Training Ground Guru Podcast

Our guest on Episode #72 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Teamworks, is Manchester United and England goalkeeper Tom Heaton. Tom is playing his 21st season as a professional and is a member of United's new five-man leadership team, along with Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Noussair Mozraoui. In this Episode he told us what it's like behind the scenes at United, about establishing himself at Burnley under Sean Dyche, about his experiences with England and his ambitions for the future. SHOW NOTES => 01:30: What the non-internationals do during the international break. 02:28: Thoughts on new Carrington training ground.  03:16: Can facilities be too nice and spoil players? 04:19: Being part of the new leadership team at the club. 05:11: Being inspired - but not weighed down - by the past. 06:35: What's the culture like behind the scenes? 07:49: Staying focused on the long-term plan. 08:54: First impressions of new goalkeeper Senne Lammens. 09:23: Does he coach the other keepers? 09:49: Joining United as an 11-year-old. 11:43: Influence of Sir Alex Ferguson. 12:37: His six loans as a United player. Positive experience and 'real' football. 15:21: Returning to United in 2021. Has it gone as planned? 18:12: Finding a home at Burnley (2013 to 2019). Playing under Sean Dyche. Defensive detail and organisation. Goalkeeper factory under Billy Mercer and Craig Mawson.  23:36: Evolution of role of the goalkeeper.  26:40: Which goalkeepers do you admire? 27:45: How long will you carry on playing? 28:37: What do you plan to do when you finish playing? 30:35: Going to the Euros with England as a training goalkeeper. 32:45: Thoughts on the Sporting Director role. Have done the UEFA Football Management Course. 34:01: Sean Dyche or Sir Alex Ferguson as a hybrid manager-Sporting Director.  35:06: Hopes for the rest of the season with Man Utd. Optimistic? 35:49: Looking ahead to appearance at TGG Live 2025 at Old Trafford on October 8th.   

Our guest on Episode #71 of the TGG Podcast is Nick Montgomery, Ange Postecoglou's Assistant at Nottingham Forest. The duo worked together at Tottenham last season, helping the North London side win their first piece of silverware in 17 years, when they claimed the Europa League. Montgomery has worked in football for almost three decades, as a player, coach and manager, and in England, Scotland and Australia. This episode was recorded a day before Montgomery joined Forest, but he talked about what it’s like to work with Postecoglou, about their struggles and triumphs last season and why some of the narratives about the Australian are incorrect.  SHOW NOTES => 01:50: What he's been doing since Spurs sacking 04:44: Winning the Europa League 06:26: Why so many injuries? 09:30: Injuries gave young players an opportunity. What is was like to work with Archie Gray & Lucas Bergval. Why it's a younger game now. 14:54: Set pieces - Tottenham didn't neglect them. We're much better at them than people gave them credit for. Whether you need a dedicated Set Piece Coach or not. 24:41: Narrative about Postecoglou's style of play. Why you need a big squad to rotate. Difference between principles, philosophies and tactics. 30:16: Career as a player. Working with Neil Warnock. How he treated everyone differently. Game was more aggressive and macho when he was playing. Doesn't know why apprentices cleaning the pros' boots has gone out of the game. Dangers of social media. Example of Brennan Johnson coming off Instagram. 39:24: Moving to Australia as a player with Central Coast Mariners. Player to Academy Manager to Head Coach. Winning first league title for the club.  41:37: How he got to know Postecoglou.  43:27: Merits of taking your own staff to a club v having a new staff, as Postecoglou has.  45:08: Joining Hibernian as Manager. Why tenure only lasted one season.  49:13: Can Postecoglou achieve big things as a Manager in future? 51:47: When Postecoglou said he always wins things in his second season. How was that for the players and staff? 55:14: Ambitions for rest of his career. 

