Pen pics of Manchester City's backroom staff.

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.

FORMER Aston Villa full-back Alan Wright has left Manchester City’s Academy after a decade. The 52-year-old coached City’s Under-16s and has now joined Harwick Sports Management,

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.

NEW Manchester City Academy Director Thomas Krucken says his job is to develop the ‘player of the future.’ The German succeeded Jason Wilcox as City’s Academy boss in August last year, having previously been Stuttgart's Head of Youth Development.

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.

STEPHEN TORPEY has left Manchester City after nine-and-a-half years to become Brentford’s Academy Director and will spearhead the Bees’ drive to achieve Category One status.

TOP players are increasingly employing their own analysts and it’s a trend that clubs would be “silly” to fight, says City Football Group Head of Coaching Methodology Mark Leyland.

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.

PEP GUARDIOLA has completed his complement of assistants with the additions of the returning Juanma Lillo and Inigo Dominguez.

VFB Stuttgart’s Thomas Krucken has succeeded Jason Wilcox as Manchester City’s Academy Director.

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.

JAMES CHEESEMAN has been promoted to First Team Director of Performance by Manchester City.

PEP GUARDIOLA’S assistant, Rodolfo Borrell, has left Manchester City after nine years to become Sporting Director at Austin FC in the MLS. His exit follows that of Enzo Maresca two weeks ago.

MANCHESTER CITY have created a backroom empire, spanning the Academy, performance, coaching and data science, but a reboot will be required this summer following some key exits.

MARK SERTORI has been appointed Head of Performance and Player Care by newly-promoted Burnley. The man described as 'more than a work colleague' by John Stones left Manchester City in December after more than 14 years' service.

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.

MANCHESTER CITY Under-18s beat Youth Cup winners West Ham 2-1 in extra time at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday to complete a unique treble double.

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.

MANCHESTER CITY manager Pep Guardiola has hailed an “incredible achievement” after the club completed a ‘double hat-trick’ of Under-18 and Premier League 2 titles.

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.

MARK LEYLAND, who has been described by Eddie Howe as an “integral” member of his staff, is leaving Newcastle United at this end of the season to become Head of Coaching Methodology at City Football Group.

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.

MANCHESTER CITY have added to their growing Insights team by hiring Maram AlBaharna from The Athletic as Football Insights Analyst.

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.

HARRY DUNN has been promoted to Performance Analysis Lead at Manchester City. The analyst, who has been with City for eight years, replaces Piet Cremers, who left at the start of this season.

RUI FARIA is the most successful number two in football history. Here he gives in-depth insights into his time working alongside Jose Mourinho.

SAM ERITH is leaving Manchester City after 11 years to join Madison Square Garden Sports Corp in New York. Erith joined City in September 2011 from Tottenham as their Head of Sport Science, before being promoted to Head of Human Performance for the overall City Football Group in January 2014.

MANCHESTER CITY Head of Analysis and Insights Piet Cremers has left the Premier League champions after four-and-a-half years.

EDD WEBSTER worked as a data scientist for Manchester City and West Ham. Now he's with another iconic brand: LEGO. He tells TGG how football clubs are (and aren’t) using data, what they can learn from other industries and how people can transition into the profession, just like he did.

RYAN DEFREITAS has left Leicester City after nine-and-a-half years to become first-team performance analyst for training at Manchester City.

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.

DAN LEWINDON has joined Manchester City in the new role of Director of Player Health and Performance. He arrives from the LTA, where he was Head of High Performance Science and Medicine for six years.

CERI BOWLEY has left Manchester City after three years to become first-team coach at Rangers.

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.

CRAIG MUDD has replaced Danny Walker as Under-23s assistant at Manchester City, with Jamie Carr stepping up from the U14s to become assistant with the U18s.

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.

ENZO MARESCA is returning to Manchester City to become Pep Guardiola’s assistant after Juanma Lillo left to become Head Coach of Al-Sadd Sports Club in Qatar.

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.

RAVI MISTRY has been promoted to Head of Football Insights at Manchester City as the club continue to invest heavily in their data science capability.

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.

AT 26, Piet Cremers is younger than the average age of Manchester City’s playing squad (27) and almost half the age of their manager, Pep Guardiola (51). But despite his callow years, the Dutchman has become an important and influential member of Guardiola’s backroom staff at the Etihad.

NICK CHADD has left City Football Group and Manchester City after five-and-a-half years to become Head of Sport Science and Strength and Conditioning at Portuguese giants Benfica.

