SO MUCH DEPENDS ON THE DATA - AND NEW CATS KNOW IT

I’VE asked several people with a working knowledge of Sunderland what’s gone wrong at the club in recent years.

Their answers - on or off the record - were invariably nebulous.

False expectations. Inherited problems. A bad atmosphere. Nobody could hang their hat on a definitive cause for the decade-long malaise. Perhaps, though, the biggest clue came in this week’s classifieds, when new owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus advertised for a data scientist and a head of analysis. Once, Sunderland’s fanbase and reputation guaranteed a degree of success. In the Championship, at least, they could spend the most money and buy the best players.

Then data came along and changed everything. Suddenly, statistical pioneers like Brentford were gnawing away at the margins, crunching the numbers to spot potential and growing wealthy and successful when it flourished. Sunderland, meanwhile, were signing players on a wing and a prayer, as memorably captured in the Netflix documentary that detailed their relegation to League One in 2018.

Like it or not, insightful data analysis is now vital to success in the modern game - and it seems like Sunderland, belatedly, have realised it.