Our guest on Episode #70 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Teamworks Intelligence, is Simon Wilson. Simon is the Chief Executive of Stockport County and one of the most experienced football leaders in the UK. At Southampton, he was only the second full-time performance analyst in the country, before joining Manchester City in 2006. His time there coincided with the new ownership of Sheikh Mansour and a period of complete transformation. Simon played a key role in this, first as Head of Analysis, then Strategy and Performance Manager and finally as Director of Football Services for the entire City Football Group. In this latter role, Simon designed, built and delivered the club's global multi-club operation.  After a short spell as Chief Football Officer at Sunderland, Simon joined Stockport County in 2020 and has masterminded their climb through the divisions. In February 2025, he was promoted from Director of Football to Chief Executive. In this Episode, Simon told us about his career journey, about his pivotal work at Manchester City and about Stockport's seven-year plan. SHOW NOTES => 02:27: Reflections on Stockport's summer transfer window. 03:21: Getting over last season's play-off semi-final defeat. 05:06: The club's seven-year plan. 07:45: What it's like working with Stockport owner Mark Stott. 08:53: How does the new squad compare to last season's? 09:45: The strength of this season's League One. 11:39: Simon discusses his time working at Sunderland. 16:24: How did Simon first get involved in football? 19:51: His first jobs with clubs - first at Preston and then Southampton. 21:19: Being only the second full-time Performance Analyst in the UK. 22:14: Working with Sir Clive Woodward. 23:25: Joining Manchester City. 25:27: Sheikh Mansour taking over at City. 29:08: Simon Pearce and Brian Marwood's involvement at the Etihad. 31:35: Becoming Director of Football Services for the City Football Group. 36:01: The difference between an entertainment club and a talent club in the multi-club model. 36:57: Are smaller clubs in a multi-club model servicing the bigger clubs? 39:44: Players moving between clubs in the group. 40:19: Economies of scale and sharing of data between the group's clubs. 41:47: Why Simon left Manchester City. 43:38: The current state of the game. 45:54: Moving from Sporting Director to CEO - how it's going. 47:13: What does the future hold for Simon?

Our guest on Episode #69 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Teamworks, is Luke Bornn.  Luke has been one of the leading figures in sports analytics for more than a decade. After working as an Assistant Professor at Harvard University, he became Head of Analytics at Roma and then with the Sacramento Kings. In 2020 he co-founded Zelus Analytics, a sports intelligence platform providing data-driven insights to top teams, including Toulouse & AZ Alkmaar. In 2024, Zelus was acquired by Teamworks and became Teamworks Intelligence. Luke spoke about what he's been doing since we last spoke on the pod in 2021, about his groundbreaking work with Toulouse and about the future of sports analytics. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode and if you do, please give us a follow via your preferred podcast provider. SHOW NOTES => 02:21: What's been happening since you were last on the pod (in July 2021?) 04:36: What was your day-to-day involvement with Toulouse FC? What was the influence of data? Focusing on what matters. 11:31: Why data can help you to make better decisions. Why it's difficult to make long-term assessments in football. 15:31: Why English football overstates the importance of the Head Coach and why it's difficult to identify the coaches who genuinely make a difference. 18:55: Why Toulouse chose NOT to have a defined style of play. Benefits of 'zagging when others are zigging.' 24:50: Involvement with AZ Alkmaar. Why they are the best-run club in Europe over the course of the last decade. How they 'placed strategic bets' and won. 'Making the main thing the main thing.' How 10 to 15 decisions a season drive 95% of the value. 31:06: Role of Billy Beane, star of Moneyball and investor in Zelus Analytics. 31:52: Sale of Zelus to Teamworks and how they can add value for clubs. 36:25: Why clubs need to decide what they want from analytics. Should ultimately be about making better decisions. Importance of being aligned and why performance and analytics shouldn't be separate departments. 'If you're not improving decisions, you're not doing anything.'  40:04: Teamworks Intelligence and what it can bring to clubs/ federations. 42:30: Future of analytics - and for Luke personally. 

