My Pick

My favourite talk of the whole conference was the Evolution of Sport – Why You Don’t Understand Luck by Michael Mauboussin. A really fascinating examination of how luck plays such a big (and undervalued) part in sport, business and life. His presentation is below (or here) and you can download his slides here. If you haven’t already you really should buy his book – it will improve you as an analyst.

Soccer Analytics Panel (link).

All of the discussions presented at the conference are an extremely interesting and insightful watch and worth taking a bit of time out of your busy day to watch and listen to they can all be found here.

Obviously twitter was very active as this story was going on and it seemed that the views held by people were at either extreme. This was either right or wrong, black or white! I’m not sure the answer is that simple and below I will outline why this issue can be a bit more complicated than people are making out. But before I start let me get a few things clear. Reading should not be taking all the blame for this. I have advertised hundreds of jobs and sadly only a tiny fraction of these are paid. Reading seem to be the ones left holding the can for an industry wide practice. Secondly my own personal view is that people should receive some compensation for work. That can be anything from expenses to a wage. As proof of that a few weeks  ago I asked for some help with this site. Although this site generates no revenue I felt morally it was important to offer some compensation (even pittance!) for the help I get.

Are Football Clubs Really That Rich

We all hear the wages paid to footballers but that does not make clubs rich – it could just mean they have foolish owners! Just look at the number of clubs who have gone into administration in the last few years. From first hand experience I can tell you that just because an organisation has loads of money does not mean they spend it in the right places. Are the Performance Analysts departments in these clubs being adequately funded – that’s a question we don’t know the answer to.

Will Payment Increase or Decrease Opportunities?

Again only time will tell on this one. Paul Brand, Head of Performance Analysis at Blackburn Rovers did a piece for this site outlining, the last question I asked him was about the paid v’s unpaid debate;

If as a club we were in the position to provide 5 salaries and therefore have 5, full time, salaried members of staff within the department then this would be the ideal scenario. That isn’t possible however hence the reason to utilise interns. While I don’t think its right to take advantage of people willing to work for little or no payment, what we provide here at Blackburn Rovers is an education and the experience to then gain employment within the industry. In my opinion, if an intern is to be utilised to the benefit of the club, then the relationship must be 2-way and an education, the relevant experience and also help finding full-time employment should be provided.

It could well be the case that if payment is required to hire performance analysis interns that the actual number might go down. Instead of getting 5  unpaid interns a club might only take 2 paid interns. IF (and that’s a big IF) the education and development opportunities are good enough shouldn’t the club reserve the right to decide what level of expenses/payment is attached the position? The difficulty without regulation it that  its hard for authorities and prospective interns to judge those development opportunities before taking the job and no doubt some clubs do take advantage. Perhaps regulation is the only way to go??

The Value of Analysts

It does raise an interesting point about the value clubs, either the manager or chairman place on analysis if they are not willing to pay for the service. This quote from Chris Anderson (soccerbythenumbers) perhaps sums up the problems analysts are facing.

Aside from scouts who have greeted the analytics movement with cold-shouldered trepidation, some of the greatest resistance to analytics has come from members of the coaching profession.

I hope this is a turning point in the paid v unpaid debate. My personal view is still that people should receive compensation for work but not everything in life is black and white and I don’t think this issue is any different.

[Also well worth reading Dave Willoughby's take on this from the point of view of an intern. His piece even has stats. Click here]

That’s why it was great to see publishes in the International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport in the following piece; The role of performance analysts within the coaching process: Performance Analysts Survey ‘The role of performance analysts in elite football club settings’ by Craig White, Steve Atkins, Bryan Jones and Jason Todd who aimed to identify the roles analysts play in the feedback process within professional clubs. What is interesting in the investigation is that they explore the relationship between analysts and the coaches within professional clubs and look at how the role differs in analysts working at academy and professional level.

The research was based on a questionnaire that was completed by analysts working within elite football clubs and at academy level. The questionnaire addressed topics such as, the importance of both, pre and post match feedback, the value of this feedback and the role of the analyst in compiling and presenting the feedback.

The main findings were:

-          70.2% of the analysts use an external company to code matches before analysing the games themselves.

-          89.4% of the analysts believe the manager/analyst relationship is very important.

