Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 37)

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Festive spirit has descended upon the country, and that spirit has only grown stronger as Yeovil left the South Coast as 1-0 winners against Eastbourne Borough. Let’s dive into the rest of the league action, and see if Santa has left us any early Christmas gifts!

We start back in Somerset, where Bath City hammered Welling United at home to register their first league win since Remembrance Day. Ex-Glover Shaun Jeffers got himself on the scoresheet once again as St Albans City downed Dartford 3-0 away from home to make it 3 wins in their last 5, while late drama at our holiday opponents Taunton went down, as Tonbridge Angels scored in the 89th and 94th minutes to give themselves a win… or so they thought, as a 96th minute equaliser from Nick Grimes meant both sides shared the points.

Santa was feeling generous this season for Yeovil fans, as there were many favourable results for the league leaders! Aveley fell at home to Slough Town, Torquay United were sent packing away to Chelmsford City, and Worthing were defeated away to Hemel Hempstead, all ending in 2-0 defeats. Maidstone also lost at home to Chippenham Town to further aid Yeovil’s title push, the only threat to their lead coming at Hampton & Richmond, as they won 2-1 against Weston-super-mare to continue their unbeaten run.

Dover Athletic extended their winless league run to 21 games, albeit with a credible 1-1 draw away to W*ymouth, while Farnborough and Truro City ran out as 1-0 winners, against Braintree Town and Havant & Waterlooville respectively.

Before the full results list and the tables below, I just want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas, up the Glovers!

 

National League South results – in full

Aveley 0-2 Slough Town
Bath City 4-0 Welling United
Chelmsford City 2-0 Torquay United
Dartford 0-3 St Albans City
Farnborough 1-0 Braintree Town
Hampton & Richmond Borough 2-1 Weston-super-mare
Hemel Hempstead Town 2-0 Worthing
Maidstone United 0-1 Chippenham Town
Taunton Town 2-2 Tonbridge Angels
Truro City 1-0 Havant & Waterlooville
W*ymouth 1-1 Dover Athletic

National League tables!

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

We head into a busy Christmas and New Year period with lots of Green and White loanees out and about.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that we don’t expect Jordan Maguire-Drew to play in Yeovil colours again, but he in contracted into next season and so we’ll keep him in the loop here.

He had a great start to life as a Bee of Barnet too. a 6-0 win and a goal off the bench! 

In the National League South, the Glovers’ next opponents, Taunton drew 2-2 with Tonbridge Angels. Malachi Linton was brought on as a 95th minute substitute, he’s probably earned two games off as he wont be available against his parent club.

Over at Bath, Will Buse picked up a Cleano as part of the Romans’ 4-0 win against lowly Welling.

 

Right, time to drop down to Dorchester, where they lost a seventh straight game and ended up with an outfield player in goal after a serious injury to on loan goalkeeper Adam Foster.

We wish him well for his recovery, our man Ollie Haste played the full game – and did pick up a booking.

 

Far better news for Melksham who won 5-0 against Paulton. Benjani Jr was in from the start, but despite the goal fest, couldn’t add his name to the score sheet – he went close on more than a couple occasions though,

Aidan Skiverton was on the bench for Sherborne who beat Brett Pitman’s Shaftesbury 2-0… Neither side reported who did or didn’t come off the bench, so we have no more info that that.  

Gillingham were on the wrong end of 4-0 loss to Wells City on Friday night. Gillingham’s starting line up included both Jack Bareham and Josh Haskett whilst Harrison Foster and Harry Lock were among the subs.

Shepton Mallet didn’t play, Welton Rovers did, but at time of writing, there’s limited information on their game or if the likes of Jacob Shore or Mason Alden were involved.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Mark Cooper hailed this afternoon’s 1-0 win at Eastbourne Borough as a ‘brilliant three points’. A first half goal from Frank Nouble was all it needed on a windy afternoon in East Sussex.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Tom Seymour, the gaffer said: “It’s a brilliant three points. It was a horrendous afternoon, the wind, pitch, lack of atmosphere. These are the places you have to come and get three points if you have aspirations of having successful season.”

“The wind was horrendous and the pitch; you know, I’m not a fan of. I don’t think anyone is of 3Gs, we understand why they are at this level, but they’re such a leveller.  We had chances to kill the game off. I can’t recall any clear cut chances.”

