Sporting Intelligence Unit?

[jono]

On 23/06/2024 at 16:37, Day said:

Anchovies are best in the bin, not on any plate. Sweetcorn is alright, but it’s a side show unlike pineapple where it’s the star attraction alongside ham. It’s right up there with those creating stats to say Oooh he could have scored from there.

I beg to differ, anchovies are a culinary super star. Add zest (and salt) to many recipes 😛

[swanny]

On 23/06/2024 at 20:21, FKANorwichExile said:

It's a really interesting idea, but seems completely at odds with a Warne management setup, especially if you think of signings being made in a "Moneyball" data/recruitment analyst style. 

Warne is all about personality, how they mesh with the squad, the character etc and that's one of the few metrics you can't judge on statistics alone. But it can highlight players who might usual go under the radar for Warne to then run his personality tests.

Plus, if we're signing players based on things like xG, pass completion, forward runs etc then half this forum will have a meltdown.

there are some things you can do to improve the chances of personality 'fit' psychometric testing, even pee sticks to look at brain chemistry. though whether they are considering adding this in as an additional data source......

[Animal is a Ram]

https://trainingground.guru/articles/mo-bobat-the-cricket-supremo-bringing-sporting-intelligence-to-derby

Interesting article, this.

The links to Palantir don't sit too well with me though, but since that's a little political in nature, I won't expand further.

[RoyMac5]

25 minutes ago, Animal is a Ram said:

https://trainingground.guru/articles/mo-bobat-the-cricket-supremo-bringing-sporting-intelligence-to-derby

Interesting article, this.

The links to Palantir don't sit too well with me though, but since that's a little political in nature, I won't expand further.

"...Working closely with Derby CEO Stephen Pearce, they started off with "a review of some of the club’s processes" and "provided some recommendations”, before engaging in a formal partnership.

The Sporting Intelligence department will have direct oversight of four areas: Sports Science and Medicine (“the doctor, physios, conditioning coach, nutritionist, psychology, soft tissue therapists”), Data Analytics, Talent Identification (scouting) and Talent Acquisition (recruitment).

“Our job will be to organise and align the thinking in these areas and to enhance it with some really good analytics,” Bobat says.

In addition, Sporting Intelligence will “support and inform the two football environments”, which are Paul Warne’s First Team and Matt Hale’s Academy operation.

Between them, Bobat and Smith will spend a combined 200 days at the East Midlands club...

“The club are putting a premium on decision-making and that is the overarching aim of the Sporting Intelligence unit," he says. "Football seems obsessed with data, but data alone isn’t the answer - decision making is the answer.

“Data is just one way you arrive at your decisions. How you utilise it is the key. Having data that is predictive rather than descriptive is likely to give you more informed decision making.”

This is why Bobat and Smith have brought in a company called Palantir in to help drive the analytics capabilities at Derby.

“We’ve partnered with Palantir, who are an organisation with world-leading analytics, AI and machine learning capability,” he explains. “They’ve done a lot of work with the Ministry of Defence and NHS, among others, and we're applying this software in sport. They work with organisations, offer up their software and provide some engineering, helping organisations to solve problems they wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

"I think the partnership offers a real opportunity for us. Palantir have a number of different software platforms, including their Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which is pretty sophisticated. It can help us move to solutions far quicker than standard analytics would be able to.

“We are working with them on a few projects over time and are hoping we can arrive at some really useful insights and do some cool predictive stuff. We want them to work with myself and Ed to set Derby up as one of the best-in-class from an analytics perspective.”

There has already been one big appointee within the Sporting Intelligence unit: the new Sports Science and Medicine Lead, Rob Price, who previously worked at Leeds United for six years.

“We’re really excited by his appointment,” Bobat admits. “Rob has a strong pedigree and calibre and will add real value to Sporting Intelligence and to the club more widely.”

Derby are also currently advertising on TGG for a Data and Analytics Lead to help "align all of our analytics capabilities in-house”, in Bobat's words, while also managing the partnership with Palantir.

“We currently have recruitment, first team and Academy analytics, as well as Talent ID, and want to bring all of these under one central technical leadership,” Bobat explains. “Having one person to lead that group of people is really exciting and will move us towards some standard processes."

...Generally, Smith will focus more on managing upwards and delivering Sporting Intelligence insights to the CEO and Board, while Bobat will have a more hands-on involvement with the department.

The duo are big believers in “a hybrid between the data and human elements,” which is the overarching theme of Smith’s book Making Decisions.

This is why it has been so important to forge a relationship with manager Warne and his coaching staff and to utilise their football knowledge and expertise.

“Ed and I have been hugely impressed by the quality of the people who are already at the club,” Bobat says. “Paul and his coaching team did a brilliant job in getting the team promoted last season and we enjoyed getting to know them after coming in in November.

..."I’ve got to know Paul reasonably well since November and he’s been very welcoming, open-minded, curious and extremely humble. I’ve been really impressed with his approach. He’ll always say, 'I’m open to anything that can help us.'

“It’s important that myself and Ed position Palantir alongside Paul Warne and his coaching team. We are not going to arrive at any smart answers if we don’t have engagement from the football experts alongside our data analytics. It’s nice when you have a manager who is that open-minded and trusting. It’s been the same with the rest of his coaching team and you just want to reciprocate that."...

[RAMesses III]

50 minutes ago, Animal is a Ram said:

https://trainingground.guru/articles/mo-bobat-the-cricket-supremo-bringing-sporting-intelligence-to-derby

Interesting article, this.

The links to Palantir don't sit too well with me though, but since that's a little political in nature, I won't expand further.

Cant find a video from Palantir on football but did find this one on gridiron. (real time Football Manager video game)

A little disappointed Derby are using off-the-shelf AI with Palantir but using a premade tool makes more sense in short term atleast.

If they have been in post since November. Do we think they have an impact on the signings in January? I cant remember if there was significant change in roles players played pre-November to post so can't think if they impacted there.

Interesting that Talent Identification and Talent Acquisition appear to be separate (though makes sense with Mo Bobat/Ed Smith methodology from podcasts I've been listened to) with Mark Thomas seemingly being lead of the Talent Identification. So looks like we might be recruiting/have recruited for Talent Acquisition?