-          77.1% of the analysts, identified and negotiated the key performance indicators with the coaching staff.

-          72.9% of analysts provide additional analysis rather than just sticking to agreed KPI’s

-          89.9% of the analysts asked said before delivering the post match feedback sessions the analysis compiled was reviewed with the coaching team.

-          Of these analysts 56.3% of the analysts found that their analysis changed upon review with the coaches

What I found interesting

An interesting finding from the investigation is the difference in pre-match analysis at academy and professional level. It was found that analysts working in the professional setting valued pre-match feedback and opposition analysis more and included more statistical-based documents and scouting reports in their pre-match reports. In contrast to this the academy analysts placed less importance on opposition analysis and there was more focus on the internal development of their own players. It seems the most important role of an academy analyst is using analysis to aid the development and improvement in their own players’ performance irrespective of opponents.

The Role of the Analyst in Presenting

One other key finding was that although the analysts compiled the analysis reports used in the feedback sessions only 12.5% of analysts delivered the feedback to the players. Also as the majority of analysts discussed and reviewed their analysis with the coaches does this raise the question of how much trust the manager and coaches have in analysts?

I think the review of the analysis compiled is one of the key roles for the analyst as it gives them a chance to work closely with the manager and it is here that the analyst has the opportunity to gain the trust of the manager and may enable the analyst to do more of their own independent analysis which is evidenced by 72.9% of them adding analysis to the agreed KPI’s. It is clear that it’s imperative that an analyst has a good close relationship with the coaching staff and manager so everyone in the club is ‘singing of the same hymn sheet’ as it were so analysis for both pre and post match is the best it can be.

There are obviously other great findings in this paper so I would encourage you all to check out the full article here.

What do people think of the research and its findings?

RC: Writing a book is no small task – what made you want to do it in the first place?

AE: Yeah I’ll say I didn’t realise the effort and dedication needed to finish something like this!

I wanted to put across my experiences within goalkeeping, from a playing, coaching and performance analysis point of view.

There’s a distinct lack of research and new theories within goalkeeping – I wanted to bring to light areas I’ve been working on over mainly the past 5/6 years and how different environments I’ve been a part of have shaped current philosophies.

With a lack of academic and scientific research available some areas of the book are a start, but by no means the finished product as I’ve looked to open upon potentially neglected strands of goalkeeping – namely biomechanics and performance analysis.

RC: Who is the book aimed at?

AE: It is, of course aimed at anyone within goalkeeping, mainly up to 18, so that would be coaches looking for new ideas, goalkeepers looking to understand the position and anyone looking to add something extra to their goalkeeping training programme.

From an analysis point of view there are defiantly areas that are transferable to all situations, like the feedback sections and tips on how to use software packages and varying cameras etc. The iPad section may open up some thinking for training session analysis.

RC: You have always tried to blend your skills as a goalkeeping coach and as an analyst does this book do the same?

AE: Yeah the book harnesses the interaction between all my roles and shows how, as a coach, you can utilise various performance and video analysis methods on a daily basis – giving account to time, resources, and of course how to best feedback in differing situations.

It’s all about the feedback – it’s relatively easy to get footage these days, but how you relay the messages you want to make as a coach is vital. From an analyst point of view you need knowledge of the environment you’re working in, so all coaches should be analysts, whether it’s immediate verbal feedback, or indeed video everything should be inter-linked.

From my point of view being able to work with a small, specific group is far easier than a coach with a squad of 20 players.

RC: Can you give us an outline of what type of topics you cover in the book?

AE: The full chapter lists are on the publishers website (www.bennionkearny.com) but I’ve tried to cover main sections of performance – so psychology, physiology, biomechanics, and performance analysis, with some help from a couple of specialists within certain fields. After this I’ve looked into alternative practice structures, some of my research, and then training methodologies from around the World – along with vision and awareness and goalkeeping innovation.

RC: You have always to back up your coaching with scientific research; does the book include some of the research you have done?

AE: I’ve put in one of my presentations from the 2012 ISPAS World Congress on goalkeeping – which offers suggestions on what to prioritise in training after analysing match actions. I’ve also put a few other unpublished pieces that are quite basic but look to pose a few questions along the way. I’ve got tons more ideas, and plans in place to expand on a lot of the chapter content within the book – as I believe this is only the tip of the iceberg.