Frank Nouble slots home the game’s only goal.
Picture courtesy of LR Photography.

 

Yeovil scored in controversial circumstances, according to the Eastbourne Borough supporters, after Rhys Murphy was sharpest on a drop ball. Cooper couldn’t understand the complaints, however.

“I’m not too sure what was going on, to be honest. It was like a referee had blown up for, I don’t know. He blew up just before that for we don’t know what it was. I think he said he felt a buzz on his arm. And then, just after that, he gave a drop ball and our players said that the Eastbourne player touched it. So once he touches it, it then becomes live. That was brilliant from Murphy. Taking it right into the box and played the lovely pass for Frank [Nouble], great finish.”

Cooper also reflected on the defensive improvement of his side. After a bit of an iffy patch (in comparison to 14 wins in a row) the Glovers have kept two clean sheets in a row.

“I thought we defended magnificently well. And a couple of weeks ago we lost at Welling in the league. Then we lost in the Trophy and we conceded a few goals. So there was a lot of work went on again on the training ground and we reinforced the basics of how we defend and Morgs (Williams), Wans (Wannell), Smudge (Smith), Joe (Day), Jay’s (Foulston) come in, Whits (Whittle) and the midfield players have defended magnificently.”

Morgan Williams.
Picture courtesy of LR Photography.

Heading into Christmas Day, Yeovil are eight points clear at the top of the National League South with 50 points and Cooper was full of praise for his table-topping greens.

“It’s so easy to knock to knock the players when they lose a game. And we, the players, have done unbelievably this year from where they’ve come from. They’ve showed a real attitude and a commitment to the club. And, you know, the difference between now and where we were last year’s chalk and cheese.

“They deserve all the credit, the players, all of them. They’ve been tremendous and they’ve come to places like this, difficult afternoons, given everything. We’ve not played well every week, but we’ve given everything and accumulated a real good number of points,” he added.

 

Taunton Town head to Huish Park on Boxing Day and they won’t be resting on their laurels and are looking forward to a packed Park.

“They’ve had their troubles of late and you know some financial issues. But, you know we can’t be sentimental. We have to go and win the game. And I’m sure they’ll provide a tough test. But we have to do what we do and make sure we’re at it.

“[It] should be a big, massive crowd. We love playing at home and we’ve been brilliant at home. Our supporters get right behind the boys. Hopefully they’ve not had too much turkey and they can cheer us on.”

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Not a classic but a hard-fought three points for Yeovil Town to put them eight points clear at the top of National League South at Christmas.

But who impressed you most in today’s 1-0 win at Eastbourne Borough?

Who was your Man of the Match against Eastbourne Borough?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News, Match Reports

Yeovil Town extended their lead at the top of National League South to eight points with a hard-fought win at Eastbourne Borough.

A controversial first half goal from Frank Nouble sealed the three points. After 36 minutes, Rhys Murphy nicked the ball off hosts’ Freddie Carter from a drop ball and fed his strike partner who fired the game’s only goal.

The second half was an exercise in energy conservation as the visitors probed but could not find their way through a resolute backline.

With Torquay United and Maidstone United both defeated, the win stretched the Glovers lead heading in to a double header with Somerset rivals Taunton Town.

Here is how Dave saw the game from a chilly away end on the South Coast…..

First half

Mark Cooper handed a debut to winger Courtney Senior, who signed on loan from National League Premier side Barnet on Friday night, with Charlie Cooper who dropped to the bench.

There was also a return among substitutes for left-back Alex Whittle, who had been missing through injury in recent weeks.

From the off it was clear this 3G pitch was going to take some getting used to. Not a drop of water had been put on it in a long time and it had zero bounce on it.

 

An early cross from the hosts’ Sam Beard fizzed a cross over the face of goal and the first sight of goal came from Sonny Blu Lo-Everton after good play from Frank Nouble after 13 minutes.

On 20 minutes, good work down the left side from Matt Worthington and Senior saw Worthy burst in to the box and almost pick out Rhys Murphy at the back post.

Frank Nouble celebrates his goal.
Picture courtesy of LR Photography.

It was a moment of opportunism from Murphy led to an opening goal for the visitors after 36 minutes. A drop ball from the referee saw the striker nip in ahead of Carter and burst forward, play it across to NOUBLE who coolly finished.