Our guest on Episode #67 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Genius Sports, is Andrew Nestor. Andrew is the Sporting Director of West Brom, working under new owner Shilen Patel. When the duo arrived in February 2024, the club's finances were in a "perilous" position. Since then, they have focused on rejuvenating the squad, while being mindful of profit and sustainability rules.  Speaking the morning after West Brom's last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Bristol City, Nestor told us about his role as Sporting Director, his strategy at the Championship club and how he cut his teeth in football as owner, CEO and General Manager of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the US. SHOW NOTES => 03:35: Andrew's thoughts on Baggies manager Tony Mowbray and the squad. 04:35: How he has found his role so far. 06:02: First impressions of West Brom on arriving at the club. 07:23: The Baggies were known as being innovative before Andrew's arrival - was that the situation he found? 08:16: How he worked on changing the squad, which was the oldest, based on minutes played, and fifth highest-paid in Championship. 10:00: The part the club's Academy plays in Andrew's strategy and extending the stays of younger players. 11:40: His thoughts on West Brom's style of play and how to adapt it. 15:16: Bringing in a data team to support the club's scouting process. 18:40: Planning for life in either the Championship or the Premier League at the same time. 19:25: Why Tony Mowbray was appointed as head coach. 23:57: Keeping a long-term vision for the club despite external pressure. 25:08: Carlos Corberan's departure. 26:52: Andrew's first off-the-field job in football with the Tampa Bay Rowdies. 29:05: His career outside the game before that. 29:41: Success at Tampa Bay and working with Paul Mariner and Paul Dalglish. 31:39: Meeting WBA chairman Shilen Patel for the first time. 32:23: Leaving Tampa Bay to go to Bologna. 34:44: How Andrew and Shilen ended up joining West Brom. 35:42: Shilen's involvement with the club. 36:32: Andrew's first experience of being a Sporting Director. 37:33: His wide remit at The Hawthorns. 39:06: Working closely with Ian Pearce. 39:54: The club's financial situation, largely affected by the loss of parachute payments. 41:52: What are the Baggies' short and medium-term prospects? 43:56: Reflections on the January transfer window. 46:07: Where Andrew bases himself.

It's great to be back for Season 6 of the TGG Podcast - and with a new sponsor, Genius Sports. Our first guest of the new season is Vitor Matos, the former Head of Elite Development at Liverpool. During five seasons at Anfield, Vitor helped to nurture a new generation of talent and deliver a number of trophies. Since leaving Liverpool at the end of last season, he has been Assistant to Pep Lijnders at Red Bull Salzburg. In this episode, Vitor told us what it was like to work alongside Jurgen Klopp, the key components of development, how Curtis Jones can lead the new generation at Liverpool and how Arne Slot has made subtle changes this season.  SHOW NOTES => 02:10: What he's been doing since leaving Red Bull Salzburg in December 2024. Reflections on that period now. 04:36: Jurgen Klopp coming in as Head of Global Soccer for Red Bull but periods didn't overlap. Parallels between Red Bull clubs and Liverpool. 06:33: How he started in coaching. Mourinho as an inspiration.  08:02: Meeting Pep Lijnders for the first time. 09:40: Influence of Professor Vitor Frade/ studying under him at University of Porto. 11:56: Why is Portuguese coaching so strong? Why is there a paucity of top English coaches?  16:49: How the move to Liverpool came about.  23:18: Manager and club committed to youth development and giving opportunities.  24:40: Development of Curtis Jones and Jarell Quansah. Considering whether to loan players out or not. 35:33: Who should we be looking out for in the next generation of young players at Liverpool? 36:29: What was it like working with Jurgen Klopp and what makes him so special? Could you have stayed on when he left? 39:23: Transition of Arne Slot into the club. Tactical changes. Transformation of Ryan Gravenberch. 45:25: Ambitions for the future. 48:24: Favourite training exercises.    