All the chapters pave the way for the final 3 chapters which is my own coaching theory titled ‘Games Based Goalkeeper Training’ which is all based around the TGfU (Teaching Games for Understanding) model. Without going into masses of detail the theory looks to bridge the gap between isolated technical practices and whole team based practices. The creation stemmed from my research and by analysing current practice to try and come up with solutions to common issues – such as, how do I get my goalkeeper moving more athletically? and, my goalkeeper is brilliant in my sessions but struggles with the team, how can I aid this transition? So basically I’ve seen an issue and tried to come up with a solution!

RC: Do you think in the future we will see more analysts who specialize on a particular area like GK? 

AE: I would like to think so. Being at University you can really dedicate your time to building up a good set of skills and focus on what you enjoy. I was a goalkeeper, who coached goalkeepers so it was a pretty natural transition to move into this field. But specific attack analyst or defence analyst in football who knows. The discipline is ever growing so who knows what the future will bring in terms of specific roles.

What I would say is that more work needs to be done educating coaches how to best use video within their practices and how to best feedback information. I’d also love to see more research done into the analyst/coach relationship as well as it’s a fascinating dynamic. Anyone who wants to contact me about the book, or ask any questions please use satgif@gmail.com

To learn more and purchase this book check out these links.

Amazon site:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scientific-Approaches-Goalkeeping-Football-Perspective/

Publisher’s site:

http://www.bennionkearny.com/Scientific-Approaches-to-Goalkeeping-in-Football-practical-book-ebook.htm

About Andy: Andy Elleray is a self-confessed goalkeeping fanatic having worked at all levels of football – within coaching and performance analysis. He holds an honours degree in Sports Science and a Master’s degree in Sports Coaching, he is a UEFA qualified coach and holds the highest accreditation as a performance analyst through ISPAS (The International Society of Performance Analysis of Sport).

Andy has worked at a variety of different professional clubs and within some highly esteemed academies. Assisting top level coaches and creating numerous goalkeeper coaching support and coaching systems, he also conducts goalkeeping research and has previously spoken at high profile goalkeeping conferences and the World Analysis Congress where his research, ideas and approach have been well received.

So what is flipped analysis?

Have you ever heard of it? Until recently I had not heard of it either. I am a big proponent of players knowing just as much as the coach and because of this I immediately saw the benefits of the flipped approach for knowledge transfer. Flipped analysis revolves around players doing post game analysing themselves just as much as the coaches usually do and as such they have a pretty clear idea of what happened in the game and form opinions that may be in contrast to that of the coaches. The flipped approach has the players take responsibility for their own analysis instead of relying on the coach to do it for them. The basic idea of this approach is that players do just as much analysis themselves if not more than the coaches.

The side I coach and analyse for are all university students, while the coaches are all full-time teachers and as such their time is limited and finding the time to get all players and coaches into the same venue at the same time is usually difficult. Lectures, tutorials and school sport ensure there is no time for one on one analyses, nor in depth team analysis. This is where Dartfish TV comes in.

Online Sharing

Dartfish TV is an online video analysis sharing platform where the game and individual clips are uploaded together with the game tags. (Tags is a term referred to when a moment in the game has been ‘tagged’ eg: a tackle will have a tackle tag) Once the game has been uploaded the players and coaches are able to log into a secure page where the videos are private for invited team members only. Once online, players and coaches can view the game as a whole or look at the various tags in the game. Players and coaches can quickly find and view the clips they desire to see, for example a player can view all his contributions in a particular game, or over a certain amount of games, while the coaches can view the set pieces, breakdowns, set piece moves, tries scored and conceded as well as anything else that has been tagged or that is relevant to the game or the team. By uploading the game we have taken out the need for players to give in external hard drives or flash drives so they could watch the game as well as that players can now jump to relevant sections of the game they wanted to view instead of trying to manually find the right place which is time consuming and inefficient.

Flipped Approach

This is my first year trying the flipped approach after having done the traditional approach for four years and from what I have seen thus far it is highly encouraging. The way we approach the video analysis sessions now is to have the video session later in the week allowing players a chance to view the videos and discuss, analyse and think about their opinions about what occurred during the game, and what they could have done better and more importantly what they did well, before the coach even has a chance to give his views of what occurred in the game.