There were protests led by Eastbourne skipper Brad Barry to referee Jack Bloxham, but one feels he may have more to complain about to Carter for his bizarre failure to contest the drop ball.

There was another chance fell to Murphy after a great through ball from Young on 42 minutes, but Foulkes was equal to it to turn it wide.

A red card seemed to be flashed at the Eastbourne bench, perhaps to manager Mark Beard, as protests towards the referee continued after the half-time whistle had been blown.

Half time:  Eastbourne Borough 0 Yeovil Town 1

Second half

Within 30 seconds of the restart, the home side’s Callum Kealey broke away from the Yeovil defence but pulled his shot wide. 

That set the tone for the 20 minutes which followed as the home side who continued to probe at the backline. Substitute Decarrey Sherriff had a shot from inside the box blocked by Sonny Blu Lo-Everton.

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton makes a perfectly legal tackle…..
Picture courtesy of LR Photography.

There was very little to excite the away support in an end which did little (nothing?) to foster an atmosphere. The arrival of Will Dawes in place of Senior on 64 minutes. Senior showed what he can bring to the side with good pace and flashes of an ability to take of defenders and Cooper will have been pleased with his start.

A minute later Foulkes got in just ahead of Morgan Williams to claim a looping free-kick from Young, before a good combination between Kealey and Leone Gravata almost released Kealey.

Substitute Fletcher Holman almost made an instant impact after coming on 67 minutes, b

ut his shot flew over. On 74 minutes, the first meaningful chance of the second half fell to Young who curled his shot wide.

But, with games coming up on Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve, the Glovers showed a control to see out the game which, say it quietly, is the hallmark of a promotion side.

For now we’ll settle for an even more comfortable gap at the top of the division. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Full time: Eastbourne Borough 0 Yeovil Town 1

Match Details

Venue: Priory Lane
Date: Saturday 23rd December – 3pm kick-off

Competition: National League South

Pitch: A rock solid slab of plastic 
Conditions:  Dry and cool

Attendance: 1,736

Scorers: Frank Nouble 36 (1-0)

Bookings: 
Yeovil Town: Frank Nouble 38,
Eastbourne Borough: Jack Paxman 30, Sam Beard 45,

Referee: Jack Bloxham

Yeovil Town (4-4-2)

Substitutes: Will Dawes (for Courtney Senior, 64),Charlie Cooper (for Rhys Murphy, 77), Alex Whittle (not used), Josh Owers (not used), Alex Fisher (not used).

Eastbourne Borough: Harrison Foulkes, Scott Leslie (for Fletcher Holman, 67), Brad Barry, Jack Clarke (for Imran Uche, 82), Jack Paxman (for Decarrey Sheriff, 55), Freddie Carter, Louis Collins, Leone Gravata, Billy Vigar, Sam Beard, Callum Kealey.
Substitutes (not used): Dan Quick, Lucas Defise.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

New signing Courtney Senior has been handed a start for Yeovil Town at Eastbourne Borough today (3pm kick-off).

The winger starts is supporting  Rhys Murphy and Frank Nouble alongside Jordan Young in the National League South match.

Midfielder Charlie Cooper has been dropped to the substitues’ bench alongside full-back Alex Whittle, who returns from injury.

 

 

 

 

 

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News, Podcasts

 

Yeovil Town make their first ever trip to Eastbourne Borough today and we’re delighted to welcome Trevor Fuggle back to the podcast to talk about how their season is going.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Leave us a review and share the pod with a pal.

We’d love to welcome some local businesses into the Gloverscast family through advertising. If you’re a business that would like to speak to a dedicated audience of more than 1000 monthly listeners, please get in touch. Find out more about advertising with us here.

If you have an idea for the website, want to contribute or just want to send us a message, feel free to email ian@gloverscast.co.uk.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Barnet winger Courtney Senior has joined Yeovil Town on one-month, the National League South leaders have confirmed.

Having just seen Jordan Maguire-Drew head in the other direction, Senior joins the club as a replacement in the midfield positions.

Courtney Senior, as seen on Yeovil Town’s X channel.

 

The 26-year-old joined the Bees from League Two side AFC Wimbledon in February of this year, and has made the majority of his appearances from the bench – eight in total this season.

