Hugo Scheckter is a pioneer of player care in football. Now he's launching a digital platform that enables clubs to health check their player care provision, with AC Milan and Nottingham Forest among the first clients.
Hugo Scheckter is a pioneer of player care in football. Now he's launching a digital platform that enables clubs to health check their player care provision, with AC Milan and Nottingham Forest among the first clients.
Gary Penn has been appointed to the new role of Head of Audit Development by the Professional Game Academy Audit Company.
Natasha Patel is Assistant Academy Director at Southampton and one of the most experienced women working in men's professional football. In Episode #64 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, she outlined her journey in football, how analysis has evolved and her experiences on either side of the Atlantic.
RENE MARIC is one of the most exciting young coaches in Europe. At the age of 31, he is Head of Coach Development and Playing Philosophy at Bayern Munich and has worked for Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach. He told the TGG Podcast about his coaching journey and lessons.
RADHI JAIDI became the first Tunisian to play in the Premier League when he joined Sam Allardyce's Bolton in 2004 and he remains a trailblazer as one of the only black Muslim coaches in senior European football. On Episode #61 of the TGG Podcast, Jaidi told us about his journey as a player and coach.
AS manager of League One Reading, Ruben Selles has one of the toughest jobs in the Football League. On Episode #60 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, he explained what it's like to lead the crisis club.
NOW seemed a good time to showcase the women who are playing leading roles in the men's game, in roles spanning executive, coaching, Academy, performance, medical and data science.
BELGIUM'S Union Saint-Gilloise have marked themselves out as one of the smartest and most innovative clubs in Europe. In Episode #59 of the TGG Podcast, their Sporting Director, Chris O'Loughlin, gave insights into how they are managing to upset the established order.
KEVIN THELWELL has been Director of Football during a tumultuous period at Everton. In Episode #58 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, Thelwell talked about what his role involves, formulating a long-term plan for the club and what the future might hold.
JES BUSTER MADSEN is Head of Research and Development at FC Copenhagen and a world leader in the application of cognitive neuroscience in football. In Episode #57 of the TGG Podcast he explained how and why brain training will be the next big growth area in football.
FOR the last decade, Mark Leyland has been one of the foremost analysts in this country - and has gone on to become even more than that. He spoke to TGG about the evolution of his role at Liverpool and Newcastle and his current job as Head of Coaching Methodology at City Football Group.
FOR almost a decade, Sarah Rudd was Vice President of Analytics for StatDNA and Arsenal, making her one of the most senior women in the Premier League. In this episode of the TGG Podcast, she told us about her work with Arsenal, her wider career and her thoughts on the future of analytics.
LIVERPOOL'S influential assistant Pep Lijnders was our guest on Episodes #53 and #54 of the TGG Podcast, giving in-depth insights into his work at the Anfield club.
MANAGER Ian Evatt and Sporting Director Chris Markham are working in tandem to try and restore Bolton Wanderers to their former glories. They outlined their approach in Episode #52 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl.
WHEN Irishman Conor Nestor got an unexpected opportunity to manage Svay Rieng in Cambodia, he grabbed it with both hands. He transformed the way they operated, including a complete revamp of their analysis and recruitment. Here he explains what he did and how it helped land the Cambodian league title.
PLAYER ownership of data is one of the big issues facing football and has been described as a wave that's about to come crashing in. Former Chelsea Head of Research and Innovation Ben Smith is now part of a company called BreakAway Data who believe they have the solution.
PREMIER LEAGUE clubs have voted to bring in a one-tier Swiss-style format for the Under-21s from the start of next season, Youth Hawk can reveal.
ARSENAL have a fantastic record of producing athletic Academy graduates. In Episode #50 of the TGG Podcast Des Ryan, the club's former Head of Academy Sports Medicine and Athletic Development, explains why and how.
PREMIER LEAGUE 2 could become a one-tier competition with no promotion or relegation under proposals being considered by clubs, reports Youth Hawk.
BENFICA are the reigning UEFA Youth League champions and have the most profitable Academy in Europe. Their Technical Director Pedro Marques was our guest on Episode #49 of the TGG Podcast in association with Hudl.
FORMER Stoke City manager Tony Pulis says English clubs are “not doing enough to protect” youngsters who are released from Academies and is lobbying the Premier League to introduce a “dual scholarship system.”
OUR guest on Episode #48 of the Training Ground Guru Podcast is Norwich City's Stuart Webber, who we've often described as the 'purest' example of a Sporting Director in this country.
IN Episode #47 of the Training Ground Guru Podcast, Tom Vernon tells us about the origins of Right to Dream, its objectives and what the rest of football can learn from the group.