The success of this approach was clearly shown in the viewing statistics of the clips where 2000 views were recorded after just two games. This phenomenal viewing statistic indicates that this approach was a big hit with the players and the coaches as they could now view the game at their own leisure at home or at university and as often as they wanted.

The great benefit of using Dartfish TV is that each clip can be commented on by the coaches and players alike and this creates a great discussion and a learning point for the players and coaches. I began the dialog for the second game uploaded by asking open ended questions and the players had to discuss the question about the clip concerned. I focussed on the backline moves as well as the forward phase play executions and from the dialog the players engaged in they were usually 100% correct in their observations and even came up with a few observations I had missed. That is the benefit of the flipped approach. The other way the coaches engaged with the players was for them to give the players tips and where they should have done something better. The set pieces were the main focal point for this type of dialog.

Player Engagement

A great feature of Dartfish TV is that each player can download the clips they desire or the entire game onto their computers and make a compilation of the various aspects of the game they would like to view or study over an extended period of time. For example a prop could download every scrum throughout the year and check his progress and learn from his mistakes and by the end of the year he can do a season review of his performance at the scrum. This is entirely up to each player and they can do as much or as little as they want, but the most important factor of this is that it is available should they wish to further their career or performances.

There have been challenges to this approach however as internet connectivity, access and speed is a problem where monopolies and company inefficiencies drive up the costs of internet in South Africa so many cannot afford it at home, while the speeds remain exceedingly slow – a 5mb line speed is highly unusual as most homes are throttled to lower speeds during the day. At the same time most players have an internet cap either at home or at the University (3GB cap) and this limits the amount of time they are able to spend online looking at the game footage. The only alternative is for players to frequent an internet café where speeds and reliability remain constant. However we have full time students and this impacts the amount of funds they have available or are willing to spend on internet, while going to an internet café is also inconvenient.

The flipped approach to coaching is a fantastic tool in any coaches’ arsenal, however one thing that must be remembered is that it is highly time consuming and it requires a full time video analyst or a coach who does not mind giving up large portions of his/her week in front of the computer. The players themselves have to be committed to regularly going online and looking at the clips and to monitor this, the coach has got to be proactive and keep their finger on the pulse ensuring the players are actively involved in the coaching process. It is not an easy transition allowing players to analyse the games and come up with alternative opinions to what the coach thinks, but in my view there can be nothing better than having your entire team think like a coach on and off the field.

By introducing this approach to the team we, as coaches are hopeful the players take the time out of their busy student lives to actually look at the game with the astute eye of a coach, but with the benefit of actually being in amongst the action. With this type of in-depth analysis our players theoretically should improve tremendously throughout the year and with the correct guidance they will hopefully become better students of the game and think more clearly on the field to make better decisions.

To further this type of coaching in South Africa, I remain hopeful that internet speeds and uncapped availability becomes readily available in the next few years so that this approach can be extended to the majority of the sports teams as I firmly believe that this way of coaching has no peer.

Ross is an enthusiastic coach keen on learning, debating and studying all about how we coach Rugby. He is currently the UCT u20 Technical and Skills coach during the Varsity Cup. He also runs his own private coaching business, Ross Rugby where the focus is firmly on skills coaching. 

Contact him: ross@rossrugby.co.za

Find him: www.rossrugby.co.za

Follow him: @RossRugby

2,700 people geeks descended on the Boston Convention Centre for the 2013 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Since the conference was launched 7 years ago I have always wanted to attend. Although videos of the conference have been published online for the last number of years there is nothing like being there.

From a personal point of view the biggest advantage of being there was to finally meet face-to-face with people I had only every spoken to on Twitter/Skype for the last number of years. Finding anybody proved a lot harder than I had thought it would be. The conference centre is massive and trying to recognise somebody from their Twitter profile pic is not the best method. (Especially @SimonGleave and his coffee cup!!).