Senior has a career which began in the youth system Brentford and has seen him play for a number of EFL clubs including a five-year spell at Colchester United with more than 120 appearances for them.

Welcome to the Glovers, Courtney!

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Jordan Maguire Drew has joined National League Side Barnet on loan for the rest of the season.

The deal comes with – what Barnet are describing as – an option of a “free permanent transfer” at the end of the season.

The former Grimsby Town man has joined the Bees after finding chances of first team football hard to come by at Huish Park.

JM-D has had just 472 minutes of league football so far this season and hasn’t started a league game since the loss to Havant & Waterlooville, and his last start was in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round win over Didcot Town at the end of September.

In his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend’s trip to Eastbourne Borough, Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper said he was hoping to bring in new faces ahead of the fixture.

He said: “Obviously (Sonny Cox) was recalled. He was playing on the Saturday (in the 2-2 draw at Dartford) which was a blow for us because he had been really productive statistically, we got Jay (Foulston) in and Bristol City then wanted to take Duncan (Idehen) back to have some game time for them in their Under-23s.

“So of course we are looking and I am sure we will have movement hopefully before the next game.”

As ever, JM-D will be added to our Loan Watch articles and we’ll keep you up to date with his progress, but it’s probably a fair shout to suggest we’ve seen the last of him in green and white.

Thanks for the goal at Torquay, JM-D!

 

By:
On:
In: Gloversblog, Latest Yeovil Town News

In Part Three of his statistical analysis of Yeovil Town’s centre midfield, Jonathan Hooper takes us through the varying combinations we’ve seen under Mark Cooper so far this season. You can read Part  One and Part Two here.

Midfield Combinations

Before I dive into this, I love data and what it can tell you about what is happening on the pitch, but I also know it doesn’t give the full picture. Data such as xG is done on averages, as an example some teams may play above their xG for a period of time, such as German side Union Berlin did last season to qualify for the champions league but this isn’t sustainable for a long period of time, now this season they’re near the bottom of the Bundesliga. However, xG and other metrics are good indicators of the underlying performances of teams and players.

Jordan Young celebrates his opener after 16 minutes at Welling United.

xG can only show so much, for example Yeovil had a higher xG than Welling despite losing 4-1. If we look at the xG story you can see Welling’s xG was superior to Yeovil’s until the very good Fisher chance late on.

Please bear this in mind as we look at performances from different combinations and analyse the performances.

THE DATA

Yeovil have lined up with 7 (seven) different midfield combinations so far this season in the league. Here they are:

ComboGamesWonDrawnLostPointsGoalsConcededPPMGoals PMGA PMOppo StrengthExpected PPMPossesion
Worthington & Cooper641113852.171.330.8310.81.156.3%
Worthington, Lo-Everton & Cooper41215761.251.751.5012.01.655.3%
Lo-Everton, Cooper & Williams10101111.001.001.0010.02.058.0%
Worthington, Owers & Williams11003323.003.002.0012.00.540.0%
Owers, Lo-Everton & Williams11003323.003.002.0021.00.752.0%
Worthington & Owers33009723.002.330.6710.01.656.0%
Worthington & Lo-Everton6411131382.172.171.3313.31.756.0%

Worthington & Cooper and Worthington & Lo-Everton have both player 6 games and have the same record, won 4, drawn 1 and lost 1. This gives them a PPM of 2.17 which are both above the teams average PPM of 2.14 so far this season. Worth noting that Worthington & Cooper have played against harder opposition on average. Oppo strength = league position of opposition / number of games, lower the number harder the fixtures.

Next with 4 games Worthington, Lo-Everton & Cooper, lowest PPM of a combination to play more than 1 match together. Then it is Worthington & Owers with 3 games and 3 wins, against the hardest opposition as well.

Quick look at a 2 combo v 3 combo

2 in the middle: 15 games, 11 wins, 2 draws & 2 losses. PPM of 2.33

3 in the middle: 7 games, 3 wins, 3 draws & 1 loss. PPM of 1.71

Cohesion, in team sports, especially football, I believe this is one of the most underrated parts of the game. Fans want new signings nonstop, but at what point does that become detrimental to the team? Just look at the amount of signings Chelsea & Nottingham Forest have made recently and how their performances are in relation. One company I like is Gainline analytics, they are mainly Australian sport dominated but their piece on Leicester in 2015/16 is very good, You can view it here.

