Aston Villa's recruitment hasn't been all together successful since they were promoted to the Premier League.The recruitment team, headed up by Spaniard Jesus Garcia Pitarch, identified and signed 12 players for £130million last summer. Very few of those players have proved to be successful buys, while the jury is still out on those who arrived in January.To find the method behind Villa's transfer window strategy you need look no further than co-owner Wes Edens - a billionaire businessman with bags of experience in sport prior to pitching up at Villa Park.In addition to Villa, Edens also co-owns NBA side Milwaukee Bucks and has enjoyed great success by identifying players through analytics.‘Moneyball’ has become a core transfer policy for a number of British football clubs with Dean Smith’s former employers Brentford pioneers thanks to owner Matthew Benham.The claret and blues leaned on analytics heavily in past transfer windows, although head of recruitment at the time Paddy Riley came to loggerheads with Tim Sherwood in 2015 over signings.But the likes of Jordan Amavi, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Jordan Veretout and Jordan Ayew have since moved on to bigger and better things.And judging by Edens’ comments during a Q&A with Interview.net, Villa’s approach to transfer windows will include much more statistical analysis.“You know I always tell people in our businesses great judgement, overrated, great information, underrated,” says Edens.“Because truly if you have great information most of the decisions are pretty darn simple. Yeah and so I feel like in soccer they’ve got a long way to go in terms of analytics data.And so I feel like there’s a lot to be caught up to honestly and I believe in the end when you look there’s a number of NBA owners and U.S. sports owners that have done tremendously well (in football).“You have Stan Kroenke at Arsenal, John Henry at Liverpool. Obviously they’ve got tremendous teams though and I’ve talked to both of them and others about their experiences. And I think that there are a lot more similarities than differences but there are some big differences for sure.”Edens, who bought a controlling stake in Villa alongside Nassef Sawiris in 2018, understands talent-spotting still requires a good eye.Villa have revamped their scouting system over the last 12 months with departures and arrivals aplenty.Edens continued: “It’s not merely the data but I do think the foundation of it should be data driven and I think that that’s where we talk about underdogs and what not.“It’s just that I have this very high motor to try to see things for what they are and that’s what the data allows you to do if you just apply it properly.“But then you need good judgement at the end of course. But you know if it’s balanced by this underpinning of data and information you’re just likely to make much better decisions.”
What were Wes Edens recent quotes? I think I've heard him talk about the Villa twice; upon saving the club and after winning at Wembley last year.
Wes Edens has outlined his plan for Aston Villa to become one of the biggest teams in the world - and when he hopes to achieve it by.Edens along with Nassef Sawiris, bought the club from Dr Tony Xia in the summer of 2018, helping Villa stave off the imminent threat of administration.After winning promotion in May of last year, the two billionaires bankrolled a transfer window spree of almost £150m to give Dean Smith a side capable of competing in the Premier League.However, before the top-flight was halted last month, Villa found themselves in the bottom three, firmly entrenched in the relegation scrap.In a revealing interview filmed last month, Edens reaffirmed his commitment to make Villa a world leader, but emphasised the need to retain their Premier League status.“The ambition is obviously to stay up, it’s a competitive league, that first step up is a big one,” Edens told Bloomberg.“Villa has a very long and proud tradition, it’s been a very successful club. Our goal is to be one of the top clubs in the world, play in all the major competitions, do all those things.Aston Villa co-owner Wes Edens has outlined his ambitions for the club.Edens along with Nassef Sawiris, bought the club from Dr Tony Xia in the summer of 2018, helping Villa stave off the imminent threat of administration.“The ambition is obviously to stay up, it's a competitive league, that first step up is a big one," Edens told Bloomberg.“Villa has a very long and proud tradition, it's been a very successful club. Our goal is to be one of the top clubs in the world, play in all the major competitions, do all those things.“The first step is to stay up. We've got a tough run-in, but then so do a lot of other teams. We've got a lot of talent on the team, so we feel good about that."He added: "I'm an impatient man, so we want it all to happen tomorrow. But if there is one thing I take away from the Bucks experience is that style of play really matters and once you commit to a style of play, everything takes care of itself.“In soccer it lends itself to getting away from that because you want a result tomorrow or you've got a game to win. But I think it's the same thing."“Hire the right people, empower them, give them the right resources, hope they make the right decisions and then let the players play.”Asked if he could replicate the successes of the Bucks and have Villa in the top-four within five years, he replied: “I think it’s very reasonable. I’m an impatient man, so we want it all to happen tomorrow. But if there is one thing I take away from the Bucks experience is that style of play really matters and once you commit to a style of play, everything takes care of itself.“In soccer it lends itself to getting away from that because you want a result tomorrow or you’ve got a game to win. But I think it’s the same thing.”
Dyche is on our radar again, apparently.
Muttley? He's not exactly been a roaring success since, has he?!
Quote from: mr underhill on April 26, 2020, 06:35:28 AMDyche is on our radar again, apparently.I would like Dyche to manage us, I think he would be a good fit. Not sure if that is now. I always thought that Martin Jol would have been excellent after MON.