Revenge of The Nerds

The first panel of the day was a who’s who of Sports Analytics Celebrities; Mark Cuban, Nate Silver, Michael Lewis, Paraag Marathe & Daryl Morey. Needless to say it was a packed house and it was standing room only about 15 minutes before they took the stage. Michael Lewis chaired the panel and asked everyone what life events had got them to this stage. It was remarkable how ‘lucky’ and serendipitous each persons story was to arrive at the forefront of Sports Analytics. From a learning perspective there wasn’t too much to learn from this panel it was more entertaining than educational. In a way it was a shame that these 5 ‘super geeks’ had to share an hour between them, but as an opening of a conference it was a good start.

Luck – Michael Mauboussin

Michael Mauboussin wasn’t somebody I had come across before but after listening to his presentation I was fascinated and immediately went out and got is book, The Success Equation, Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports and Investing. After the 5 super geeks opening remarks about how luck had played such an important role in their career this presentation showed how important luck is in sport and something that is probably underestimated by most analysts and coaches. I really do recommend you go out and get this book. I’m only a few chapters in but it makes you think differently. Reading this and the Signal & Noise by Nate Silver are the best 2 books in the area of analytics I have read since Moneyball.

It’s Not What You Said, It’s The Way You Said It!

The most common theme running through the whole conference was the need for analysts to be better communicators. In fact the second panel I attended was Data Visualization and had some very experienced Data Visualization experts, especially; Joe Ward, Sports Graphics Editor, New York Times & Ben Fry, Fathom. Looking back over my notes I think every panel talked about the need for analysts to be better communicators and presenters of their findings. It’s why I feel so strongly than when looking at skills to learn as a graduate you should be looking at Data Visualization software and learning from the type of work being done by Joe Ward in the NY Times.

Soccer Analysts Panel

The Soccer Analytics Panel was chaired by Marc Stein of ESPN and had Blake Wooster of ProZone and Chris Anderson of the excellent Soccer By The Numbers Blog on the panel. Chris is also about to launch a new book (The Numbers Game: Why Corners Should Be Taken Short, Teams Are Only As Good As Their Worst Players, and Changing the Manager Doesn’t Change Much), without reading it I know you should get it. They spoke briefly of the barriers and reluctance still in football to fully embrace analytics. In general I thought the conversation was useful and is worth a look once the video goes live. There have been others who have reviewed the panel in more detail and I recommend you check them out here and here.

Final Thoughts

Although the conference was thoroughly enjoyable, the cost to attend something lie this is considerable when you’re funding it yourself, which I did. The ticket alone set me back almost $600, add in flights and accommodation and it adds up to a serious commitment. And as good as I found it I couldn’t help think that there was very little concrete learning I could take away and that was not just my opinion, most people I spoke to said the same thing. That’s no fault of the conference I suppose. Asking an expert to distill a lifetimes learning into 15 minutes on a panel is very difficult if not impossible. The whole experience left me with the following thought if conferences are a poor learning environment what is the best way to up-skill and learn new skills. The job is the best place to practice but not necessarily the best environment to learn new skills, especially in emerging fields. So after university what is the best way to learn new skills?

Karl O’Shaughnessy is a UEFA Qualified Coach & Sports Professional. Karl is current Assistant Coach with 2012 FAI Women’s Cup Winners Raheny United in the Women’s National League and was previously Republic of Ireland U16/U17 Women’s National Team Goalkeeping Coach from 2009 – 2012. Karl’s website is http://www.karloshaughnessy.com and can be found on Twitter at http://twitter.com/OShaughnessyK

All Coaches Are Analysts

Karl O’Shaughnessy & Ireland U19 GK’s Jillian Maloney & Courtney Brosnan

I always like to start any general discussions with colleagues about Sports Analysis by declaring that I am coach first and an analyst second. But that really isn’t true. If you are a coach, in the truest sense of the word, then by extension you should also be an analyst. After all, a coach who isn’t analysing performance really isn’t a coach at all. Certainly, the last time I checked, analysis was part of the job description for any coach worth his/her salt.

As a coach, whether working at grassroots football, elite club or international level, I’ve always spent time analysing my team’s performances through the years. During these 11 or so years the methods have certainly evolved -  from verbal analysis with coaches in the early days, to pen & pad hand notation statistical data, computer generated stats to video analysis in more recent years.

In the most recent past, I’ve utilised video analysis to enhance and work alongside my coaching ability. I was very fortunate to be able to learn many of the soft skills needed for the work from an excellent tutor, Rob Carroll.  Rob’s guidance allowed me to understand analysis software & video manipulation which in turn allowed for the exploration of other areas of my coaching that were previously un-explored – notably the simultaneous analysis of both player and coach in training situations.