Mark Cooper sends instructions on vs Hampton & Richmond. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Keeping Mark Cooper over the summer gave Yeovil a better start to this season as it bought consistency, and his success in retaining many of the squad. During the winning run the back 5 stayed the same throughout, this can only help the team grow and understand as it moves forward. However, the rest of the team changed frequently, below I will go through the games, trying to read Mark Coopers mind, or should we call him Claudio Cooper after Claudio “the Tinkerman” Ranieri, lets find out…

START OF THE SEASON

First 4 games of the season, it was consistently Worthington & Cooper. Going by xG Yeovil slowly got better, the gap in xG between the teams grew each game. Yeovil finished ahead of their Expected points despite the loss to Hemel.

Worth pointing out Jordan Maguire-Drew, started just in front of the 2 in in midfield for each game.

OpponentPointsXG DiffExpected Points
Hemel Hempstead Town0-0.120.70
St Albans City30.231.50
Truro City30.291.50
Maidstone United10.331.50

Yeovil finished ahead of their Expected points despite the loss to Hemel. Actual 7 Expected 5.2.

Next up was Tonbridge, we started with Worthington, Cooper, & Lo-Everton for the first time. We dominate the game, xG difference is 1.10 and xPts is 2.3. Here its looks like a good change from the gaffer, 2 goals and a clean sheet. JMD didn’t start this game, in his place was Jordan Young for his first start of the season.

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Next up was Havant after a 2 day turn around. Cooper selected the same trio as Saturday we started with Worthington, Cooper, & Lo-Everton, 2 changes in the back 4 and all 3 up front. However the system remained the same. We lose 4-3, we also lose the xG battle by 0.66 and our expected points is 0.5.

THE UNBEATEN RUN

Chelmsford at home sees the introduction of Williams as a DM, playing just behind a duo of Lo-Everton and Cooper. Yeovil win the xG battle by 0.75 and their xPts is 2.00 but the Glovers fail to make their chances count and draw 1-1. A positive performance.

Next up was Weston away, first of plenty Somerset derbies this season. Yeovil start Owers for the first time, Worthington and Williams joining him. Cooper misses via a suspension. Yeovil win 3-2, thanks to 3 set piece goals. However, the data suggests Yeovil got lucky. Losing the xG battle by 0.66 that means the Glovers expected points from the game was 0.5. This is where the xG story I mentioned above  comes into it a bit better, Yeovil scored 2 goals before the 20th minute. WSM got one back from a long range effort late in the first half. Yeovil get a 3rd in the 55th minute. Yeovil shut up shop and WSM throw everything at it and get a goal late on. Interestingly this game was Yeovil’s lowest possession game so far this season in the league with 40% of the ball.

Josh Owers
Josh Owers. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz

Last two games, going by data, dominate one and draw, get dominated and win.

Eastbourne were next on the list, Yeovil lined up with Owers, Lo-Everton and Williams in the middle. Worthington started as well but in more of a left wing role. Again according to the data Yeovil were lucky to come away with the win. losing the xG battle by 0.29. their xPts was 0.7.

Winning whilst not playing well, champions stuff. Despite the wins, was Cooper happy? I don’t know but for the next match he reverted back to…

Worthington & Cooper to face Hampton and Richmond. Yeovil got the win but once again lost on data and xG difference of -0.15 and xPts 0.7. However, H&R got their goal from a late penalty, in xG a penalty is worth roughly 0.75, which means on average a penalty is scored 3 out 4 times. If you were to take the penalty away, Yeovil would have won on the data.

Aveley were the next visitors, Mark Cooper changes the midfield again, due to an injury to Charlie Cooper. Incomes Josh Owers to partner Matt Worthington. this is the midfield duo for the next 3 league games (4 if you include FA Cup against Southend) These games are also the first time Yeovil reverted to a more traditional 4-4-2. Here is how the data lines up

OpponentPointsXG DiffExpected Points
Aveley30.642.00
Worthing3-0.190.70
Weymouth30.852.00

A pretty successful run of games, winning on data comfortably on two of them. The other Worthing were awarded a penalty late on, same as the H&R game. Without that penalty Yeovil would have won each game by over 0.5 on xG.