PROFESSOR David Sumpter is a pioneer of the application of data science in football and has worked with leading teams including Ajax, Barcelona, Hammarby and England. In Episode #46 of the TGG Podcast he gives insights into his work and predictions for the future.
FORMER Swansea City Academy Manager Nigel Rees has been appointed General Manager of the Professional Game Academy Audit Company (PGAAC). The Welshman had been doing the job on an interim basis since Gareth Prosser left to become Academy Manager at Everton in June 2022.
WITH the Professional Game Academy Audit Company (PGAAC) halfway through its first full-assessment audits, Gary Penn shines a light on what has been happening.
BRENTFORD first-team coach Justin Cochrane tells us about his coaching journey on Episode #45 of the TGG Podcast.
SALLY NEEDHAM is the Human Development and Performance Culture Lead at Sheffield United's Academy. On Episode #44 of the TGG Podcast she gives us the lowdown on her unique role.
RUI FARIA is the most successful number two in football history. Here he gives in-depth insights into his time working alongside Jose Mourinho.
SEAN DYCHE explains the lessons he has learned throughout his career, from being a trainee under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest to taking unfashionable Burnley into Europe for the first time in 51 years.
STEVEN REID left his role as first-team coach at Nottingham Forest earlier this summer to become a confidence, wellbeing and leadership coach. On Episode #41 of the TGG Podcast he explains the reasons why and gives insights into his two decades as a Premier League player and coach.
ALL Premier League clubs must have at least a Category Three Academy by the start of the 2024/25 season following new regulations.
DAMIEN COMOLLI tells TGG about the strategies he has employed to restore Toulouse FC to the top table of French football - and how they were honed during three decades in the game.
KITMAN LABS have analysed the graduation rates between age groups and at the factors influencing them at a Premier League Category One Academy. Darcy Norman and Michael Bridges told us about the findings.
THE Premier League has launched pre-Academy regulations aimed at “clearly distinguishing” this age group from the official Academy programme that starts at Under-9s.
ALL Premier League and EFL clubs have been asked to give a three-year “commitment of support” to released Academy players under new rules passed by the Premier League.
PREMIER LEAGUE 2 will change to an Under-21 competition from next season. PL2 has been for U23s since the start of the 2016/17 season, but the Premier League said the rule change would “reflect the reality of the players in the competition”, whose average age is 19.
IN April, Southampton announced that they were launching a “unique” Learning Lab that would embed a “research culture focused on modern Ecological Approaches” in their club and Academy. TGG decided to find out more by welcoming two members of the Learning Lab Board onto our podcast.
AUSTRALIA assistant Rene Meulensteen was our guest on Episode #38 of the TGG Podcast. He told us about his coaching journey from Holland to Australia via Manchester United and the lessons learned along the way in front of a live audience..
ANDREAS GEORGSON gives us insights into individual development coaching, evolving set pieces at the highest level, Malmö's youth development secrets and what it was like to work under Arteta.
THE Training Ground Guru Podcast is celebrating its third birthday. We look back on the 37 episodes we've had so far - and ahead to season four.
FOR 24 years, Francis Cagigao was one of the most important and influential figures at Arsenal. He tells TGG about his time with the North London club and about his new role, as Director of Football for Chile.
BRENTFORD'S journey to the Premier League is a story of innovation, clever use of data and investment in people. We found out more about this from their Director of Football, Phil Giles.
MARIELA NISOTAKI is the Head of Emerging Talent at Norwich City - and the only female scout on the circuit in the UK. She told us what her job involves, how she balances data with live eyes and why Norwich are an ambitious club doing things their own way.
The Elite Player Performance Plan heralded a new era for youth development in this country. The architect of the system, Ged Roddy, looks back on the first decade of EPPP and outlines the risks and opportunities that lie ahead.
In Episode #33 of the TGG Podcast, Chris Ramsey MBE tells us about his role at QPR, his career journey, how he develops coaches and why the game has lost a generation of black leaders.
GREGG BROUGHTON is the Academy Director at Bodø/Glimt, the small club making a big noise in European football. He was our guest on Episode #32 of the TGG Podcast.
OWEN EASTWOOD, who has worked with the England men's football team since 2016, shares insights about building an optimum environment for teams and athletes to thrive.
LUKE BORNN, the former Head of Analytics at AS Roma, tells us about his own journey, and that of data science in football.
DAVE ALRED MBE shares the secrets for performing under pressure that he's used with Jonny Wilkinson, Luke Donald, Francesco Molinari and even Gareth Southgate
IN just 20 months, Russell Martin has marked himself out as one of the most interesting and original English managers in the game. He told TGG more about his approach, covering topics including Buddhism, politics, playing without fear, work-life balance and the importance of sticking to Plan A.