Our guest on Episode #65 of the TGG Podcast is Robbie Savage.  As a player, Robbie made 346 Premier League appearances and captained four clubs. After retiring, he became a household name as a TV and radio pundit and appeared on Strictly in 2011. Now he's pursuing a different career, as a Manager, with Macclesfield in the Northern Premier League. Robbie told us why he'd turned to coaching, about his approach to leadership and about his lofty ambitions as a Manager. SHOW NOTES => 02:07: Wishing he'd gone into coaching earlier. How move from Director of Football came about. 06:44: Coaching badges? Starts A Licence next year and then hopefully Pro. Need your badges. Sees coaching as a vocation and ambition to reach the top. 10:58: Engaging with fans. Pitching in. Change in relationship with players when you become Manager. Treat them like he would treat his son.  13:40: Change in man management since he was a player. Becoming less visibly emotional. Calmer. Use of video analysis. Macclesfield expected to win every week.  18:43: Style of play. Preferred formation. Players win matches, not tactics.  24:40: Behaviour on the touchline? Setting the mood or calm and composed? Heart rate going high in technical area.  27:55: Change in style of play in non-league. Guardiola influence. Wants his team to get the ball forward quickly when possible. Not keen on playing out from the back.  32:36: Assistant wears a GoPro because of abuse from fans. Doesn't get paid at the moment. Could change when they go full-time.  38:15: Approach has changed on 606 phone-in. More understanding of Managers. Important to have consistency of messaging as a pundit or Manager. Has had offers as a Manager at bigger clubs.  44:15: Released at Manchester United. Make or break. Coached a team at Macclesfield made up of players who had been released and had great success. Callum West went to Burnley and now at Barnsley.  49:21: Do the Academies prepare players well enough? James Edmondson from Blackburn. Difference between Academy and senior football. Strength of the pyramid.  54:16: Different than he seemed as a player. Pantomime character. More than 350 Premier League games and captained four clubs. Keeps a book about all matches and what the Managers said.   

Our guest on Episode #64 of the TGG Podcast is Paul Fernie. Paul is Sporting Director of SV Darmstadt in Germany. He grew up in Hull and worked in analysis roles in England before the opportunity came to join Wiesbaden. He progressed from Head of Recruitment to Sporting Director and led the club from promotion to Bundesliga 2. Paul told us how the Sporting Director role works in Germany, what it was like to work under Graham Potter and Paul Mitchell and why more English staff should give it a go abroad.

Our guest on Episode #63 of the TGG Podcast is Danny Röhl. Danny led Sheffield Wednesday to one of English football's great escapes last season. When he took over in October, the club were seven points adrift of safety with no wins in 10. By the end of the campaign they were three points clear of relegation. In this episode Danny told us how that remarkable metamorphosis was achieved and charted his meteoric rise as a coach, from RB Leipzig to Southampton, Bayern Munich, Germany and now Sheffield Wednesday, as a manager in his own right.  SHOW NOTES => 02:11: Currently in Leipzig. Family have stayed there while he worked in Sheffield. About to work for ITV as a pundit at the Euros. 05:04: Now looking ahead to next season. Had offers from other clubs but journey not finished at Sheffield Wednesday. Need to improve the club and the squad. 08:15: Reflections on his first season in charge. Wanted an increase in intensity, while being mindful of injuries. Was always positive and believed in the players - something he learnt from Hansi Flick. 13:15: How did he win the players over so quickly? Laid out a plan for how they could be successful: pressing, counterpressing and improving ball possession. Developing players off the pitch as well as on it. "A good coach can change a game; a great coach can change a life." 19:07: Having different personalities and qualities in coaching team. He sets the plan and strategy for the week, but they get ownership of their area. 21:34: Influence of RB Leipzig on his playing philosophy. How this developed during his career. "I am not a manager to cross my fingers and wait."  27:20: Has principles and habits, but decision-making is down to the players and he builds this into his training sessions. Risk and reward in the final third. 29:17: Why did you take the Sheffield Wednesday job? Potential. 32:03: Start of coaching career at RB Leipzig as a coach-analyst. Why this dual role is important. "You cannot be just a tactical engineer on the laptop." 38:51: 6-0 defeat by Ipswich in March - took the decision to be proactive and take risks.  40:16: Ambitions for the future.  42:12: Is the owner fully behind the project? "We dream of the Premier League."

Our guest on Episode #62 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, is Natasha Patel. Natasha is Assistant Academy Director at Southampton and one of the most experienced women working in men's professional football.  From 2011 to 2019 she was Academy Analyst and then Head of Performance Analysis at Southampton, before leaving to become Head of Performance Analysis at New York Red Bulls for the next three-and-a-half years.