Despite the success of this partnership, it was broken up for the Braintree game. I am unsure if this was because of injury to Owers or another reason but it was the start of a six game run for a new partnership Lo-Everton and Worthington.

OpponentPointsXG DiffExpected Points
Braintree Town3-0.070.70
Torquay United30.351.50
Dover Athletic33.002.70
Farnborough30.341.50
Chippenham Town11.012.30
Welling United00.081.50

You can see against Braintree it was a pretty even affair, not helped by the weather. Yeovil got a bit lucky in this game as the data shows. Then a strong run of form winning each game on data as well as on the pitch.

Matt Worthington. Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

Chippenham, looking at the data it was one of our best away performances of the season, we did struggle to score on the day but the xG suggests we should have been comfortable winners.

Welling, as I mentioned at the start, we won the xG but they were leading until late on. It wasn’t Yeovil’s best performance of the season but not one where you’d expect them to concede 4.

RECENT GAMES

After the loss to Welling Mark Cooper decided to change up the midfield duo and formation.

OpponentPointsXG DiffExpected Points
Bath City3-0.160.70
Dartford11.652.70
Hampton & Richmond1-0.130.70

Bath game, Cooper replaces Lo-Everton and partners Worthington. we got lucky, had one chance and took it. That said Bath never really created a golden opportunity and only just beat us on xG. Dartford, we revert back to 3 in midfield with Worthington, Cooper and Lo-Everton, the data suggests we played well, created numerous chances but didn’t take all of them, whilst Dartford were the clinical ones. Similar to the Chippenham game.

Hampton & Richmond, continuing with the trio in midfield of Worthington, Cooper and Lo-Everton. Pretty even game one that we did lose the xG battle on just but a draw was probably a fair result.

RANKING

I have scored each of the combinations, based on fixture difficulty and xPts, here is my rankings

RankingComboScore
1Worthington Owers0.47
2Worthington Lo-Everton0.28
3Worthington Cooper0.22
4Lo-Everton Cooper Williams0.20
5Worthington Lo-Everton Cooper0.16
6Worthington Owers Williams0.13
7Owers Lo-Everton Williams0.10

Worthington & Owers come out on top, do you think they should start more often?

HOME AND AWAY

I am often interested in how teams fair differently playing away from home. Yeovil’s PPM is 0.80 per game less away from home. What causes this I do not know. Teams do seem braver at home. The fact Yeovil have lost to 2 of the bottom 4 also baffles me. Lets have a look to see what combinations have done what home and away

CombinationHome GamesHome PointsHome PPMHome xPtsAway GamesAway PointsAway PPMAway xPts
Worthington Cooper372.334.50362.002.10
Worthington Lo-Everton Cooper242.003.00210.503.20
Lo-Everton Cooper Williams111.002.00000.000.00
Worthington Owers Williams000.000.00133.000.50
OwersLo-Everton Williams133.000.70000.000.00
Worthington Owers263.004.00133.000.70
Worthington Lo-Everton393.004.90341.335.30

Conclusion

In the first part what struck me was the slight imbalance of having 2 or 3 right footed players in central midfield. I didn’t have the data to compare the midfield to a midfield with one right and one left footed player.

The second part we could start to see different aspects of players games from different metrics and stats. each player had their stand out aspect, from Owers being more feisty and getting stuck in to Lo-Everton creating chances.

In this part we can see how the different combinations fair. Owers & Worthington finished top in my metric, is that because of the balance of a right & left footed player, luck or something else? Do the tweaks that Mark Cooper makes help or hinder the side over a long term?

As Mark Cooper said in his recent press conference, we may not be winning every game currently but the data performances are generally good, if not better now than they were during the winning run. As I said at the start data can only tell you so much, if you take an early lead then look to control the game may be a success getting results but the data looks poor. We all know which one we would prefer to win between actual points and xG/xPts.

What we can see from the data is that every player and every combination has their strengths & weaknesses, lets all hope Mark Cooper can get this best out of them. Go on the Glovers!

What duo or trio would you pick to start?

SPEED OF PLAY

One thing I’ve heard recently from other supporters is that some players slows down play, I do not have the data to prove or disprove this. However, as a bonus, below is a chart showing passes per 90 and passing rate for every team in the league. Higher the passing rate the faster a team moves the ball.

Do you have any thoughts about Jonathan’s epic three-parter? Leave a comment below.