MICHAEL BEALE gives an insight into the training ground methods that helped Rangers land their first title in a decade.
CHELSEA WOMEN manager Emma Hayes on some of the key influences on her career and how they helped to shape her leadership philosophy.
RICHARD GARLICK has left his role as Director of Football at the Premier League with immediate effect following the failed attempt to create a European Super League last week.
LAURENCE STEWART, the Head of Recruitment for AS Monaco, explains the core principles of the club's transfer strategy.
BREXIT has shut the door to English football for a lot of European players, but it has also opened one for the rest of the world. Dan Altman, founder of smarterscout, explains how clubs can properly evaluate players from far-flung leagues.
NEW research paints a picture of the typical Academy coach as being young, single, childless, underpaid and overworked - but nevertheless still happy in their role.
STEVE GUINAN, Senior Coach Developer at the Football Association, led a research team that looked into the challenges clubs face in recruiting and retaining the best coaches - and the results were intriguing.
RENOWNED coach and coach educator Brian Ashton MBE tells TGG the lessons he has learned from five decades in the profession.
DURING seven years at the Premier League, Simone Lewis transformed the way that coaches and coach educators were developed. She tells TGG about the initiatives that were introduced and how they brought about a culture change at Academies.
ALL players under the age of 16 have been given the green light to return to Academies for training from March 8th and in matches from the weekend of 27/28th March.
PREMIER LEAGUE backroom staff have been put on alert over a new Twitter account that monitors their activity in the Fantasy Premier League game.
AZ ALKMAAR Sport Development Director Marijn Beuker outlines how the club outperform their budget by thinking differently.
FORMER Swindon Town manager Iffy Onuora has been appointed as the Premier League’s first Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and will start the role in April.
LIVERPOOL legend and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher tells TGG how he analyses matches and aims to take fans inside the world of the manager's post-match debrief.
ACADEMY matches and training for the U15s downwards are to stop until February 1st at the earliest - but the Professional Development Phase will continue.
UNDER-16s lead Dan Micciche outlines the key principles of Arsenal's Academy and how they go about developing 'Strong Young Gunners.'
BRIGHTON Technical Director Dan Ashworth explains what the role involves and why he believes it’s so important.
THE Premier League is rolling out a 90-minute rapid covid test for players returning from international duty in an effort to get them quickly back into training grounds ahead of the weekend’s fixtures.
ALL football in Category One and Two Academies will continue during lockdown, despite the government previously saying that only 'elite' sport, involving players aged 16 and over, would carry on.
EVERTON assistant Davide Ancelotti was the guest on episode #19 of the TGG Podcast. The 31-year-old talked about growing up with a famous father, gave insights into his role, explained why Dominic Calvert-Lewin was "the best striker we could have" and opened up about his own managerial ambitions.
Eddie Jones, Tom Vernon, Dave Reddin, Lorraine O'Malley and Karen Bardsley outline what they believe will be the big developments in football in the coming months and years.
THE Premier League is providing its clubs with synchronised tracking and event data for the first time, in what has been described as a “democratisation of data”.
LIVERPOOL Academy Manager Alex Inglethorpe takes TGG inside the club's Kirkby training centre and explains the principles that underpin one of the most successful youth programmes in English football.
SKILLCORNER finally answer the question of which of the 'Big 5' leagues is the most physically demanding, by analysing physical performance according to intensity, sprinting and volume.
MANCHESTER UNITED'S Tony Whelan, Chelsea's Neil Bath and Leicester City’s Trevor Peake have received the 2020 Eamonn Dolan award for their exceptional contribution to Academy coaching.
DR PIPPA GRANGE, the former Head of People and Team Development for the Football Association, tells us about the differences between winning deep and shallow.
SIMONE LEWIS, the Premier League’s Head of Learning and Development since 2013, has left the organisation by mutual consent.
THE Premier League and PFA are funding a new coach placement scheme aimed at increasing the number of BAME players moving into full-time coaching roles in the professional game.
THE Premier League will not restart the Academy games programme until 12th September at the earliest, following a vote of shareholders last week - and no date has yet been set for a return to training.
SMARTERSCOUT founder Dan Altman reveals the six roles he's seen most often in data departments during his work with teams around the world.
THE third and final stage of Project Restart gets underway tomorrow, with Aston Villa taking on Sheffield United to mark the return of Premier League action after the coronavirus pandemic.
MANCHESTER UNITED Academy Manager Nick Cox lays out the key tenets of the club's youth programme, including the belief that there is a higher purpose than just producing professional footballers.
STUDENTSHIPS are becoming increasingly popular in pro football. Sofie Kent-Ryan reflects on her experiences with a Category One Academy and offers advice to those following in her footsteps.