Here is Part 2 of our interview with Bayern Munich Head of Coach Development & Playing Philosophy Rene Maric. In this second half, Rene told us how he kickstarted his career with the tactics blog Spielverlagerung, about coaching Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham at Borussia Dortmund, and about his brief spell as assistant at Leeds United.  SHOW NOTES => 01:44: Reaction to announcement last night (February 21st) that Thomas Tuchel would be stepping down as Bayern Munich manager at the end of the season. 03:44: Start of his relationship with Tuchel, via his Spielverlagerung blog. 11:11: Meeting Marco Rose - a pivotal relationship in his career. Approach to social media and content creation nowadays. 18:24: Experiencing the Red Bull philosophy at RB Salzburg. 24:50: Onto first-team staff at Salzburg at 23; then onto Borussia Monchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund.  27:15: Being one of the 'laptop coaches'. "It would be pretty stupid nowadays if you don't use a laptop." 28:03: Working with stars like Dominik Szoboszlai, Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland. 36:08: Joining Leeds United in July 2022. 38:06: Jesse Marsch seemed a great fit after Marcelo Bielsa. Why didn't it work out? 43:36: Ambitions for the future? 45:50: 'Tactics don't exist, you have decisions of players.' 50:03: What type of Head Coach would you be?

Our guest on Episode #61 of the TGG Podcast is René Marić. The Austrian is one of the most interesting and highly-rated young coaches in European football. He made his name by founding the cult tactics blog Spielverlagerung and went on to become Assistant Manager at Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Monchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund and Leeds United. Now he's Head of Coach Development and Playing Philosophy at Bayern Munich. In Part 1 of this Episode, René told us about the 'Bayern Munich way', why the Academy is fundamental to the club, the importance of 'game insight', the relative age effect, raising the Academy entry age to 11 and liaising with manager Thomas Tuchel. SHOW NOTES => 02:41: Role as Head of Coaching and Playing Philosophy explained. The 'Red thread' that runs through the club. 08:36: What is the 'Bayern Munich Way' of playing? 11:55: Now the Head Coach of the U19s and Youth League team too! How has that been? 16:25: How important is the Academy at 'FC Hollywood'?  19:42: 'Game insight' and why legend Thomas Müller and young pretender Alex Pavlović are great exponents of this. 28:38: Relative age effect and why Real Sociedad are outliers in this area. 33:28: Raising age of entry to the Academy to 11 years old. 37:00: Transition to the first team and liaising with Thomas Tuchel. 39:05: Structure of the Academy/ different age groups.

Our guest on Episode #60 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, is Radhi Jaidi. Radhi is a true legend of Tunisian football, having played 105 times for his country and won every trophy there was to win at club level there. Fans in England will know him best from his time at Bolton Wanderers, where he played under Sam Allardyce and helped them qualify for Europe.  Since 2018 he's been a coach, working with Southampton U23s, Hartford Athletic in the USL, Esperance in Tunisia and now Cercle Brugge in Belgium, where he's assistant. Radhi told me about his tough upbringing, his best memories from Bolton and his experiences and ambitions as a coach.  SHOW NOTES => 02:05: Working as assistant at Cercle Brugge since 2023. Second spell at the club. 04:30: Same ownership as Monaco. How this impacts what happens at Cercle. Recently had a training camp in Monaco. 07:48: Why he chose Cercle. Background in youth development. Balance between development and results. 13:17: Importance of relationship building. 15:26: Duties as assistant manager. Main duties are as defensive coach, especially with the centre-backs. 16:45: Growing up in Tunisia.  21:26: Rare in having gone direct from Africa to the Premier League. 34:09: 15 different nationalities at one stage but gelled together. Importance of Tuesday team meal and being fined for missing his first one! 43:00: Childhood. Father died when Radhi was 11 and he had to grow up fast.  44:43: Are young players too pampered today? 50:30: Differences between the generations. Generation of young players have a big problem with distraction. Malcolm Frame, psychologist at Southampton, had a good mnemonic, the 4 As: Accept, Assess, Adapt, Apply. Generations and environment might change, but core values shouldn't. 55:31: Ambitions for the future - "the ultimate is to succeed with a European team as a Head Coach. I still have the ambition, the desire, the energy, the obsession to make it." Unconscious bias. "The day I get the opportunity I am going to explode." 57:53: Importance of his Muslim faith.     