CATHERINE HESFORD has left the Football Association after five-and-a-half years to become Manchester City’s first Head of Talent Science.

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.

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.

A CORONER has recorded a verdict of suicide at the inquest of former Manchester City Academy player Jeremy Wisten, who was found dead at his home in October last year.

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.

JASON WILCOX says his ambition is for Manchester City’s Academy to be the best in the whole of world sport.

HOW Liverpool and Manchester City turned their full-backs into attacking playmakers, taking a previously unfashionable role to whole new level.

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.

FORMER Scotland captain Gary Caldwell has been appointed Loans Coach at Manchester City after his interim spell as Newcastle United’s Under-23s boss ended.

LUKE BORNN, the former Head of Analytics at AS Roma, tells us about his own journey, and that of data science in football.

MANCHESTER CITY Under-14 lead Jamie Carr will embark on an incredible double challenge in two of the world's most hostile environments next year to raise money for charity.

ABILITY to win 1v1 duels is arguably more important now than ever. So how are clubs coaching and developing it?

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

FORMER Rochdale manager Brian Barry-Murphy has been appointed as Manchester City’s new Under-23s boss as the club unveiled their coaching set-up for the new season.

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.

BRIAN KIDD has left Manchester City after 12 years, with Under-18s coach Carlos Vicens stepping up to take his place as assistant manager.

MICHAEL BEALE gives an insight into the training ground methods that helped Rangers land their first title in a decade.

SERGIO AGUERO has given an engraved luxury watch to every member of Manchester City’s first-team staff, as well as raffling his Range Rover, which was won by kit manager Ally Marland.

MANCHESTER CITY Under-23s boss Enzo Maresca is leaving the club after only a season to become Head Coach of Italian side Parma.

MANCHESTER CITY have won the Under-18s Premier League title to secure a unique hat-trick of trophies.

CHELSEA WOMEN manager Emma Hayes on some of the key influences on her career and how they helped to shape her leadership philosophy.

MANCHESTER CITY’S Under-23s have won Premier League 2 for the first time, with Pep Guardiola hailing a "fantastic achievement" by Enzo Maresca's side.

KEVIN DE BRUYNE employed the services of data analytics company Analytics FC as part of the negotiations over his new four-year contract with Manchester City.

LAURENCE STEWART, the Head of Recruitment for AS Monaco, explains the core principles of the club's transfer strategy.

PLAYERS from Liverpool and Manchester City’s Academy and women’s teams are to wear special mouthguards during training as part of a landmark study into head injuries in football.

RENOWNED coach and coach educator Brian Ashton MBE tells TGG the lessons he has learned from five decades in the profession.

MANCHESTER CITY have played more backwards passes than any other side in Europe so far this season, debunking the theory that this is a negative ploy.

AZ ALKMAAR Sport Development Director Marijn Beuker outlines how the club outperform their budget by thinking differently.

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.

A PhD in computational astrophysics, developing trading systems for a £30bn hedge fund and policy advisor for the British government: not your typical CV for a member of backroom staff. However, these are just some of the credentials of Laurie Shaw, who has been appointed Lead AI Scientist by Manchester City.

MANCHESTER CITY Academy Manager Jason Wilcox says he has set his staff and players three key targets for 2021.

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.

STEVE SPARKS has left Southampton after a decade to become first-team physio at Manchester City.

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.

MANCHESTER CITY have teamed up with Google Research to launch an AI football competition which they hope will ‘test and refine’ tactical principles on the pitch.

GLENN VAN DER KRAAN has started working for Manchester City as their new Head of Coaching as the club completes an extensive Academy revamp.

MANCHESTER CITY Chief Executive Ferran Soriano says English football should re-consider introducing B teams in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

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.

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.

FORMER West Ham assistant Enzo Maresca has been appointed Under-23s boss at Manchester City.

MANCHESTER CITY’S most experienced analyst, Aaron Briggs, has left the club after nine years to join Monaco.

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN recruitment co-ordinator Chris Baker has left the club after three years to join Manchester City.

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.

JOHN-MARK SISMAN has been appointed to the new role of Performance Physicist by Manchester City.

MANCHESTER CITY have promoted Spaniard Carlos Vicens to Under-18 lead coach, with Darren Hughes stepping up from the U11s to become his assistant. Danny Walker has moved from U15/16s lead to U23 assistant.

STEPHEN TORPEY has been appointed Head of Coaching for the Under-15s to 23s by Manchester City.

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.