PREMIER LEAGUE clubs have voted unanimously to resume full contact training, which is Stage Two of Project Restart.
THE Premier League will begin regulating pre-Academy football for the first time from next season, but there will be no minimum age at which players can train with clubs.
THE Premier League is asking clubs to share their performance data in order to ensure they do not gain a competitive advantage from new Project Restart protocols.
DANNY COWLEY lays out his footballing philosophy, which he described as "old-school values with new methods".
PREMIER LEAGUE clubs are preparing to ramp up training to include small groups of players within the next fortnight.
THE Premier League has outlined a best-case scenario of players being able to return to their clubs for training on Monday May 18th.
PROFESSIONAL football in Britain has been suspended until at least the start of June as a result of the spread of coronavirus. Here is a guide to what is happening at Premier League and EFL clubs in response to the crisis.
TONY STRUDWICK says building relationships is still the most important skill for any practitioner, despite the increasing influence of data and science in football.
PREMIER LEAGUE doctors have held a special meeting to discuss their response to the coronavirus pandemic.
GÉRARD HOULLIER is the "most underrated" Liverpool manager. according to Jamie Carragher, but he brought the club into the 21st Century and his legacy is still felt to this day,
BLACKBURN have been one of the surprise packages of the Championship season so far - and 35-year-old Stewart Downing has been their talisman. He tells TGG about the astute management of Tony Mowbray and how it's helped prolong his career.
GED RODDY, the architect of the EPPP system, shares his guide to the core functions of an elite football Academy.
ENGLAND rugby coach Eddie Jones shares insights gleaned from three decades in coaching, ranging from the influence of Pep Guardiola to managing mavericks to tactical periodisation.
MLADEN SORMAZ, Head of Football Analytics at Leicester City; Luke Benstead, Head of Performance Analysis and Innovation for Belgium, and Ed Sulley, Director of Customer Solutions for Hudl, discuss the current state of data science in football and where it could be headed.
PAUL BALSOM, Leicester City’s highly-experienced Head of Performance Innovation, says a rare alchemy has taken the side to heady heights in the Premier League this season.
WYSCOUT founder Matteo Campodonico explains how he came up with the idea for the scouting and analysis platform, how clubs use it and why he believes Big Data will transform the way it is used.
GED RODDY, the architect of the EPPP system, says new figures showing an increase in playing time for English Under-21s in the Premier League prove “long-term investment in youth is finally paying off”.
LEEDS UNITED Sporting Director Victor Orta says the club’s recruitment policy is 70% human judgement and 30% data.
LES FERDINAND charts his journey from star player to Director of Football at QPR and laments the fact that bigger clubs are now “stockpiling” young talent.
DAMIAN RODEN is leaving the Seattle Sounders after 18 months to return to the UK as a Sports Science and Medical Performance Support Auditor.
RHYS LONG, Head of Performance Analysis and Insight for the Football Association, outlines his philosophy in the Training Ground Guru Podcast.
DAVE REDDIN, the Football Association’s Head of Team Strategy and Performance, tells the TGG Podcast that sports science is creating a generation of players with “limited physical capabilities”.
THIS month we go behind the scenes at the TGG Youth Development Conference in Manchester, with speakers Kris Van Der Haegen, Leigh Bromby and John McGuigan.
TGG gets a tour of Burnley's Academy, which is on the verge of going from Category 3 to 1 inside three years.
WHO's who of a modern performance team, explained by the practitioners in their own words.
FORMER Birmingham, Derby and Stoke manager Gary Rowett is joined by his former Head of Performance, Dave Carolan, and Head of Analysis, Joe Carnall, for the first episode of the new Training Ground Guru podcast.
FORMER England and Arsenal Head Physio Gary Lewin has called on the Premier League to carry out a “meaningful injury audit”, arguing that medical teams are being judged on data “they know is not accurate”.
THE trade in backroom staff in the Premier League has almost outpaced the turnover of players this summer.
WHY are there just only English managers in the Premier League, when all but one of the bosses in Serie A is Italian?
THE Premier League is poised to announce its new Director of Football, having completed interviews with the shortlisted candidates.
RIO FERDINAND, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard tell BT Sport that club rivalries played a major part in the 'Golden Generation' failing to realise its potential.
FITNESS COACH Matt Green has left West Brom after 10 years to become Elite Performance Manager at the Premier League.
SUNDERLAND'S Dr James McCarron has been appointed to the new role of Elite Performance Manager by the Premier League.
GED RODDY is leaving the Premier League after eight years following a mutual decision that his role of Director of Football Development “will no longer be required in the medium to long term”.