Dean Saunders

[Niigata Jack]

Having grown up with Deano I can confirm he wasn't the sharpest pencil in the case at school, neither was he the most talented footballer at his age group in Penlan Comp never mind Swansea, but fair play to him the one thing he possessed more than anybody was his desire to get too the very top.
Benny, his old man was absolutely batshit crazy (in a good way) and really was the driving force behind his career in his early days, even pulling a few strings to get him a trial with the Swans at 15 when others probably deserved it more perhaps, anyway, lad done good

He tells things as he thinks it is fair play, more than a decent player and goalscorer.

 

[Neath_Jack]

He's bang on.

People try to make themselves sound clever over two teams chasing a ball around a field.

You can keep your stats and metrics, I'll let my eyes judge if what i am seeing is good / winning football. I don't care how many dots or arrows you put on a screenshot either. And as for your xG and the rest of it...

How many goals scored.
How many goals conceeded.
Did we win, lose or draw.

That'll do for me.

 

[J_B]

He's bang on.

People try to make themselves sound clever over two teams chasing a ball around a field.

You can keep your stats and metrics, I'll let my eyes judge if what i am seeing is good / winning football. I don't care how many dots or arrows you put on a screenshot either. And as for your xG and the rest of it...

How many goals scored.
How many goals conceeded.
Did we win, lose or draw.

That'll do for me.

Yeah but, but, but you gotta process the metrics which say we’re winning the Champions League in 2026 with Latibaudiere and Sorinola terrorising Europe.

 

[monmouth]

He's bang on.

People try to make themselves sound clever over two teams chasing a ball around a field.

You can keep your stats and metrics, I'll let my eyes judge if what i am seeing is good / winning football. I don't care how many dots or arrows you put on a screenshot either. And as for your xG and the rest of it...

How many goals scored.
How many goals conceeded.
Did we win, lose or draw.

That'll do for me.

This is why ‘his philosophy’ makes me laugh. Philosophy…fuck off is it. Ditto “game management”.

 

[monmouth]

Yeah but, but, but you gotta process the metrics which say we’re winning the Champions League in 2026 with Latibaudiere and Sorinola terrorising Europe.

It’s possible. Sorinola and Latibeudiere already terrorise me.

 

[sainthelens]

It’s possible. Sorinola and Latibeudiere already terrorise me.

:lol: :lol:

 

[Niigata Jack]

Yeah but, but, but you gotta process the metrics which say we’re winning the Champions League in 2026 with Latibaudiere and Sorinola terrorising Europe.

Can't see their potential then ? :lol:

 

[Niigata Jack]

:lol: :lol:

Seconded :lol:

 

[Dr. Winston]

Ah! Yes fun, I vaguely remember that concept.

You could see the beginnings of this new thinking in the way we played under Rodgers, but he mostly understood the need to be creative. Sure, he played the Gower/Britton/Allen midfield a bit too much and we were always better to watch under him with a genuine attacking midfielder like Dobbie or the Icelander who must not be named, but even with his basic three we still had a genuine pacy attacking threat from the flanks in Dyer and Sinclair.

Martin seems to think that the act of possession in itself is enough because no doubt some twerp with access to Microsoft Excel has convinced him that 87% of teams who manage 85% of completed passes with 70% of poszzzzzzz....

Sorry, dropped off there for a sec, but you get the point. He has things the wrong way round. Good teams tend to have good stats because they are good teams. They are not good teams because they have good stats.

 

[Jack2jack]

You could see the beginnings of this new thinking in the way we played under Rodgers, but he mostly understood the need to be creative. Sure, he played the Gower/Britton/Allen midfield a bit too much and we were always better to watch under him with a genuine attacking midfielder like Dobbie or the Icelander who must not be named, but even with his basic three we still had a genuine pacy attacking threat from the flanks in Dyer and Sinclair.

Martin seems to think that the act of possession in itself is enough because no doubt some twerp with access to Microsoft Excel has convinced him that 87% of teams who manage 85% of completed passes with 70% of poszzzzzzz....

Sorry, dropped off there for a sec, but you get the point. He has things the wrong way round. Good teams tend to have good stats because they are good teams. They are not good teams because they have good stats.

Tidy post, cant argue with any of that. Maybe we need a young forward thinking manager, who would ditch all this hippy nonsense. Here's hoping.

 

[jasper_T]

Some people would dismiss a useful tool simply because they've seen someone use it wrong. As if "evidence of the eye" has a good success rate. You're welcome to engage with the sport in whatever way you wish, but data and analysis has been a big part of football for a long time now, be it Russell Martin quoting his improving metrics to avoid blame, or Sam Allardyce picking his starting 11 off a spreadsheet while on holiday in Dubai.

I don't think Martin is a stats-driven manager, or else we would have changed how we play long before now. He uses stats only where they can back up his ideology; he has a fixed vision of how the game should be played, copying things more-successful managers do even when they don't work for us, and will quote whatever he feels supports him in his beliefs if the results do not. Stats that don't agree are conveniently ignored.

For some people it seems that stats = bad therefore bad manager = stats manager. Which is daft and dishonest on a very Saunders-like level.

 

[Nocountryforoldjack]

Some people would dismiss a useful tool simply because they've seen someone use it wrong. As if "evidence of the eye" has a good success rate. You're welcome to engage with the sport in whatever way you wish, but data and analysis has been a big part of football for a long time now, be it Russell Martin quoting his improving metrics to avoid blame, or Sam Allardyce picking his starting 11 off a spreadsheet while on holiday in Dubai.

I don't think Martin is a stats-driven manager, or else we would have changed how we play long before now. He uses stats only where they can back up his ideology; he has a fixed vision of how the game should be played, copying things more-successful managers do even when they don't work for us, and will quote whatever he feels supports him in his beliefs if the results do not. Stats that don't agree are conveniently ignored.

For some people it seems that stats = bad therefore bad manager = stats manager. Which is daft and dishonest on a very Saunders-like level.

Yeah but Russell isn't a manager he's a fraud trying to be a manager and failing

 

[JackSomething]

Some people would dismiss a useful tool simply because they've seen someone use it wrong. As if "evidence of the eye" has a good success rate. You're welcome to engage with the sport in whatever way you wish, but data and analysis has been a big part of football for a long time now, be it Russell Martin quoting his improving metrics to avoid blame, or Sam Allardyce picking his starting 11 off a spreadsheet while on holiday in Dubai.

I don't think Martin is a stats-driven manager, or else we would have changed how we play long before now. He uses stats only where they can back up his ideology; he has a fixed vision of how the game should be played, copying things more-successful managers do even when they don't work for us, and will quote whatever he feels supports him in his beliefs if the results do not. Stats that don't agree are conveniently ignored.

For some people it seems that stats = bad therefore bad manager = stats manager. Which is daft and dishonest on a very Saunders-like level.

This.

 

[phact0rri]

Christ I just looked him up. He's 6 months younger than me. He's a walking heart attack.

He's been the way for over a decade.

 

[Glyn1]

One of the stats that I remember from a couple of seasons ago in the Premier League was that Kevin De Bruyne was almost at the top of the list for intercepted passes but also for most assisted passes that led to goals. Obviously it would be easier considering the forwards that he's passing to, but there's got to be some sort of lesson there.