Video Training & Matches

That has been the key benefit of video analysis for me. It has provided an opportunity to help players see mistakes and learn from them while allowing scope for self-criticism of my own coaching. This is the area of video analysis that I am finding more and more beneficial in recent years; the analysis of training sessions as opposed to games, particularly as I often worked with elite youth female goalkeepers in small groups.

For example, in a game that any analyst may film, our goalkeepers might have very little to do and the subsequent analysis of the game can often provide little and on occasion nothing at all for discussion – in training however, you are guaranteed a specific number of repetitions of goalkeeping skills, be that handling, dealing with crosses, positioning etc.

Each sequence of video provides an opportunity to analyse key movements in great detail which can (but not always) get over looked during a session where the coach is dealing with serving balls to players etc. Invariably with younger players there will always be areas for improvement and this process captures these moments in the safe environment of the training field.

Self Analysis

The additional bonus to this is that I can analyse my own coaching style, skill & ability via the video footage. I handle training analysis myself mostly because it’s different than a game situation – its development focused i.e. mistakes are encouraged.  I try to position the camera to capture both the player actions and coaching delivery. Depending on the activity, it’s not always possible to do this but in general it allows me to learn more about the type of activity I’m providing for my players and if it meets or exceeds their needs.

I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve been startled at some of my own personal footage from a coaching perspective. There’s a simple reason for this and it’s something every single coach is affected by whether they chose to believe it or not. I often use the analogy of coaching being like passing a driving test to describe it. Bad habits creep into our coaching much like bad habits creep into our driving in the weeks that pass following completion of our driver’s exam. There’s no doubt that video analysis of my coaching has helped me keep those habits in check and improve those areas of my coaching that may have slipped otherwise. These can only have positive outcomes for my players.

Analysis in Coach Education

It’s an area I believe firmly isn’t utilised enough. Coach development can undoubtedly benefit greatly from the use of video analysis. It should be an integral part of any elite coaching course. From my personal coach education experience, analysis is often introduced from a player improvement point of view (which it certainly can be) but rarely with the idea of how can help develop the coach. The learning potential from this, in my opinion, is too important to be ignored.

In essence, does it truly make sense to analyse a game in great detail and simply assume the coaching is adequate to correct the identified errors in play? For me, it’s logical to review, analyse and evaluate your work in an effort to maintain standards and indeed kick on to higher targets.

Why would any coach or educator want to ignore a simple cost effective tool that could help ensure you reach your potential as a coach and in turn your players potential?

I’m extremely passionate and if truth be told a little worried about the future of coach development. The ‘nod & wink’ culture in coaching is stifling the game. Only when the same care, attention and objective analysis is given to coach development as other areas in Sport can we ultimately reach our peak and make exponential improvements to the game.

There is no doubt in my mind that Video Analysis could and should play a key role in achieving this.

PASSIONATE about Performance Analysis and excited by the world of statistical and data analysis in sport? Then The Video Analyst.com wants to hear from you.

As part of the team, you will be responsible for generating posts and scouring the web for great content & jobs.

The Video Analyst.com is a site dedicated to finding, grouping, organizing and sharing the best content from the world of Performance Analysis. There has been an explosion in the number of data analytics / performance analysis blogs covering all sports. The hardest part for fans and enthusiasts is finding the best content. Thevideoanalyst.com aims to make that process easier and ultimately grow the interest and accessibility in the area.

This is an ideal opportunity for a student or other enthusiast who wants to get involved in an exciting project. Build up your contacts in PA and contribute to the ever growing community of Performance Analysis & Data Analytics.

Requirements:

• Excellent English
• A genuine interest in Performance Analysis
• Ability to dedicate 1/2 hours per week
• Good writing  skills
• Familiarity with social networking/social media
• Ideally already active on Twitter
• Self-motivation and an ability to work on own initiative
• Online writing experience is desirable but not essential
• Familiar with WordPress functionality is desirable

To Apply:

To apply for this job please forward us your CV, with brief description of why your are suitable to; robcarroll@thevideoanalyst.com. Closing date Monday 25th Feb.

