Post by Designer on Sept 17, 2018 15:00:58 GMT
Much has been written on here about a possible squad imbalance and in particular recruitment of new players for 2018/19. It is clear that comments made, both positive and negative, have some credence as they are mostly made by posters who actually attended some of the matches. The performances have been mostly inconsistent and time will tell if the recruitment policy was correct. My question, is it possible to use publicly available player data to understand a players previous club performances over a period to lend some evidence as to the possible future player performance?
We all know that all the Premiership and Championship clubs use "Prozone" to evaluate player performance data both past and present to back up their spending rather than rely totally on scouting and the "Harry Rednapp" school of thought, which incidentally has proved remarkably successful - (but that is another post). However, at leagues 1, 2 and the Vanarama National leagues this level of player data is a pipe dream but is interesting to note that Forest Green Rovers were the first non league club to use "Prozone" in 2013.
For CFC this is where it gets a bit murky and available data is quite sparse. However, I have located player data on the website source RacingPost.com/SoccerBase, which I have attached as a spreadsheet. This data solely concerns a players First Team appearances and goals for all previous clubs. It seems to me that a players worth at a club will be reflected in first team performances and is a worthwhile metric to use for our purposes. As a sanity check on accuracy, all of the new CFC players are listed in the data as playing for CFC for the 2018/19 season, except for Sean Miller and Luke Jordan who both joined during this season and not at the start. It is also worthwhile pointing out that this data does not include when players were injured, played for a reserve side or unused substitute.
A review of the spreadsheet, not surprisingly, shows a mixed bag of players who have an average age of 26. Some players are approaching the end of their careers, some right at the start who will improve and the majority who have probably reached their level. However, the most important metric which needs to be introduced is the current management and the positive effect that team building and coaching will have on the team. It is well known that a so called "motley crew" in any walk of life can be transformed by good management. Can part-time players (two days/week ?) over the season be transformed from mediocrity, occasionally flirting with relegation, to a team of winners; at home at least?
CFC Player Stats.xlsx (15.25 KB)
We all know that all the Premiership and Championship clubs use "Prozone" to evaluate player performance data both past and present to back up their spending rather than rely totally on scouting and the "Harry Rednapp" school of thought, which incidentally has proved remarkably successful - (but that is another post). However, at leagues 1, 2 and the Vanarama National leagues this level of player data is a pipe dream but is interesting to note that Forest Green Rovers were the first non league club to use "Prozone" in 2013.
For CFC this is where it gets a bit murky and available data is quite sparse. However, I have located player data on the website source RacingPost.com/SoccerBase, which I have attached as a spreadsheet. This data solely concerns a players First Team appearances and goals for all previous clubs. It seems to me that a players worth at a club will be reflected in first team performances and is a worthwhile metric to use for our purposes. As a sanity check on accuracy, all of the new CFC players are listed in the data as playing for CFC for the 2018/19 season, except for Sean Miller and Luke Jordan who both joined during this season and not at the start. It is also worthwhile pointing out that this data does not include when players were injured, played for a reserve side or unused substitute.
A review of the spreadsheet, not surprisingly, shows a mixed bag of players who have an average age of 26. Some players are approaching the end of their careers, some right at the start who will improve and the majority who have probably reached their level. However, the most important metric which needs to be introduced is the current management and the positive effect that team building and coaching will have on the team. It is well known that a so called "motley crew" in any walk of life can be transformed by good management. Can part-time players (two days/week ?) over the season be transformed from mediocrity, occasionally flirting with relegation, to a team of winners; at home at least?
CFC Player Stats.xlsx (15.25 KB)