Our guest on Episode #59 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, is Reading manager Ruben Selles. The highly-rated coach gained plaudits for the way he managed Southampton for the second half of last season and there were high hopes when he took over at Reading in the summer. However, an ongoing financial crisis has plunged the very future of the club into doubt. In this episode the Spaniard gives us insights into the challenges he and his players have faced, while also looking back on his career to date and ahead to the future.  SHOW NOTES => 02:07: Challenges as Reading manager. Pre-season with nine pro players. 06:48: Transfer embargo in January window. Will fight to hold onto players. 09:13: Foregoing wages in November along with Director of Football Mark Bowen. "As Simon Sinek says, leaders eat last." 10:41: Having impressive infrastructure at the club, in terms of Academy and new training ground. "Yes, but you can have an amazing house and very cheap furniture. The real thing is to build a culture inside the club and make people feel safe." 12:05: What is situation regarding ownership and potential sale? 12:58: Has the project been what was promised to you? 13:30: Started coaching at 16 and gained Pro Licence at 25. Was it an advantage starting so young?  20:37: Travelled around the world as a young Spanish coach: to Greece, Russia, Azerbaijan, Denmark and England.  25:09: Move to Southampton. Had been tracked by Rasmus Ankersen. Mentored by Matt Crocker. Difficult being parachuted in as an assistant rather than the Head Coach choosing you himself? 30:02: Innovative club: individual coaching/ specialist coaches/ Playbook etc. How did it work? 32:44: Taking over as Southampton Head Coach when Ralph Hassenhuttl and then Nathan Jones were sacked.  37:48: Management is all-consuming. Impact on family. Using psychologist support for both himself and his family. "The kids were suffering." 45:53: Could you have stayed at Southampton after Russell Martin came in as manager? 48:59: Did you get offers from other clubs after leaving Southampton? And why did Reading appeal to you? 50:25: What is your playing philosophy?  54:47: Proving he is a development manager.  56:08: Working with young talented players. Example of Rasmus Hojlund, now Manchester United, at Copenhagen. Convinced he will become world-class. A "mentality monster." 1:00:25: Ambitions: for the rest of the season and remainder of career.   

Our guest on Episode #58 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, is Chris O'Loughlin. Chris is the Sporting Director of Union Saint Gilloise, one of the most innovative and interesting clubs in the whole of Europe. Despite having a stadium with a capacity of just 9,400, and a budget that’s dwarfed by the biggest clubs, they are top of the table in Belgium.      Chris told us how the club scout for character and how they use data to punch way above their weight.  SHOW NOTES=> 02:13: Background. Born in Limerick, move to Cape Town at a young age. B Licence at Larne in Northern Ireland. Break with Bibey Mutombo at Orlando Pirates. 09:25: Move to Belgium with Yannick Ferrera at Sint-Truiden. 12:09: Becoming a Sporting Director with Union Saint-Gilloise. Strong believer in culture. In his experience, clubs hadn't included considerations about culture in their decision-making, especially in terms of squad building. 14:48: History of USG. Potential in Brussels. Stadium is romantic/ 104 years old. Budget is low and has been growing step by step. About building a foundation and strategy. 17:07: Never met or had a conversation with Tony Bloom. Alex Muzio is the day to day President and now majority shareholder. Reasons why the duo chose to buy the club. 21:48: First role was to create a behavioural culture and performance culture for the club. Establishing five key values for the club. Recruiting to those values. Human being qualities they look for. People can get confused about what humility actually means.  30:40: Example of Victor Boniface. Went deep into his social media and found how he had helped a mother in Nigeria. 'We don’t need an angel, we just need a person with a good soul.' 32:33: Creating a 'common denominator' among the players/ having something common in their spirit and soul, which creates cohesion and togetherness. Richie Barker at Charlton told him about creating a common goal. Looking for hungry, humble players. 35:47: Analytics used as a filtering system. Look for undervalued, underrated players. Don't recruit for a specific style of play. 43:54: Ambitions for the club - new stadium, focus on Academy, challenging for trophies in Belgium and qualifying for Europe regularly.   