Some financial contribution will be made to cover expenses etc…

Unfortunately this year I wasn’t able to attend. But lucky for us they videoed the presentations and have now made them available on-line.

Each presentation is about 30 mins long and they are well worth a look. They have not been watched many times but maybe all you guys and girls can change that. (Link to playlist).

1. Nate Silver: it’s the numbers, stupid

The poker player and baseball nerd turned political forecaster won fame after predicting the result of the US election with uncanny accuracy. And as his star rises so too does that of a whole new generation of ‘quants’ leading the digital revolution. If you don’t know who Nate Silver is… well you really should. Good read plotting his rise and rise.

2. Why are the real ‘Moneybal’l Pioneers all but forgotten

From the always excellent  @SimonGleave comes a 2 part look back at some forgotten managers. Often we attribute to much praise to one person when invariably there are many people who are ahead of the curve.

3. Our interview with Howard H. Hamilton, Founder of Soccermetrics

A short but decent interview with Howard H. Hamilton, found of Soccermetrics. You can find Howard on twitter @Soccermetrics.

4. Sports Medicine gives Brewers Edge

Over the past 10 seasons, the Milwaukee Brewers have logged the second-fewest days on the disabled list of the 30 major-league clubs. Pure chance or good fortune? Hardly. “We feel like we’re on the forefront of medicine in baseball,” said Brewers medical director Roger Caplinger. Shows that data and analytics plays a part on and off the field. For all you aspiring analysts – keep your mind and options open.

5. LMA Managers and Coaches Survey

Not strictly anything to do with analysis, but some interesting points in it. Thanks to @OmarChaudhuri for pointing that out.

6. How special was the special one?

Staying on the manager theme. Decision Technology @dectechsports take a look at the Chelsea Managers of the past few years. Really like this piece and it highlights how many factors need to be considered when comparing managers.

7. The Joy of Stats

I’ve mentioned Hans Rosling before on the site. If you’ve never heard of him take a trip over to ted.com (not the movie!!) and search for his name. This is a BBC programme (might be location restrictions on being able to view this, but if you can check it out).

8. More N.F.L. Teams Hire Statisticians but Their Use Remains Mostly Guarded

Good perspective from the US. NFL is a much more complex sport than Baseball so it has been slower to find the magic Moneyball numbers (even if they exist).

9. Fire The Manager! Really?

This article was written in October – before some of the sackings they discuss. Interesting read and even more pertinent that the there are new managers in place. It’s well known that sacking the manager has little/no long term benefits.

10. The Gain Line Blog – Tale of the Unexpected

There are numerous soccer analytical blogs on the interweb these days but so few rugby blogs. If you’re into Rugby well worth bookmarking this site. Hopefully the start of things to come.

11. Bill Simmons (ESPN) Interviews Nate Silver

This is a video or audio podcast so ITunes is your best bet. They talk a bit about US sports but is a good interview and well worth a watch.

12. IRB Science Network

Having said there is not much on the web for analytics and Rugby the ORB have launched their Science Network. ‘The IRB Rugby Science Network is a global network of researchers who are interested in the study of the Rugby Football codes. The aim is to provide a forum which brings together the expertise of academics and professionals working in the Game.’ Sounds really interesting and while it covers all aspects of Sports Science it does have a Match Analysis section.

13. Football Performance Analysis – Interview with Wade Benn, Senior Match Analyst at Aspire Sports Academy

Good Interview with an analyst here. Always good to read and learn something new.

14. The State of Analytics: What people think soccer analytics is for, and what it SHOULD be for

This is a somewhat controversial article. I will let you read the detail for yourself but I think it sets a low bar of analytics in football. Having said that there is a lot of truth about some of the quackery that is being passed of as analytics.

15. Do Referee’s favour the Home Team?

The really brilliant @jameswgrayson looks at refereeing in the English Leagues. Great piece but don’t stop at that article make sure you explore more of the site.

16. Move to ban unpaid internship adverts wins cross-party support

Always a hot topic on this site. Interns paid v unpaid???!!! There are many arguments back and forth about this, interesting that the British Government is looking to do something about this. What will be the implications for football? Is it as simple as this will force clubs to pay something to analysts or will it have the opposite effect and clubs simply won’t be able to take on interns?