Town have announced that they will be taking a “a new data and statistics-led approach to recruitment” next season with adding creative players to the s the main priority.

The summer is expected to see significant changes of personnel at Portman Road with 26 players, many of them senior pros, out of contract.

“We are investing more into the recruitment area of the club because it’s clearly a vital component of any football club,” general manager of football operations Lee O’Neill told the club site.

“We have looked at what clubs like Leicester and Brentford have done for a few years and Rangers over the last year or so as well, with some of the Liverpool staff going up there.

“A lot of the bigger clubs are using data and statistics as a big part of their recruitment. The days of just going off someone’s opinion are going.

“It’s about identifying a player and breaking down the analysis to find out how you get the best out of that player and whether he will fit into the way you want to play. We will be doing a lot more profiling on players than we have ever done before.

“It will mean a lot of investment into the recruitment area of the club for sure. We were going to implement the new structure before this season started but Covid put everything on hold. We are moving forward now though.

“The manager will obviously be part of the recruitment process and improving our goals return at the top end of the pitch is clearly going to be a key area for us.

“That’s not just about the strikers. If you look at James Norwood’s stats, he’s right up there in terms of around the 18-yard box but when you look at Charlie Wyke at Sunderland, he’s got 25 goals or so but he’s had Aiden McGeady playing behind him with 12 assists.

“That’s what we’ve been missing and finding that creative element will be one of our big priorities.”

Photo: TWTD

midastouch added 10:18 - Apr 1 It's the right way to go I think. However, I'm not that confident it will work so well for us. I say that because given the poor track record of the club under Evans I'm not confident they will bring in the right expertise to do it properly. If done properly and it could give us an edge. But if done on the cheap (and with the wrong people implementing it) then it won't be very effective at all.

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Trac70 added 10:20 - Apr 1 APRIL FOOL!!!!!!
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BcarefulwhatUWish4 added 10:25 - Apr 1 Have a feeling this could work well if it is done with the necessary investment. If done on the cheap- another ITFC disaster waiting to happen.
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ArnieM added 10:33 - Apr 1 Hallelujah , a more scientific approach to recruitment hopefully training too. The penny has FINALLY DROPPED with someone at this Club!
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LWNR2013 added 10:34 - Apr 1 Oh no! Not more ‘DATA' April fool.
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TimmyH added 10:41 - Apr 1 Just sounds like a load of cobblers concocted from the club...just like the rest of Evans tenure - the 5 point plan, buying of league one and two players under Hurst, Quite honestly it's getting tiring.
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BeattiesBackPocket added 10:42 - Apr 1 I can just picture evans and O'Neill sitting there looking at their new Atari trying to see where they switch it on and put the cartridge! In all fairness it's a positive it works extremely well for Brentford's set up it's almost like they've been reading the forum and listening to the flack evans has been getting as I've been saying we need to follow a model like Brentford's recruitment for ages. It can work but I'd still like to see a director of football like burley as well so as fans we know and can see that the guy REALLY has the clubs best interest lis at heart and can see the technical ability to go with it. Something burley was very good at.

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bringmeaKuqi added 10:46 - Apr 1 This should have been done 14 years ago. Hurst made similar noises about recruitment. It's just a distraction tactic from Evans to make us think things will be different next year. I'm going to be ignoring this.
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jalapenosteve added 10:49 - Apr 1 So, data and stats haven't been used before??? Unbelievable Jeff!
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BeattiesBackPocket added 11:01 - Apr 1 However the difference with Brentford is they do spend money each season unearthing these gems AND get the proper asking price when selling them on. Something we lack in both departments.
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dirtydingusmagee added 11:05 - Apr 1 ive given up with the club, its a complete farce.Unless Evans sells im no longher interested.
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tractorboybig added 11:08 - Apr 1 more gobblygook bulls**t
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dirtydingusmagee added 11:20 - Apr 1 as soon as the heading includes a photo of O'Neil i get a feeling of forboding. He gets to pass all the bullsh#t from Evans on to us dim country numpties, [im sure Evans thinks thats what Town supporters are] There will be plenty of crap coming from Evans now as we near season ticket renewal .I have become so sick of the pair of them i'd sooner support Norwich than return to Portman Rd with them at the helm .