Our guest on Episode #57 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, is Everton Director of Football Kevin Thelwell. Kevin tells Simon Austin about his role at the club, their four strategic pillars, his relationship with manager Sean Dyche and much more.  SHOW NOTES=> 01:50: Team going in the right direction. 02:44: Sporting Director role explained. 03:30: Why did Everton choose you? 04:20: Are your KPIs different to those of Marcel Brands? Huge spending to balancing the books. 07:37: Ambitions now. "Everyone wants to get Everton back to where we believe it belongs". Previously an inverse relationship between spending and improving team performance. 10:00: How did you put together the strategy? Staff working groups. 12:09: Four strategic pillars: who we are; how we play; how we support; staff development. 13:34: Learnings from previous role as Head of Sport at New York Red Bulls. "The clearer you are, the better you are and the easier it is." 14:27: Style of play. "They want to see this dogs of war piece but they also want to see this school of science bit they had in the 60s and 70s." 21:30: Is Sean Dyche the right person to develop this style? "If you look at Sean at Burnley, Sean at Everton, he has already evolved. The data tells us that, the naked eye tells us that." xG difference as the most important metric in identifying longer-term form of the team. 25:48: Style of play running through the teams, from seniors to Academy. 27:06: Was balance right between winning trophies at Academy level and developing players? Importance of loans. Example of Jarrad Branthwaite. 34:49: Recruitment - collaboration between Director of Football and manager. 38:25: Influence of the Data Insights department. Charlie Reeves. Dyche engaged. Review of team's progress using data every six to eight weeks. 42:38: Wider club challenges. Potential of 12-point deduction/ uncertainty over ownership.

Our guest on Episode #56 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, is Jes Buster Madsen. Jes is Head of Research and Development for FC Copenhagen in Denmark and is leading the way in the application of cognitive neuroscience in football.  SHOW NOTES=> 01:31: What role of Head of Research & Development involves. How he got the role.  09:10: How he persuaded Academy Director Sune Smith-Nielsen to give him the job at FC Copenhagen. 12:37: Importance of application of ecological psychology in football.  15:50: What does perception actually mean and what does it involve? 21:12: Importance of visual cues. "The biggest sensory system in the brain - and the one that takes up the most space by far - is the visual system." 23:27: Working memory: the ability to remember information temporarily. Pattern recognition. Implications in scanning. 26:32: Has your work impacted/ changed coaching practice at FC Copenhagen? Has it influenced and improved the players? 29:02: What is 'game intelligence'? 34:06: How you can tell a player's position from their brain scan. Importance of simplicity: "Neuroscience is complex and when something is complex, people try to find the most complex solution. I think the other way round - when something is complex, we should find the most simple solution and work from there." 37:07: Everything in the brain can be trained. The brain is neuroplastic and can change. 38:28: Future of neuroscience in football.

