The Bonk

Artetta. Calm yer tits, man.

What a run, Lacazette should have done better.

No club crest is unacceptable for anything other than a training kit.

Out of nothing, what a player. City onslaught happening, look like they'll win this.

They really are terrible. Not a fan of Castore particularly, but they haven't done anything as horrific as that City kit.

Jota for me. Neves is great too, though.

It'd be the same spectrum if we were comfortably mid table.

It wasn't as grim as many are making out on here and Jonjo had been robbed of a sure goal by their keeper. Some changes second half and we could win this, just hope they don't switch off.

What an amicable challenge though, Moneyball at its finest. "Here's your Sandbox, study the data, now find the next George Best". The crazy thing is, that might actually be possible with the right data. I can foresee a scenario in the future where players own their data like intellectual property. Not necessarily on field, but more the conditioning side of things. Want access? Pony up as part of my transfer fee.

No worries! The change management exercise that ownership needs to undertake will be the biggest challenge for the club. Who stays, goes, who to bring in to compliment existing staff, operations, etc. Which is why it made sense to keep Thumbheed around for longer than we'd all have liked. We will eventually be competitive, I'm sure of that, the intent is there from our owners as the gap of commitment has been filled from the previous regime. What we need is patience, which after 14 years is understandably hard to come by.

I love that! It's remarkable and easily scalable for a smaller team of scouts at a club like Aberdeen. However..... What's gets me about my work is that, while I'm in it, I'm thinking "oh, this is so cool, we have unlimited cheat codes" with the insights I'm provided. Then I look at it from an ethical standpoint and realize privacy is an afterthought these days. I suppose the data provides insight to create very good products to drive brand reach and high expectations for fans who essentially fund the existence of the league through participation one way or another (in person or via screen).

In my previous role I worked quite closely with Chelsea, Roma and a few other clubs. The sophistication of Chelsea as a business, never mind a football club is incredible. They have data on everything from fan engagement inside the stadium, digital channels (including revenue generated from fan channels similar to AFTV) to scaling their fanbase based off of player acquisition. The NDA I was tied to allowed access to a subset of data, I can't imagine what else lives in their data lake. We are, as I'm sure is obvious to everyone on this board, easily a decade+ behind the level they're operating at. Anyone thinking we're going to become near their level in the next five years needs to adjust their expectations. We'll be lucky to stay in the league this year, relegation (obviously) will set us back further than the expectations Staveley initially communicated. While it was ambitious of her to do so, in hindsight, it's a lofty goal to achieve, especially given our current plight. That's why having a breadth of data to drive decision making is so essential in modern football. A talented DOF will have support on this front, while leaning in to their network for the other aspects you've mentioned. Anyways, it would be even bleaker outlook if Ashley was in charge and exponential regression would have set in without competitive capital expenditure. It's rather amazing we aren't even more fucked from his malfeasance in running this club the last 14years.

I can't tell if it's all a giant clusterfuck of bullshit (most likely) made up by the media that makes player transfers seem 98% mental gymnastics, 1% signature, 1% funds. Are there some Tifo things I can watch around the dynamics of this nonsense?

honestly some of the worst trolling ever on this board and an immediate ignore lister. Glad to see Lewis back training, was a shame his progression got hampered by injury under Howe.

So 3 goals for us? Mint.

Hopefully Woodsy does a Besty and scores double digits getting on target-less crosses we were pinging in the box this past Saturday.

Been the story of the season, mate. Lack of confidence at both ends.

Maybe Edwards was right after all.

Wouldn't the #wines happen first? (<- what even is this emoji? there's some reet offensive ones in the stockpile here)

Always felt Rafa was a 'top down' type of manager where systems, process and function all trump the individual. Fit into his plan, you're in favour, if you don't, leave or play a bit part. Wild assumption on my part, though.

After the initial "dewkleration of peyce" offering of course.

I thought they did a HELOC of sorts on the Stadium and Training Complex to cover their operational losses? Definitely not an investment asset and there's some odd financing going on in the background that will bubble up to the surface when they eventually put the club up for sale. There's no way the current owners can afford to be competitive with the top half of the Championship. They'd have to mirror what Blackpool did years ago, which is near on impossible these days.

Hence the “Scouce Mackem” moniker they get labeled with on here. They were great under Moyes, just before he went to Man United. Been hit or miss ever since.

I thought CHANCERlerl Donald used it as a loan asset? These are fucked even if they do get promoted. They’re skint and why would trust fund kid dump money into a bottom half Champo club?