MANCHESTER CITY have appointed Juan Manuel Lillo - described by Pep Guardiola as “the best coach I ever had” - as the club’s new assistant manager.

MANCHESTER CITY are set to make significant changes in their Academy this summer, with both the Under-23 and U18 lead coach roles becoming available.

DANNY COWLEY lays out his footballing philosophy, which he described as "old-school values with new methods".

TONY STRUDWICK says building relationships is still the most important skill for any practitioner, despite the increasing influence of data and science in football.

SIMON TIMSON, the Performance Director at the Lawn Tennis Association, is joining Manchester City in the summer to head up their performance department.

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,

LIVERPOOL have hired another physio from rivals Manchester City with Steve Lilley joining the Anfield club next month.

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.

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.

BRIAN PRESTIDGE has been promoted to Director of Insights and Decision Technology at City Football Group, meaning he will head up data science across nine teams including Manchester City.

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.

MANCHESTER CITY’S most senior data scientist, Lee Mooney, has left the club after six years to launch a start-up.

MANCHESTER CITY had one significant weakness last season - which is why they hired set piece specialist Nicolas Jover from Brentford.

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.

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.

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.

MANCHESTER CITY are advertising for their first dedicated data scientist to work with Pep Guardiola's team.

TGG gets a tour of Burnley's Academy, which is on the verge of going from Category 3 to 1 inside three years.

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.

MANCHESTER CITY have come under fire after a team photo emerged showing their ‘Under-5s elite squad’.

MANCHESTER CITY have promoted from within to fill the Head Physio position vacated by Lee Nobes last November.

GRANT DOWNIE, Manchester City's former Head of Academy Performance, explains how he managed to get 28 full-time staff working together cohesively.

GRANT DOWNIE has worked in the performance industry fo more than 30 years, holding senior roles with Rangers, Middlesbrough and Manchester City. Now he works as a consultant and mentor and shared some of his key principles with TGG.

JAMES McCARRON is leaving the Premier League after a year to become Head of Sports Science and Medicine for Manchester City Ladies.

MANCHESTER CITY Head Physio Lee Nobes is leaving the club after 11 years to join rivals Liverpool.

PEP GUARDIOLA has credited two ‘geniuses’ with inspiring him to do things differently.

DESPITE being based in Barcelona, Dr Ramon Cugat has become the key medical figure at Manchester City, following a 20-year association with Pep Guardiola.

MANCHESTER CITY analyst Richard Bredice says he expects the introduction of electronic devices into the technical area to create “huge controversy” this season.

MANCHESTER CITY have appointed Barnsley’s Paul Harsley as their new Under-23 manager.

WHEN Manchester City unveiled their state-of-the-art £200m Etihad training complex in December 2014, it included football’s most advanced altitude chamber.

THE half spaces have become football's most fertile ground thanks to Pep Guardiola and Manchester City. Here's why.

MANCHESTER CITY are looking for a new Under-23 coach as they revamp roles in their Academy.

MANCHESTER CITY have hired video analyst Piet Cremers after he impressed during his 18 month spell with partner club NAC Breda.

MANCHESTER CITY Academy manager Jason Wilcox admits something ‘unbelievable’ has to happen in order for teenagers to make it into the first team at the club.

MANCHESTER CITY chief executive Ferran Soriano admits there is “much more to do” to bridge the gap between the club’s Academy and first team.

WEST BROM are the tallest side in the Premier League this season, with Manchester City the smallest.

NEW Manchester City Academy boss Jason Wilcox says challenging players will be more important than winning on his watch.

EDDIE JONES' Q&A at Soccerex was as intense and stimulating as one of the his coaching sessions. Read and listen to it here.

JORDI CRUYFF insists Pep Guardiola is still continuing his father’s legacy despite his record with homegrown players at Manchester City.

THE exit of Manchester City's brightest prospect seriously undermines their claims that youth would be given a platform this season.

WEST HAM's Joe Hart has the worst distribution performance of any goalkeeper in the Premier League this season, according to exclusive analysis conducted by the World in Motion agency.

MANCHESTER CITY Academy director Mark Allen has been named as the new Director of Football at Glasgow Rangers.

WEST BROM won the Premier League fitness title in 2016/17, with the lowest number of significant injuries and days lost to injury.

PEP GUARDIOLA has warned he is again unlikely to introduce many academy players to the Manchester City first team next season, blaming the competitiveness of the youth league they play in.

MANCHESTER CITY have been banned from signing Academy players for two years after being found guilty of tapping-up two schoolboys.