Southampton FC – The Story of Moneyball
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On July 5th 2011, Southampton FC shocked the nation by firing previous manager Nigel Adkins and appointing Newlyn Erard as the new manager. Despite having relatively no previous experience, the new manager was full of confidence and claimed to lead Southampton to Glory.
The Goals
1. Using the Philosophy of the Moneyball System to Build a Squad
2. Lead Southampton to a Promotion in the Near Future
3. Win the Premier League & Capture their 1st Ever Title
The Origin of Moneyball
The philosophy was first used by the Oakland Athletics in American Baseball, which allowed them to compete against richer teams using advanced stats to analyze the “cheaper” players and to basically allow them to field a team that would be able to be successful. The incorporation of youth and development is fundamental to the Moneyball approach. This philosophy was groundbreaking at the time, but now it is currently being applied in many different sports (Example: Newcastle and Wigan).
The Newlyn Erard Version of Moneyball
Developing the Farm System: First and most important step. If you have great facilities to develop the youth... use it! Using or Selling the players will help the team greatly in the future.
Expand Scouting: When everyone is fighting over the Apples, Pick the Oranges (or any other fruit). There might be 1 gem out of 1000 players, but if I have 10000 players to choose from, I will definitely have more gems.
Using Money Wisely*: This is the Key Component of Moneyball vs. Other Approaches. Rather than just buying the best players, I am going to pick players that fit my team and upgrade positions only when the numbers allow me to. Instead of keeping players and upgrading their contracts, sometimes its best to let them go and bring in cheaper talent (but using the extra money to spend on something else). Think of it as a continuous cycle of relatively cheap good young players (with maybe 1 or 2 stars) surrounded by expendable talent. Lastly, its sometimes important to think: Why buy when you can loan?
View attachment 268648
On July 5th 2011, Southampton FC shocked the nation by firing previous manager Nigel Adkins and appointing Newlyn Erard as the new manager. Despite having relatively no previous experience, the new manager was full of confidence and claimed to lead Southampton to Glory.
The Goals
1. Using the Philosophy of the Moneyball System to Build a Squad
2. Lead Southampton to a Promotion in the Near Future
3. Win the Premier League & Capture their 1st Ever Title
The Origin of Moneyball
The philosophy was first used by the Oakland Athletics in American Baseball, which allowed them to compete against richer teams using advanced stats to analyze the “cheaper” players and to basically allow them to field a team that would be able to be successful. The incorporation of youth and development is fundamental to the Moneyball approach. This philosophy was groundbreaking at the time, but now it is currently being applied in many different sports (Example: Newcastle and Wigan).
The Newlyn Erard Version of Moneyball
Developing the Farm System: First and most important step. If you have great facilities to develop the youth... use it! Using or Selling the players will help the team greatly in the future.
Expand Scouting: When everyone is fighting over the Apples, Pick the Oranges (or any other fruit). There might be 1 gem out of 1000 players, but if I have 10000 players to choose from, I will definitely have more gems.
Using Money Wisely*: This is the Key Component of Moneyball vs. Other Approaches. Rather than just buying the best players, I am going to pick players that fit my team and upgrade positions only when the numbers allow me to. Instead of keeping players and upgrading their contracts, sometimes its best to let them go and bring in cheaper talent (but using the extra money to spend on something else). Think of it as a continuous cycle of relatively cheap good young players (with maybe 1 or 2 stars) surrounded by expendable talent. Lastly, its sometimes important to think: Why buy when you can loan?
*This Doesn't Mean Being Cheap & Not Buying Big Names
Other Comments
I am sure the Moneyball philosophy has been used before by a lot of different people (I am not saying I invented it by any means). But I just wanted to try it out using a lower tier team like Southampton. I do realize that most teams do have to start of developing the young, but I feel my approach to transfers will be different and only as Southampton improves will my Moneyball team grow to fruition. This is only my 2nd story (first on this site), so bear with me and feel free to comment and give me suggestions.
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Next Update: Squad Overview + Transfer
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