Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton were never meant to go down. FA Cup victors two years ago, only six years since winning the Premier League, Leicester City’s squad was brimming with superstars, including the league’s in-form player – James Maddison, the supposed mercurial wildcard to ignite England’s 2022 World Cup assault. Yet somehow, they…
Category: Championship
Desperate data – the extreme numbers that defined Ipswich Town’s dismal season
Think Ipswich Town’s 2016/17 Championship record redefined tedium? Think again. Despite a low mid-table finish, set against a background of increasing supporter discontent at insipid management and directionless ownership – Town actually topped (or tailed) the league for many key attributes. Not the characteristics of a mundane team. First up, passing. Nothing defines a Mick…
Championship bang for buck update
At the start of January I described how expected return on player investment has never been higher for Championship clubs, due to the inflated Premier League mega-millions bestowed for promotion. And that the group of clubs challenging for promotion below Middlesbrough had most to gain. Now the window’s closed it’s worth reviewing how things have…
Mick McCarthy’s Magic Method
In the modern football world, most match reports are adorned by a plethora of stats that may (or may not) tell us something extra about the relative performance of each team – e.g. BBC reports show shots, shots on target, possession and fouls. Specialist sites like whoscored.com and Squawka allow those of a nerdy persuasion…
goal projection 