Our guest on Episode #55 of the TGG Podcast is Mark Leyland.  Mark is one of the foremost analysts in this country and has become much more than that. He started his career in the Academy at Everton and went on to work for Burnley, Liverpool and Newcastle. Mark is one of the few backroom staff to be name-checked by managers. Eddie Howe described him as 'integral' and said 'we love him to bits,' while Jurgen Klopp said he had played 'a big part' in Liverpool's success. Mark was a Post-Match Analyst for Liverpool, evolved into a Coach-Analyst at Newcastle and is now Head of Coaching Methodology for City Football Group.  Simon Austin spoke to Mark in front of a live audience at Hudl's UK Football Conference at Loughborough University. SHOW NOTES=> 02:14: Starting to work in football. Analysing games on VHS with Dave Raven. Intern with Everton. Early lessons. 09:45: Delivering feedback in a constructive way. Importance of relationships. Working with young players. 11:53: Elite players employing their own analysts.  13:17: First team football with Burnley. Working with Eddie Howe and then Sean Dyche. Help of Harrison Kingston. 18:08: Working at Liverpool. Evolution of the analyst role. Elite development group and focus on individual development. 20:46: Divock Origi embracing analysis. Has his own analyst and Wyscout account. 22:05: Working in tandem with the data science department at Liverpool. Players more used to working with data now. 25:41: Working closely with the coaches at Liverpool/ spending more time on the training pitch. 28:54: Even including the ball boys in analysis at Liverpool, leading to famous winner against Barcelona in the Champions League semis. 30:31: Joining Newcastle/ how the Coach-Analyst title came about. Will it become more prevalent in future? 37:16: Switch to City Football Group/ how it came about/ pressures of being in a first-team environment and difficulty of getting a work-life balance in football. 42:09: What does Head of Coaching Methodology involve? 44:38: Personal ambitions for the future?

Our guest on Episode #54 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, is Sarah Rudd. For almost a decade, Sarah was Vice President of Analytics for StatDNA and Arsenal, making her one of the most senior women in the whole of European football. She's now founded her own analytics company, SRC FTBL, along with husband Ravi Ramineni. In this episode, Sarah told us about her work at Arsenal, her wider career and her thoughts on the future of analytics. SHOW NOTES=> 01:40: New venture SRC FTBL along with husband Ravi Ramineni 06:25: Why it can be difficult to sustain a cutting-edge analytics department. Secrecy in the industry/ lack of sharing. 08:38: Arsenal acquisition of StatDNA in 2012. Arsene Wenger questioning but supportive. Scope of work increases post-acquisition. Work in performance sphere with Mikhail Zhilkin. Getting trust and buy-in. 17:36: Coaching change with Unai Emery. Getting the 'dosage' right. Liaison with coaching staff.  22:06: Data v human eyes in scouting/ recruitment at Arsenal. Ben Knapper and Mark Curtis moving into scouting/ recruitment roles.  25:16: Leaving StatDNA and Arsenal.  26:34: Did you feel like a pioneer for women in football? Were there ever any issues because of being a woman in a male-dominated world? 32:28: Which are the top clubs for data science in the Premier League? Importance of proprietary data. 33:50: How can clubs better leverage tracking data? 36:15: Data scientists getting a break in football through Twitter. Sarah's break into football/ advice from Mike Forde. Gap between social media and club analytics. 43:15: Future of analytics and artificial intelligence/ ChatGPT.  

Episode #53 of the TGG Podcast is with Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders. The Dutchman sat down with Simon Austin at the AXA Training Centre for an exclusive interview. In Part 2, he looked back on his career, gave insights into his time with Liverpool and reflected on his special relationship with Jurgen Klopp. This has been an interview we've wanted to do for a long time, so we hope you enjoy it! SHOW NOTES=> 01:37: Starting in football and coaching in Holland. 09:11: Working with Vitor Frade at Porto. 10:15: Importance of youth at Porto. Transferring idea of the talent group to Liverpool. Academy must match standard of scouting and recruitment. Need for a unified approach and for first-team manager to be aware of club's young players. Need for an 'inside pathway'. 15:24: Move to Liverpool in 2014. Doing Pro Licence in Wales. 20:00: Progression of coaches/ analysts as well as players at Liverpool. 21:39: Moving from Academy to first team at Liverpool. Why #6 and #10 are the most 'stressed' positions. 26:17: Strong relationship with Mike Gordon/ how he offered to pay for his father's hospital treatment. 27:52: First meeting with Jurgen Klopp. Returning after season as manager of Nijmegen in Holland. Told "I feel we can conquer the world together." 33:50: Why he and Klopp work so well together. 35:08: Highlights of his time at Liverpool. So proud of Trent Alexander-Arnold. What makes Klopp so special.