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stiggytrunk1955 added 11:36 - Apr 1 perhaps thats what they do i america
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BlueySwede added 11:39 - Apr 1 How about improving/installing an actual scouting system instead? Something we used to be really good at was picking up gems from abroad and in lower leagues. Now we pay over the top for players like Jackson and Nolan.
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bluelodgeblue added 11:53 - Apr 1 Computer says no!
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Blue_Meanie added 11:53 - Apr 1 Webber's been at N**wich since 2017. Why are we always so slow on the uptake of new developments in the game? Step forward Evans, Clegg, Milne and O'Neill. We desperately need a director of football
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Kingfisher49 added 11:59 - Apr 1 Apparently Finidi George is available. Still young at 50 this month so could be a good signing. Similar to this story very much an April Fool.
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BangaloreBlues added 12:06 - Apr 1 We went into lockdown on statistical models that turned out to be nothing like reality. So this sounds like a bad idea. Knowing a player's style of play, and how that fits around the players in the team, is far more important than signing someone based on how many times on average they ran down the left wing.
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jayaps added 13:03 - Apr 1 It surely doesn't make a jot of difference if a bloke at the bar tells Evans about a player or a computer whizkid who has finished top of his fantasy league three years running ...unless free transfer is mentioned in the conversation can't see them running out for us
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Carberry added 13:05 - Apr 1 The really scary thing is we haven't been doing this before. Demonstrates more about McCarthy and PR Paul than anything else.
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multiplescoregasms added 13:53 - Apr 1 Here's some stats for you.... Andre Dozzell 83 games 3 goals Gwion Edwards 99 games 13 goals Cole Skuse 276 games 2 goals Teddy Bishop 124 games 5 goals Jon Nolan 70 games 10 goals Emyr Huws 55 games 5 goals Alan Judge 87 games 7 goals Flynn Downes 91 games 3 goals Not one player had a better ration than scoring 1 in 7, and let's be honest they don't exactly create a lot for the forwards. Play Norwood and Jackson upfront and find new players to give them the service that they need to get the goals.

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midastouch added 19:50 - Apr 1 @multiplescoregasms It's so blatant when you look at even the basic numbers, they are mostly just not up to the level we need to push on. It's as if our scouts can't even load a Wikipedia page to look at the basic goal stats. I don't know what our scouts have been doing for the last however many years but whatever it is it's not worked one bit. I've regularly looked at players we've been linked with on YouTube and often they can barely patch together a 2 minute highlights video with much worth seeing. If those are the highlights imagine what the lowlights are like! When you see highlights with a shot that goes straight to the keeper you think, "hang on, that made the highlight reel? Really?" We should be offering really high performance incentives so that any stand out players get rewarded with hefty goal and assist bonuses. You don't win football matches with players that don't want the ball and treat it like a hot potato and always want to play it safe. You can't side pass you way to promotion. Our football is just too negative, predictable and pedestrian. Cook needs to get in fresh players who are prepared to have a go. Players that are hungry. Players that genuinely believe they can take us forwards rather than just settling for an easy pay packet come what may!

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midastouch added 19:53 - Apr 1 Too many of our players have been in the ITFC comfort zone for way too long, time to flush them out, your time is up here!
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midastouch added 20:12 - Apr 1 A simple start would be to look at the FIFA rankings and then look for any countries where their ranking is going up and that have had some decent or creditable results against higher ranked teams. Now look among that group of candidates for teams where most of the players are still playing in their domestic league and which hasn't got a particularly high average wage salary. Then start scouting there. And don't bring just one player as they can get homesick. Bring at least two (who speak the same language) like we did with Muhren who was soon followed by Thijssen. If we do the same as everybody else we'll get much the same results as them. We need to be brave and try and be a bit more creative. Sir Bobby took notice of Dutch football and started to adopt some of their methods such as pre-match preparation (copying some elements from the likes of Ajax and Feyenoord). I'd much rather we went back to signing players from countries like Holland rather than Ireland. We have some great contacts in Holland with ex players that we should reach out to. Our club seems to have lost its imagination! :-(

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