understat's xG values -- https://understat.com/team/Norwich/2019
Gibson deal is probably the last business in this transfer window? That’s 11 new players in and with at least three on their way out Trybull, Drmic and Leitner. Still waiting for others to leave or stay Cantwell, Lewis, Aarons, Godfrey and Beundia. Pukki rumours seem to have faded in the past few week,
